BRADLEY HOROWITZ:
So Kenny Werner
has been a world-class
pianist and composer
for more than 40 years.
And I have known him for
about the last 20 years.
And that very, very
generous introduction
classified me as a musician.
That's a stretch.
I did play music and
even perform music--
high on passion and
the effortless part,
less so on the mastery
and musicianship part.
And in the same way,
Kenny, as far as I know,
unless he's holding back,
is not a computer scientist.
But somehow we have
forged this friendship
based on respect for
each other's disciplines.
And that's really why I'm
so excited to bring him here
to YouTube today.
It's because I think
what he's offering is not
only about music.
Incredible music is created,
but it's about much,
much more than music.
It's about bringing this quality
to all aspects of our work
and all aspects of our lives.
And I hope you tune into that.
Kenny wrote his
landmark book in 1996,
"Effortless Mastery, Liberating
the Master Musician Within."
And we have a limited
number of copies over there.
I'm sorry we don't
have one for everyone.
But if you're deeply curious,
please help yourself to a copy
after the performance.
And it's widely read and studied
amongst musicians everywhere,
but especially young musicians.
And you heard that the Oakland
School of the Arts is here.
I wanted to share a little
bit about the story of how
they got here.
Kenny is a mentor to a
young student there, Lucas.
Lucas, would you please stand?
All right.
[APPLAUSE]
And so we gave a special
welcome to those students,
and I couldn't be more
delighted that they are here.
As you guys all know,
Kenny has a prolific output
of compositions,
recording, publications.
He's an incredible musician
as well as educator.
The qualities of his work--
what I really love is not only
listening to Kenny-- and I've
had the chance to see him
perform in many, many settings--
but also watching Kenny.
I think while he performs, he
really embodies these qualities
that he's teaching us--
the effortless part,
the spontaneity, the
joy, the fearlessness,
and the discipline.
All of that is sort of manifest
as you watch Kenny perform,
and so I'm super happy
to share that with you.
As you may or may not know,
we will have a special guest
joining Kenny for at least
part of the performance,
vocalist Claudia
Villela from Brazil,
who will also demonstrate
some of her amazing gifts
and techniques as well.
So without further
ado, let me welcome
to the stage, Kenny Werner.
[APPLAUSE]
KENNY WERNER: I thought it
was kind of interesting--
Sara Beth's introduction
of Bradley--
he did all these things that
actually changed the world.
But the most interesting
thing is he used
to be a musician from Detroit.
[LAUGHTER]
I somehow think the most
interesting thing is--
there's some other interesting
things about Bradley.
[LAUGHTER]
So I'm going to play
something first,
and then I may be speaking.
It's a distinct possibility.
[PLAYING PIANO]
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you, thank you.
That was short.
Maybe I'll play one more.
[PLAYING PIANO]
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you.
It's a great privilege
to play for all of you.
And I know I have so many
friends in the audience, too.
So, so much love around
me I can feel right now
that it's really cheating.
[LAUGHTER]
You know?
Everybody loves me already,
because I know so many people
here that love me that--
I thank you for coming,
and I thank those of you
who don't know me for coming.
And I thank you kids for coming.
And Lucas has already
learned the main lesson.
Because before we
started, I did a trick--
I do a thing with
students, just to see
if they can figure out their
relationship to music, right?
So I said, OK, you know you're
going to play today, right?
And usually they'll
go, like, what?
[LAUGHTER]
Me?
Like, when?
Now.
Uh, what am I going to play?
I usually go, oh, you know,
something you know really well.
Then they go, oh.
Because nobody knows
anything really well.
[LAUGHTER]
So that's the trick.
And then I said, is
that the relationship
you want to have with music
for the rest of your life?
Something you have
to-- with consequences?
I mean, one of the biggest
delusions about music
is that there's consequences.
It's only music.
And the verb "to
play" is a big clue.
[LAUGHTER]
I think you don't play painting,
and you don't play dance.
Well, you do dance
dancing, that's nice.
But it's the only
thing where you play.
And I think that's a
big clue, you know?
So anyway, he passed the test.
I said, I was only kidding.
I said, so you're going
to play it, right, Lucas?
He says, yeah.
Yeah, I want to play, yeah.
I said, really?
You're going to get up there?
Yeah, man, let's go.
That's the best lesson you can
learn that it would be better
to play and sound terrible--
not that Lucas would--
than to think of this
as some kind of test
that you can pass and fail.
That's a real perversion of
the gift of music, you know?
So what Effortless Mastery--
it kind of came about by
me just talking to people.
And then people asked
questions, and I answered them.
Next thing you know
I was teaching,
and then I was lecturing.
And now I have my own
Institute at Berklee College
of Music in Boston called the
Effortless Mastery Institute.
And the whole concept is
basically a lot of things
that people in other
careers can relate to,
for example, making mistakes.
This is almost a cliche now.
But perfection, to me, is
celebrating the mistakes.
The idea of avoiding
mistakes may
be the thing that makes you miss
the most important discovery,
you know?
So when you touch the
instrument, trying
to avoid mistakes, it's kind
of like touching a hot stove,
you know?
But if you touch the instrument
celebrating mistakes,
it's more like putting
your hands in warm water,
and you go, ah.
Really, this should feel--
and it's not just the piano.
Every instrument, when
the body forms a relation
to the instrument, now you
have your real purpose.
It's this instrument that
plays that instrument.
And really, it's such
a neat thing to know.
For example, this
sound, you know.
[CRASHING PIANO CHORD]
Sorry, I just have to
take that in for a second.
That's such a great
sound, isn't it?
But you don't think of it.
It's a piano, and I
put my hand on it.
[CRASHING PIANO CHORD]
But just think-- let's say
you were in your kitchen,
and you kicked your
stove, and it went--
[CRASHING PIANO CHORD]
You'd be going in the kitchen
kicking your stove all
the time.
[LAUGHTER]
You'd be calling
your friends saying,
man, you got to come over
to hear my stove, wow.
We don't realize the miracle.
Well, in every way we
don't realize the miracle
that we're in every moment.
And I address it with music,
because I have kind of
gotten it together in music.
But like you all, I'm a
student of it in life.
But I feel like I have a
lot I can pass on to you
from the musical point of view.
And one of the things is
to celebrate your mistakes.
That is perfection.
Another thing is to start from
nowhere, not trying to do it--
I was talking to someone
before, and they said,
I'd really like to
apply effortless mastery
to my writing.
And I said, it's
really this simple.
You're only having trouble
writing because you're
trying to write something good.
[LAUGHTER]
Write something bad,
you'll be writing all day.
[LAUGHTER]
You'll just fill page
after page, you know?
And that's a good way
to approach anything.
It is the fear of mistakes that
actually stunts the creativity.
And a lot of people say, I
want to let go of that stuff,
and OK, they really do,
but they really don't.
Because a lot of times, you'll
play this sort of new age game
with yourself, saying,
OK, I give everything
up to the power or whatever, the
higher power, the grand poobah.
And I turn all the
results over, and I just
give gratitude, right?
And you're sitting there like
this, and then look like--
did my abundance come yet?
[LAUGHTER]
Is it here yet?
Because if I surrender, the
abundance is supposed to come,
but that's not surrender.
I mean, surrender is really--
it goes good, it goes
bad, it doesn't matter.
I mean, that's the only
way it becomes really real.
There are three forms of action
that I like to talk about.
Two of them are a success,
and one is a failure.
One is, let's say--
well, I'll give
the best example.
Musicians may live
in a certain town.
And there's one club in
town that if you play there,
you're a professional.
And if you don't get a gig
there, you're still an amateur.
So people will be meaning to
call that club all the time,
and they never quite get
around to it, you know?
Because they're
afraid of the answer.
So in that situation,
there are three actions.
Two of them are a success,
and one's a failure.
One, you call the club,
the guy hires you--
success.
Two, you call the club,
the guy doesn't hire you--
success.
Three, you don't call the club
because he might not hire you.
That's a failure.
Do you guys get that?
So an action taken is a success.
An action not taken because
you're afraid you'll fail
is a failure.
If you could get that straight--
and I mean, for all of us--
if we could get that
straight in our experiments--
I don't know what kind
of work you guys do here.
Like Bradley outed me, I'm
not a computer scientist.
[LAUGHTER]
So I don't have any
idea what you do.
But I do know that
your state of mind
will absolutely make
the whole difference.
For example, with musicians,
the basis of effortless mastery
is this.
Most of our problems are
in our thoughts, you know?
A musician wakes
up-- and people think
that musicians are special
because they're musicians.
Let me tell you,
that's not the case.
Musicians are at least as
neurotic as everybody else,
easily.
A musician who gets into a cab,
and he sits there in the cab,
and the cab driver says,
so what do you do, buddy?
He goes, I'm a musician.
You can always see
it, the cab driver
looks in the rear view mirror.
Oh, he's a musician, oh, wow.
And then they tell you
they played the piano
when they were 11.
And he's thinking, god,
all I do is drive this cab,
and this guy is a musician.
And the musician's sitting
in the backseat going,
god, I wish all I had to
do is drive a cab, man.
[LAUGHTER]
It would be so much simpler.
My life would be
so much simpler.
So believe me, everybody
suffers from being in one place
and thinking they should
be somewhere else.
It's a pretty common thing.
But the basis of
effortless mastery
is that most of those
problems are in our thoughts.
So for example, you
could be walking down
the street on a
beautiful sunny day,
and a musician will
do this to himself.
Oh, it's a great day,
man, I feel so good.
I really should practice more.
[LAUGHTER]
And now it's not such
a nice day anymore.
Or if it is, they don't
notice it anymore.
I know I've walked on
the beach in Hawaii
and continued to be imprisoned
because of something I
was thinking about.
Everybody kind of knows
about that, right?
So in music, I said
we want to transition
out of the conscious mind
where all the thoughts are
and into what I call the space.
Now, every religion, and
every path, and psychology,
and neuroscience
has a name for this.
I just call it the space,
the space beyond, above,
below, aside, wherever you see
it, beyond the conscious mind.
Because most of the problems
are in the conscious mind.
We are small because
of the thoughts
we have in our conscious mind.
Like, I'm not very
talented is a thought.
So I might as well
say I'm a genius.
I don't know which
one is true, but which
one will get me more mileage?
[LAUGHTER]
You know?
But there's the other thing
that's coming from the space.
The space is a place where it's
not your mind playing anymore,
or it's not your my
writing, or it's not your--
I mean, it is part
of your mind, but not
that part you identify
as a conscious mind.
[PLAYS PIANO]
So right now, I'm
really talking to you.
And I'm concentrating
on talking to you.
And if anything, I'm even more
concentrated on talking to you
while my hand is
playing the piano.
So from the space, I don't play
the piano, my hand plays it.
There's so many
benefits to that.
And I believe that this is
a therapy for non-musicians.
Put a person's hand on
a piano and just commit
to pressing the buttons.
But as you hear the sound,
instead of you thinking,
what am I doing playing
the piano, you go,
that's the most beautiful
sound I've ever heard.
[PLAYS PIANO]
And you're kind of in the space.
And then it begs sort of the
spiritual question-- that's
where the spiritual
part comes in.
Because if I'm not
playing, who's playing?
[PLAYS PIANO]
And it doesn't matter how
you answer that question.
But as long as you answer it
to what makes sense for you,
sort of a higher power
of your understanding,
or a power beyond
the conscious mind,
that power will take over.
And once it takes over,
there are no mistakes.
Once that power takes
over, every sound
is the most beautiful
sound I ever heard,
and I don't have to
make choices anymore.
Now, it doesn't excuse you
from practicing the instrument,
for those of you young guys
saying, oh, wow, that's all I
have to do?
That's great.
[LAUGHTER]
I would be hopeful if
I was you right now.
But the thing is,
I balance that--
and I won't have time
to talk about it today,
I want to talk more
about the space.
I balance it with a method
of practicing that is
so clear and so finite--
like, one thing I can tell
you, even for teachers
and everything, the larger
the swath of material
you have to study,
the less likely
you are ever to play it well.
The smaller the example, the
more you can go into the space
and master it.
And why do you
want to master it?
Because even if you're playing
something highly complex,
it has to play itself.
[PLAYS PIANO]
So then you can
go into this space
where you can receive the music.
So I'm just dropping my--
I forgot I was
dropping my fingers.
It's a great thing to feel
like you're not doing it.
Someone comes up to
you after the concert,
they say, man,
you really sucked.
I go, wasn't me.
[LAUGHTER]
[PLAYS PIANO]
Don't blame me.
(SINGING) Don't blame me.
That's a good song.
Was that a raised hand?
OK.
But I mean, effortless mastery
means precision with ease.
So if you're a
computer scientist,
you train the way a monk study
scriptures over and over again.
You train with
complete devotion,
but you perform with
complete detachment.
And if you can get
those two things going,
you can do something
really profound.
[PLAYS PIANO]
There's all sorts
of lessons that I
learned from that kind
of detachment, you know?
For example, for one
thing, I did my studies
so I could do the same thing
I just did from the space
but play something
highly complex.
So let me just try that.
Now that I said that, my
mind wants to go, oh, yeah,
who are you kidding?
[LAUGHTER]
Man, now you've got to do that.
But luckily, the space
is what Lucas said.
Yeah, let's do it.
[PLAYING PIANO]
[APPLAUSE]
It happens, but you need to take
that technology to the level
of effortless mastery.
It has to be
effortlessly absorbed,
which is why the smaller
the amount of material,
the more possible
it is to absorb it.
And that has a collateral effect
on everything in your playing.
But the same thing works
for any walk of life.
But the first thing is learning
to respect the space above all
else.
Sorry, this keeps going out.
Practicing doing
things from the space--
when you're
practicing the space,
you have to allow for mistakes.
So if you're
writing, or whatever
it is computer scientists
do, do it from the space,
and let it go as wrong
as it needs to go.
And if nothing else,
it stretches the mind
to be extremely fertile when
it's time to be more exact.
And not only that, it is
like irrigating creativity.
Creativity is receiving
whatever's coming.
[CRASHING PIANO CHORD]
I mean, you can
have a limited form
of creativity by
trying to control it
right from the beginning.
But if you receive it,
you'll find something's
flowing through you.
This is the ultimate creativity.
This is probably the
value of musicians,
or certain musicians, talking to
people in other walks of life,
and helping them find that
flow within themselves.
And in order to find
that flow, you just
have to surrender the results.
I know you hear
that all the time,
but really, maybe you can't
do that when the money is
on the line or whatever.
But you can always
take some time
and practice the
flow at the expense
of playing the right notes
or doing the right things.
And if you do that, you
expand your mind, you create,
you make a greater
fertilization of creativity.
You also have a lot
more self-generosity,
which is really important.
And if you beat
yourself up for failing,
then you're going to
try harder not to fail.
Can everybody think
about when you try--
I'll say this to musicians.
Think about the time when you
really needed to play well.
How did you play?
Right, in your mind,
it was very important
that you really score today.
These people are listening,
and this guy's in the audience.
And I want to play
with that guy.
And I want the club
owner to hire me again.
And then think about the
time when you were just
fooling around, and for
some reason, in your mind,
you didn't think it mattered.
Then how'd you play?
Better.
Everybody says that.
It's the same thing
with anything you do.
If you're willing to
at least experiment
with not needing to succeed
but connecting with the flow,
you'll probably have an
awful lot of success.
So those are the things
that are relative to it.
The other lessons I learned
in music is that music works.
It's people that mess it up.
[LAUGHTER]
Music works by itself.
I wanted to show you something.
This is a sort of
a harmony lesson.
Now, you guys might
recognize that.
I don't know.
Do you study the modes?
So you see Dorian,
Phrygian, Aeolian.
Yeah, you all see it, right?
Everybody thinks there's such
a thing as a right progression
and a wrong progression.
But how do you think you
find a new progression?
Randomly.
So let's try something random.
I have a pen here.
And you guys can see-- we'll
take the music students.
[LAUGHTER] Somebody pick a note.
AUDIENCE: G.
KENNY WERNER: G?
All right, I heard
G. And somebody
pick one of those chords,
one of those modes.
AUDIENCE: Dorian.
KENNY WERNER: I heard
Dorian first, all right.
Pick another note?
AUDIENCE: C.
KENNY WERNER: C. OK, sharps
and flats are OK too, guys.
OK, C. Pick another chord there.
AUDIENCE: Locrian.
KENNY WERNER: Locrian.
That's the one that
doesn't work so good.
I knew I shouldn't
have written that down.
[LAUGHTER]
Pick another note.
AUDIENCE: C flat.
KENNY WERNER: F
sharp, thank you.
That was a brilliant suggestion.
[LAUGHTER]
AUDIENCE: Aeolian.
KENNY WERNER: Aeolian, that's
my favorite chord, Aeolian.
You'll all recognize it.
You may not have
known it as Aeolian.
And one more note?
AUDIENCE: B.
KENNY WERNER: E flat.
Sorry, the flat wins.
Type of chord?
Well, minor what?
How about a major?
The sharp 5 that I wrote wrong?
AUDIENCE: Sus 4.
KENNY WERNER: Lydian sus
4, E-flat major Lydian.
OK, now, the base
notes were random.
The choice of chords was random.
This should not work, right?
It's all wrong.
I mean, it's all random.
So let's see what happens.
It probably won't.
[PLAYING PIANO]
[APPLAUSE]
All I did was obey one
of the most simple rules
of music theory--
voice leading.
If the voices lead, you can
glue any two chords together.
They could have no
relationship whatsoever.
That's got to be
useful in other ways.
But you have to have
the detachment to do it.
You throw some stuff down, and
if you're immediately judging
it, you're going to stop.
So there's only one
kind of free music.
You talk about free
music, it's like--
[PLAYS WILD NOTES]
There's really only
one kind of free music,
music free from self-judgment.
That is free music, and
it can be practiced.
That's what the steps of
effortless mastery are about.
So I thought we'd do
that little thing.
And I want to give you another
example of a simple structure.
But if you just
manipulate one thing,
it becomes something original.
So you know the
Simon and Garfunkel
song, "Scarborough Fair?"
So it goes like, you know--
[PLAYING "SCARBOROUGH FAIR"]
Now, that's not-- it's
a simple structure,
but they changed one
thing, and that's
why it is so distinctive.
It should go like this.
[PLAYING "SCARBOROUGH FAIR"]
But because they delayed that
phrase, it became distinctive
and will be forever.
So sometimes you take
a simple structure,
and you just do one
thing differently to it,
and you have a
whole other world.
These are the things we
experiment with in music.
But the attitude of detachment--
oh, it didn't go back, huh.
There we go.
The attitude of detachment is
what allows you to do that.
You really deserve that.
You really deserve that freedom.
I'd rather come
from a random place
and allow it to organize itself.
And then how does
it organize itself?
That's the spiritual
possibility.
Maybe we are vehicles
for something, you know?
But the only way you
could possibly even
experiment with being a vehicle
is to let go of the control.
I mean, we've heard
this everywhere, right?
But let go of that
control, including
the control of results.
But really, let go of the
control of the results,
you know?
You can have fun in music--
I'm going to say
this, and then I'm
going to bring our
special guest up.
But you can have fun with music
and not even know how to play.
Did anyone ever see
the movie "Green Card?"
It's this old movie, totally
forgettable movie with Gérard
Depardieu and Andie MacDowell.
She is in New York,
going to places,
trying to get money to put
atriums around New York City,
right?
And he's this French guy she
knew who needs a green card.
So they're living
together and trying
to look like-- that's how
you can get a green card.
But he's this gruff French
guy from Paris, stringy hair,
and rolls his own cigarettes.
And so there's this
one funny scene
where she's in this Upper
East Side apartment talking
to this woman about atriums,
and he lost his key,
so he comes to meet her.
And it's like, uh-oh, it's
like a bull in a china shop,
you know?
And so he comes in,
and he immediately
starts rolling a cigarette.
And in an Upper
East Side apartment,
you do not even
smoke a cigarette,
let alone roll
your own cigarette.
So everything is going wrong.
And then they go into the
living room for coffee,
and he sees a piano.
He goes, do you mind?
You know, if he plays the piano?
And this was a very hip moment.
Because in fact, the avant
garde is very identified
with Paris, the
Pierre Boulez school.
And this could have
easily been the case.
But he goes into
the living room,
and he sits down at the
piano with this lady
and Andie MacDowell
sitting there.
And he does this.
He goes--
[CRASHING PIANO CHORDS]
Even with the hair falling, like
the Beethoven look, you know?
He gets done, and they show
a picture of the old lady,
and she is in shock.
Because she actually heard
music for the first time.
And she probably had been to
the symphony and to the opera,
but she just heard music
for the first time,
experiencing his passion.
But you don't actually know
if he can play the piano.
[LAUGHTER]
Isn't that kind of amazing?
So anybody can
have this feeling.
And I believe even
non-musicians,
if they receive the sound,
and they use their hands
to make the sound, they're
going to open a pathway
to the heart and a pathway
to the brain that's
going to have its effect
on everything else.
And that's some of the
stuff I'm working on
with effortless mastery.
And that's the Effortless
Mastery Institute.
So that's more or less the case.
Now, I would like to bring
one more situation where
complete random creativity just
might lead to music by bringing
up to you--
and I have to say, this is
one of the most brilliant
performers I've ever met.
I'll tell a quick
story about her.
And I know, Claudia,
it's never exactly right,
but I'm going to tell it
the way I know it, you know?
She wanted me to--
years ago-- do an album
with her, Claudia Villela.
And so I came out.
I don't know if we did gigs.
We went right to the
studio, and we start.
And then she told me also, she
said, I really need a stove,
you know?
She needs to buy a stove.
And I'm starting,
like, feeling guilty.
Oh, gosh, you're paying
me to make a record,
but you kind of need
a stove, you know?
So I said, so what kind of
music are we going to play?
She said, no, no
music, we're just
going to play free together.
I went-- because not too
many people can do that.
Because there are
not too many people
that will give themselves
permission to do that.
She says that, and I
don't even know her?
I said, may I just suggest
you go buy a stove?
[LAUGHTER]
Don't do this.
Go buy the stove.
She said, no, no, no.
It's cool.
It's cool.
And she just blew me away.
She can make music from
this space at will,
and that's not that easy.
Claudia Villela.
[APPLAUSE]
We just did a tour in the area.
And then I thought, I've
got to bring Claudia
down so that you guys
could check this out.
You have your own mic, right?
[PLAYING PIANO]
[SINGING]
[APPLAUSE]
KENNY WERNER: Thank you.
Claudia Villela.
I wish we could do a whole
hour for you or for 60 minutes.
Are you going to--
before you do it, I want to
do one little experiment.
I kept talking about the space?
Now, everybody's got a lot
of meditation exercises.
But my favorite book
about spirituality
was "Lazy Man's Guide to
the--" what was it called?
Enlightenment, yes.
[LAUGHTER]
Really, that easily.
So I found a really easy,
lazy way to find this space.
And before we finish, I'd
just like you to do this.
I know everybody is breathing.
I can see it.
All I want to do is notice
that you're breathing now.
You don't have to exaggerate it.
It's like watching
the traffic outside.
It was happening already.
Just notice your breathing.
OK, now let's see if
we can't live our life
and do our work from that space.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
BRADLEY HOROWITZ: OK, so we
have time for a few questions.
We have a mic set up there.
And just for the people--
this is being live
cast and recorded.
So if you could step up to the
mic, that would be helpful.
And in the meantime,
let's take one more moment
to thank Kenny and Claudia for
that amazing performance, yeah.
[APPLAUSE]
And in fact, it's helpful if
people line up at the mic.
And we'll have time for
three or four questions.
So why don't you state your
name and then ask your question?
AUDIENCE: Hi, my
name is Gabriel Mesa.
I'm from Oakland
School for the Arts.
So my question-- and I
ask this to the hosts
of every single talk or
performance that I go to.
As far as creating
one's own music--
what's your advice
for the general idea
of finding your
sound and finding
what seems most like you?
KENNY WERNER: Is this working?
Is that on?
Yeah.
You know, it's funny how people
say, how do I find my voice?
You already have your voice.
The way you find
your music is by stop
expecting things of
yourself and start
to go towards the
sounds that attract you.
And we are humans,
not computers,
so it's only a few different
things that attract us.
It's not like we have
thousands of different options.
We're attracted to the
same sounds, sounds
that make us start to vibrate.
And as we choose those
sounds habitually,
they become what other
people define as our voice.
The hardest way to find your
voice is by looking for it.
What should I be that
seems original, you know?
And then this all-pervasive
thing, a need to sound good.
See, that's the thing that if
we can take that out of it--
musicians say, well, yeah, when
I play, I want to sound good.
Sounds reasonable enough, right?
But what if we were just
talking, and I said--
what's your name?
AUDIENCE: Gabriel.
KENNY WERNER: Ariel?
AUDIENCE: Gabriel.
KENNY WERNER: Gabriel?
When I talk to you,
what do you want?
When you're talking,
what do you want to do?
You say, Kenny, when I talk
to you, I want to sound good.
AUDIENCE: I mean--
KENNY WERNER: You
know what I mean?
It's so irrelevant,
but in music, that's
somehow acceptable.
So go to the sounds
that attract you,
and they'll attract
you all the time.
And you'll develop
something within the sounds
that attract you that will
be someone else identifying
your voice.
OK?
AUDIENCE: Thank you very much.
BRADLEY HOROWITZ:
Great question.
[APPLAUSE]
AUDIENCE: Hi there, Kenny.
Thank you.
My name is Grier Cooper.
I'm a photographer.
I like the piano,
but it's a side job.
Anyway, my question is this.
You gave us wonderful insight
about experimentation and play
and how to do that.
But we didn't talk
as much as I would
have hoped about what to do
when the money is on the line.
How does your approach differ
when the money is on the line?
KENNY WERNER: OK,
well, first of all, we
were talking about
practicing something.
Like meditation, you
don't practice it
and expect to meditate
while you cross the street.
But it has an effect
on everything you do.
So by practicing this open,
creative, self-generosity,
you open to creative things.
But very good question.
Out in the world, you don't
try to do anything like that.
You continue to study so
that the technology of what
you're doing doesn't fail
you even if you are nervous.
So for example, sometimes I'll
have people come play for me.
And they'll say, I usually
play much better than that,
but I was nervous.
I said, well, that's not why.
If you were nervous, and that's
why you made certain mistakes,
why did you play anything right?
Because some things are known so
well that they play themselves,
and other things--
what doesn't play right
when you're nervous
or it doesn't work
right tells you
you need more work on that area.
Now, that's one part.
The other part is--
I'll just relate
it to you twice.
Two classical musicians--
different, unrelated--
called me and said, I've
been reading your book,
and I love it.
And I'm auditioning
for the first oboe
chair of the Chicago Symphony.
How do I do effortless mastery?
And I said, well,
you don't exactly
just do effortless mastery.
You keep practicing
within yourself,
and it more and more
over time shows up.
But I will give
you an assignment.
When you go to that
audition, no matter
how it goes, whether you blew
it, whether you did great,
whether you get
it or you don't, I
want you to commit
to me right now
you're going to go out
and celebrate afterwards.
And if you celebrate afterwards,
regardless of the audition,
you're doing effortless mastery.
Because you're taking
away consequences.
In both cases, they got it, but
they realized how loose they
felt, because they
already knew there
were going to go celebrate.
So there's a couple of
thoughts on that subject.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
KENNY WERNER: Yeah.
BRADLEY HOROWITZ: Wonderful.
[APPLAUSE]
AUDIENCE: Hi, I'm
Joaquin Reeves.
I also go to OSA.
When and why did you start
playing an instrument
and music?
And did anyone make
you, and then you--
[LAUGHTER]
KENNY WERNER: No.
AUDIENCE: --and then
you started enjoying it?
KENNY WERNER: No, but after I
started, they made me continue.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
KENNY WERNER: It was
my idea to start,
but after that, they
made me continue.
Because they saw
a talent, I guess.
I started because I went
to a friend's birthday.
His father was playing piano
in the middle of the room.
And I had never saw a
piano played live before,
and I was like, spellbound.
I was like, wow!
Not only that, I was
really noticing how
he was the center of attention
[LAUGHTER]
And that was very
attractive to me.
[LAUGHTER]
So I went home, and I
said, Mom, get me a piano.
And to tell you the
truth, though, I sat down,
and I could plunk out
songs I heard on the radio.
And I went back
into the kitchen,
and I said, good
news, Mom, I won't
be needing those piano lessons.
I already figured
out how to play.
[LAUGHTER]
And I've actually
believed that ever since.
[LAUGHTER]
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: Hi, my
name is Frances Lao.
I'm also from OSA.
Is jazz the only genre you play?
KENNY WERNER: No.
I don't really-- this is crazy,
but I don't really consider
myself a jazz musician.
I learned that language.
It's a very colorful language,
very hip rhythm, and harmony,
and melodies.
But in my mind, I
think my actual best
job would have been--
and may still happen--
scoring movies.
Because I play very visually.
I always have a visual in mind.
It's just that when
I came out of school,
I didn't pursue
specifically what I wanted.
And jazz musicians
called me for gigs,
so 10 years later, I found
myself being a jazz musician.
But I did play some
classical music.
I love old '60s and '70s rock.
I actually think
before I learned jazz,
I was more like an
Elton John or something.
I liked to play
that way, you know?
And I still love that.
But it's just that jazz an very
accessible language to me now,
and it's a very
interesting language.
So I guess that's what
I ended up mostly doing.
I'm actually trying
to get away--
in my own mind--
get away from the--
I like to think of it
as improvised music
rather than jazz, which
suggests a whole mindset.
OK?
Yeah?
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
KENNY WERNER: You're welcome.
[APPLAUSE]
BRADLEY HOROWITZ: OK, we're
a little bit over time.
So before we wrap, I want to
thank the many, many people who
contributed to making
this event successful,
Monica, Sara Beth, Andrea,
the whole tech team, James.
So let's give around of applause
for all those who contributed.
[APPLAUSE]
And I want to give one more
special thank you to Claudia.
Thank you for joining
us and contributing.
[APPLAUSE]
And finally, one
more time, let's
give it up for the
amazing Kenny Werner.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
