It's an interesting problem, isn't it. The best music teachers I've encountered have emphasized that technique is a tool for helping us make music. It's not the music itself. Just as a fine guitar or banjo can help you play better, technique helps you play what's in your head. It's still up to us to select what to do with it. One super classical player said, "We spend 20 years learning technique just so that we can forget about it." For me, music defines itself as causing emotions with sound. Just think of the skill it takes to move people with a few well chosen notes. Seems to me that it's harder to do that than dazzling 'em with hot licks. Keep playing! Ray Frank