Learning a song solely from listening to another human sing it in person takes a fair amount of time, I'm sure. What made "pure" oral transmission possible was repetition: Fred would sing his three songs every Friday at the public house, or over the course of a three-month sea voyage every sailor learned Ginger's version of Haul Away Joe.

Nowadays, we get our repetition from electronic media. How many of us get the chance to hear a live singer sing the same song often enough that we can memorize it? Let's loosen up a little on rules, and focus on sharing wonderful songs.

Jerry