The Irish Art of Lilting and What it Means For You 

I'm also Irish and thought the same. All my kids babbled like that before they could even speak. I would think this is a universal phenomenon, not just an Irish thing, but who knows. Potatoes and now this. How lucky can one nationality get!?! Lol

@@bobhughes9628 hahahahaha

I'm English and this was a surprise as well.

Same from the diaspora, 2nd gen American here... I am familiar with the concept of portaireacht having a name but that's not improvised, those are exact lyrics. Good example being the non-words in "rare auld mountain dew"

Same here I’m Irish and I thought it was as universal as humming, watched this whole video in disbelief

In America we call this jack blacking it

@@lucasorourke8759 Greatest song in the world! this is a ttribuuuuuttte!

One step up from humming.

amen

Well actually it's for when there is no words and you can't afford an instrument

This made me tear up man. What a beautiful and absolutely correct comment. This music doesn't really require a language at all, so even during times where our language was banned, we could still sing and dance to our hearts content. The Irish spirit truly never dies. Éirinn go Brách 💚🤍🧡

How lucky to have a Dad like that.

I'm so sorry for your loss, he sounds like a wonderful father.

As a child, I had the same experience with my dad who was from Co. Mayo. I was born in Mayo too but brought up in England from the age of four. Never knew there was an actual name for this.

What a dad! Hope you’re free of pain now ?

My dad always lilting when I was kid.

I'm an Irish drummer and feel the same way. Seeing a foreigner take an interest in what is the norm for us was interesting. Until I could afford my first drum, I pounded out rhythms on anything that came into my hands. Do you think Americans would be horrified if they knew how young we start playing as musicians in pubs? Should we even tell them? I'd like to see a video on that LOL.

I play keyboard/piano and lilting is also useful when you're thinking of a song but cant remember the name. 😆

This is very weird

@@THEED123 Youre weird.

@@RayPoo122 great comment bro

1 year on I am reading your comment, in a bar in ireland new years eve have good one

@@frankdunne2401 It is not New Year's Eve. It is Christmas Eve.

@@dashroodle9507 Bloody scientists ! Born on Wednesday, the lot of em ..

@@peregrinegrace8570 hahaha. What are you talking about?

You won't hear anyone under 70 yo lilting in Ireland, especially in the cities. They are too busy trying to be anything but what brings in the international tourists. You'll have to visit the Irish-speaking areas (Gaeltacht) before the decade is over. They are bleeding young people who don't want to live like that.

Sharpwit !

Well spotted bud and the weird thing is they say that it's the Sampsons that have Irish ancestry but all along it's been ole Ned diddly Flanders.......diddly

Stupid sexy Flanders..

Neddy 'o Flanders

I thought about Ned Flanders and how he is all about this lifestyle. This is the basis of who he is as a character.

Or take traditional hindustani Tintal tabla music: Use "bol"s (kind of like lilts, explicitly as mnemonics for the rhytm) to define the "theka", then play it... Here Ustad Zakir Hussain, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZtRPB8xHP8M.html --- both scat and tintal is predominantly improvised, as opposed to typical irish 'ditties'.

I’m pretty sure Lilting predates scatting. Just like Irish step dancing predates tap dancing.

@@irishgrl Sure, that would be my guess as well

I was thinking the same thing

@@irishgrl American Clog dancing is derived from Irish step dancing. Tap dancing is derived from clog dancing. Yodeling is very close to lilting. I would think that most cultures have some form of this “instrument-like” singlng.

My friend told me this about playing the guitar long ago, too. He said you have to be able to do it vocally first. Otherwise, it is just button mashing strings.

The word for the spoken sounds in Indian music is bols, which is plural of bol referring to the individual sounds. It's incredible watching people play the Tabla.

Probaly the same with folk music everywhere in this world.

@@iagobroxado: Probably the same in every pub and parlour where people get a wee bit too drunk, lol.

I think the Gypsy people in Southern Spain have something of this taking part tradition, They travelled across Europe from East to West, through many cultures that have a Celt/Gael root. They also clap, bang the table, etc as well.. Not to forget the link of intricate and fast footwork dancing.

@@flamencoprof Probably not coincidence given the fact that the modern Irish ethnic majority is originally from Spain

Same goes for Swedish folk music. The musicians may be playing, but the listeners are encouraged to clap, stomp, holler and sing along

Yes, the ‘mouth music’ or ‘diddlee diddlee dum’ stuff is definitely not common humming as some seemed confused at that. Another confusion is not to see that the Irish guys are doing the notes &/or the tune, & not just humming it in a bland monsyaballic way. Humming may be used in it though. A unique version of oral music known in different forms thruout the world. The Lilting is imitating musical instruments and also sounding out the tune, using the refrains called by my Irish family ‘diddly diddlee dum’. The meaning of which has been lost to us in the distant Gaelic past. But many of the refrains in insular folk music that seem like nonsense are also old Irish, Brythonic, German, Gaelic phrases usually I believe, referring to the Deity(the sound ‘day’ or ‘dee’) in one form or another. My parents were from Ireland, my mother born speaking Irish, learning English in school. I grew up with many Irish aunts and uncles and this ‘mouth music’ was as common as coughing among us. My Irish twin brother (+18mos) and I took their palavering and lilting & gift of the gabbing & made up our own pig-pidgin-speak that was a combination of what we thought was Irish, English, Latin, French, Diddly, etc., & communicate to each as a goof in front of friends. Most of our friends thought it was Irish Gaelic & we never said it wasn’t. Funny but Joe & I knew exactly what we were saying to each other in our crazy patois that would contain paragraphs and repeated phrases, some of which always appeared when we did it. Like we were channeling our decd ancestors, lol. And we usta do impromptu duos of the diddly diddly variety not having a clue it was an ancient art form, lol. I usta sing and play in bands, mostly hand drums, got good with the Irish Bodhran, and at certain times, when playing Celtic music, & the lyrics were temporarily misplaced I’d do a diddly diddly refrain & as long as I didn’t act like I forgot, nobody knew I did. But, but, I just never put 2 + 2 together until your video Oscopo, that this what you call ‘lilting’ could be considered in itself as a musical form. Shite, those two brothers are almost as good as me and Joe, lol. Thanks for the lightbulb, duh.

Yes, mine also. I grew up listening to him do this. Sometimes he would do it under his breath. He would also whistle. He was good at it...

@@michael7324 Haha my dad couldn't whistle well but he did like to bang out tunes on anything he was holding!

diddling?

My old man did the same , Always singing when happy and now I know Lilting. He was from Portumna born 1930, He was a hard man from a different time set in his ways. Did not like Elvis or rock n roll . It was all Baloney or I would'nt give you Tuppence for it . Always telling stories of back home and the state of Ireland these days.

You're blessed with good genes and beautiful.

@@Dman3827 incel moment

@@Dman3827 Leave young girls alone, lmao. You're like 30 years old.

based and whitepilled

It was used long long ago in Ireland during penal times when Irish music,, dance, language and religion was banned by the British....Over the years it was used at house dances in Ireland when there was no musician present to play for the dancers. All these customs have only become popular since we acquired our independence from Britain.

I grew up hearing this and thought they were singing in a very repetitive other language🤣 loved it tho

Yes! That's the first song I thought of!

Accurate

so about half an hour in then?

"Boil the Breakfast Early" was the first Chieftain's album I bought. I wasn't into the music but heard it on a trip to the record store and bought it blind. Best 'waste of money' ever! Since then 'what a long strange trip it's been'!

Locally-sourced, scratch-made, artisinal, small-batch, craft content.

Praise the algorithm!

The fact that there are still Human beings on RU-vid comes as a great surprise to me as well, tbh

We will watch your career with great interest.

Can we appreciate the fact that this comment was produced by someone with less than 1k subscribers whose previous comment probably has less than 20 likes.

I didn't realise that was of irish origin, considering how common it is in the english lexicon. For instance, calling someone a "sour puss." It does seem to be somewhat archaic in the US, however.

„Puss“ means kiss in Swedish 💋

I've heard "one in the puss" being used to describe being hit in the mouth by someone. It's definitely a rural or regional thing.

People saying "don't be a sour puss" when someone is frowning makes so much more sense now!

I am Slovak and we use this slang term for both mouth and kiss: "pusa". So I instinctively guessed the puss right. Edit: when I think of it, we probably borrowed it from Austrian German

Thank you, too many people aren't understanding this

Came here to say this!

Yep, basically like when we yell "Holy Shit!" in English.

What about builelú/puilelú - the next one?

You have something similar in English music, e.g. the word folderol, which Google tells me means 'trivial or nonsensical fuss', but which is often used among non-lexical sounds like 'folderol diddle-aye ay'. I guess it's sort of a mid-point between diddling and... song-ing?

I just tried it. It's fun

@@TheNationalfilmbored me too. 🤣

Huh... would you look at that

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tlPT1ybDzFQ.html It actually also fits some german carnival songs nicely. Improves them a lot, actually.

That's brilliant lol!

Whiskey Galore has a wonderful scene on the Isle of Barra.

Port a' bhéil means the same thing in Irish Gaelic, although the tunes usually have lyrics with lilting just replacing a chorus.

Puirt a beul actually has true words rather than vocables - brochan lom, and cailleach liath ratharsay would be examples

Yes!! Canntaireachd I learned by ear better than by sheet music.

Made this same connection while watching, thanks for these comments!

Any sca boy?

🕶️

Clear !

Idk if blessed is the word I'd use

Diddly do, it's a thing. Who knew 🤔

any time i was caught with resting b*tch face my mother would say “look at the puss on you”

In Celtic nations the mouth is still sometimes referred to as a puss. Getting rejected by a woman can sometimes be called getting a "slap in the puss".

@@AutisticWombot my dad, yrs ago, called one our neighbours a pus dóite, ( burnt mouth) due to the lad having a 🚬 , plus he didn't like him at all

The idea that anyone would immediately think "puss" in this context would have anything to do with "pussy" is sadly hilarious. The pornification of the world is complete. Hahaha.

I know some old timers who still use the word puss for basically everything lol

I wish I had more for you to watch

@@Oscopo that's okay. I luv u ❤

Beautiful

Every day? Really

Yes, I guess superior qualities of music are "impurities" lol.

@@NellieKAdaba Beautiful?...try working all day with him...

American of Irish decent here. I lilt nearly every day myself. But, I think anyone who listens to Irish folk music can't help it. I mean, can you even listen to Makem and the Clancy Brothers and not sing along?

Aw RIP this is precious

@@playingforghosts what's wrong with the original comment?

Brilliant song

Her live performance of Dreams at Woodstock is unreal, really shows the band at their peak

@@standarduck5860 what u mean? I said aww this is precious, RIP, to Dolores, my queen

La fameuse turlutte

Moi ca me rappelle la cabane a sucre haha! Tpujours quelqun qui "chante" vomme ca avec des cuillères en acompagnement!!!

One thing that gets misunderstood in the modern world is culture and spirit. Music and singing at one point was as much a part of a person's character as political voting is today. People would have been defined by it. Today very little music has real culture and is nothing more than a series of preprogrammed computer sounds. Music of those era's would have had the same significance as a person name would have today and it was closely connected with a person's family and heritage. One of the most beautiful things about the likes of Irish lilting is the fact it is being creative in the spur of the moment rather than something that is more structured. Today people outsource everything from their personality to their understanding of the world.

@@bighands69 I don`t know about the rest of the world but here in Ireland music and singing is Still as much a part of a persons character and heritage just as it always was

@@DocRockBabyAbsolutely..It is an integral part of who we are. It defines us as a people and as a culture

@@ItsmeeSaoirse Thanks for your reply 😊 good to know I'm not the only one who thinks this 😊 peace and love to you Sister ✌️❤️

@@bighands69 what?

Yup I’ve taught many a newbie flautist the articulation pattern by singing through a piece “bum ba-da-dum, bum ba-da-dum, bum, bum, bum, ba-da-da-da-dum,” Or better yet all us flautists when we started practicing double tounging, muttering “tho-khoo tho-khoo tho-khoo” as fast and as long as we can under our breath to build that muscle memory.

There is a strong Irish influence in American country music from the Irish immigrants in Appalachia

Goede diddley-dag from the Netherlands!

I'm getting obtuse here, but there actually a strong Celtic prescence in spain.

@@craigtrautmanjr9393 And vice versa in the Black Irish. Those that helped the marooned Spanish Armada. Which, coincidentally, is one of the MANY theories for the name Gallagher (O'Gallabher, sounds like Gulliver) "the foreign helpers" or "foreigner friend."

🍀🍀🍀

I'm speechless. Thankyou so much for sharing this info. Blessings to the ancestors who kept the music alive.

@@tothelighthouse9843 in Ulster interestingly many tunes were kept alive by Protestant fiddlers, which I was touched to learn.

Theres no evidence that Irish music was stopped by the penal laws, if anything it was hindered more by the Church in the public dance halls act in the 1930s. Just look at the work of Canon Goodman/George Petrie in the 19th Century, or the landed gentry who took up the instruments and promoted the music during this time

@@sionrouse The argument was not to establish the relative causal agency of different contributing factors which may have hindered the expression of the music. The point made above highlighted one systematic legislative attempt to subjugate a form of artistic expression. And, yes it is self-evident that the music 'was[n’t]stopped' - it continues today in its current incarnation. However, the penal laws as a definite legal attempt to outlaw and end that music is well documented - see N. Canny: Kingdom and Colony … or Brady & Gillespie: Natives and Newcomers - essays on the making of Irish colonial society. The efforts of the Goodman, Petrie or Bunting etc and the landed gentry etc, though laudable, were the efforts of men who were a miniscule minority among their own religious/politico/cultural stripe (that does not mean that we should overlook or discount the significant contribution of these few men - their religious/politico/cultural stripe afforded them power among a largely dispossessed and oppressed population - and they used it in their commendable service of the music).However, the main historical thrust of the landed gentry and COI at the time was to prioritise, promote and secure its own privileges at the expense of other cultural groups/denominations etc. It would be a gross misconstruing of history to overemphasise either COI and ‘landed gentry’ input or for that matter, the effects of the 1935 Public Dance Hall Act. McCullagh’s De Valera Vol. 2 details how the act was to counter the supposed threat of ‘foreign’ music and dance (read jazz and specifically swing) - this was primarily a function of De Valera’s naive preoccupation with preserving the supposedly innate ‘homely goodness’ of young Irish ‘comely maidens’ who might be wrong footed on a dancefloor. This law was an act of state (the Oireachtas, not the church, as you indicate), designed to undergird sexual mores - of course their was no real separation of church and state for Dev - quite the opposite & in fairness the act did hinder trad music - but it was collateral damage, something qualitatively different to the up-front attack on the music that characterised the penal laws.

See “Gone With the Wind” Miss Scarlett.

Same lmao we just go “dee dydelly dydelly dydelly dydelly dydelly dydelly dum” whenever someone does a jig or dances it’s so funny

Nice

I was going to say the same about Irish dance. I always liked it when my teachers would lilt the steps.

idk, too me it really doesnt seem all that different from humming or any other non word mouth sounds to a tune. seems pretty universal.

The show of riverdance had it during one of their reels. It doesn't seem to be in the show as it is now, but when they originally had it on tv/video, it's there. Can't quite remember the particular song, but... yeah. It's the one where the young lads come out with the bodhran drums and sing while the girls dance. Looked it up, and it's Oscail an Doras (hopefully I spelled it correctly...).

I love Welcome to the Caberet, I think Live at the Point is one of the greatest live albums of all time.

That's because its true. Every culture has this.

In south India we don't have this

Rex, isn't singing ragas with the swaras of carnatic music similar to singing non-word vocals tho?

@@mesientogut6701 it is gamakas , it's just fast pace of notes without breaking the raga. Ex : ni re ga , ni ma ma ga , ma re ga , ni dha sa (gamakas or saragam taans of raga yaman ) You can do it with just aakaar (which is uncommon in carnatic and very common in Hindustani )

@@coolfix948 I went to the cricket qt chinaswammy stadium once to see aus vs india was in the gilchrist and sachin times. These local girls were chanting Ka kanna kanatakataa ooh ah ooh ah That was 2004 when I was backpacking india and never have forgotten that chant

Yeah it’s really weird that this guy is acting like that doesn’t happen everywhere.

With a happy yodel in Germany.

@@StarlasAiko exactly, or an Appalachian yodel. Or for that matter people beat boxing. Probably every human who ever lived has hummed

Reminds me of ‘scatting’, which is what you usually do if you’re a musician that adds vocals after the instrumentals.

In taiko it is called “kuchi showa” or “kuchishoka” or “kuchishoga”

"Diddling." Now I can't get the idea of Jared Fogle being a prolific "diddler" out of my head.

Diddlekid is here.

"Ça va venir pis ça va venir mais décourageons-nous pas! Moé j'ai toujours le cœur gai pis j'continue à turlutter ba dum da diddly di da dum da di du dum da da diddly di da diddly di da dum da di da diddly dé du dum!"

I’m Canadian (from Toronto) and had no idea this was a thing. One more reason to go east and visit the beautiful province!!

My father's mother was a Travers from County Wexford. We used to go down every year for the "Pattern", the blessing of the graves. We'd gather in a cousin's house and have a music session. Fiddle, accordion, spoons, etc.

They copied this for the recent soccer world cup anthem.

Wow! Similar forces led to enslaved Africans in the Americas inventing the drum set because traditional drums were banned.

mad I never heard that before. Thanks for sharing

Source? Because it sounds a little ridiculous. Begorrah! No one can can hear us if we stand in a small circle, and sure, don't we need someone to dance, so we are able to sing? Lol. Edit: And don't move your arms, or they'll know you're dancing!! Truly, I think you just made this up.

he banned christmas mate, ireland wasnt getting special treatment, count your chickens cromwell wasnt a king from europe or the middle east from the same time period by the standards of the day what he done wasnt that bad, ps i like the way you left out what happend in 1641 that got cromwells back up

@@whitetroutchannel "what he done wasnt that bad" cromwells invasion and genocide in ireland saw almost 40% of its pre war population slaughtered

My father used to call an ill-humoured person a sour-puss.

my parents still use is, and I always find it slightly uncomfortable haha

A slap in the puss.

My Dad (Italian-American, WW-II vet, from NJ) would say "shut yer puss" to mean shut up.

I learn Beal was mouth in Gaeilge as in "Binn Beal Ina thost." which means sweet sounds the mouth in silence. My teacher spoken Dongal dialect.

yooo some1 find this

Yee

Oh my goodness, Freckles! I remember those days too! By the way, I'm covered in freckles lol.

Reminds me of a Puerto Rican form called Bomba where you tell a story in rhyme and by the end have to roast the person next to you.

Limericks?

I greatly appreciate the comment and the anecdote

PristinePerceptions Just checked it out. Immediately felt hungry.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--CH2Ngll-xk.html

That's how it is in all cultures. From the 1600's with violins, the 1920 had singers and trumpets emulating each other, then blues with guitars, etc.

like a lot of 80s-early 90s hip hop vocals imitated drum machines of the time

Maybe that explains why some people (like me) just can't dance .... if you don't start to learn at 6 months of age, that's it, you're done!!!!

My Hungarian grandma did it with a raw chicken on the counter while lilting Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. It was hilarious.

@@andrewg.carvill4596 same with fluent gibberish

What a lovely comment, I'm glad you enjoyed the video! You should check out some of the other comments people have left if you want to hear anecdotes about how others use lilting!

@@Oscopo Thank you!

Ggl ReallySucks She could be first generation for all you know.

@@gglreallysucks5512 lad shut up, your the obnoxious one here creating problems when there are none. U do realise that we also pollute the ocean and air, it’s not just Americans so stop running your mouth. And finally she could’ve been born in Ireland or had Irish parents so that would make her Irish-American.

@@gglreallysucks5512 if you must know back in the early 1900s many immigrant communities lived in enclaves. She was born in America to 2 direct Irish immigrants and didn’t meet a person who wasn’t 100% Irish until she went to high school. She grew up in an Irish American community.

@@gglreallysucks5512 lad dont be a knob. Irish American is perfectly fine. Its the perfect description for someone who wishes to describe their heritage whilst not laying claim to it as a native. Go touch some grass

True. In sweden we mostly go tralalala, falleralla, fallerallerej. What is it in yalls countries??

oh and for finnish version, listen to levan polkka

no, not the world. but specific groups of the world, yes. the world does not all engage this. what confident response you give in such ignorance my friend

@@mee6703 im pretty sure every human being has at some point hummed a melody

@@audhumbla6927 this video is not about humming a melody, you know this. do not be purposefully obtuse

Kinda like an beat boxing then

@@asawhite6817 sort of yes, same idea and principles

Unfortunately I'm not blessed to be irish about the only thing I know of similar to this would be yodeling lol. From a few movies and some singers like Dolly Parton and Jewel lol. Movies would be Another You with Gene Wilder and the sound of music lol

But oddly enough when I'm working or cleaning and bored of it I'll do both randomly just to cheer me up and keep me motivated.

Every culture does this, it’s not an Irish exclusive. Whether it’s humming or just none-sense, you don’t need to be Irish to understand it, all people do it.

Just tried this and laughed my ass off!

I find the theme from GoT extremely compelling. Once I catch a bit of it, I must keep my attention on it until it finishes. It’s an amazing piece of music!

That's not the meaning I know for "turlutte" in French, I have to say.

@@ulrar If you refer to France French of course it has a WHOLE different meaning. Let say it's a "mouth full". I Canadian French it's exactly meaning Lilting.

If by "traditional," you mean: every human being who at some time or another has sung out the tune of a song without words, then, yeah . . . "traditional."

@@Padraigcoelfir yeah I'm French. Had no idea it had a different meaning in Canada, that is good to know.

@@ulrar if you ever come to Canada (especially Quebec) our French will sound completely different from y’all’s

@Nicholas Payne oh lord

@Nicholas Paynesame thing with beat boxing 😂

Each and every aspect of Irish culture is "because the British ... " ... apparently.

@@hilariousname6826 Why are you trolling Irish-related RU-vid content? ANOTHER Brit with issues??? 🤣

@@hilariousname6826 that's exactly how history works. Cause and effect.

Lilting in Irish culture goes back much further than the period of Penal law in ireland.

@@bighands69 Yes, and I'm sure it existed in many other cultures also as a substitute for the sound of musical instruments and as a rhythmic device. The psychopathic Penal Laws would have made it pretty routine though.

The "lilting" in Quebec probably comes from Breton singing rather than Irish.

@@AlexRodallec Not impossible, I'm no folklore expert, that was just my uneducated guess.

Thank you for sharing the sweet story of your Grandmother. May you feel her presence in every note of every tune.

@@GeorgiaGeorgette Thanks for your kind words. Those tunes, many of which I have learned to play still bring me great joy. All the best to you.

@@bustabloodvessel5327 I'm truly glad that she lives on through you in the music she loved. If you have any videos on your channel of you playing those tunes I would very much like to hear them, but either way, keep playing and enjoying them. Very best wishes to you.

Nuair a bhí mé óg (níos óige ar an nós), bhí seisiún againn i dteach mó mamó. Bhí mó dado an mhaith ag...liltáil? 😂😂 Tá brón orm, níl fhois agam céard atá an Gaeilge ar "lilting".

Its to be expected as they're decendents of Irish immigrants

​@@user-ly3li3ex8c Scots-Irish and Ulstier Scots.

@@barrettwissell9708 yep exactly

I actually had this in my script originally but I cut it out because I couldn’t find any evidence for it, if you can find something that would be great!

@@Oscopo It sounds similar to the old myth that Irish dancing doesn't use arms to hide from the English. It doesn't make much sense.

@@qwertyTRiG Catholic church services (incl. church music obviously) was banned. Education of Catholics and school attendance was banned. Sending Catholic children abroad for education was banned. The effects of such laws are pretty obvious and the consequences make absolute sense. Logically, the enforcement of these laws by the British administration would minimise attainment of musical instrument skills among the general Catholic population. Therefore lilting was the alternative expression of innate desire for musical communication. A list of the main Penal laws is easily obtainable via search engines or library, if you don't believe this true.

Or Whisky in the Jar

The feeling is mutual.

You're saying French mouth music come about because of an hatred of the English? Many Irish were part of the Empire and helped build it, Irish generals in the army and Captains in the navy, Dublin raised a nelsons column by subscription.

Hated? Québécois still hate the Queen! Quebec music is Celtic based. I lived in northeastern Vermont and would go there often.

@@tomcurran1538 Why do they hate the Queen? what's Celtic music?

Author doesn't care, selectively hearts comments which tell him how good he is, doesn't look at any comments which show that actually mouth music is not that strange at all and found common place around the world.

Or if you can't afford to buy and upkeep an instrument.

Yeah ... my dad used to diddle old radio hits - he would have played them on the sax, but he was afraid the British would kill him if he did. Or maybe he was afraid the neighbours would ......

@@hilariousname6826 List the Penal Laws for us, Brit troll. List them, psycho. 🤣

@@hilariousname6826 No. You're right. The British didn't invade and occupy a quarter of the planet, they didn't ever attempt genocides, and they definitely didn't try to force their ghastly "culture" on anyone. The empire was just a very elaborate way of delivering cookies and blankets to less fortunate countries.