Re: Coffeehouse Guitar vs street-busker

[phaslem@wightman.ca]

Then again, you could just dismiss my mindless, subjective rambling as 
I ponder
why it is that sometimes when I perform people stop and go "wow! what is
that???" and other times they just walk on by....

I wasn't trying to pick on anyone, and certainly wasn't trying to be 
offensive.

Paul





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>
> 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
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