Inner Game of Music [Paperback]

W Timothy Gallwey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 1987

The battle that many musicians, of whatever level, have to face is an inner one - against nervousness, self-doubt and fear of failure. In this highly successful book, first published by Pan in 1987, musician Barry Green explains the basic principles of 'natural learning' that make up the Inner Game methodology, and shows how to apply them to reach a new level in the learning and performing of music. With special features on ensemble playing, improvisation and listening skills, and with exercises that help intonation, artistic phrasing and technique, "The Inner Game of Music" is invaluable to performers, students, teachers and anyone with an interest in music.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

By the best-selling co-author of Inner Tennis, here's a book designed to help musicians overcome obstacles, help improve concentration, and reduce nervousness, allowing them to reach new levels of performing excellence and musical artistry. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

By the best-selling co-author of Inner Tennis, here's a book designed to help  musicians overcome obstacles, help improve  concentration, and reduce nervousness, allowing them to  reach new levels of performing excellence and  musical artistry. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Pan Books; 7th edition (August 7, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330300172
• ISBN-13: 978-0330300179
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

94 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vital Read for Aspiring Performers, July 9, 2004

By 

L. Ku "pgroups" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Inner Game of Music (Hardcover)

Former principal bassist of the Cincinnati Symphony, Barry Green has created what has to be one of the most important books on musical psychology ever written. As a young clarinetist myself, I've found this read to help me change from one who frets over my auditions and solos to becoming a confident musician in front of others.

Green begins by discussing what makes up a good performance. He invented the formula P = p - i, where P is the level of the performance, p is the potential of the performer, and i is the level of mental interference during the performance. He explains how to decrease the amount of i in order to bring the level of P as close as possible to p.

Green then digs further into his ideas by introducing to two "selves". Quoted, "Self 1 is our interference. It contains our concepts about how things should be, our judgments and associations. It is particularly fond of the words 'should' and 'should not' and often sees things in terms of what 'could have been. Self 2 is the vast reservoir of potential within each one of us. It contains our natural talents and abilities, and is a virtually unlimited resource that we can tap and develope. Left to its own devices it performs with gracefulness and ease." Green goes own to give advice and excercises on how to ignore the interference of self 1 during performance and how to let self 2 work uninterupted.

Over the next chapters, Green goes into more technical and complicated details, while teaching us the powers of awareness, will, and trust. These three chapters are loaded with useful excercises, and most of them have the least do with music, at least directly. But they all tie in somewhere. Green also writes of 'Letting Go', a chapter all about how to 'become' the music while playing, rather than looking at it from a technical aspect.

Later, there's a particularly good chapter on how to, not perform but, listen to music. It explains why sometimes we don't feel moved by the music, and then gives relevant solutions to enjoying the performance.

Green chooses to end the book by not recapping all the techniques he have taught, but instead by writting several chapters on realizing how big a gift music is, and how to appreciate it to the fullest extent.

Reading this book is a potentially life changing experience. I urge all of you to give it a try...even if you are already a capable performer.

68 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected benefits of this book!!!, December 5, 2002

By 

Kevin Schoening (Champaign, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Inner Game of Music (Hardcover)

I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend. He thought it would improve my guitar playing. What I noticed almost immediately, within the excercizes is actually a methodolgy for dealing with attention deficit disorder! I have had ADD since before there was a diagnosis for it and the methods in this book are not only helping me with music but are also having a profound affect on other areas of my life. I don't think it was the author's intent to help in this regard, but this "inner game" method has far reaching implications....Thank you!!!...

62 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heightened levels of confidence, creativity and enjoyment, April 3, 2000

By 

CharIes [e-mail] (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Inner Game of Music (Hardcover)

The book's themes are universal and can be applied to anyone at any stage of musical development. The book helps you to focus more on making music and connecting emotionally with it. It also allows you to eliminate those internal demons which plague people's abilities. You can put the book's methods into practice almost immediately and at the same time spend a lifetime studying and absorbing the techniques at your own pace. Be prepared to abandon conventional methods of learning and really tap into your full potential.