What? Are you MAD? Suggesting that folk music needs for some reason to be kept 'real' by being learned completely informally? Not so long ago there was a real danger of traditional music from the British Isles effectively dying outside C# House. Go to any session in this country, you will probably be playing with middle aged men- probably no-one young, no-one female. Anything which brings the tradition forward is to be welcomed, and to have a good number of YOUNG PEOPLE - YES, YOUNG PEOPLE IN THEIR TEENS AND EARLY TWENTIES - playing and showing virtuosity and dedication is the best possible hope for the music we love existing far into the 21st century. Don't put up daft arguments about not needing degrees to play well, fall on your knees and thank your God that the course exists. And if you ever get to play with these young folk, you will find out how good they are! Here endeth....