Think I agree with you Kev. Bad habits (especially when one has been hampered by them for twenty years are HELL to unlearn. But then we'd get into the discussion of what are "bad" habits and what are "alternative" habits. The ambiguity is one of the things that keep me interested.

Question: If you were teaching a city person how to play a Quebequois fiddle tune, and there was an "extra" beat, would you ask them to "straighten it out" or learn it "as is".....knowing that if they played that tune in it's original way, many musicians would simply think that they had bad timing.

Dunno what I'd do, other than to explain it and give them the option. I really respect the tradition, but personally find it hard not to follow "my" tradition, which would be to put 4 beats in a bar.

Rick