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Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within

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Playing music should be as simple and natural as drawing a breath, yet most musicians are hindered by self-consciousness, apprehension, self-doubt, and stress. Before we can truly express our inner self, we must first learn to be at peace and overcome the distractions that can make performance difficult. Kenny's remarkable work deals directly with these hindrances, and presents ways to let our natural creative powers flow freely with minimal stress and effort. Includes inspiring recordings of meditations designed to initiate positive thought. This book has become a favorite of many musicians who credit it with changing their lives! Many are so impressed that they buy copies for their musician friends as gifts. Easy, effortless reading paperback.

Book with online audio access (ISBN 156224003X)

Effortless Mastery is a book that the world really needs. It was not written by a philosopher or an academic. Kenny Werner, is one of my favorite pianists I've ever had the pleasure of working with, and in my opinion one of the best pianists living on the planet. Kenny teaches that 'The joy of practicing is concentration. The joy of playing is liberation.' Effortless Mastery teaches the seeker how to achieve both at the highest levels. It also shows how to practice effectively, promoting real growth and how to play and perform free from fear and self-judgment. I highly recommend this book. ---Quincy Jones

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

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About the author

Kenny Werner

11 books22 followers
Kenny Werner is an American jazz pianist, composer, and author.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews
Profile Image for David Lafferty.
Author 5 books64 followers
April 18, 2013
As a jazz pianist, this book was a paradigm changer. Kenny Werner goes beyond chops, theory, and fashion, and focuses on what music ultimately comes down to, spiritual communion. Miles and Monk get it. Neither of them were known for chops, but both forced you to stop and listen. This book explores (among other things) the necessity of great music making to be easy. Yes, easy! If it's difficult for you, you can't let go and create. This doesn't preclude practice, it just looks at 'practice' differently.

There is so much in this book that has changed my whole approach to performing and playing, but it's not limited to musicians. We can all benefit from Werner's insight in all of our endeavors.

There are no wrong notes!
Profile Image for Adina.
13 reviews3 followers
June 8, 2011
A must for Musicians, but also for writers , artists , dancers ... Actually, for anyone that has a passion in life.
It's helped me more than anything , get out of the way of myself. That's an important lesson for anyone , not just musicians, to learn. Practice seems less overwhelming.
It's brought back the joy I had forgotten I had for music in all the midst of self-abuse as many of us do.
84 reviews6 followers
August 2, 2018
Still great after reading it again. I understand more of what he is saying these days and am going to apply the concepts to my life. This should be mandatory reading for jazz musicians.
Profile Image for Frank Davis.
971 reviews50 followers
October 6, 2023
This book and its method will work exceptionally well for the right kind of person, but I think it fails by failing to notice that it won't work for everyone. While there are some key ideas here that will help any person at any level the book itself is focused on meditations and spiritual awareness.

It does the spiritual aspect pretty well, referencing ideas from several different religions and philosophies in a way that doesn't seem to lean on any one in particular. As a complete non theist who will happily enjoy a metaphysical metaphor I appreciated the broad approach.

It's really just the way in which it presents the meditative practice that lessened my enjoyment of the overall message.

I have noticed a common theme in some of my recent studies of music theory and that is simply that our mindset plays an underrated role in how we learn. It's a concept that can be applied to our musical practice as well as it can to pretty much any other aspect of our lives.

So the point of the meditations provided herein is not at all lost on me, where I lose the thread (and I think it would be the same for many others) is that this method goes about correcting those limiting thoughts by implementing a ritual of meditation-induced, self-brainwashing. The writer himself acknowledges this point in very similar words when he says something like, "it doesn't matter that it isn't true because of you repeat it enough you'll brainwash your mind into believing it is true and then it will be true."

I'll give the simplest example. One thing we are asked to say and repeat to ourselves goes like, "Every note that I play is the most beautiful sound in the world that I have ever heard." I'm all for replacing negativity with positivity, especially internally, but I can't make myself believe a lie... or that's not even quite true, I could of I tried but I wouldn't want to. That wouldn't be me.

So, I think if this book had laid out the ideas without giving specific meditations for readers to practice then it might have become more accessible to a wider audience. I did plow through the mediation chapters but I would not recommend that to every reader. In fact, while I can think of several friends that I will definitely recommend this book to, there is a much larger group of people who I will probably recommend to skip the meditation chapters entirely - and then some folks I might just end up summarising it for.

I love the spirit in which this book was written and the idea of letting go of those thoughts which have at various times prevented the progress of my musical journey resonates deeply in my metaphorical soul.

What I recommend, dear reader or perhaps fellow musician, is that if you find yourself thinking things like "I'll never be as good as that" or "I've been trying this for a long time and I just can't do it" then this book is worth your time - just go into it knowing that the author has used his own techniques to present a philosophy which you might wish to apply in some other way that suits you better.
Profile Image for Bill Gathen.
34 reviews2 followers
September 2, 2012
An interesting approach focusing on releasing tension and preconceptions, but so much of it is focused around accepting your playing as masterful and "the most beautiful sound I've ever heard" that it could be mis-interpreted by players who haven't properly prepared as saying "all your mistakes are just as beautiful as the notes you intended to play", ergo there's no need to practice because everything's the same.

At the same time, his advice on practicing is very good, focusing on "chipping away at your weak spots" instead of endless running through the parts of the material you find easy (which is all too easy to do). Awareness, focusing on correcting errors during practice time and releasing tension in all parts of your body that aren't required to make the notes are all great advice.

I think for someone who has done the work and has a real command of their material (which he emphasizes is compulsory) but simply isn't comfortable during public performance, this book will be a revelation. For me, it was a bit premature.
Profile Image for Tim Franklin.
9 reviews1 follower
August 4, 2017
Too religious / new-agey for me, but that doesn't mean it won't be helpful. I wish there was a book that took these concepts and discussed the science and psychology behind them instead of using wishy-washy spiritualism.

The lessons come down to this: surrender to the music and your training, relax while you're playing, cultivate a positive self image about yourself and your abilities. If references to a divine power bother you, substitute "subconscious" for "god". The positive affirmations are annoyingly effective. I tell myself "I'm great. I am a master." all the time and it works. I even do it if I'm out of gas during a run and it allows me to run further.
Profile Image for Dahn Jahn.
22 reviews3 followers
August 12, 2016
Lifechanging.


But alright, I should elaborate. It's now been a month or two since I read this book. I wanted to wait at least that amount of time to really make sure the feeling that filled me during reading would stay and would transform into what the book offers. I will probably add updates later.

First, some warnings and possible negatives. The writing style is very simple and quite unrefined whereas the messages sometimes might feel clouded in newagey mumbo-jumbo. This book is not to be read by anyone who is skeptic about its messages and wants to see whether they will be convinced. They won't be. Such person will see the book as a category:popular-self-help "every note is beautiful and - by the way - everyone is a master" hogwash and quite likely entirely miss the point(s). Such opinion would be understandable, but wrong.

(I will skip describing what the book does, others do that, and instead go through my thoughts on properly accessing the material.)

Meditation helps. The more familiar and experienced in meditation you are, the more you'll be able to truly understand the message. A great help is that the books itself comes with four audio "exercises" -meditations. But as every idea that relies on deep and careful observing of one's thought patterns, this requires a regular practice.

That's not to say you cannot simply read this book and get a lot from it. I know I did. The jam I had just after finishing it was like no other before. Not the best in terms of my playing, but a surprisingly joyful one. But I don't think this book is to be read and discarded, but rather to be re-read and studied and meditated about for months/years.

This, for me, means roughly the following:
1. Do the exercises described in the book daily, as the first thing in the morning
2. From time to time revisit the audio meditations
3. Re-read parts of the book, ideally a tiny piece a day
4. Reguarly practice good thought patterns - there are lots described in the book, e.g. going to a concert and being able to selflessly enjoy the music without the need of comparing
5. Gradually transform the way you approach playing, music, and, well, everything.
The purpose of the book is then not to inspire you to practice better, or to be happier, but, arguably, to completely rewire your brain. The author even says that - you need some brainwashing, as in your brain needs some washing. Might sound scary, but when the process leads to an eternal bliss, who'd protest. I gotta go now, leaving for my soma holiday.

By the way, if you think repeating "I am great. I am a master" is an attempt to affirm your own superiority, you're probably missing the point.
Profile Image for kelly.
290 reviews1 follower
November 26, 2019
Supposedly there is some music mastery wisdom in here, but the writing was so awful I couldn't make it past 10 pages.
UPDATE: I just read all the goodreads quotes and they're all so excellent and inspiring. I guess I just can't be bothered to wade through all the drivel to get to those gems, but thankfully I don't have to since they're all laid out right here.
Profile Image for Merve Kasırga.
35 reviews
November 24, 2020
Müzikle ilgili ilk okumam oldu bu kitap. Yazarın düşündüğüm, yaşadığım şeylerin altını kalın kalın çizmesi, ısrarla yol göstermesi okumayı güzel bir pratiğe de dönüştürdü. Yazar, özel olarak müzik hakkında (özellikle piyano) ama genel olarak her konuya uygulayabileceğimiz beceriler sunuyor.
Müzik eğitiminde karşımıza çıkan engelleri (en önemlisi ego duvarını) nasıl atlayalım? sorusuna farklı yollarla cevaplar arıyor. Piyano başında oturup uygulayabileceğimiz meditasyonlar öğretiyor. Zaten yaptığım ama okuduktan sonra daha hissederek yaptığım pratikler oldu. Bu yüzden körün aradığı bir göz hesabı baya sevdim kitabı.
İçerikten çok bahsetmek istemiyorum ama ben yer yer kendimden geçerek yer yer sıkılarak (ısrarla tekrarlanan şeyler yüzünden) okudum.
(Not: Kitabı okurken daha güzel şeyler düşünüyordum ama yazarken olmadı, sevdiğimiz şeyleri güzel anlatamayız zaten değil mi? Neyse bir dahakine yazarak not tutayım.)
Profile Image for Emily.
1,258 reviews85 followers
January 3, 2015
I enjoy playing the piano, but get serious anxiety if I have to perform for anyone (even my teacher). I am a mess before and during my recitals twice a year. Its horrible and ridiculous. I read this book hoping it could help me bring the joy and calm I feel while practicing on my own, to my performances. The beginning was kind of slow for me, but I was really impressed with the practical ideas this tiny book was packed with. I have read books on mindfulness, meditation, fear, ego...and this book incorporated all these topics into helping the musician. I appreciated that he didn't just talk theory and philosophy, or even just changing the way you think...but he gave concrete things to do while practicing and performing that were completely new to me. My book is well-marked and I know I will be returning to it often...until I one day become an effortless master. :)
Profile Image for Douglas H. Reynolds.
2 reviews
February 18, 2018
What I’d been searching for... but didn’t realize I was searching

Immediately captivated, “Kenny is describing me”. After the first chapter I found I couldn’t pick up my guitar. I wanted this change and wanted to understand how to really practice. Two weeks later I worked through the fear of it and meditated, guitar hanging from my shoulders, imagining looking at myself from a detached self, focusing on being light. I just began to play and it happened. No plan, no controlling thoughts, just play. Like a kid without a care, I played in this state for some time. When my mind decided to take over, I set my guitar down. Today I start again, every day (moment) is a new start.
Profile Image for Tahoura.
101 reviews22 followers
March 1, 2025
بامزه‌ست که ببینی مشکلت تو ساز زدن، نه‌تنها فقط مشکل تو نیست که جهانیه :)
نویسنده راهکارهایی عملی‌ داره برای ناامید نشدن و کنارنذاشتن ساز و حتی حرفه‌ای شدن.
Profile Image for Lauren.
142 reviews
October 15, 2017
A great resource for people whose self-worth is tied to performance level, and/or encounter anxiety related to their musical career.
6 reviews
Read
February 28, 2021
Kitabın içerisinde meditasyon ile odaklanarak 4 adimda (bu adimlar detayli olarak anlatiliyor) müzikte ustalaşmak anlatılıyor. Meditasyona yakin zaman icerisinde baslamis olmasaydim kitaptan pek verim alamazdim (surekli meditasyon yapmiyorum). Spiritüel yanı olmayan bir insan olarak başlarda pek sevemedim kitabi. Yalnizca ileri seviye muzisyenlere hitap ettigini dusundum ilk bolumleri okurken. Ama okudukca anlatilan yontenlmlerin benim gibi muzige yeni baslayanlarin da faydalanabilecegi yontemler oldugunu anladim. Bitirdikden sonra ayni seyi dusunuyorum: muzikle yillardir ugrasan insanlar daha cok verim alir bu kitaptan. Kitapta anlatilan muzikte zahmetsiz bir sekilde ustalasmak hayatin baska alanlarina da uygulanabilir diye dusunuyorum. Ama tabi anlatilan yontemleri o alana gore degistirip uygun alistirmalari yapmaniz gerekir. Anlatilan yontemleri uygulamaya calisacagim ama simdilik hissettigim şu: yillar sonra kitabi tekrar okuyup bu adimlari uygulayip uygulamamayi dusunecegim.
Muzikte uzun yillar ugrasip da gelisim hizinizda azalma ya da durma oldugunu dusunuyorsaniz bir goz atabilirsiniz.
16 reviews
March 31, 2024
Jasne, je to celkom ezo, ale to inak asi nejde. Boha preskakujem a nechávam sa inšpirovať podstatou myšlienok.
Život hudobníka je často horská dráha, cíti sa podľa toho jak dobre či zle zahral, ale to je peklo, lpenie na výsledku je vždy cesta do nešťastia.
"Každý tón, který hraji, je tím nejkrásnějším zvukem, jaký jsem kdy slyšel." Toto si teraz vravím vždy ked idem hrať.
Odteraz cvičím úplne inak, nejde o to prejsť čo najrýchlejšie najväčšie množstvo skladieb, ale lajdácky, neporiadne, s hromadou slabých miest, ktoré pak človeka akurát stresujú. Radšej sa učiť len jednu skladbu hoci aj rok, tón po tóne ale tak, že každý z nich znie prekrásne a tiež akoby ich "ruky hrali samy".
Túto knižku som dostala a som veľmi vďačná lebo mi poskytla oveľa hlbší a vyrovnanější prístup k hudbe a k životu s ňou.
102 reviews4 followers
March 28, 2023
This book is a must read/listen for any artist - regardless of instrument. It hits on the challenges that are universal to all, including practice, fear, and discipline. I recommend the audio version because the author has some great meditations that are easy to access/listen to in the audio version.
58 reviews3 followers
December 21, 2017
Eastern mindful approach to practice and performance (of any craft really). More philosophical than a practical guide, but if applied will reap great benefits.

Encourages slowing down and feeling before playing. Don't let thinking (fear, expectations etc) get in the way.

"Just before I play, I like to feel that no one has ever played the piano before...that every note I play is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard".

Really absorb your practice. Don't rush through all the material to get through it, or you'll only scratch the surface and wont really absorb anything. "So little time!" This can lead to a common feeling of overwhelm, and stall practice all together. Instead, focus on the next step, master it before moving on. You are where you are, and it takes the time that it takes. Useful advice for any endeavour.


Some good mindfulness/meditation practices in the book to apply to the instrument. He encourages the reader to try get into that same meditative zone before playing. Open, egoless state, flow; whatever you want to call it. This is the goal. A state of 'allowing', getting out of the way and let the music play itself.

A bunch of flowery spiritual language if you're into that. He has a cool way of approaching music as more of a spiritual practice; a path of mastery.

"As you play, there must be no intellectual interference. It’s good for practicing scales, reading books and studying. But it is not good for creating. Intellect has to surrender to instinct when it’s time to play."

Exercise: Play like "There are no wrong notes" and "That is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard."


End Goal:
"Mastery is playing whatever you’re capable of playing ... every time ...WITHOUT THINKING ..."

"To be perceived as a master, one must stay within the boundaries of what comes naturally and easily...There is always a schism between what the ego wants to play and what wants to come out. Although the master player may have great technical ability, you will not sense his attempt to show it; the technique manifests unconsciously"

If one combines masterful technique with the "channeling” of inspiration directly from within, the result can be awesome....After all is mastered, the inner being may manifest"

"For something to be mastered on your instrument, it must feel as simple as playing one note."


Practice To Perfection

Frame new stuff as "Unfamiliar, Not Difficult"

"Every time I practice written music, I move slowly enough to play it correctly, while almost in a state of meditation. In that way, I am teaching my fingers to perform by themselves while I soar!"

*Mastery of Sound - Get a deep feel for the notes (Mathieu Harmonic Experience is a great practical book on this. Getting a tangible feel through singing different intervals and the moods they create in different modal contexts)

The way artists express notes...
"They may be simple, but they resonate in a profound way. This depth of tone or phrase has to do with the artist’s "inner mastery" of the sounds he’s playing. It reflects the character of the player as an evolved being, and the depth with which he unites himself to his notes. He contemplates the different sounds, and forms personal relationships with intervals, chords, rhythms, and so on....focusing on a small amount of material, getting inside it, investigating all its
variations, running it through different keys"

Mastering the Body - Relaxed effort.
"You must have the faith that once you start moving, it’s going to happen"

"Remember: barreling through material works for only a very few. The rest are clearly overwhelmed by that pace and fail to develop a relationship to the music, supporting the belief that they are not meant to play well, that they’re not very talented. But by practicing small amounts, chewing fully and digesting everything from the lesson, extracting from it all the vitamins possible, one becomes mighty!"

Profile Image for J. d'Merricksson.
Author 11 books50 followers
February 27, 2016
***I received this book as a gift***

Werner’s Effortless Mastery was just the book I needed. I am a baby violinist, having taken it up at the advanced age of 38. I had inherited a violin, and decided this was the perfect thing to help keep my neural pathways healthy. Learning new skills is always good for that. The practise has been beneficial in many ways. For the first time in decades, I could consciously release the tension in my wrists. It was great for teaching that skill!

Unfortunately, I ran into several mental blocks that really discouraged me. That is when my brother-in-law surprised me with a copy of Effortless Mastery. I was more than a little sceptical when I first started reading, especially since Werner's biggest focus was piano. However, the stories he told spoke to me on a deeper level. I decided what the hell and started using the practises he offered. What do you know? They worked just as well for a baby violinist as for an accomplished pianist.

It was very hard for me to let go of the notion I had to do things perfectly, even though this was a brand new skill to me. Werner's tools and techniques helped me find true joy in my learning. I can laugh at my mistakes, and be as enthused as a little kid at my successes, when they come. I let go of needing to do things perfectly, and let my body dictate the appropriate adjustments to suit the medical conditions I live with. I'm playing for me, only me, and to have fun. Werner's Effortless Mastery helped me to accept and embrace these things. Practise had become something I dreaded. Now it is something I look forward to, and enjoy. As I have found more joy in my playing, and acceptance of myself, I've become more comfortable not caring if others hear me. I had been painfully shy, and wouldn't practise unless I was alone. This also made it difficult to work with my teacher. I would get so flustered at having to play where another could hear me that I was terrible, even at things I could do quite well alone.

Werner's work is quite readable, full of shared experiences relating how he himself evolved along the path he is now guiding others along. Many of the meditations and exercises are tools I am familiar with from my spiritual path, but here Werner has adapted them perfectly to a musician’s needs. These adaptations never would have occurred to me, and I am very thankful this book was gifted to me!

My only qualms were an overuse of exclamations and italics to get points across, and that at times it devolved into socio-philosophical ramblings which made some winnowing necessary in order to get the most valuable nuggets. It was quite clear, though, that the author was quite joyful at writing this book, and sharing his methods, and that made all the difference. I would highly recommend Werner's Effortless Mastery to anyone who needs a new way to look at their music practise and find greater depths of enjoyment with it.
Profile Image for Isaac.
108 reviews58 followers
February 23, 2013
So far this has been much better than I thought it would be after popping in the meditation CD that comes with it. I have gone through many torturous, self-hating hours of music practice thinking that it would somehow be beneficial to me because I was "suffering to be an artist". Werner is very good at picking out negative habits of mind when it comes to music practice, and his aim is to make us understand why any period of time spent playing music should be joyous. This doesn't at all mean that we have to play "joyous" sounding music, but just that we should cultivate an approach to music that involves a good level of self-respect and adventurousness rather than inadequacy and rigid discipline.
Profile Image for Bill Branley.
16 reviews1 follower
June 14, 2014
I read this book twice and watched several of his DVDs about learning to play music in an effortless way. I also met Kenny in Seattle when he played at Jazz Alley in 2014 and I distinctly felt (and so did several people I spoke to) that his playing was coming from another place. I play jazz piano and have had many professional teachers swear that when they perform they stop thinking and play from instinct. It is very hard to learn to do, but I have made some progress by learning a piece so thoroughly that I can play it without thinking about it. And from there I can feel very original improvisations beginning to emerge. Kenny's techniques really help the process along. I bought his DVD, in which he works with students on camera and coaches them through the process.
Profile Image for Nick Brown.
6 reviews
May 8, 2024
The approach he’s writing about is inherently difficult to articulate… a fact that was apparent throughout the book.

That being said, I buy into what he’s trying to say.
Profile Image for Emily.
40 reviews4 followers
June 11, 2021
I’ll definitely return to this book and meditations multiple times over the course of my life. It’s pretty out there and the concepts can be challenging at first but I got a lot out of it and look forward to building on what I learnt.
Profile Image for Lynn Derks.
301 reviews9 followers
February 22, 2016
This book changed my life. My piano practice time is now much more productive. Thank you, Kenny Werner!
Profile Image for Clint Looney.
9 reviews1 follower
August 7, 2017
A mindset book, not a technique book.

If you're having trouble with motivation, this book is for you. It gets pretty new-agey, so heads up if that's not your thing.
Profile Image for Beth :).
36 reviews
January 18, 2024
I just like… wasn’t a huge fan of his tone. I think this book would work better as a conversation than a book. There is definitely some good material to be found in it though
Profile Image for Romann Weber.
85 reviews15 followers
September 25, 2024
It's been over 20 years since I last read Kenny Werner's Effortless Mastery, and I still remember how refreshing it felt, offering just what I needed as a musician struggling to develop my own voice. I read it cover to cover at least once and certainly large sections of it multiple times. It very well could have been titled Zen in the Art of Music Making, as its message is one of radical acceptance for whatever happens during the act of creation. I still admire the book's message and the spiritual-artistic medicine it prescribes.

But is that medicine safe and effective? Safe, almost surely. Effective? Well, that's more complicated. Werner's thesis is essentially that what comes out while playing is already perfect. There are no wrong notes. (Miles Davis famously said that it's the next note that determines whether the last note was good or bad.) But while that is a liberating message to a seasoned musician with enough technique and repertoire to lean on, it might come across as naïve advice to a musician in the earlier or more intermediate stages of development.

This is not a technique book or an improvisation book. In fact, it's barely a music book. Instead, it's about dismantling emotional barriers and eliminating self-judgment while playing. These are hugely important lessons for a musician blocking creative flow through a condition Werner refers to as "musiphobia." The heart of Effortless Mastery is dedicated to inoculating oneself against this condition. Werner delivers a beautiful message here, and from the moment I read it I was totally sold.

And then I met him.

Not long after I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film scoring, I discovered that Kenny would be in town—playing shows at night and offering lessons during the day. I jumped at the chance to meet him. Although I was a reasonably skilled keyboardist, I wanted to expand my creative palette and stop drawing from the same musical well I seemed to keep visiting.

We met in a piano lounge at a Hollywood hotel—just the two of us. The first order of business: Did I have the cash? Thanks to an early birthday gift from my mom, I did. After that, I tried to break the ice by mentioning what I was listening to on the way over—probably something like Pat Metheny, Keith Jarrett, or Brad Mehldau. Kenny responded with, "Not Kenny Werner?" Maybe it was a joke, but it felt like it came from an injured place. And there I was, suddenly feeling like an asshole.

He then sat in the audience chairs, pointed me to the piano, and said the two words I least wanted to hear: "Play something."

God knows why I didn't expect this request. I hadn't prepared anything, and worse, I suddenly couldn't remember anything I had ever played before. So I reached deep into my own "effortless mastery" and decided to improvise. Right off the bat, I went into safe territory, vamping on an E-flat minor chord in the hopes that some sort of minor pentatonic noodling would lead somewhere interesting. By the first chord change, I knew I had thrown the bucket down that old familiar well, and I had fallen in with it. It wasn't "I've Got Rhythm," it was "I've Got Nothing," and I said exactly that as I withdrew my hands from the piano in the middle of my aimless wandering.

Kenny diagnosed my problem as not knowing what to play. (Thank you, Doctor!) But he wasn't wrong. I was stuck, and not just in that moment. For the rest of the lesson, I managed to get past most of my embarrassment and tried to absorb as much of his wisdom as possible. And it was, in the end, a good lesson. Kenny shared strategies for getting from one note on one beat to a target note on another beat, a way of thinking about improvisation that I found incredibly helpful and inspiring. That discussion alone was worth the $160 I paid for the lesson. I'd have paid another $160 to have erased the first five minutes of it, but that's another matter.

The lesson that sticks all these years later is that Effortless Mastery is lovely theory that does not translate so easily into practice. There are wrong notes. Sometimes they're obvious, sometimes they're not, and yes, some players can turn clams into gold. It’s essential, for musicians of any level, to mute the inner critic. But even the even the advice Kenny gave me during that lesson revealed that between two notes, there are paths that are better than others. Believing they’re all perfect might give you the courage to play them, but it won’t necessarily give your audience the desire to hear them.
Profile Image for Дмитрий Давыдов.
106 reviews
October 1, 2024
Книга джазового пианиста для страдающих музыкантов, о которой я узнал, как ни странно, на ютуб-канале экстрим-металлического барабанщика.
Она в меньшей степени посвящена технике и в большей - своему восприятию испольнительского мастерства и в целом подходу к занятиям, но с уклоном в спиритуалистически-духовную сферу. Помимо прочего, тут можно найти несколько медитаций, аффирмаций (бррр) и цитат из дзен-буддисткой философии.

Основная мысль в том, что мастерство - это не способность сыграть кучу нот в секунду без ошибок, а способность исполнять нужные партии не задумываясь и без напряжения. Ключевая часть, на мой взгляд, последняя, где описаны четыре шага, чтобы прийти в "пространство без напряжения", когда музыка "играется сама" без мысленного контроля музыканта.

Я не фанат всяческих дзен-вещей и медитаций, так что духовный аспект - это мимо меня. Но практические рекомендации, которые дает Вернер, в общем-то соответствую моим наблюдениям и кажутся разумными. Самая интересная часть для меня - 4й шаг, посвященный разучиванию новых партий и вытягиванию своих навыков на новый уровень. И суть его, в общем-то, в том, чтобы заставить себя отказаться от грандиозных планов освоить все и вся, а сосредоточиться на одной партии и методично - нота за нотой, если придется - доучить ее до конца. Если приходится заниматься другими партиями, лучше играть их попроще, но сфокусироваться на одной вещи, даже если на ее разбор уйдет пара лет. Многим музыкантам знакомо разочарование от того, что за 10 лет не удалось выучить досконально ни одной песни.

Эти мысли разжевываются на протяжении всей книги и сдобрены историями из жизни автора и других музыкантов. Так что в общем - полезно лишний раз получить подтверждение мысли, что мастерство требует времени и сосредоточенности.
4 reviews
July 31, 2023
I investigated this book at the suggestion of a friend who had dabbled in Werner's approach to piano. There is value in some of the lessons in this book and meditation tracks but it's very little.

The very claim of mastery being "effortless" raises alarms. We would all like to live in a world where things come easy if only we just knew the right method but this is not the case, the right method to achieve anything in the real world is always by putting in the effort.

One may be very inspired by Werner's insights and approach but it is standard self-help material, things like saying "I believe in myself", "I'm letting go" or as the meditation tracks horribly suggest: "I am a master!".
Honestly, to consider yourself a master when you clearly lack the ability is arrogant.

Werner draws heavily from what he's taken from Eastern mysticism such as Hindu meditation, which in itself is not compatible with everybody's worldview or sense of morality, such sensibilities encourage abandoning thought - as Werner himself encourages often. On the contrary, I find better results in my music when thought and feeling are aligned with focus, clarity and intention as opposed to Werner's method of being detached.
Practically speaking, if you already have the talent but you're second guessing yourself to the point of it hindering your abilities then sure, perhaps reducing your thinking is justifiable within reason, but for a music student I highly discourage being detached and essentially mindless.

If mastery were indeed "effortless" according to Werner's methods, everybody who had read this book would be performing at Carnegie Hall.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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September 22, 2024
So let me begin by summarising my understanding of some of the key points in this book

* the way you play an instrument will be a reflection of the mindset that you bring into your playing
* A mindset that is about ‘trying’ to be a ‘good/great/insert subjective judgmental adjective’ creates stress & fear in the way we play
* A mindset that is ‘effortless’; that is just watching your hands do their thing without any conscious thought or intention will, paradoxically, result in you playing better than when you try to play well
* the reason why we play is to experience the pure joy of playing, and to express ourselves
* all communication via sound (eg our voices) is simply vibration, and when you produce musical sound this is simply expressing yourself
* meditations and possible affirmations can positively effect the way we play
* rather than thinking ‘there is so much to learn & i have so little time’ simply focus on learning one thing at a time to the point you can do it without effort
* great musicians who appear to be improvising are actually doing things they have learned to an effortless level spontaneously

4 steps

1. Be in a completely relaxed state and play one note as if someone has taken over your body, with no control or conscious thought from you
2. In that state, just let yourself play anything
3. Now play like that to a tempo, doing only wqht you know how to do without effort
4. Do small samples of things you can’t yet execute using the ‘diamond’

A. Effortless state (constant) and then 2 of the 3 below
B. Play fast
C. Play perfectly
D. Play the entire example

No rating as yet - will road test & advise 🙂
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