"Isee no reason why qualified singing teachers should not teach aspects of singing, such as breath control or good technique."
You don't actually need to be a singing teacher to teach breath control or relaxation
Technique is a different matter.
The uniqueness of Folk song is that is is based on the speaking voice, using natural speech patterns
I've lost count of the number of times we were told by the older singers. "sing as you speak"
Listen to the best of traditional singers and that is exactly what they do (barring breathing difficulties, of course)
Folk technique is based on open tonal singing - "the clean, uncluttered sound of folk".
I can't say I could sit through an entire opera, but I love most operatic voices - as pieces of music rather than the communication of narrative and ideas.
I believe it is difficult enough to find someone from the Folk world cpable of teaching without raising some of the problems I mentioned earlier - ship in an outsider and you multiply those problems tenfold.
I have heard the 'natural, pure' voice describes as "ugly" by classical singers, yet that is the basis of our folk styles.
I am totally convinced that, given co-operation and readiness to accept analytical criticism, we are quite capable of being our own critics and our own teachers.
Jim Carroll