Oops, the last three "Guest" comments were from me. I had to reset my cookies for some reason.

It would probably not be too difficult to show that many more young people are playing traditional music in certain parts of the UK than they were forty or fifty years. In Scotland, especially.

More of them have received some form of tuition whether it be on formal courses or having been mentored by more experienced musicians. While there have always been teachers, it used to be much more common to be self taught as far as most "folkie music" was concerned. Less so on the fiddle and accordion or piping circles, I agree.

I can see for myself that there are a lot of musicians out there who have reached a very high standard. Whether they are as good, better, ground breaking or as innovative as previous generations is another matter.