Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within, Kenny Werner, Jamey Aberesold Jazz Press, 1996
It is presumed that most musicians are hopelessly insecure creatures. But that's only the start of their problems. In his groundbreaking book Effortless Mastery, veteran pianist Kenny Werner convincingly demonstrates that those imbued with such self-doubting qualities also live in a state of unrealized potential. Obsessing on one's limitations only leads to further frustration and insecurity which leads to even lower levels of artistry, creating an endless cycle of mediocrity. Many readers will identify with this condition and, of course, will want to know how to correct it. Once this connection is made it's really hard to toss this now famous handbook aside.
The proof is in the book's success. Since its release in 1996, EM has consistently sold well and even inspired several companion products: videos, play-along CD's and, believe it or not, a summer camp. Werner has become a hot item on the lecture circuit too, leading clinics all over the world on this topic. In his own words, he'll be remembered more for Effortless Mastery than his vast recorded output as a jazz pianist.
Given all the success and word-of-mouth generated by EM, even now seven years after its debut, I felt it was time to read it again. After I finished, I decided to explore the origins of his approach by reading some of the referenced source material. Doing so has provided a much better understanding of how utterly universal and old this topic really is.
But first let's go back to the insecure musician.
Werner builds his profile of this creatively impotent individual through several case-studies on fear (fear of practicing, of listening, of performing, etc). From there, he segues into to the book's central themes of "effort" and "mastery". Namely, that mastery is the inverse of effort. The more you consciously try to play well, the less likely you actually will play well. Or in more esoteric terms, Mastery is a "purposeless, aimless" pursuit. All of this is admittedly hard to grasp at first.
Sources
Perhaps it will more make sense if you understand that this idea of aimless mastery is not a new one. Werner has drawn on numerous ancient religious and meditative practices in writing EM. The strongest of these components is probably Zen Buddhism, or at least the most recognizable (Werner himself is a student of Siddha Yoga). In particular, Werner makes repeated reference to Eugene Herrigel's seminal work on Buddhism, "Zen and the Art of Archery" which is entirely dedicated to explaining this concept.
Herrigel's book is the autographical story of a German college professor at a Tokyo university endeavoring to learn the Japanese art of archery (Kyudo) from a reluctant master. Throughout his study he is told, "Don't ask. Practice!" It takes years of diligent work before he's even allowed near a target (the first stages have to do solely with holding the bow). When he finally graduates to this point, his arrows consistently fail to reach their target, much less hit it. Months pass without change. When he confronts his teacher about this, he is told "You arrows do not carry... because they do not reach far enough spiritually". He is reminded to allow the "greater power" to take control and to stop trying, or even aiming for that matter. This flies in the face of his Western, analytical ego-driven mind. Eventually, of course, he gets it and becomes a master archer. But only after learning to detach from expectation... and only after years of daily practice, both points being equally important.
Jazz and Star Wars (and all that)
As a side note, these ideas have also poked up in pop-culture thanks to George Lucas and his lore of Jedi Masters. Aspiring Jedi's are told things like "Â…let go your conscious self and act on instinct" and "Try not. Do or do not -- there is no try." Lucas has openly confessed his reliance on Zen (and other Eastern philosophies) as the spiritual foundation for his wildly successful movie empire. The real question is How would Yoda have handled himself on a few choruses of Giant Steps?
Nonetheless, at the heart of all these approaches is the underlying theme of hard work. For musicians this means the proper cultivation of technique, accomplished through a consistent and honest practice regime. Concurrently, one must strive to develop a sense of detachment from one's ego during the creative process. Perhaps this is the greatest challenge. Again, from the Art of Archery:
"If one really wishes to be a master of an art, technical knowledge of it is not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the art becomes an 'artless art' growing out of the Unconscious."
Achieving this balance is the ultimate goal of Effortless Mastery. He presents a four-step approach, which starts with a little game. He asks you to repeat the phrase "I am great, I am a master" until you believe it (if only temporarily). By doing so, he claims, you will drown out your own self-doubt. Then, in a series of gradual steps, he teaches you to detach from judgment, take an honest inventory of your skills, and work methodically on fixing the gaps in your playing. Effort is diminished as you solve your various musical problems, one-by-one in an objective fashion. "Observe your deficiencies as if you were making a shopping list", he notes. Again, this sense of detachment is a basic tenant of Zen, but framed in terms to which most musicians can relate.
Conclusions
The book moves along at a fast clip, thanks to a style that is personable and unpretentious. You could easily read it in one sitting. In fact, you may find it hard not to if you have experienced the problems he describes. The only tangible criticism of EM is the seeming lack of evidence to support the approach. Werner himself, though clearly a practitioner of his methods, is not one whose music or career has seemingly changed because of their application. That is to say, he has always been a great player (clearly, since even the book's jacket bio describes him as a child prodigy) and has enjoyed a long and successful career. But in a conversation I had with Werner last year about this, he rebutted by saying that his performances now consistently rise to high levels of artistry. "Because I allow perfection to happen, the music has no choice but to be great!" He went on to say that though he may not be a big star in the jazz world, his audiences always leave happy and he always gets asked back by the venues where he performs. In fact, it is for this reason that he has vowed only to release live recordings from now on (his last CD was live).
Effortless Mastery provides a simple, hopeful message: anyone can be an artist of unimaginable power if they simply allow themselves to become one. At the same time, it's not a book trying to impose some cosmic, new-age message. EM is about developing good habits in place of denial, self-doubt and other egocentric maladies. It's also a general topic, making this book applicable to many disciplines. However, Werner has clearly written Effortless Mastery as a work of love for the struggling jazz musician.
For more info, please visit http://www.kennywerner.com
-- Andrew Lienhard, http://www.andrewlienhard.com
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