Re: Coffeehouse Guitar vs street-busker

[phaslem@wightman.ca]

I'm not really picking on any particular style of playing, technique or 
artistic
merit here.... I've observed players and audiences for a lot years. 
Some have a
great ability to reach an audience far beyond what I can subjectively 
explain.
People who can pull you into their vision weather you're a fan or not.... 
I'm
probably not explaining myself very well.
I agree my connection is affected by my own emotional, mental and 
physical state
of being, but what about those times when you hear something that 
totally grabs
you, unexpected?

Paul





Quoting Krispen Hartung <khartung@cableone.net>:

>
> There was a time when I would have vehemently and completely agreed 
> with you above, but my thinking has changed and softened up.  I 
> believe the idea of having soul in your playing, being moved by music 
> and having notes grab you, is an entirely subjective and relative 
> notion.   A piece of music can be emotionally provocative or stirring 
> for one person, but sterile and unmoving to another based on their 
> individual and unique emotional makeups. Therefore, I believe making 
> blanket statements about certain types of music and playing 
> approaches in regard to their artist merit and emotional impact are 
> essentially vacuous and illegitimate.  If you can find me one style 
> of music or approach to playing that is as you say above to ALL 
> listeners, then I would consider your point valid and proven....good 
> luck with that, however. ;)  It is very difficult to find or 
> legitimize universal or generalized value statements in art. Many 
> try, but end up betraying themselves in the long run for doing so.  I 
> don't mean to come across as harsh or pedantic here, but statements 
> about the artistic or emotional impact of music do need to be 
> translated and qualified as personal and subjective sentiment, and 
> not factual statements that denote actual characteristics of art.  In 
> my opinion, there is no such thing as a factual value statement about 
> a piece of art, only factual statements that describe measureable or 
> empirically observalbe characteristics of the art. Everything else I 
> feel falls into the personal feeling category, which is more telling 
> of the observer and not the piece of art.
>
>> Paul Haslem
>> dulcimer guy in Canada
>
> Kris