Feeling?

Moving while playing doesn't instantly mean your feeling the emotion of the song, as you just showed me in your case.

SRV could've very well felt a sneeze coming on, but if you watch him (and hendrix) playing live a lot, you'll see that the 'sneezy face' happens to come up every time they go into a solo. That doesn't mean that they're necessarily feeling the emotion of a song every single time they play it, I look at it more like they're 'tapping' into their creative banks to play the upcoming solo, and the eyes closing and other body language expressions are showing that they're really into the music/groove of the song

these bodies expression comes when the musician feels that the note 'hits' the soul, and it 'hurts' or it's a joyful experience..sadly there are lots of fake feeling on stage....I cannot believe Santana really 'feel's after doing the same solos over and over with the same hurting face for instance.

I don't understand the strong feelings on this debate. It's obvious that some people play with a lot of "feeling" and some don't. It doesn't mean that one is better than the other. I know that I absolutely play with a tramendous amount of feeling, and quite frankly, I'm not that good. But I feel the music and I love it. Sometime when I watch another artist perform, I see them make expressions or jestures that remind me of feelings I have felt. Are they faking it? I don't know and I don't care. Some probably are and some surely are not. The important thing is how the performance makes you, the listener/viewer, feel.

There are people who claim to "feel" the music when they play and some who claim to be purely technical. Why would either side lie? So, what's the debate? I'm sure that in every case the truth lies somewhere in the middle with some people having more technical ability than feel and other (like myself) more feel than technical ability. My goal is to improve my technique without losing the feel.

Isn't it at least possible that there have existed people who have extroardinary trechnical ability and yet still manage to feel what they are playing? In my mind it's impossible to imagine this not being so.

Just my 2 cents (that's about 1.6 Euro Cents)

There are people who claim to "feel" the music when they play and some who claim to be purely technical.

Name me one. All usual suspects (malmsteen, Lane, Vai, you name them) all repeatedly said they find their music very emotional and are dissapointed when people feel they don't. So who are these emotionless players?

^True.

I also don't like how feeling and technical ability are seperated. You can't play with feeling without the right techniques. Everyone goes, "Oh, look at BB King, he plays so slow, very little technical ability, but he plays with such feeling!" Very little technical ability? Take a look at his incredible vibrato, and tell me that's not technical ability. Notice how his bends and slides are perfect for what he is playing over, or unperfect intentionally.

I have a DVD SRV Signature Licks and the teacher is Greg Koch(funny guy btw) and he talks about how much it hurts to play his stuff, doing 2 step bends with .13's on his guitar, so maybe its just a look of pain you see :)

Scott

This thread has really went the gambit...i have to chime in again cause tie psyco-philosopher in me has to point out again that emotion is catchy. Can't fight evolution..it's how we are. all the examples your quoting are of profesionals...they wouldn't get were they are if they weren't good at influencing an audiance.(for money.. Duh) they use every trick in the book and have invested alot of time on stage to learn them.
Stop going around your elbow to get to your thumb.
the music isn't emotional..you are. and so is the audience. Techanical ability is the means to express your natural emotions and they can tell cause they naturally feel as well as you project.
Quoting Einstein... Its all relative.
Don't confuse producton and profesionalism with emotional music, entertainment is an actors life whether it's film or music on stage. we all have an actor in us...just how much of yourself you'll sell for buck might be a better question. If you're really about the music then don't look at or care what others do or how.... and find the music. you'll be ok

KSblu