The free sing-a-song-with-the-word game Song Association

Song Association at a glance

Players

2 to 12 (best with 3 to 8)

Game length

About 15 minutes a game

Phones

One phone

Where it works

In the same room, on a video call, in the car

Who it’s for

Families and kids, easy for young players

Price

Free. No app, no sign-up

Languages

English and Spanish

How to play Song Association

Song Association is a music game you can play anywhere people can hear each other. The phone shows one word. The player whose turn it is has a few seconds to sing a line from any song that has that word in it. A chart hit, a lullaby, a campfire song or a number from a musical all count, as long as the word is in the line.

Say the card shows RAIN. Any line with the word “rain” in it works, as long as you sing it before the timer ends. That sounds easy until the clock starts and your mind goes blank.

1. 1Set the number of players, from 2 to 12. Add names if you want them on the scoreboard.
2. 2Pick a deck: Easy, Medium or Hard. Mixed shuffles all three together, so nobody knows how tough the next word will be.
3. 3Choose the time, 10 or 15 seconds, and how many rounds to play, from one up to five. Every player gets one turn per round.
4. 4Hold the phone up or set it where everyone can see it. The screen shows whose turn it is and the word in big letters.
5. 5Tap Start. Before the timer runs out, the player sings at least one line of a song that contains the word.
6. 6When time is up, the group taps Sang it for a point or Didn't for no point. The next player gets a new word.

After the last turn, the scoreboard shows everyone's points and who won, or who tied. Settle a tie with one more word each if you like.

Song association words

All 180 words in the game, in three decks of 60. Easy words show up in countless songs, so a line usually comes to mind right away. Medium words take a moment. Hard words are still in plenty of songs, but you'll have to dig for them. Read through them to warm up, or call them out on a long drive.

House rules: what counts as singing

The phone keeps score, but your group is the judge. Agree on these before the first word and the arguments stay friendly.

• Sing it, don't say it. You need a tune. Reciting the words in a flat voice doesn't count. Nobody is judging how well you sing, only that you did.
• The word has to be in the line. Getting the melody right with a different word is close, but it's still Didn't.
• Small changes are fine. Plurals and simple endings count, so if the card says “flower”, “flowers” works. A word that only rhymes or sounds alike doesn't.
• No humming. Humming the tune and saying the word at the end is the oldest trick in the game. Most groups say no, though some let the youngest players slide.
• No repeats. Once a song has been used in a game, nobody can use it again. That stops the easy words from turning into the same song every round.
• Real songs only. If someone challenges a line, the singer has to say where it's from. If nobody else has heard it, the group votes.
• When in doubt, the singer wins. If the group is split down the middle, tap Sang it and move on.

Tips to think of a song fast

Ten seconds is shorter than it sounds. These habits help when your mind goes blank.

• Think of the chorus first. Choruses repeat the same few words over and over, so that's where common words hide.
• Reach for songs everyone learned as a kid: birthday songs, lullabies, nursery rhymes, holiday songs and the ones you sang at school or camp.
• Picture a scene. For “train” or “road”, think of travel songs. For “moon” or “night”, think of slow ones. The setting pulls songs along with it.
• Go small for hard words. Animals and objects like “turtle” or “tractor” turn up in songs for little kids far more often than in songs on the radio.
• Hum while you think, then sing. A tune in your head can drag the words out with it. Just make sure the word itself gets sung.
• Commit early. A half-remembered line sung with confidence often gets a Sang it. Waiting for the perfect song usually gets a Didn't.

Ways to play

One phone, one word and a few seconds. That fits in more places than you might think.

Variations: elimination, teams and themed rounds

The game keeps a simple score: one point for every line you sing. These variations change things up with a little help from the group.

• Elimination. Agree that one Didn't knocks you out. When it's an eliminated player's turn, tap Didn't and move on. The last singer standing wins, whatever the scoreboard says.
• Teams. Enter team names instead of player names. On each turn, anyone on that team can sing the line. It's louder, faster and much kinder to shy singers.
• Themed rounds. Before each round, pick a theme everyone has to follow: only slow songs, only songs from movies, only kids' songs, or only songs older than everyone at the table.
• Steal. When a player gets Didn't, the first person to jump in with a line wins bragging rights. Keep a side tally on paper if your group is competitive.
• Hard and fast. Pick Hard and 10 seconds. Expect a lot of silence and a few legendary saves.

When to play Song Association

It needs no props, no paper and no musical talent, so you can start it almost anywhere.

• Game nights: a loud warm-up before longer games, or a quick break between them.
• Birthdays and family gatherings: everyone knows at least a few songs, from the youngest guest to the oldest.
• Road trips: it fills the miles with nothing but voices and one phone.
• Sleepovers and hangouts: Medium and Hard keep a music-loving crowd going for a long time.
• Team breaks and calls: five minutes of singing badly together breaks the ice faster than any intro round.
• Classrooms: a quick vocabulary warm-up. Students hear words used in real lines, and language learners pick up new ones.

Want more games like this? Name 3 Things is the same race against the clock, without the singing. Hot Potato passes the phone around a circle until a hidden timer goes off. And if your group would rather act than sing, try Charades or Forehead Guess.

Questions