It is not cool is a judgement that came about when a musician had his head glued to his music. It is not meant for the musician who uses music as a guide.

The equation is simple: the more I relay on the music the less freedom I have. I am using music because I don’t want to make a mistake, or get lost. But I m amazed when I play a song through and find that the music in front of me was not the one that I played. No matter what is said, when I have memorized a song I put all of me into the area that makes a performance sound good.

My thoughts, John C.

PS, Do I use a book? Naw, I use an iPad with lyrics and chords. I have trained my hands to find what I am playing. Now, that is freedom. When my right jumped from a lower note, followed by a note in the higher end I had to look at my hand to make sure I got the right note. I trained myself to trust and not to look, now I got more freedom.