RE: Sloppyness (was: Re: Hiromi)

[Chris Muir <cbm@well.com>]

At 1:33 PM -0400 6/21/06, Dean, Hal  wrote:
>Call me a nitpicker on semantics, but I'd say the Hendrix Experience was
>LOOSE, not sloppy. There's a world of difference. A loose outfit may be
>communicating on a higher plane, while sloppiness is often a sign of the
>opposite - inattention to the moment.

I think that sloppy and/or loose playing can also come from trying things 
that are on the edge of your ability to pull off. I really enjoy this.

One of my favorite guitarists is Phil Miller (Matching Mole, Hatfield and 
the North, National Health, etc.). In many of his solos he is reaching for 
_that_ note or phrase, and barely makes it, which can come across as a 
little sloppy. I would rather listen to someone like Phill Miller grasping 
for thing, than most other guitarists playing it safe.

---

As an aside to this already off-topic thread, one of my complaints with 
something like a Berklee / GIT education is that they drill the mistakes 
right out of you. A side effect of this is that people are left with only 
their imagination to rely on, as they rarely have need to recover from 
mistakes, which is often some of the most inventive playing, IMO.

-C

-- 
Chris Muir           | "There are many futures and only one status quo.
cbm@well.com         |  This is why conservatives mostly agree,
http://www.xfade.com |  and radicals always argue." - Brian Eno