Articles on The Matery Of Music

Ten Pathways to True Artistry

The View From the Middle

The Power of Love

Choosing the High Road

From Bravura to Integrity

From Good To Great

The Way of the Will

In Search for an Answer
Ten Pathways to True Artistry
By Barry Green 

Twenty years ago, on the eve of the publication of The Inner Game of Music, I had the honor of presenting my first session at TMEA in San Antonio with my colleague and mentor W. Timothy Gallwey. The Inner Game concepts were born out of Gallwey’s search for the answer to why he lost a match point at a National Junior Tennis Championship. Since then the Inner Game has become a standard text for understanding the nature of mental interference in the varied arenas of sports, arts, and, more recently, business.

It has been an honor to help develop Gallwey’s simple concepts for people in the performing arts. This has provided me a transformative opportunity to network and to learn from not only bass players, but from educators and performers of various instruments, voice, and all types of ensembles, including chamber and popular music. Observing and helping people overcome the barriers to their own inner potential has been inspiring, educational, and humbling, and has helped me to grow as a bass player and teacher. This has all paved the way for me to return to TMEA twenty years later, having truly come full circle. I say this because this time I come without W. Timothy Gallwey, and now with my own question to answer, as well as a few startling discoveries.

My question came to me at an Inner Game demonstration in Canada some 5 years ago. I was truly ‘stumped’ during a demonstration with a singer. My Inner Game techniques left me looking for something ‘beyond.’ The singer demonstrated all that I could ask for. She sang in tune and her technique and diction were excellent. Furthermore, she knew the ‘Inner Game techniques.’ She was able to do virtually everything I asked. Even though she had superb concentration–no nerves -- something was missing. It wasn’t about the music, the command of her voice, or her focus, it was about HER. I felt that I could not help her until she had something more profound to say or express with conviction.

This was the beginning of my four-year search, which has resulted in what I believe to be a most important gold mine of knowledge. I am now excited to share it in my new book, called The Mastery of Music, Ten Pathways to True Artistry (publication May '03).

My search was for excellence or perhaps what you might call ‘true mastery.’ What is the difference between the good, the competent, and the truly great? Is it something that can be learned by everyone and even taught in our schools? I am emphatically and enthusiastically convinced that the answer is YES. Granted, we are not all going to play like Joshua Bell. But we can learn from the pathways that so many great artists have taken and we can develop ourselves in ways that I had not previously thought possible. Over the past four years I have interviewed over 120 great classical and popular artists, including Dave Brubeck, Frederica von Stade, Joshua Bell, Christopher Parkening, Jeffrey Kahane, Bobby McFerrin, Fred Hersch, Evelyn Glennie, Dale Clevinger, Cleo Laine, Doc Severinsen, Janos Starker, Gary Karr, Craig Jessop, and Gunther Schuller.TWO amazing stories unfolded from these interviews. The first thing I observed is that the pursuit of excellence is similar in any human endeavor or discipline. Once the question of ‘what was missing’ in the Canadian singer was on my mind, I began to notice clues from reading the newspaper and watching the news. A new CEO was hired to rescue a failed computer company. An All-Star baseball player mysteriously died in the prime of his career. A symphony's Executive Director retired and was given a gala farewell. These people were all hired and immortalized or honored, NOT for their accomplishments, but rather for their unique demonstration of the human spirit. They were being extolled for their visions, their PASSION for life and work, their DEDICATION, their sense of HUMOR, their ability to get along with others, their talent for COMMUNICATING and INSPIRING others, their HUMILITY, and their FOCUS, CONFIDENCE and COURAGE. Hmmm…interesting.

You spend your entire life chasing one kind of rainbow–acquiring skills, making money, being successful, pushing all the right buttons, making great artistic accomplishments, cranking out CD after CD, getting degrees, and engaging in performance after performance. And yet when it is all over and done, you are remembered more for your smile, your ability to get people to work together, and your creativity and confidence. Once again: Hmmm.

Think about this for a moment. Are we missing something in our educational curriculum? Are we neglecting to give our students and ourselves the very skills that are truly necessary in order to achieve excellence and respect, and to make a lasting contribution on Earth? Is it possible that just mastering our instruments and our Zen-like states of concentration isn't ALL that is necessary to negotiate some very important things in our life and work? Recognizing this ‘missing link’ was the first inspiration that sent me exploring this fascinating landscape of excellence and artistry. It sent me down a new pathway, filled with questions and curiosity. I then came up with ten ‘Pathways’ that I felt would begin the journey. Soon I realized that the real message of this journey is endless and it doesn’t really stop at these ten qualities. It only begins with ten. I hope to hear from you for many years as to your journeys and your never-ending discoveries. There is the expression, "The Joy is in the Journey." This works for me.
This endless journey of self-development was further affirmed when I interviewed the celebrated English composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. He told me that he doesn't really care if his music is played after he leaves this earth. He said: That’s not what I am doing it for. It is an ongoing process of self-refinement, fine honing. It is absolutely in tandem with the development of personality. I mean that in the real sense. Playing your own music…allows you to learn things about yourself. It never stops. It is an ongoing process.

The second part of the discovery-journey occurs when we begin to explore qualities in the human spirit as a source or ‘key’ to excellence. Then the best part is yet to come. The second part began with one of my first interviews, which was with the great Chicago Symphony Principal Horn player, Dale Clevinger. I had been exploring COURAGE with musicians whom I felt embodied and specialized in this quality in their work: namely percussionists and horn players. I had my agenda, my points to prove, and my own theories of courage. But Dale told me something different. At TMEA you will hear Dale explain what seems like courage to us, but may be something totally different to him. When you hear what fuels his spirit to overcome anxious moments, you may get goose bumps! This started the ball rolling down my path of discovery and exploration. It reminded me of Zen-like Inner Game principles. "The harder you try, the worse you get … Less is more and more is less."

Herein lies the real story of this journey. Whatever you might think of these ten pathways, you will probably find that they are quite contrary to your current conceptions. The points of view were so different and engaging that I couldn't sleep after I got off the phone with musicians such as Dale Clevinger, Libby Larsen, Robert Cohen, Peter Schickele, Nnenna Freelon, and Terry Riley, because I was thinking about what these people revealed. Let me give you a little preview.
When I researched what happens when two performing artists COMMUNICATE and are allowed to merge into one musical entity, the celebrated Beaux Arts Trio pianist Menahem Pressler explained that there is a unique non-verbal principle that soloists, chamber musicians, and conductors use to attune to one another. It isn’t about one person following the other, it is more a matter of two artists responding to the music that resides within each of them–hearing it and responding to its shape, sound, rhythm, and character. I call this ‘The Silent Rhythm,’ which deals with a principle called ‘entrainment.’

At first I thought DISCIPLINE was about playing fast and accurately, but world famous clarinetist Eddie Daniels convinced me that it is about playing slow and eliminating the "garbage" between the notes. The key to discipline has a lot to do with finding your desire. I call it ‘The Way of the Will.’

PASSION is a chapter about love and emotion. The great cellist Pablo Casals once said that passion comes from what we learn from love -- love of nature, of music, of man.

Learning about TOLERANCE from violists and orchestral management was an eye-opener, a lesson in perspective. Violists spend their lives "in the middle" — in the middle of the orchestra, the string quartet, and many arguments between colleagues. Viola soloist and chamber music artist Nokuthula Ngwenyama will crack you up when you hear how she handles irate cellists.
The chapter on CONFIDENCE is full of helpful techniques passed along by my jazz and classical trumpet colleagues. I learned something fascinating from Doc Severinsen. He explained to me that there are TWO kinds of confidence. The first kind is based on innocence or bravura. It is unearned confidence, so it tends to be shallow and short-lived. Real confidence is the confidence that's earned by good preparation.

Who would think that having FUN is one of the pathways to productivity? We explore the humor of Peter Schickele and P.D.Q. Bach, and bassist Gary Karr, who describes a rich strand of musical showmanship that extends back to the time of Paganini — a man who knew that music could be playful and dramatic as well as beautiful.

When it comes to CONCENTRATION, our solo instrumentalists for the violin, piano, guitar and harp are the experts. Violinist Joshua Bell told me that he sometimes finds himself feeling nervous during the big orchestral introduction when he plays the Beethoven violin concerto, but then he moves into a state of serene concentration just as he is about to play. He enters a "sacred space" where he feels a sense of powerful guidance from the spirit of the composer. When he allows himself to surrender to this guidance, his anxiety is replaced by intuitive natural playing.

Then we explore EGO and HUMILITY. Finding humility amongst singers may seem like looking for a needle in a haystack, but there is another side to this story. Soul singer superstar Nnenna Freelon shatters our concept of fame when she discusses self-esteem with inner city youth. Her interview inspired the chapter title: From Fame to Artistry. CREATIVITY is the last of our ten pathways. Responding to the voice within can truly be a journey into an artist's soul. Both composers and improvisational artists live in a world of constant discovery, where they listen for their inner direction and follow the insights it provides. Mozart was able to hear music inspired by his creative spirit and to write it down without revisions, while Beethoven had to work harder to perfect his inspirations.

In the Finale (dedicated to INSPIRATION) we explore music as a forum in which to experience growth as a human being. Dr. Joseph Flummerfelt, director of the Westminster Choir, believes that music allows us to tap into some kind of eternal truth, which keeps drawing us into a deeper place within ourselves. We can also be inspired to stay on this path through our interactions with others: teachers, mentors, and even competitors. Thank you Dr. Tim. Inspiration is the engine that keeps us moving along the ten pathways, and drives us towards our continuing mastery of music.

Our journey, then, is to take a fresh look at these ten pathways to excellence, which can be found in the human spirit, and which I feel passionately can contribute to the mastery of music. This list begins with the ten pathways I have named, but it will continue through your own discovery of even more pathways to artistry. A true exploration of The Mastery of Music reveals that there is much more to learn than what appears on the surface. The process itself is endless, but within this journey lies all the marvels of discovery, spontaneity, guidance and wisdom. What is most important is that we take up the challenge and grow and develop these qualities in our lives.
The late great master violinist Isaac Stern, in Life’s Virtuoso, the documentary about him in the American Masters Series, said:

Composers wrote the words and the notes. You have to make your own individual sound, but you have to understand-- and the understanding doesn’t come out of here [pointing to his head] but out of here [point to his heart]. If you really know music as a professional musician, then you spend your entire life learning that you can not learn everything. Then you learn a respect for learning for others with whom to exchange these ideas.

I have just returned from this four-year journey in search of an answer to the ‘missing link’ of this puzzling Inner Game demonstration with the Canadian singer. There are three disciplines that we all need to master: technique, concentration, and the spirit of the soul. We have made some major strides mastering the first two. Our music schools have done a great job in teaching us how to master our instrument (or voice). Inner Game principles and other similar disciplines have been helpful in assisting us to master our concentration. The third Mastery, however, is the one I invite you to begin with on this new journey. This has to do with who you are as a unique human being. We don’t have to master all ten pathways, but we can begin to find those qualities within our soul that can be enriched and nourished, which have a way of manifesting in everything we do — as musicians AND as people. These unique and highly-developed qualities that make up our human spirit will also make us better musicians. This is my promise to you.
The way to engage in this final level of mastery is to stay on the path and to keep searching, because searching for growth and knowledge to develop our inner self is the very same pathway that is taken by many great musicians. The answer lies within the spirit and the soul. It is a pathway not frequently traveled as a means to artistry, but it is something we can all learn and something we do to develop our uniqueness. It is not exclusive to the artists whom we admire, so it is the one thing we have that makes us all equal. We all have the capacity to grow and to learn from music, people, and life. We know that this is one of the great reasons to be alive.

Barry Green will present a session at TMEA on Friday Feb 24th at 12:30 in room CC 204, where he will further explore these concepts of The Mastery of Music, Ten Pathways to True Artistry through a presentation of audio interview excerpts, photos, and music from many of the artists mentioned in this article. His new book of the same title will be released by Broadway/Doubleday/Dell in hardback edition on May 1st.