August 10

Effortless Mastery Message #004: What Musical Depth is Really About Inspirational message from Kenny Werner

Many people are trapped in the delusion,
"Music is important. I am only valid if I play it correctly."

Because of this misconception many musicians live and die
and never know the true joy of music in their lives.

Many jazz players feel that there is an experience in
improvisation that they are not having, or not having enough of.

Classical musicians also report "dryness" in their renderings
of the great composers.

It's like the priest who secretly has no love for God.

The customs are observed, but there is no true feeling.

If the lamp is not lit, music can be as dreary as anything else.

Along with the desire for a deeper experience
comes an intense drive to be a better player.

These aspects often work against each other.

There is only one true purpose to music.

It exists for our enjoyment and enrichment only.

I think a hint that reveals this is the fact that
the verb to commit the act of music is "play."

How serious is it supposed to be if we're supposed to "play?"

It's very hard to let go in the combat of performance,
but the Effortless Mastery exercises will help you
to claim music for your own pleasure.

This realization liberates performers
from the tyranny of the wrong note.

Instead of sweating their performance,
they look forward to it with delicious joy.

After all, it is the performer's "guilty pleasure.

We will talk more about this in subsequent emails.

For now, just understand that:
The greatest performers in any game are the ones
who experience the pure joy of playing more
than the responsibility to play it correctly . . .

"Music can flash through the musician
like lightening through the sky . . ."
if it is unobstructed by thoughts.

Therefore, the elimination of thoughts is a very relevant issue.

That's why the first step in the book
is practicing the elimination of thoughts.

So...
Can you witness your hands moving on your instrument,
your club or your tennis racket without being attached?

Can you throw a dart, pitch a ball or shoot a basket
without caring about hitting the mark?

Can you focus on your breath
without being attached to how well you play?

Thank you for being here
as part of our Effortless Mastery Community.

Kenny Werner
and
Dr. Andrew Colyer

P.S. How are we doing?
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Ie.0J&m=1q3hs9dV2_7vP1&b=6Zr_aAIbKd6A9nP3ooUK6A

Dr. Andrew Colyer
ConsciousWorldMedia.com
86 Quarfelt Road, Clinton Corners, NY 12514, USA

August 6

http://kennywernerlive.com/effortless-mastery-reminders/madame-chaloff-and-the-secret-of-music-your-effortless-mastery-reminders-015

Kenny Werner says so much in 7 minutes! Love what he says about the "creativity of the last note."

I've been thinking so much lately about some of things I heard in the video this morning. Maybe I'm not crazy..hahaha. This idea of free jazz..free improvisation...what is it? Werner says that when we are playing tunes with chord changes, we're not free until we "master" the chords/scales. I believe that. It's not about the chords or the scales, it's playing the tune a million times and mastering those aspects of the tune until we become free. We are not free to really improvise until we pass through that stage. I've had so much trouble the past few years to get my groups to even memorize the music before gigs. It's such a common problem, I've recently started to think maybe I'm foolish. Learning to play the tune seems like a logical first step (with music or learning by ear). Next I want to memorize the tune/chords/scales. Listen to different versions. Play the tune in different keys. Memorize and sing solos of others that have recorded the tune just to understand how they perceived the structure and learn vocabulary. Maybe even learn the tune on the piano, slowly playing the chords, singing the chords, singing bass notes, singing the melody. These are all small steps towards gaining freedom "inside" of a tune.

July 2

Creativity/Mastery

But genius, no matter how bright, will come to
naught or swiftly burn out if you don't choose the
master's journey. This journey will take you along a
path that is both arduous and exhilarating. It will
bring you unexpected heartaches and unexpected re-
wards, and you will never reach a final destination.
(It would be a paltry skill indeed that could be fi-
nally, completely mastered.) You'll probably end up
learning as much about yourself as about the skill
you're pursuing. And although you'll often be sur-
prised at what and how you learn, your progress to-
wards mastery will almost always take on a
characteristic rhythm that looks something like this:

The Mastery Curve
There's really no way around it. Learning any new
skill involves relatively brief spurts of progress, each
of which is followed by a slight decline to a plateau
somewhat higher in most cases than that which pre-
ceded it. The curve above is necessarily idealized. In
the actual learning experience, progress is less regu-
lar; the upward spurts vary; the plateaus have their
own dips and rises along the way. But the general
progression is almost always the same. To take the
master's journey, you have to practice diligently,
striving to hone your skills, to attain new levels of
competence. But while doing so—and this is the in-
exorable fact of the journey—you also have to be
willing to spend most of your time on a plateau, to
keep practicing even when you seem to be getting
nowhere.
George Leonard - Mastery (pg.14-15)

Read this great book by George Leonard a few years ago. Leonard writes about that lonely road to mastery. I was going through a particularly difficult time when I read this book. Had been frustrated for a few months. After reading this, I learned to "love the plateaus."

June 23

Book
Kenny Werner - "Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within"

Just ordered another copy of this book. Loaned it out a few years back and the student is still "AWOL." Not much I can say about this book except...GREAT!!!!! This book isn't only for "players." It's for anyone on the path to "mastery" in their life. Can really unlock some creative doors....



Music/Video
One of the great creators and individual voices on saxophone and in music, Stan Getz, playing with a couple my favorite musicians, pianist Kenny Barron and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington:



Creativity/Video

"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original."

Ken Robinson

Tai Chi
Until now, I've been studying chi kung (qigong), yoga and bagua. My chi kung practice has been a long "intro" to tai chi. I'm interested in these arts for the "energy work", health benefits, and being able to use the relaxation techniques used in fighting while playing the horn. One of my favorite musicians, Woody Shaw, was known to actually stop playing in the middle of a solo if he felt too much tension in his body and break into a tai chi pose for immediate relaxation. I think the tension he felt was a distraction from his creative process.

Tai chi is a martial art, a fighting art. I think a lot of people completely overlook that fact and look at tai chi as some kind of a dance. For me, the deeper meaning of tai chi is generating chi (ki) in and around the body. But as I watch the tai chi form being done on this video, I'm once again reminded of the importance of SLOW practice. This is what I'm trying daily to incorporate into my trumpet practice. I've found 3 great schools in Tokyo to study tai chi and am excited to get started.



Tai chi on wiki