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Effortless Mastery

 
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woland99



Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 155
Location: Austin, TX

PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2007 12:04 am    Post subject: Effortless Mastery Reply with quote

I am reading "Effortless Mastery" by Kenny Werner now.
Being from Poland (a VERY Catholic country) the very
idea of anything being "effortless" is foreign - back home
all things are achieved by blood, sweat, tears and grinding
your arms up to elbows while trying. Si I welcome different
perspective.
Any fans/followers of that book here?

JT
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Gorecki
Site Admin


Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 238
Location: Glenwood, MD

PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2007 2:34 am    Post subject: Re: Effortless Mastery Reply with quote

woland99 wrote:
I am reading "Effortless Mastery" by Kenny Werner now.
Being from Poland (a VERY Catholic country) the very
idea of anything being "effortless" is foreign - back home
all things are achieved by blood, sweat, tears and grinding
your arms up to elbows while trying. Si I welcome different
perspective.
Any fans/followers of that book here?


Well that sounds like how I was brought up. Laughing

I'm not familiar with it so I can't speak to it but I already question it. The formula I've come up with things in life isn't anything about 'effortless', if anything it's the inverse. The effort part is usually a hard part for many people but isn't even the first part people most often overlook and fail at.

Making a decision is usually the first part and the one that fuels the effort part. Once most people make a decision they can no longer ignore it takes effort to support that decision. Well, unless your fifthly rich and can pay someone to do the effort part, but that most often isn’t the case, especially when it comes to guitar. My 2 cents. Wink
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John G



Joined: 21 Apr 2007
Posts: 21

PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2007 4:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've read the book, twice actually. I read it several years ago, then someone mentioned it to me recently, so I pulled it out and read it again. I think I was able to connect a lot better to it the second time around, considering I wasn't the least bit interested in jazz the first time I read it and it makes constant references to jazz musicians and improvisation.

The main point of the book is to really love what it is you are playing. Regardless of how it comes out sounding, you must embrace the sound as something you have created and you are proud of. When you love every note you play, then you will find that there are no wrong notes, every note is "right" and perfect. When you have finally accepted this fact, you must work to create a link between the music that's inside you and is trying to get out and what you are actually playing. If you can connect directly to your inner musician and not let your consciousness stop you and correct you, then you are able to "play effortlessly."

That's the concept of the book compressed into a few sentences, so clearly I am leaving out A LOT. This book is not about taking shortcuts, quite the opposite in fact. But the book is very interesting and makes you think. It could have a profound effect on you, or you could think it's crap and abandon it after a few chapters. Nevertheless, I would recommend it to any musician- it's a pretty easy read and moves very quickly.

John
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Tony



Joined: 27 Nov 2008
Posts: 16
Location: Milwaukie Oregon

PostPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I read the book. To sum it up it about the art of Zen as applied to anything you want to master. John G has it down..

Instead of perceiving it as a struggle learn to go with it, thereby making
things seem effortless. Detach yourself from struggle.

Ultimately we want to become the best guitar player we can and are willing to work hard for it. This is how we normally approach things.
Instead of thinking that way be content with our everyday practice and don't struggle so much with what we have not acheived because that will come only with time and we can't change time. Effortless Mastery.
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woland99



Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 155
Location: Austin, TX

PostPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tony wrote:
I read the book. To sum it up it about the art of Zen as applied to anything you want to master. John G has it down..


Hmmmm... loving every note, eh?
You are certainly not asking for a lot here Wink
But seriously - after I bought decent tube a while ago and
good OD pedal (Xotic AC+) recently I can certainly say that
my playing changed - I became content with less notes - my guitar
sounds good so why play 10 notes when 2 will do?
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Larry_DC



Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 207

PostPosted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tony wrote:
Instead of thinking that way be content with our everyday practice and don't struggle so much with what we have not acheived because that will come only with time and we can't change time. Effortless Mastery.


Amen to that. It took a long time for me to appreciate my progress instead of lamenting how far I had to go. Like Mark says, if your worst day today is better than your best day 6 months ago you're on the right path.
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Mark
VM Coach


Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 479
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Larry_DC wrote:
Like Mark says, if your worst day today is better than your best day 6 months ago you're on the right path.


Larry,

The "right path" is everything in my book. Once you discover it and supply the work ethic, success becomes a foregone conclusion, which to me really gives an aspiring artist a sense of inner peace. After all, when it comes to artistic pursuit it's not when you'll get there but having the certainty that you definitely are on the right train that will eventually lead to your destination. Path + work ethic is 99% of the picture. I'll give natural talent 1% since that factor is out of our control, and also because those blessed with inate ability often fail to live up to their potential, because it comes so "easy" to them that they miss the path and avoid the critical work required to reach higher ground.

- Mark
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