Regarding getting stuck in a gutter, in music I find it's exactly the opposite. The musician who has a stockpile of pre-packaged phrases/idioms/licks tends to sound very predictable.
This is especially problematic in jazz, where a premium is placed on improvisation/creativity. There's real sense in which the very idea of having a pre-packaged phrase is totally antithetical to improvisation.
Also, pre-packaged ideas in music tend to get ingrained at the muscular level. The last thing you want to happen is for your hands to start running the show.
I do realize however that the very best musicians (and programmers!) probably have a huge arsenal of ideas AND deploy them tastefully.
Yes, a person who is great at ear-playing could be made better if they can analyze why a thing sounds good, the in-the-moment improvisation flow doesn't give you enough time to really think about what you're doing anyway, but before and after, you can strategize. They're two separate thought-processes that complement each other, imo, as it is with programming. A lot of times I find I can just flow and write code, but there is much room for thoughtful refactoring after the fact. Experience, theory, named concepts and systematic analysis gives you tools to really improve.
This is especially problematic in jazz, where a premium is placed on improvisation/creativity. There's real sense in which the very idea of having a pre-packaged phrase is totally antithetical to improvisation.
Also, pre-packaged ideas in music tend to get ingrained at the muscular level. The last thing you want to happen is for your hands to start running the show.
I do realize however that the very best musicians (and programmers!) probably have a huge arsenal of ideas AND deploy them tastefully.