| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Effortlessness | |
| sdm -- 09/29/2006, 12:45:15 -- #30150 | |
| I’ve just about finished Kenny Werner’s book “Effortless Mastery.” For the most part it was stuff I’ve known about and been in one way or another involved with for years (yes, the 60s were good to me) – all the meditation and so on. Pretty good stuff but not new. When I got to his “Step Four” however, something new came up. That was his “diamond” showing on each point Play Effortlessly, Play Perfectly, Play Fast, Play the Entire Example. He goes on to assert that it is usually a trade-off between these four points. Now comes the good stuff – he says you should NEVER give up the top point – effortlessness. This is a new and powerful thought for me. If you ALWAYS play without effort, won’t this mean that as you build up skills your playing will be – for lack of a better term – easy?!? We always describe the greats as making it “look” effortless (just today in another thread in fact) – maybe it really IS effortless. I find that there is a bit I can do in this way and am beginning to think about it a lot. I’d be very interested in what everyone else thinks. | |
| CynBad -- 09/29/2006, 13:00:28 -- #30150 | |
| Sounds like a good read. I will check it out soon! It also sounds somewhat similar to what Randy Halberstadt teaches about practicing, in terms of practicing slowly enough, at first, that it is the easiest thing in the world. | |
| Jazz+ -- 09/29/2006, 13:06:55 -- #30150 | |
| Remember, Kenny Werner was already a very good player when he started the “Effortless" approach. | |
| CynBad -- 09/29/2006, 13:07:47 -- #30150 | |
| Still, dealing with one's mind is always an important skill. | |
| sdm -- 09/29/2006, 14:24:14 -- #30150 | |
| Jazz+, I did in fact keep that in mind as I read it - thanks. Does that detract from the idea? Better, does your playing generally feel effortless or is there a part that does? There are a few things that I would put in that category. Doesn't mean it's any good of course! Yes, CynBad, it also brought that quote ("so slowly that you have enough time to reflect on how easy it is") to mind. | |
| jazzwee -- 09/30/2006, 09:26:50 -- #30150 | |
| sdm, I just finished attending a Kenny Werner clinic a few days ago. There is more to this than meets the eye. After reading the book, I thought it was a little "over-simple" and didn't really implement it much. After the seminar, I started to understand that there's more to this than is explained. I think the gist of it is to minimize the control of the conscious mind on a performance. But in a way more practical than I realized. If you have $9.95 to spend (I'm sure you do), go to KennyWerner.com, click on ArtistShare. There's a link to purchasing Effortless Mastery media (without the book). This gives you many videos to watch where he actually explains this in detail including how he teaches Step 1-4, and also audios of him instructing students. One great one is how he learns a new very technical line, while applying his concepts. This takes a little bit of time to digest but the seminar is pretty much what's in the videos. If you just read the book, it will probably go in one ear and out the other. Kenny Werner performing is just mind boggling. He's very focused. You can kind of see the application of Effortless mastery. | |
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