Kenny Werner Effortless Mastery

[Music] [Music] hi my name is Kenny Werner and I wrote the book effortless mastery it's been amazing to see how many people have been helped and inspired by my book I'm deeply honored to have been the one to write it it seems that people are trying to make changes in their lives today artists and musicians as well if you like me you need all the help you can get in making a change this video is meant to help it's meant to be a little companion to the book just a few reminders of things that are in the book that might have helped you it's a lecture I gave at the 1998 I hae convention it's funny in moments and it's inspiring I hope in a few moments hopefully it will inspire you to keep making the changes that you've begun to keep along the path of mastering your mind keep along the path of eliminating negative messages that block you from the highest form of yourself and keep you on the path towards effortless mastery in your work I hope it does help please enjoy [Music] this is a little overwhelming professor I never get this many people when I play a gig Jessica's show there's a whole lot of jazz musicians out there not too many people may be talking about this so I made up this sheet today and the reason to keep a little bass on my voice so I sound more sincere did you roll off the high so I sounded more sincere no you can't I was only no EQ that's like a few clubs I played in I made this up today actually I got it this morning because they wanted to hand something out because well let's do dark here's a recording term split the difference right thank you I made his hand out because this is the era of handouts no no I made this hand out because I'm only gonna be with you for about 55 minutes and this is a subject that I can usually lecture on for five days and then I go home and I continue to lecture in the mirror while I'm shaving and at the dinner table until my wife says shut up but it's a subject that just goes on and on and on and when I feel the information channeling through me which is actually the same thing I'm sort of talking about my booklet playing is what happens to me when I start talking about this information sort of starts channeling through me and I feel like it's I'm the receiver and the transmitter and it's a glorious feeling much greater feeling than feeling well you're all here I gotta say something heavy so that you'll dig what I'm saying that's an exhausting feeling but when you feel like well just move your mouth and sort of speak in tongue this kind of thing and then words start to come and hopefully those words will be of service if something comes through me well that gives me energy and it gives me clarity and focus and it keeps me under control but I made this up because I wanted to be able to take something home what it is is a lot of her mind of what the ego allows us to forget so easily and so we're not trying to do is work off it a little bit the reason we're all here and the reason that effortless mastery has turned out to be a hot topic is the same reason that most of the societies civilized societies are flocking towards similar information in other areas of life because we've all obtained everything we want and we still find ourselves wanting more we've all have is enough food and shelter possessions in our life and we still find ourselves desirous of something more and that's why this kind of information is popping up in every area and perhaps it was my niche that pop up in the area of jazz musicians or musicians in general or perhaps artists in general because recently I've taken on a students to painters see because to move your hand towards your instrument without thought and without desire and accept with love whatever comes out well you can be reaching for a tenor sax but you could also be reaching for a paintbrush or a drumstick so I myself don't exactly know how far this extends but I know that everybody would like to do the act that they care so much about from a place of freedom from a place of unconditional acceptance of their selves and love and I also know that well over 50% and I almost dare to say 90% it doesn't seem like it but to see the jazz scene and so many great players but remember behind every one of those players that can enjoy themselves must be nine more musicians that are really unfulfilled so I figured it'd be about 90% of all the people that go for this experience some sense of honor fulfillment some lack of satisfaction that they can't quite to articulate perhaps some of the principles in my book have articulated them and then I have sort of dare to suggest uh remedies so I'm gonna try to go through some of this first of all I said in the mind resolve resolves well I see I wrote it in one hour this morning and I didn't edit it see that's effortless mastery love your mistakes any mine resolves all the gunk resides all the gunk and what is the gunk that you're carrying around some of the things like touchy touching your instrument how many people feel a contraction in their bodies as they're about to reach for their instrument instead of an expansion as opposed to when you take a hot bath you go yeah let's go with that you know you look forward to hot baths your body language as you enter a hot bath is varying in sync very graceful because you know that as every part of your body touches that warm water you're going to experience over and over again a sense of release a tingling sensation now it's that the experience you have any pick up your instrument or a pin to read some music figure of not playing well most of us have that that's a quite irrational fear as hopefully we'll be able to illumine in this session fear and of not being fulfilled fear of losing one a lot of you have that and then there's a guilt and shame but we're not being able to admit it right I love it when a piano player loses one you know piano player is that supposed to be the master of the universe I don't know if you know that that's why they chose the piano they've got it all there are limited so on a piano player loses one it's like this couldn't that be happening so they lose one and then they get this little things like they'll get the drummer like what's wrong with you now we know that 99 that I'm the drummer did not lose one because granted a drummer suffers from a limitation of cells however all they have to do is rethink about time so they shouldn't have had together and of course the drummer knows that he didn't lose one so the people there now moves from a very traditional soul something that would be very accepted in our society today to my mystical type of song more like the 60s you know when they finish your solo this sort of trails off and totally was still playing and you know and someone picked up you don't know where the top of the forward doesn't beiong plays saying I'm having I'm gonna just feed fear that others will play better than you see that's nothing more than iko iko fear is eager fear is in the mind fear of hearing other good players I love that part my book a lot of people read that and actually make audible sounds after they see that like did you ever not do a gate for fear that you might hear something too good you know it's a sickness when you think of what music really is music is the nectar of liberation liberation can be talked about and talked about but it cannot be explained in words music comes a little closer music is the oil that the fire of this infinite spirit flies on and yet music is a source of many of your people's problem and anxiety so you see that's a perversion music when you think of music you should think of it in the same group you know this certain groups are like food groups well this group's things I obsess over things I worry about things I release myself to thanks to our moral Society most of those things are on the restricted list however did you ever move music into things I release myself into you know hot baths chocolate cake several unmentionables playing music now you may put that in there but you usually don't mean it because a second before you do it you're overcome with this contracted thought I hope I play good C in my book I'm collating a lot of ancient myth material that came through me I didn't really read about it so there's nothing new in the book except one thing like there are many people that have done many retreats done many spiritual things and have achieved some level four moments peak experience of liberation all that means is that they were not imprisoned by their ego for a few minutes or seconds but they still go back to their instrument and find no relationship that's because liberation comes from surrender and you may go to a meditation retreat surrender everything but when you come back to your instrument there's one thing you don't surrender and this is the thing I discovered I think this is probably the one piece of new information you don't surrender the need to sound good you'll say yes I'm going to release myself into all the new-age verbiage and all the psychobabble I released myself to the infinite universe who will do with me what He willed I will not mind be done and God granted serenity to accepting the notes I cannot change that and play and the wisdom to like you know to take a break right after you know you'll say all the correct verbiage but you still won't let go because implicit in that in parentheses is so you see you're not surrendering any everything and some people say you know I tried you think it didn't work I went to the gig and I let go and I froze with fear I said well did you really let go of sound and goodwill no she improved what the theory you didn't find it the theory every time you violate you just gonna what I just told you you're gonna find proves itself your life again and again and again if you analyze every time it's not happening you are caring and every time it is happening you would not care and it breaks down just about that way and there ain't much more to it so now that I've said that you're all never gonna care again that right clinics over thank you very much [Applause] of course you're gonna care again because you're programmed to care it doesn't matter that just share this information you can go to your in Smith now you're gonna care about how am i letting go to the disease transfers itself to every new issue now we have a new agent and xiety am i liberated enough am i loving enough you know as long as you're asking that question the answer is no when you say when a teacher says to you or you know a lot of people taught you to really think about am i swinging am i swinging you know well it's not seeming some some teacher will say you know I can't wait until uh you know the death of a music when it mainly resides in the universities I mean what husband rap is taught there's a rap Department in every major university now first of all every rap musician has to have a classical background first we know that I see I heard him play list it was this town sadly what are you professor with your rap dissing dysentery or dysentery which is that singles well you know it's not really angry enough you didn't mention cop killing ones here take this will rewrite it so you see this transplants in your mind a very uncreate of thought am i swinging and every time you ask that question you have your answer no immediately the answer the question affects the answer isn't that beautiful so let's go on fear of not succeeding I can understand you have that one myself others will find out you're jiving you're not swinging people will not notice you so much of why a student wants to play well in this school is to be noticed they noticed the guys that play well and how everybody wants to talk to them you know the guy who plays well the school he walks around you know they even acknowledge being liked you know but if he has a bad solo that night before suddenly he's lower than the lowest in his own mind and now he doesn't want to talk to you because he doesn't think he deserves your attend your attention so much do we attach our self-esteem and our value of ourselves as people by our not even our general level of play but our last solo it's sick music is a gift there's only one reason to play you're either overcome by spirit and it's playing through you or you're playing see two reasons or you're playing to say hallelujah to that spirit and saying hallelujah to that spirit actually makes it enter you and so looks like a circle and this is very vivid antic or cash machine as a missus very as you find this in the mysticism of every ancient religion who is the player who is the listener what is the music they are all the same thing so therefore the player is being played the music is being listened to it's a lot happening by itself and the players ego it properly trade is not involved at all so all the gunk in the mind is gone and all there is is the beautiful transmission of music coming in going out being heard by you and giving gratitude for we channeled again like light like one lamp lights another how do we light up an audience by turning yourself on be an artist isn't is in the highest sense of the word a very selfish act because if you get up there with the idea I'm going to impress these people you will have no power but if you get up there with the idea this is for me like that I'm gonna get up on stage and take a bath you know what everybody's gonna feel the warm water running that's the way it works what else I'm getting to the point where this is getting old and I'm just going to talk to you let's skip all that stuff although a bitterness over I like that never becoming fluid in your playing not being given enough talent by gods not being given a chance to play with the big boys this is great no I got up at 8:30 went down my coffee wrote these three pages and I was done at 9:30 that's pretty good concerning I never did a book report that's cool you've been somewhere others becoming successful bitterness of others playing better than you bitter that's over even the younger ones playing better than is it it's an age such a big deal as I said in my book we've all had these like the Soviet Union we have these five-year plans if you're 16 you want to get it together by the time you're 19 if you're 19 you want to get together by the time you're 21 21 to give it to 25 25 and give it till 33 you're gonna give it to 35 35 you give it to 40 a 40 you're too old to train for anything else so you remain a bigger musician for the rest of your life is anybody familiar with this now employed having a family instead of moving today mark after you graduated college how many people are bitter over that looking in your husband or wife hi dear what I couldn't have achieved I just don't have this daenam family sickness sickness mineral is still messing up the bridge to all the things you are and of course what part of the bridge the second part of the bridge two five one and E and 15 you mess it up at 50 is still messing it up it's two five one I need you difficult no you just never studied it properly that's the second half of the effortless mastery equation first of all mastery which we'll get to here so I'll hold that bitterness of life has passed you by that's similar business that who the media and the record companies like it don't like that's one of mine bitterness if there's no chance clubs in your area no radio either bitterness that you're teaching bitterness that you're still teaching tired of hearing your own voice feel like they there is a rearm there as are real jazz and you're not one of them you think that music is important now this is a radical thought do you know that what we're all doing here it's not important you know that and it's nothing wrong with all being here to do something that's not important but you'll have a lot more fun if you realize then the overall scheme of things what we're doing here has no importance to the world whatsoever you're not feeding anybody you're not shelter anybody you're not nation-building except sort of this nation you know you're not curing anybody you're not not just on this there is a way that music becomes important we'll get to it by the very end but most of what you're languishing in your cycle of thoughts about music as you walk around this place just realize what we do here is kind of a hobby this is like a Star Trek convention and wait a minute I'm not gonna miss now if you don't understand something we all have more fun the rest of this weekend if you realize that there's no more importance to this then there is to a Star Trek convention now you just think about it that's no disrespect I love the IJ this is where I decided to write my book the last time I gave this talk and I found people were passing tapes around I thought jeez I'd better write a book but it's not any more important than a Star Trek convention it's fun music is your responsibility you think that do you think your responsibility to jazz do you think Duke Ellington wherever he is now cares about your interpretation at Duke Ellington do you think monk if you live today could win the monk competition [Applause] I know pizza like mom [Laughter] playing jazz is important do you think about that if it is why are we maintaining our national pastime you know just think about especially your a particular life where you live and your life is it's playing jazz important now why do I have to illuminate this so I have to take potshots at jazz something that like it's just struggling to find a mark in this country I'm not I'm trying to help you liberate yourself do you know that if you think of what you're doing is not important you'll do it better and you'll do it without neurosis quick thing I always say at the beginning very clinic but I'll say it now think about it cake you were playing and it felt very important you're a responsibility as jazz to play well how'd you play it was your you played piano bar and cedar Walden came and sat down right in front you suddenly want to show him your commitment and responsibility of the Jazz how'd you play well you had a jewelry I love that word how did you play you know now think about time that didn't matter you're playing with friends or you were the best player in the group and they all cared about what you thought well why are you playing a wedding and nobody was listening and just in matter of fact your money might have been distracted you were thinking about doing your taxes but the horrors in your mouth and you were playing style by starlight how did you play that better right most people that I've ever taught this ask this question of fact all people except for a few people like to argue as said when I don't when I don't pressure myself in that way I play better my pressure my thumb I couldn't get my thing off some things I knew I can do but that day I couldn't do it so since and you you know you all know that's pretty true so let's just assume that's human nature if that's true then we can pull a Sutra out of that a Sutra that means a truth when I care about how I play I don't play as do it that's why I don't care therefore every thought that can reduce in your mind the consequences of what we're doing turn it into a hobby even if it's your profession how do you do your hobby you know how do you you know if you build model airplanes you you know you do it out of interest you do have enjoyment you do it the past the time like when you write a piece of music or you do a crossword puzzle I read a piece of music like you do a crossword puzzle you just start writing you know you have to disassociate this thing from something that is your proving ground as a human being you have to separate your value or when you think your value is from playing and then you have to start to realize why your value is infinitely high whether you play music - not with you play great or play badly whether you've had a good night or a bad night and that is the spiritual concept which hopefully we'll get to in this short amount of time that's why I want to leave you with this it's a good outline so let's you think your solar wasn't working that's what I was talking about you think how you play somehow determines your self-worth that's why you can't let go because then you play bad you're gonna feel bad and nobody wants to feel bad you think other okay let's let's do it because of fear or eco you try too hard to play and as I just proved when you try too hard to play you don't play as well that's also when you lose one did you ever notice you lose one just at that moment where the mind was saying it's gotta be more burning I've got a swing harder or mine this should be more complex this should be more modern or something that we got since 1980 this should be more authentic you know we didn't used to talk about authentic before 1980 everybody was just trying to channel their own voice now it's my fantasy North anticipate the real jazz I love that turn of the real jazz I wonderfully also explain the real jazz I don't know if there's nothing else to compare it ok trying to be something of you're not trying to love music that you don't love there's a particular illness there are people here secretly that don't love Duke Ellington's music but it must remain a dirty little secret because they weren't there or they come from a different orientation some people have an orientation and they have actually turned their back on that orientation to embrace an orientation that is not really in their heart because they said someone told them that's what jazz is to dig jazz you got to dig this but you see when I came up it was a very unruly time a very mystical time I was taught that jazz were sort of a mystical trip you dug what you dug and you played what wanted to come out here and you'll go for some less defying concept there was a lot of bad music made under that guys but there was some great music made under that guys you know and then when I heard this whole thing this notion of like what is jazz what isn't it kind of really confused me for a while because I only came into it to express myself see in the beginning of my book I mentioned Duke Ellington Louie Armstrong Florence monk Charlie Parker Dizzy Gillespie but now a bunch of people Ornette Coleman and I say is this a fair representation of the tradition of jazz which of course it is as I say what these people will have in common they were all innovators so the way I see the tradition of jazz tradition of jazz is innovation then that doesn't mean you have to constantly be new and different it means the more you reach into your own heart and solve for the sounds that turn you on not the sound someone told you should turn you on the closer you're gonna get to innovating this music if you really secretly in your life loved the Monkees think you've had a dig out those old mucky records and listen to them every day that's right because you gotta connect with your love every day you have to connect the feeling that those monkey records inspiring you now you don't get to when you're listening to even Charlie Parker some of you do love Charlie Parker I'm talking right now that once you don't you will never find your power trying to conform your own likes and dislikes your personality and your social strata to something that you think is jazz you will never attain anything they're a real secretive jazz is that those guys know how to get off now when you get off do you think about miles or a bird or a train I don't want to get too graphic here but when you get yourselves off do you think about how miles of games when you take a hot bath with you do you think about well actually burn would take the hot bath this way when you sneeze you try to sneeze like monk these are real expressions usually the way you play jazz is an affectation affecting a style affecting the language affecting a culture affecting a groove affecting a swing that's not the one you grew up with but what I believe jazz is which conflicts with some other people's opinions and that's fine but it's going to help you jazz is a language that you can blow through it you are true feeling your true love your true addictions you are true lust your chew anything nobody can tell you what's appropriate to throw through there but anything you throw through there is better than this veneer of appropriateness that has been imprisoning you that's why you can't play a note without judging yourself I met so many students I said if I want to make them uptight I say to them we'll play something for me that's sick did you go oh great that's like I'm saying my wife is a great cook the other day she made pineapple upside-down cake if I took that same student into my kitchen said have a piece of that they'd lunge for it but this is what happens when I kid was to be placed we go what should I play something you know so then I get little nervous laughs that's already a hint you know and like they look like I'm like I got like it's a firing squad or something they look like a messin to jump off a cliff that's sick that is a complete perversion of the natural act of making music music originally is a gift for you to attain ecstasy or express the ecstasy you attained or you express the ecstasy in advance of the attainment no but you don't feel ecstasy but you affirm every note you play yes that's the most beautiful sound I ever heard whether you believe it or not and watch what starts happening up to 10 to 15 minutes those notes start to affirm the visualization the affirmation you gave them that's called faith faith in music every note I play this beautiful sound I've ever heard faith in music thank you for every note I play faith in music thank you for my worst performance secretive even to be trapped in this heaven health purgatory have good and bad performances you're never gonna get the juice of playing music and that's really a shame because of all the other perks in this society are not that easy to attain by playing jazz but this one term I mean it's not exactly a great career move let's face it however there's one perk that if you tasted the nectar of this perk you would be divinely addicted forever and have to play music no matter where it ever took you and the cruel irony is that most of you will live and die never having a taste of it because you will resign in this realm of good music bad music I found good I sound bad this is jazz this isn't jazz this swings this doesn't swing you know I mean and then poof you're dead one day you die in the middle of that sentence jazz I'm playing jazz I think the I playing Ben I'm swinging I'm not swinging jazz [Music] that's like that's why you're here you don't want to live your life that way you dream you see a movie and something touches you actually you hear a performance by a liberated soul and that touches you that's how most of you got into this music you've heard performance by a liberated soul maybe he wasn't liberated like a guru or hiokey but he was liberating when he played meaning he knew had to have fun or she knew had had fun when they played notes they were for their own delight they delighted in the sound of their own voice coming back resonating back to them and you were attracted to that there's nothing more attractive than someone digging themselves in the right way and because of that you might have made your mind to become a musician and what threw you so far off the track commencing the study of this music now we have to learn first how to regain so here's our dilemma and most of us share to one degree some degree or another so now I think at this stage I should be getting to the Cure normally we're beginning to this till Thursday but the cure is this we have to move beyond the mind which is where all this gunk resides in to a deeper region in the heart into a space that all the Mystics from every tradition have ever talked about a space where there's only one kind of music great music where there's only one kind of energy ecstatic energy where there's only one kind of judgement I am that infinite force there is no compromise there is no other I am the one there is no other they take that awareness which resides in the spiritual concept and pour it through your instrument and you'll get the nectar but you may have to do some unprogrammed and that's what the steps in the book are about the first step is about losing those things having a mind become quiet imagining the body and total rest matching the instrument that something picking up as an instrument of pleasure for example how many of you people have dogs and cats now when you touch your pet your dog your cat doesn't feel different than when you reach your instrument you express your love you're attracted you can't wait to do it I've had that with many students had one student she just every time she touched a piano it was just awkward and like glitchy like you know like to play enough play chord and I just couldn't answer we did visualization we looked wait you know we did every kind of New Age thing you can do breathing which breathing is a very important thing I'm not gonna have time to elaborate on but breathing is the key to breaking that mental thing but and then I saw she had his big German Shepherd who she always kept talking to and then she was in a when we weren't working out music she had a completely different demeanor one that I recognize more is being enormous said wait a minute do me a favor go over there to pet your dog and she ran up in her dog was like there was such great sinner movement I said they'll come over the piano now touch the p.m. okay go back over there pet your dog now would you remember that thought come back to pee not matching and petting your dog she got it temporarily it doesn't change well at once it goes back and you got to keep changing it you got to keep working on but suddenly she got a piano instrument a pleasure something I love to touch what and see the problem of the piano is once you touch it as consequences and every instruments the same it makes a sound that's when you roll this up because then the judge comes back well that sound what's a chance was it not what was it swinging was it real was it effective was it complicated was it modern was it traditional you know I mean and you match that on end and the consciousness is gone so once you've touched instrument you have to do another bit of programming when the sound comes out you go yes thank you you imagine you have to pretend that that sound like you were a person that hasn't had a drink of water in a week and that sound was a glass of cool sparkling water you went oh yes thank you when someone just grabbed your back up in the shoulder blades went here here's the key to my room that is what you feel like when you hear the sound come back now you will feel that first so you pretend that's part of this process you pretend until it becomes true when it becomes true the sound will bear out bear witness to your estate it will sound like something someone will be listening to dildo that's the way you've heard of communicable diseases this is communicable keywords killing your own soul you touch the instrument and obvious becomes a music that cures the soul of the listener and that's what's important about music and nothing else so you do that programming and you change the instrument to be this sort of deep pleasure deep devotion if you program pretending this pretending I'm calling it which is actually programming I touch the instrument like they touch my dog I hear the sound like I'm like a dying for thirst not drinking at first that feels insincere but you just go with it five years goes by you are a yogi at that instrument you are an ecstatic person and when you play one chord people go ah it happens but you have to stay with it that's the faith so you get that going and then you get the fear one of the things that drops away is the fear fear what not becoming a great player real quickly have this fear of not becoming a great player become a self-fulfilling prophecy you feel like I gotta get better by yesterday right I'm 25 I'm 34 I got a baby out of my 38 right on I won't even say bye get you there before I die I'm not gonna say role but I got anything before I die no just kidding I'm probably the same age as you so right so you gave me a bit of a yes so you got these this list of things you're practicing you know that list usually about 12 things I think that has to do something with the rotation of the planets but there's usually got 12 things on your list learn mom tunes okay right so you because you're gonna hurt it getting any better by yesterday you rush through these things you skim across the surface of each one of these things and you don't attain anything that particularly lasts and you go to play and none of it shows up you're playing but you're getting better because yesterday we're practicing these things but today approximately things so you must be progressing right funny thing though you haven't noticed your plank hasn't changed in any way relating to your practicing and that doesn't seem to bother you I mean it does but on that sub level you know that stuffing feelings level down there in that disgusting box with all the other you know roach motel with all those other things you don't want to look at and so you know looking at your passing there's no relationship to your playing so you fear causes you the skim over these subjects not really absorbing anything because absorbing takes much longer than your ego thinks it takes and then nothing shows up you're playing there by confirming your secret thought about yourself anyway I am NOT talented I am NOT special and everything is a self-fulfilling prophecy I practice in a way that a firm is I am NOT special I'm not supposed to learn this would you keep doing it or some of you have taken the other practical you mean to practice everyday but just doesn't quite get around to it you wake up we go okay I'm cup of coffee on the right to be on their practice yeah call me do that rancher let's take a peek at the newspaper now do you be the newspaper down I'm gonna practice yeah okay now you sit there 45 minutes go by and you read all the support stuff because we all know how much jazz musicians that have concerned with current events you get down with the paper and you you go okay I'm gonna go practice right to make a couple of phone calls 11 o'clock and you know I really gotta make a couple of business calls to make those calls boom it gets me 12:30 now I've been pressed right to lunch yeah okay pretty much maybe no tell me that's right and you say well you know what times about pace of bills you know I got to do this like that teach this over love I'm gonna get home as soon as I get back to my room I walk out of there practice get home it's about 5:30 oh yes practice first let's go make some coffee and the whole day goes like that you go to bed disappointed in yourself you wake up with expectation every morning and go to bed every night disappointed is that applying a few people you so that's what fear does because and why did you practice because you thought if I don't put it in at least two or three thousand two or three thousand two or three hours it won't make any difference it won't make me better by yesterday if I don't put at least two or three hours and I got to practice those twelve things and my god here's an ancient anxiety ridden thought which one do I start with what should I practice first I can't make up my mind so therefore a empty cup of coffee maybe I'll be able to figure out you know you see what I mean this kind of attitude ruins your practicing ruins your playing ruined your life in all probability because of the spin off from it because allowed you have not loved allow these of the beloved until you get your together excuse my expression why have you said no no I can't really get close to it I got my together or I can't marry yet I can't even mention it again oh no no we can't have a kid yet I gotta get my together no well I can actually hold your life back but did you get it until this mystical thing is gonna happen and you play good enough to have a kid you know how many of you guys am I haven't liked women too and I only hope the guys are don't ever practice and finally your girlfriend or wife is convinced you go to movies and while she's putting on a couple of movies suddenly you've fallen into some practicing baby nothing damn I didn't have this girlfriend I could practice I could practice so much more you know I mean this is the folly of the mind and I wish I could go on and run about but we're getting close I just want to inspire you to do anything in the world to get out under the tyranny of this mental noise and this realm and to do that you have to make a very mature decision kind of a spiritual decision there is a space in my heart it's filled with excess a filled with joy it never is jealous it never thinks it has it doesn't have enough it never lacks it never longs for anything but to enjoy that ecstatic space and when I play the nectar back stack space pours out of my instrument now I would rather live in that space that play good if you I made that decision if you make that decision you'll play better because the main thing hole you're playing down now is the obsessive need to play better that's why you can't be happy you might be happy for people once and they rein it in because of what winded I'm not playing to I need to play it don't huh you're a life back waiting for that elusive day you play good become a fool right now say to yourself I sacrifice I surrender to this big force that need to play music at all but give me that presence within sideling because that presence is music that presence resided in every important musician that ever hit this earth that was presence was in monsura that presence was a bird that presence was a Cecil Taylor that presence was a Louie Armstrong that presence was a Beethoven this overriding thing that made them do what they had to do do you think that that's just for these great people and not for you are you not a great person do you not have greatness in you is that what you believe now do you do everything in your life based on that assumption these are the things that I start to deal with because I really wanted more and I can say that music is one of the most pleasurable things I do even on the worst piano and even on the worst day because of this philosophy and that learning which I don't have time to describe to you the antecedent to the folly I just described about you know the practicer well the answer is if you read in the book the fourth step from this quiet mind you start practicing a thing something that isn't basic to what's wrong with your playing the impractical to you've mastered it and quickly what does mastery mean mastery is I think I said that on the third page well there's a few things at the end what is mastery mastery is the effortless execution of material from an unconscious space the way you might drive a car or use a fork do all of you play to 5-1 the way you use a fork you play for for the way you use a fork you keep time to is easy for you to play standards as fusiform if that's the music you choose to play maybe you wanna play bulgarian music is it as easy for you to play bulgarian music i say this fusiform if it's not you have an experienced master yet which is another block to your freedom effortless mastery liberating the masked musician within what blocks that mastery very often alack what blocks that freedom that liberation very often a lack of mastery if you have to tap your foot to make sure you don't slow down you'll never feel this nectar so you might decide time that's what I'm gonna start practising and you practice it from a such a deep place every time you practice you practice this one thing and in a little while maybe a month maybe a year you're playing changes remember that's why you wanted to practice so you're complaining you couldn't actually change so I described it much greater detail in my book and I get into it much greater detail in workshops I do when they have more time we have to go from this overview which feels like a glass globe that you're permanently locked out of and go in there by thinking about one thing even work on and patiently and quietly and with high self-esteem and with joy practice that not worrying about if you get it together tomorrow or if you never get it together you see if you make a decision I don't need to get it together I'm practicing for the love of it you will practice much better why is it important to play an important and composed great music if you can covered that no other reason whatsoever except self esteem when you play bad you'll feel bad nobody likes to feel so they try to play good otherwise not no other really defensible reason what's so bad about trying to play good I said that when you try to play good that's what you don't play it's good so it would be better to learn how to not to try and play good to forgive yourself and love yourself no matter how you play finally why play music because there is no sweeter feeling in the mind body and soul than being turned into a turned into a vehicle for brilliant music music that lights your entire being and so lights the world the tragedy of our scene is that jazz was born out of that light but most of you are completely oppressed by the technology of blanket and will never experience a nectar that interfere but if you did leg music would become a divine spiritual man God the infinite energy would pour through you like some kind of ethereal orgasm and you would be its faithful servant playing any notes that induced it to remain present within you you would sound brilliant and inspired to others but the irony would be that you didn't care how you sounded the liberation of your spirit through music would be your most treasured prize if someone told you that you weren't swinging you'd laugh the question of what is isn't jazz what bore you you'd be on your own behalf channeling ecstasy and sharing that ecstasy with others through your performance thank you [Applause] brother Saturday two announcements one I was asked to announce Scott Reeves who was presenting a paper on on this tomorrow morning had to go back he won't be doing it three announcements secondly I'll be a bath this summer for ten days thirdly first time ever and the Flyers are on the back I'm gonna do a four day retreat and that's not it for effortless mastery in the Rocky Mountains and we're gonna try to as people attain this and pour it into the instrument to move beyond philosophy and try to make it a reality or at least get a good start in four days of isolated practice and you're going to be around a monolith league tomorrow and that will be an all against the Flyers in the back of my head flares up here two three days sessions in the Rocky Mountains and tomorrow I'll be at Jamie's booth to discuss my book or anything I'll be hanging out there from 11 o'clock on thank you very much I wish you ecstasy and play music [Music]

Channel: John Milham

Views: 1,717

Rating: 4.875 out of 5

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Id: cmYMgSRxAjo

Length: 52min 34sec (3154 seconds)

Published: Tue May 08 2018