Grab, you may have over-stated it a little, but I agree with you about the deadening aspect of classical pedagogy. I studied classical guitar for years, and still play it (after a fashion). But I had the good fortune to be playing other types of music as well, so I was able to engage in both a disciplined course of study and free creative exploration. Also, classical guitar has yet to catch up with piano, violin, and more established orchestral instruments in the rigidity of the course of study that is inflicted on the student -- I only hope that it never gets there.

It's worth noting that this rigidity is a relatively recent phenomenon. In the baroque and classical eras, musicians were taught the structural underpinnings of the music, and encouraged to improvise. In fact, many of his contemporaries considered Beethoven to be a much better improvisor than composer.

Those who would impose a similar rigid orthodoxy on other forms of music (jazz comes to mind) would do well to consider whether they are killing the thing that they love.