Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within [Paperback]

Kenny Werner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1996

Paperback book and CD set. Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within is a book for any musician who finds themselves having reached a plateau in their development. Werner, a masterful jazz pianist in his own right, uses his own life story and experiences to explore the barriers to creativity and mastery of music, and in the process reveals that "Mastery is available to everyone," providing practical, detailed ways to move towards greater confidence and proficiency in any endeavor. While Werner is a musician, the concepts presented are for every profession or life-style where there is a need for free-flowing, effortless thinking. Book also includes an audio CD of meditations narrated by Kenny to help the musician reach a place of relaxed focus.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This is a great book for any musician, and it has literally changed the way people all over the globe think about their lives and their music. Kenny's candid confession of frustrations regarding his own early development really reveal how *everyone* struggles to reach a place of mastery, no matter what facade of confidence they present publicly. It is an inspiring book that seems to immediately connect with musicians, who say to us over and over, "I've always felt there was something holding me back, and now I know how to let go and move forward!" The accompanying CD of meditations will be helpful for those wishing to investigate further the practical techniques Kenny discusses in the book.

About the Author

Kenny Werner is an accomplished pianist who began performing at age 4 and, by age 11, had appeared on television. While at the Manhattan School of Music he became restless with his musical direction and began to explore Jazz as a 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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Jazz Aids (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156224003X
• ISBN-13: 978-1562240035
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Self-Help > Creativity
  • #83 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great tool to quiet your "inner critic.", March 15, 1999

By 

Doug Robinson (Escondido, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within (Paperback)

I am only about 3/4s through this book, and I couldn't be more enthusiastic. I happen to love Kenny Werner's piano playing--always heard him and thought "Well, I'll never sound like THAT!"-- only to read his book and have him address this very attitude with unbelievable accuracy. I've already changed the way that I practice my instruments, and I just put some of his approach to work in a 3 day recording session with some players that I admire very much. While I had couple of brief self-doubt meltdowns, the whole experience was so much easier than I had even hoped for, and yes, even "effortless" at times. I know that changing my perspective, and my expectations made a huge difference in my ability to enjoy the moment, and as a result, the music that came forth. I am recommending this book for anyone who has ever played a musical instrument--at ANY level--and stopped, even if it was a long time ago. This book explains what might have gotten in your way of the music-making experience. I also want to recommend it to those of us who play professionally but are either frustrated with our own progress or just not enjoying it as much as we did when we were young. There's no reason music can't be that fun again.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Werner teaches us how to reach our potential as musicians.., July 2, 1999

By 

MICHAEL ROYAL ([e-mail]) (SARASOTA, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within (Paperback)

This is a truly a great book...it indentifies, and deconstructs fear and inadequacy in the realm of music performance...Werner explains the many reasons why musicians do not play up to their potential...he offers a direct access to applied musical experience and virtuosity by way of 1.) establishing a new rapport with the music/ instrument <THE SPACE> 2).honest self-realization (getting rid of the need to sound good, the necessity of being detached, so that "...we can be honest without becoming depressed". 3). New practice techniques <THE FIVE MINUTE TECHNIQUE> 4).Affirmations <MUSIC IS EASY/THERE ARE NO WRONG NOTES/EVERY NOTE I PLAY IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SOUND I HAVE EVER HEARD, I AM GREAT, I AM A MASTER, and a bonus CD, which is a guided meditation of all of the above. He talks about the "Monk Principle", and facilitates shifts in thinking, like, MUSIC IS NOT HARD, JUST UNFAMILIAR. He has many inciteful suggestions, "Mimic Playing", and "PLAYING FAST" to name a couple, all of which are designed to "rewire" the way we view ourselves. In short, he shows us how to give ourselves permission to be great musicians. Add this book to your regime, and I guarantee, you'll be cookin'! Thanks Kenny!

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You will enter a safe place, where nothing can harm you., August 9, 2005

By 

Ilia Asafiev (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within (Paperback)

I've heard a lot about Mr. Werner's Effortless Mastery title. In fact, I know a band whose two primary musicians constantly bicker about whether this "effortless" approach is viable. After years of hearing about it, I decided to find out for myself.

The book starts out with one basic premise: you are an aspiring, practicing musician, looking to "break through" to higher grounds of playing. Many people are at this stage, but have a fear of unfamiliar musical territory. The bulk of this book is dedicated to removing this fear.

Werner's approach to doing so is by breaking down negative programming that's been beaten into aspiring musicians worldwide throughout their music careers. Some have a fear that's instilled by their teachers, who constantly tell them they're not good enough, not perfect enough, not smooth enough. Others have this fear imbued by "great" musicians - those who seem to push the boundaries and perform inhuman feats on their instrument. According to Mr. Werner, all this negative programming eventually becomes an insurmountable barrier for advancement - unless it is reversed and positive programming is imposed on the musician. Who will impose this programming? Most likely, it will be the musician himself.

Again, the basic premise comes into play: you must work on your technique, learn new music, and address your weaknesses. That is a given, and there is no way around it. However, you must also have a positive outlook while doing so - otherwise all the imperfections you've ironed out during practice will come back to haunt you in performance.

Some of the initial chapters reveal in great depth Mr. Werner's personal experience. In his younger years, he went through all the negative programming himself, and has learned (and continues learning) how to reverse it. It is from the standpoint of this experience that he approaches the subject-matter.

Through gradual guidance in the later chapters (and the three meditations on the included CD), Mr. Werner tries to help the student create a personal space, in which the student is master. By revisiting this space and learning to practice and perform from within this space, the student will become the master and reveal his inner voice. Don't expect to become an overnight master effortlessly, however: Werner suggests that learning to play from within the space will require relearning the instrument from scratch. This is a slow process at the beginning, but becomes natural as time goes by.

Unfortunately for many, a lot of the points made in this book are self-evident, or at least should be. Nonetheless, his encouraging tone instills the belief that mastery is possible. In the end, the student will hopefully realize that mastery is, by definition, effortless.

Some sections of this book are specific to particular instruments. Werner is a pianist, so quite a few examples are piano-related; he also talks about some other common jazz instruments, notably wind and brass. To my dismay, the guitar isn't mentioned, but the general pointers in the book allow this approach to be taylored to any instrument, and even to activities beyond music and arts in general.