Actually, this thread and Roud have been 'empowering', because, if truly traditional music was unaccompanied, then I don't need to feel that when I wince when a melodeon player hits a chord with the left hand buttons that to my ears clashes with the melody being played with the right hand buttons (and the chords on the instruments don't seem to have been chosen with the full range of modes in mind) this wince merely demonstrates my ignorant lack of enjoyment of 'the tradition', though on one level there is a tradition of sorts as I've heard it done often enough. And my ignorance of the tradition is, of course, amply evidenced generally. :)