Kenny Werner’s Effortless Mastery
The 4 steps is a method of practicing “letting go of the need to control the music.”
Kenny is fond of saying: let music, don’t make music.
This then results in being able to play without consciously thinking about the chords and notes, trusting that if the necessary preparatory study had been accomplished, the notes will take care of themselves.
4 steps:
1. Find a centered and calm place within yourself, call ‘space’.
- watch your breath flow in and out can aid in experiencing this state of mind.
- slowly come into contact with the piano without consciously controlling the exp
- allow any sound or the lack of sound to manifest itself without you having to make it happen
- don’t be surprised if no sound or only strange noises come out
- be aware of your ego’s need to do something to produce the sound
- purpose of this exercise is to play without your conscious mind controlling the exp
- a way to visualize the exp is to pretend that the subconscious mind or a higher power is taking control over the act of making music, using you as an empty vessel.
2. Build on the state of mind experience in step 1.
- play freely while maintaining the feeling that you are not the one controlling the act of making music
- do not let the conscious mind take over and begin categorizing and analyzing what you are playing
- you are trying to play freely
- if you can only play whole notes without thinking or striving, then that’s what should be allowed to manifest itself.
3. Play a tune while maintaining the feeling of freedom, detachment, and effortlessness experienced in steps 1 and 2.
- you may find that you are playing more simply than you normally would but the music will probably sound fresher and less cliched.
4. If you discover that you can’t successfully negotiate all of the chord changes or the tempo of the tune without striving and forcing, anlayze your harmonic and rhythmic weaknesses and formulate one or two exercises that, once mastered,will help you correct these inherent problems.
Practice these exercises or patterns using the principals of the Learning Diamond, until you have trained your body to negotiate the demands of the tune.
Learning Diamond
Practice of a song can be viewed as having 4 parameters:
1. Play with total effortlessness
2. Play in a fast tempo
3. Play the complete selection
4. Play the correct notes
Imagine each of these aspects as corners of diamond, with effortlessness being at the top of the diamond.
1. Effortlessness implies the absence of physical tension or mental striving. Everything played from this is second nature, requiring no conscious control. Of the 4 corners of the diamond, this is one corner that should never be abandoned.
2. If you can’t play a selection up-tempo without sacrificing effortlessness, slow it down until you find a tempo at which you are comfortable. Gradually increase the tempo seeing how far you can push it while maintaining a feeling of relaxed detachment. Be attentive to any physical tension and mental anxiety as you increase the tempo.
3. An alternative to slow down the tempo, practice at a fast tempo but only play a small portion of the music. If only 2 notes you can play effortlessness, start with that. Gradually add more notes. If problem occurs in the middle of the passage, begin at that point and gradually piece the entire passage together, maintaining a feeling of effortlessness.
4. To gain a sense of what it feels like to play the entire song effortlessly and up-tempo, allow yourself to play wrong notes. Keep your fingers moving in time. Do not sacrifice the other 3 corners of the learning diamond. You may find your conscious mind unwilling to accept the wrong notes ou hear, but remember how great wrong notes sound when Miles Davis plays them.
Additional thoughts:
1. When practicing or performing, keep your thoughts still and your body relaxed.
2. To quiet your thoughts when performing, helpful to concentrate on something outside of yourself, such as another person or an object or to place attention on maintaining a relaxed feeling in your body.
3. When practicing or improvising, imagine that you are not the one playing but a ‘silent witness’ to the event.
4. music is a reflection of your personal growth and the development of your consciousness.