Classical musicians are usually performing much longer and more complex pieces, perhaps in a foreign language. These hardly compare with singing in a folk club.

There is certainly a place for song circles where novice and unconfident singers can go to perform to a sympathetic and tolerante audience. However I go to a folk club hoping to be entertained, not to participate in a self-help group. The problem is that such clubs often don't make it clear that is their purpose. Furthermore the practice has spread into mainstream folk clubs, where floorsingers may be appearing alongside professional and semi-professional performers. That is really no place to be stuttering through a song you barely know.

In the world of instrumental sessions (where I now spend more of my time, having been driven away from many folk song clubs by declining standards), there are "slow sessions" aimed at people without the skills to play in full-fat sessions, either because they rely on reading music or lack the technique to play at full speed. For some these are a place to develop the skills to enable them to move on to proper sessions, but many do not and are happy to play at that level. The point is, these are advertised as slow sessions and everyone knows what to expect. Perhaps if song circles and folk clubs which accept this were more up-front about their policies this issue would be less controversial.

Again, let me emphasise that my concern is for performance standards, and my objection to the use of books is where it affects those, which unfortunately is more often than not.