Back to topic.....
I can read music very well, and taught public school music for many years and I have mixed feelings on it's application with guitar. Some of the reason very few guitar players read are:
1)The technical skill of a player develops much faster than the reading of rhythms/notes.
2)Many people that learn guitar want to learn rock music, which has very complex written rhythms.
3) Guitar is often learned and taught in a folk setting. "How do it go?" "Thanks"
4) Recordings are readily available. Ever try to read tab for a song you haven't heard?
5) Written music has to be written out! My drummer and I both read music very well, and we still just listen to recordings to learn them.
There are many more reasons, some good some bad. I'm not saying it is overall better for the player and it certainly makes rehearsing harder, and makes it so you have to memorize more but that is just part of it.
Lastly, I was a Music Major is college on Trumpet and always avoided being too theory-based on guitar. I just wanted something different in my music making. More of a release. I didn't want to over think. This probably has helped some on the creative side, but ultimately slowed my total understanding of the guitar. I accept that and know that I go back and change my approach but I never do. I know my scales and I can move them to different frets and that works pretty well on guitar.
Lastly, there is no way Pat (or Jimi) would play the way he does with formal training! A teacher would've smacked those sticks right out of his hand and taught him proper technique which probably would've caused him to sound like a lot of other drummers. I believe there is some value in that overall. Less time conforming probably causes a lot of people to hit a wall technically but when someone figures out something unique, and it works, you really got something.
