I don't understand the point of this thread.

I do not read music--except with the greatest of difficulty. That thanks to an introductory course I took at university--and elective that I figured would increase my GPA at the time. I have always played by ear, and listening to a song twice will give me the chords and melody (some exceptions do apply). If a chord beats me I call someone and ask.

I never found folk people to be stodgy or offended that I sang stuff I'd written (folk/rock influenced), songs I liked by other writers or arrangements of some traditional material. Equally, while I couldn't take a steady diet of traditional folk, neither could I take a steady diet of anything else, either.

I am aware that Malvina Reynolds "Little Boxes" addressed urban sprawl and mass-produced houses, but it might remind us that we just LOVE to put things in boxes. I agree with what Martin Gibson said above.