The other day I remembered someone telling me he thought: 'Hendrix was a technically excellent player, but he never had to think about it.' This person seemed to think it was a dissadvantage that Hendrix did a lot of playing without thinking - do you agree?

This idea could apply to any guitarist - I've always thought that the more you think about music the more mechanical and leaden it becomes. If you're constantly thinking about what notes to play or what picking to do, you often get so heavily into that that you don't really feel the music or give it any dynamics, and worse, you're not listening to the other musicians around you and adapting you're playing, you're only listening to yourself.

Once I've learnt whatever I'm playing and can do things without thinking, then I give my best performance. Sure, I still have to be alert and using my brain (especially if I go wrong) but when I reach 'unconcious playing' status it feels like i'm flying away with the music and its amazing when that happens.

Anyone get the same thing?