“Now, if you don’t know me, my name is Will, and I have no musical talent at all.”
We’ve all been encouraged to take lockdown as an opportunity to try a new hobby or learn a new skill. Will Lenney has already gotten creative in quarantine by getting every content creator in his phone to sing All Star by Smash Mouth without realising, but his latest video may be his most ambitious and inspiring yet.
In the video, Will takes us on a journey of epic proportions through some of our favourite musical memes, from Crab Rave to Megalovania – learnt on various instruments all in 24 hours. It’s an impressive undertaking made even more impressive by his friend Ciarán Carlin’s editing, a heroic tale of highs and lows involving a lot of ‘easy’ piano tutorials and a plastic recorder.
Will introduces himself by admitting that he has “no musical talent at all”, listing off the instruments he can’t play and showing a hostility to the ukulele that would make any dodie fan weep. He then uses the power of editing to magic himself a keyboard, seemingly taking to it like a “fish to water” – “this piano nonsense was child’s play to a talent like me.” The footage of him struggling to find ‘C’ straight after begs to differ.
After an inspiring Britain’s Got Talent dream sequence, Will seems to have got the hang of the Coffin Dance and switches it up to guitar with the socially-distanced help of his friend and fellow YouTuber James Marriott – or intends to, until he fumbles the catch and the guitar smashes to pieces. Time to turn instead to “every Year 4 teacher’s worst nightmare” – the recorder. “For anyone who’s ever wanted to see up my nostrils in 4K, this is for you,” he jokes.
Trying to learn the Mii theme is somewhat of a low point for Will, who orders a violin after getting sick of his keyboard. Sadly, this doesn’t help him on his quest – “I remembered I didn’t go to a private school and it was no use to me.” He even warns that day 5 was a “bit of a low”, as he has a minor breakdown over not being able to stretch his hands to reach all the keys. Those of us who are musically inclined here at TenEighty HQ can strongly empathise.
On the last day, Will gives us an epic time-lapse of the last four hours of the challenge as we eagerly await his final performance with bated breath. He proudly shows us his rendition of Crab Rave and pledges that if the video hits 100,000 likes – which it already has – he will “go out and perform all of these in public”. We can’t wait to see this video’s epic sequel.
What happens next is a masterfully edited – and surprisingly well-played – medley of some meme greatest hits, in which Will is transformed from a Mii to Sans, to Shrek. It’s an overwhelming success, and we can’t help but feel proud of his dedication like parents at a school recital.
Okay, it may not be every single meme song ever. But seeing as all of Will’s hard work paid off so spectacularly, we’re not going to give him a hard time. In fact, we’re dusting off our old recorders as we speak to give it a go ourselves!
Want More?
Lucy Moon recently shared some realisations she’s had whilst in lockdown. Alternatively, you could read about what happened when Molly Thompson drank three litres of water a day for three weeks.
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