I believe that we are also not use to hearing live singing so much anymore. We don't have church as a staple Sunday activity; people around us rely on recorded music at best - singing along- and somebody singing a folk song is a rare thing. It is the acoustic-ness of singing which helps us feel it is readily accessible to us. i was a head of music for a few years before re-training as a singer at a conservatoire, and I was always singing the pupils - and i recall a wonderful moment when I was approached by three, what would now be year 11 boys who asked me if they could sing something together - a carol- for the forthcoming Christmas carol concert - their last. I was amazed but delighted and these were "popular" lads. They had the guts to decide it was something they wanted to do - but i had managed to build up the music in that school so that singing was a matter of course. i used to get up - rather like Gareth Malone did on his choir prograames and just sing to the assembled kids. yes they laughed - but i didn't - and they accepted it. we all play to our strengths and I am not advocang everybody does that! However, these days I am shocked as I do training days around universities to discover that music teachers do not now get instrumental lessons as part of their course - so their expertise is up to them to fund and indeed find. So there is no provision for developing their confidence beyond their age of 18. perhaps Music Manifesto should look at that?