For the purpose of arguement, I'll say that there is no such thing as the "folk process"--that you as an individual can only play a melody as you know it, and in that process, embelish it, simplify it, or use it a reference to create something new.

Over time, you can look at the way different people have added or changed things, but you have to remember that people make their changes at a given moment in time, of their own will--