Eastwood Zhao dot COM

What Is Effortless Mastery?

The concept of “effortless mastery” can be a tricky one. This concept, in my opinion, not only applies to music, but to everything in life. Today, I borrowed a well-used (pages falling out, binding wrinkling…etc.) copy of “Effortless Mastery” from Stan Karp, and plan on reading through it. A little bit of info on the back of the book:

Kenny Werner is an accomplished pianist who began performing at age 4 and, by age 11, has appeared on television. While at the Manhattan School of Music he became restless with his musical direction and began to explore Jazz as new means of creativity and expression. Along his journey, he was inspired by masters of the craft to rethink not only the technical aspects of creativity, but also the spiritual aspects. Effortless Mastery, is not only an account of that journey, but also an insightful guide for all those wishing to remove their own barriers to creativity in life and the arts. While Mr. Werner happens to be a musician, the concepts presented here are applicable to every profession, aspiration or life-style where there is a need for free-flowing, effortless thinking.

Let’s flip open the dictionary and look up some definitions:

Effortless:

• Requiring or apparently requiring no effort; “the swallows glided in an effortless way through the busy air”

• Casual: not showing effort or strain; “a difficult feat performed with casual mastery”; “careless grace”

Mastery:

• Possession of consummate skill

• Great skillfulness and knowledge of some subject or activity

Effortless Mastery?

“…if you’ve constantly pointed to other players and thought that they possessed something you didn’t, or if you’ve practiced for years and never really improved, or if you always play great but your music lacks depth and meaning for you, read on.”

Yes sir , I will read on — read on and share the “enlightening” moments (cheesy choice of words there) with my readers.

Stay tuned!