GUEST,Walkaboutsverse - I'm not certain on this issue...but singing around the piano is, of course, a strong tradition in itself. .......singing Christmas carols around .....piano is always enjoyable.

As I have posted in the past, as a youngster I used to join my family standing around the (front room) piano singing whilst my mother played. She played everything from folk (raggle taggle etc),country (ghost riders) music hall & classical. Christmas time she was always in demand for carol concerts.
From this I gained my love of music & learnt a lot of songs which I now sing in local clubs. This is the only 'oral tradition' I can believe in therefore to me it is folk.
My father played banjo-mandolin & joined my mother in playing scottish dance tunes. Very popular at dances etc. in the 40's & 50's.

I love guitar but realise this is a relative newcomer to 'home grown' music.