Originally Posted by: JeffS65He selected very few students to teachand his lessons were less on technique and deep theory and more about understanding how to connect yourself to the instrument and how to communicate to others.[/quote]

This is an separate issue that I didn't cover: the role of emotion in performing the music. Interesting stuff & a very difficult subject to articulate!

I've seen obvious cases when some musician (amateur & pro) just isn't into whatever they are playing and it shows. But I've seen players do amazing things, create a big emotional response in their listeners, only to find out the musician was actually struggling with the performance, or not enjoying, not feeling the emotion they were evoking in listeners.

Part of that is just being a pro, getting on with it regardless of what kind of day you are having. The show must go on!

It's tricky to put yourself in the position of automatically calling up the "correct emotion" that matches the song when the song comes up in the pre-arranged set list. Night after night.

And I've seen plenty of performers that were certainly "feeling it", but not really playing that well. :)[br]

Originally Posted by: JeffS65We all have the same access to the notes on the fretboard. Whydoes Derek Trucks bring such a sweet intensity to his slide? Why does Eric Johnson's melody uplift. What does Tony Iommi's dark riffage bring that heaviness?

[p]Good questions! The desire to play slide sweetly, or play an uplifting melody, or play a dark, heavy riff is only an unfulfilled desire until you put the work in to make it real.

Lots of people want to (or say they want to) accomplish some musical or creative ideal or goal. But whatever the initial desire to create an emotional reaction, it takes a lot of focused effort & work to get an effective original end result.

And there's no guarantee that it will be effective even if you put in the work!

[quote=JeffS65]A player has to connect to what they're playing to bring that emotion. Even studio guys like Tim Pierce can do that quickly by knowing the channels of feeling that inspire them.

Sometimes I wonder how much of what a musician does in this respect resembles what an actor does when playing a role.

I love to play blues. But I'm rarely if ever sad or depressed, etc. I certainly don't wait until I feel blue to play blues. :) I know what notes, chords & timbres & techniques can evoke that sound. And if I waited until I was experiencing a certain emotion to attempt to capture it in music I'd never get anything musical done.

Interesting conversation, Jeff! Thanks!