One truth for all players to contemplate is this:
learning new kinds of sophisticated jazz theory is not necessarily
the key to freedom.

Once new theory is mastered, it is recited with the same dreary
predictability as the old. If you are inhibited playing with
the toys you have now, you will not play differently with new toys.

Also, 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 a “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.

True musical depth is not about better playing, but about more “organic” playing.

It’s very hard to let go in the combat of performance, but the
Effortless Mastery exercises I have developed will help you to expand
your “intuitive self.” Over time, this intuition will emerge naturally
without sabotaging the performance. Assimilation into the whole is
very much about “forgetting oneself.”

People who meditate or do Tai Chi will recognize many of the principles
of Effortless Mastery, but it may be a revelation to know that you can
live in that state while playing an instrument. The mind is the chief culprit
in most playing problems, and any discipline that aims to control the mind
is complimentary to the process described in our Effortless Mastery Practice.

Music can shoot 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 we have to start with Step One.

Can you witness your hands moving on your instrument without being attached?

Can you focus on your breath without being attached to what you sound like?

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

To Your Effortless Mastery,

Kenny Werner
and
Dr. Andrew Colyer

KennyWernerLive.com
and
ConsciousWorldMedia.com

P.S. Click on this Amazon link to purchase your own copy of Kenny Werner’s Effortless Mastery:

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