TL;DR
- Shanties are unlocked by finding and catching floating song sheets hidden across the Caribbean
- Song sheet icons appear on your map only after you synchronize a nearby Viewpoint
- When you get close, the sheet flies away — chase and catch it along a short parkour route
- To change shanty mid-sail: hold D-pad Down (console) to open the Shanty Wheel, or use the mouse scroll wheel (PC)
- Resynced has 45 shanties total — all 35 from the original game return, plus 10 brand-new compositions
- The 10 new shanties are tied to quests and story activities, not general exploration
- The crew will not sing during storms or naval combat
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced shanties are one of the best parts of sailing the Caribbean. The Jackdaw does not feel like a pirate ship without your crew belting out a sea song as you cross open water. Resynced brings back every shanty from the 2013 original and adds 10 brand-new compositions on top, expanding the total collection to 45 songs. This guide covers exactly how to unlock new shanties, how to change which song your crew sings mid-sail, and everything that is new in Resynced’s musical system compared to the original game.
How to Get New Shanties in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
Shanties are unlocked by collecting floating song sheets scattered across the Caribbean. Each song sheet you collect permanently adds that shanty to your available playlist on the Jackdaw. Here is exactly how the process works.
Step 1 — Synchronize Viewpoints to Reveal Song Sheet Icons
Song sheet icons only appear on your map after you have synchronized a nearby Viewpoint and uncovered that location’s secrets. If you sail to an island without climbing its Viewpoints first, the map will not show you where the shanties are. Exploration comes before collecting.
When a song sheet is in the area, it appears on the map as a small musical note icon. Head toward it to begin the collection sequence.
Step 2 — Chase and Catch the Floating Sheet
Song sheets do not sit still and wait for you. The moment you get close enough, the sheet takes flight and begins drifting away. This triggers a short chase sequence where the paper floats along a set path — usually up through rooftops, along the treeline, or across a parkour route through a town or settlement.
The routes are rarely difficult. Most can be caught on the first attempt if you follow the paper’s drift direction rather than trying to predict where it is going and cutting ahead. The sheet follows a predetermined path, so staying with it is faster than trying to intercept it. Do not sprint too aggressively — falling from a rooftop or the treeline forces you to restart the chase from the sheet’s original position.
If you miss the sheet or lose track of it before catching it, simply move away from the area and return. The sheet resets to its starting position. You can also fast travel to a nearby Viewpoint to instantly reset it if you prefer.
Step 3 — The Shanty Is Added to Your Collection
Once you catch the sheet, that shanty is permanently added to your Jackdaw’s playlist. It becomes immediately available in the Shanty Wheel during sailing. The Codex tracks your full collection and shows which shanties you have already added, making it easy to see at a glance which ones are still missing without having to revisit areas blind.
How to Change the Ship Song in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
Resynced adds a brand-new Shanty Wheel that did not exist in the original 2013 game. Instead of the crew cycling through songs automatically at random, you can now choose exactly which shanty plays at any time during sailing.
How to Open the Shanty Wheel
- PS5 / Xbox: While sailing, hold D-pad Down to open the Shanty Wheel. Use the right analog stick to navigate the wheel and select your chosen song
- PC: Use the mouse scroll wheel while sailing to open the song selector and choose your shanty
The wheel shows every shanty in your current collection. The more song sheets you have found, the more options appear. To change shanty, open the wheel again at any time and pick a new one.
Additional Shanty Controls
- Press D-pad Right — Cycles through your available shanties at random, the way the original game handled it automatically
- Hold D-pad Right — Turns off spontaneous singing entirely. Useful if you want to sail in silence and simply enjoy the sound of the waves and the ambient ocean
These controls give you full control over the Jackdaw’s musical atmosphere in a way that the original game never offered. You can lock in a favourite, shuffle freely, or go quiet whenever you want.
When the Crew Won’t Sing
There are two situations where your crew will not sing regardless of what you select in the Shanty Wheel:
- During storms — The crew stays quiet in bad weather. Wait until you have sailed out of the storm before the shanties resume
- During naval combat — The crew stops singing when enemy ships are engaged. Focus on the fight and the music comes back once the battle is over
How Many Shanties Are in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced?
Resynced has 45 sea shanties in total. All 35 shanties from the original 2013 game return, and 10 brand-new songs have been composed specifically for the remake.
The 35 Returning Shanties
Every shanty from the original Black Flag is back. These are collected through the standard song sheet system — synchronized Viewpoints reveal their locations, and you chase and catch the floating paper to unlock each one. Their locations are largely similar to those in the 2013 game, spread across the Caribbean’s major cities and remote islands. Fan favourites from the original collection include classics like Drunken Sailor, Leave Her Johnny, Spanish Ladies, Fish in the Sea, and Don’t Forget Your Old Shipmates.
The 10 New Shanties
The 10 new shanties work differently from the returning ones. They are tied to specific quests and story activities rather than general exploration, which means you cannot simply sail to every island at the start of the game and collect them freely. Some are connected to the new content added in Resynced — including the expanded Blackbeard storyline and Stede Bonnet’s new missions. Completing these story beats is what unlocks access to the new songs.
Among the new compositions, Sean Dagher — one of the vocalists from the original game — recorded several exclusive ballads tied to key characters, including Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet. Voice actress Sarah Greene, who plays Anne Bonny in Resynced, also re-recorded The Parting Glass as a new solo performance and contributed additional new material.
The Woodkid Version of Leave Her Johnny
The headline musical addition to Resynced is French artist Woodkid’s reimagined version of Leave Her Johnny (Resynced). The original recording by Michel Schrey, Nils Brown, and Sean Dagher has been streamed over 900 million times on Spotify and is one of the most iconic pieces of music associated with the franchise.
Woodkid’s take is darker, more cinematic, and more orchestral — a deliberate reimagining rather than a simple cover. It debuted at Summer Game Fest in June 2026 alongside a new trailer and was released on streaming services the same night. It features in the game itself as well as the trailer, making it the most prominent of all the new musical additions. Woodkid described the process as deliberately risky — he was wary of touching such a beloved song but ultimately embraced the challenge of reinventing it without betraying its identity.
Where Song Sheets Are Found in the Caribbean
Song sheets appear in both cities and remote locations. Here is a general breakdown of where they concentrate across the map:
- Havana — The largest city in the game has the highest concentration of song sheets, with seven shanties available across the city and one more at nearby Cape Bonavista
- Nassau — Five shanties are spread across this pirate hub in the Eleuthera region
- Kingston — Six shanties are grouped closely together in and around the town center in the southeast
- Great Inagua — Two shanties near Edward’s home base in the southeast
- Remote islands — Additional song sheets are scattered across smaller islands throughout the open Caribbean away from the major cities
Remember: song sheet icons only appear on the map once you have revealed that location’s secrets through Viewpoint synchronization. Prioritize Viewpoints in each new area before hunting shanties and you will never be sailing blind looking for something that is not showing on your map yet.
Tips for Collecting All Shanties Efficiently
- Sync Viewpoints first, always: Song sheet icons do not appear on the map until the area is revealed. Climbing Viewpoints in a new city or island before doing anything else saves significant backtracking later
- Follow the sheet’s path, don’t cut ahead: The floating paper follows a fixed route. Trying to get ahead of it and intercept often results in fumbling the parkour. Stay on its tail and pace yourself through the route
- Check both towns and wilderness: Song sheets appear in dense urban areas like Havana as well as on quieter remote islands. Do not skip smaller locations assuming they have nothing
- Use the Codex to track progress: The Codex shows every shanty you have collected and flags what is still missing. Check it regularly rather than guessing which locations you have already cleared
- Don’t panic if you miss a sheet: Walk away from the area or fast travel to a nearby Viewpoint to reset the sheet back to its starting position. Missing is never permanent
- Complete the new story content for the new songs: The 10 new shanties are not found through general exploration. Push the Blackbeard chapter and new character questlines to unlock them
Getting around the Caribbean efficiently while hunting song sheets is much easier once fast travel is fully unlocked. If you have not set that up yet, our guide on how to fast travel in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced covers every method including Viewpoints, named locations, and the Jackdaw warp.
For a full picture of all the activities available across the Caribbean, see our complete list of all main and side missions in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced.
If you are still getting started, our Black Flag Resynced beginner’s tips cover the most important habits to build in the early hours, including why syncing Viewpoints is always the first thing to do in any new area.
Want to know how long collecting everything will take? Our full how long to beat guide for AC Black Flag Resynced breaks down every playtime estimate from main story to full completionist run.
Where to Get Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
Available now on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC:
