Perfectionism is bad enough. always pushing yourself to ever specific corrections in technique, tone, and phrasing. But whats worse is perfection itself.
Its been said that perfection is the enemy of everything good. But its also true that perfection is the enemy of creativity. I call it the “Heisenberg Paradox of Music”. In physics, Heisenberg stated that you could either know the position of a particle OR its speed, but never both.
In Music, you can either play perfectly or play creatively but not both. Why? Because what makes a player unique are his/her limitations as well as abilities. Every great musician I can think of has some quirk or limitation that made them what they are. BB King said he couldn’t play and sing at the same time, so you hear him sing a line then play a line. Pat Metheny said he learned to hold his pick wrong, so he developed beautiful left hand hammer on and pull off lines. And so on. Time and again we see that what makes a person unique is their limitations, for which they must use creativity to overcome.
Does this mean I’m anti technique? Not really. But I have to say, the musicians I’ve seen whom seem to have no limits in technique dont score highly in the creativity department. They don’t have to. They can play in all keys equally and have few if any limitations to overcome. But i seldom recognize one of those musicians from the other. They are the finished product of their education. Unfortunately, They lost their individual voice.
So what am I saying? Maybe less time on the technical more on the expressive. Maybe that’s what we need in music.
randy lin guitar 