I've never been in a university music program, but I've gotten lessons from various people who have, including the director of my college early music group, so

I've never been in a university music program, but I've gotten lessons from various people who have, including the director of my college early music group, so I've been introduced to and have implemented quite a bit of that kind of practice. For traditional music, you need to add variation by rhythmic emphasis as well. Just because something is called a "hornpipe" or a "fling," this doesn't entirely specify the rhythm, beyond the time signature that has been most often used to notate that particular kind of dance. (And it doesn't always even get you that far, actually.) The first note is probably emphasized by giving it a bit more time to varying degrees, and there might be other subtle changes to give it more or less or a different feeling of "swing." To be a very good traditional musician, one needs to listen to and adapt to these changes/variations.