Ten tips for better music practiceby Chris Beckett

The Little Book Of Groove: How to be a great musician

What is a great musician?

A big question. When I ask it to my music students, they normally reply; practice, practice and more practice. Practice (and lot's of it) is important, but there is much more to becoming a great musician than that. I've had pupils who, when they came to me, had religiously practiced two to four hours per day (and had done so for many years), yet their playing was uninspiring and inconsistent. You certainly wouldn't have called them great musicians. So what else do you need to do to become a great musician? Well, it's not actually anything you need to do it's more something you need to be. All that practice and perspiration you invest in your instrument could go to waste if you don't have the right mental approach to music. Being a great music is more about your state of mind than anything else. If you don't have the right musical approach you are building walls across the path between you now, and you that could be a great musician. With a good approach, you can begin to clear a pathway for you to progress and improve as a musician. A good approach can help you find the groove' down which your music can flow, change and grow.

Injuries, strains, tension, stage fright, lack of confidence and musical stagnation are all caused by a hard nailed' approach to learning music. The book is practical; it has exercises to put all the ideas into practice straight away. The book is designed to be read easily and quickly. It's brief, concise and easy to digest.

What makes a great musician?

Music is down to taste, and one person's great musician may not be another person's. Yet I think there are qualities that all great musicians have. A great musician is individual and unique. Their music is an expression of who they are. A great musician doesn't try to hide behind their instrument, nor do they pretend to be something they are not. A great musician is always discovering more about their music. A great musician never thinks I don't need to learn more'. To do that would be to loose the essence of being a great musician. There is often a mystery to a great musician's music, as if they are unsure of where they are going. They just let go into their musical process and see where it takes them. Take time to learn you instrument, let go of your expectations and loose yourself to your music, and you too could be a great musician.

What's the groove?

The groove is the place where all great music is created. Great musicians know that where they want to go is in the groove. The groove is a place where the player lets go of trying to control their music, and let's themselves be carried along by the music. In the groove the musician and the music become one and the same thing.

Finding the groove

A great musician will do everything he can to find the groove, and that means creating a climate for the groove to be found. A great musician has a deep understanding of their music, yet they let go of any expectations they have about their music. They need to have a sense of adventure and be

willing to go into the unknown without trying to control what will happen.

Music is a dance

To play music is to be immersed in a process of infinite complexity. Countless parameters are working together at the same time, and everything is connected to everything else. For the whole process to work effectively you need balance. Too much heaviness in one area will cause the whole process to stall. The flow will cease to be smooth. Great musicians always have an awareness of balance in their playing; watch them and you can see economy of movement, pressure and breath. They use exactly what's needed, no more and no less. Their whole body is balanced, yet it constantly changes to what's happening. Their playing is a dance, a dance of effortlessness.

Learning the hard way

When students begin to learn music, they normally approach it in the way they were taught to learn things in school. They focus all their conscious awareness on what they are doing. Their minds try to force their hands and body to do what they want to do. In doing this they stifle their unconscious awareness, and that slows down the learning process. They begin to struggle and strain in an effort to force themselves to play. Often they become tense and frustrated, which leads to muscle tension and over-exertion.

Take it easy

It's a hard truth, but the students who progress quickly are the one's who don't try too hard. It's not that they don't want to be a great musician, it's just that they understand how to approach learning an instrument. They know that to run in with expectations and demands locks up their playing and stops the flow of their music. By letting go into their playing they find it more interesting, creative and insightful.

A spanner in the works

Musicians who want it all badly' will always progress much slower. They are the ones who have expectations about how they will play in 1, 2 or 5 years. They have a rigid idea of what should be going on when they play. They throw a spanner into their musical system and then wonder why their playing is stiff and frozen.

Under pressure

A great exercise to stop yourself controlling your playing process is to observe your body in the seconds before you begin to play. Pick up your instrument and place your fingers and hands where they need to be, but don't physically apply pressure or play anything. Feel what is happening in the muscles in your hands, fingers, arms, or vocal chords. Often people are surprised to find that they can't help tensing their muscles, even though they are just resting their hands and fingers, or just waiting to sing. This is something we add on to our playing. People often put down their struggle to what happens when learning something new, but often it is this added tension that causes the problem. When someone learns to play and let go of struggling, that added tension fades away.

Comparing yourself to others

Many of my beginner students compare their progress to others in a group. They see themselves as

better or worse than others. This expectation then transforms into a demand when they begin to play. Demands control your playing as you want the expectation to be fulfilled. That control stops the flow in your music.

Awareness is the key

Take your paper and stick it to your instrument. Whenever you come to play, you'll see the demand and be reminded of what you want to drop from your playing forever. The paper is there to remind you of what you want to let go of, not a list of things you want to push away. By pushing your demands away you are still trying to control your body, which will react by locking up and stopping you entering the groove. When you play be aware of your demands but avoid struggling with them. Focus on your playing in the moment, aim to enjoy the sensation of playing for its own sake. If you find your mind fills up with demands of this and that (and this happens pretty easily to me) it is important to avoid pushing things away. It is strange, but by just accepting everything that goes on in your mind and body, your music will flow and you'll enter the groove.

Good habits

When you stop playing, it's good to get into a habit of looking at your list of demands. It's easy to forget what that paper is there for, and your mind can easily forget what it has worked so hard to remember. Use the demand list as a cue; I see the paper: I need to be aware of what is happening in my mind and body when I play'.

Stuck in a rut

Many musicians feel that they are not moving forward. They often say to me that they are in a rut: they don't know where to turn to or what to do next. Often they seem unclear of how they got into their rut; many think it's comes with playing a long time, when they feel they've seen and done everything. They believe there is no where else for them to explore.

The river dries up

Stagnation is the result of trying to control your music. Over the years the flow of music gradually dries up, until there is no more flow. The player stops moving anywhere. It can be a difficult time, and many people try to lay more and more control over their playing. The stagnant musician must immerse themselves in the moment by moment joy of playing music. In that moment you are not playing for others, nor even for yourself; you just play. All you need to do is loose yourself in your music. Then you're drinking from an endless well of creativity. In this place stagnation is impossible.

Different every day

Great musicians can always find new ways of playing the same music, in fact they find it impossible to play anything the same way twice. Each day has it's own feelings, joy, fears and loves. All that is mirrored in their playing on that day, yet on another day it would be different again. Great musicians are busy being involved in the music as it happens to be worried about holding onto an idea about what they should be doing.

You don't have to be perfect

A great musician does not have to the most technically adept musician. Being a great musician is more about your state of mind and approach to music than anything else. Being a great musician is not about being a perfect musician, it's about communicating something through your music. That is not to say that great musicians shun learning more about their instrument. In fact they want to learn more because it helps them to reach out to their audience more. The more they know about their music, the more they can reach into themselves and find out who they are.

Expecting too much too soon

There's a part in all of us who wish to instantly be great musicians. Our egos' want us to whisk through the basics' so that we can get on to the hard stuff. Why? Well, once we've learnt that we can dazzle and amaze our audiences. Once we impress, we believe that others will see us as great musicians, and so therefore will we.

Being impatient

Our ego is impatient, it wants us to be fantastic now, not tomorrow or in 5 years. A part of us doesn't want to go through the slow and gradual process that leads to deep learning and understanding. A part of us wants to skip ahead to the next thing, always more interesting than the thing we are playing at the moment.

Stretching too far

Ever found yourself stretched in a thousand different ways, half learning songs, solos or choruses? You desperately move from one piece to the next, never really feeling that you're learning anything. This is your ego telling you how to learn music. That part of you is looking for a quick fix, to feel that it's really great, to show off. It pulls you this way and that, never really giving you anything you need to progress.

Solid foundations

The ego is a great barrier to learning because it stops you focusing on one thing at a time. You have to relax into what you're doing to allow a deeper understanding of it to emerge. Great musicians know that great playing is built on solid foundations of simplicity, such as timing and feel. This is the rock they build their complexity' on. Without a foundation their complexity would simply become chaos.

A house of cards

If you reach too far too quickly you invite chaos into your playing, your music can all too easily collapse in on itself. Yet if you immerse yourself in the simple things in music you will be rewarded with an understanding and depth that goes far beyond what you have learnt. Your whole understanding and playing of music will deepen, and you will invite the flow of music to help you find the groove.

Wide foundations

Learning music is like building a pyramid. The foundations are the widest and deepest part, and it form most of the pyramid. The longer time you take over the basics', the easier it is to build the

pyramid higher. Great musicians build the biggest foundation they can, in fact they never stop building a foundation. If you are done with your foundations, your musical flow will dry up. A great musician is never done with any part of his music, no matter how simple.

Proof of progress

When musicians invest time into their playing, they naturally want to see signs of progress. We want proof that we are getting better. But there is a problem in this when we define what the result of our effort should be. The goal begins to dominate the playing, and so it becomes harder to focus on your moment to moment playing. There is a part of us who want concrete milestones. We want to believe we have moved past' somewhere, so we don't have to think about it anymore.

Never looking back

It is dangerous to believe you have past a place, and never need travel backwards again. In doing this you put up walls to creativity, lessen the flow of music. The groove is harder to find when you have to live up to expectations of being an expert. Great musicians know that all music learning is connected, and that everything is built upon foundations. To go back is to look at your whole playing with fresh eyes.

Draw your map

It can be very useful to draw a map of your playing. Write down all the places you have been to. They can be concrete, such as playing a melody in time or playing a solo. Or it can be more abstract such as being more confident on stage or feeling more honest with your music. Then you can write down where you want to go to. These could be concrete or abstract. They could also be near goals such as being able to play a piece to an ok standard, or it could me more far reaching such as becoming one of the worlds best players of your instrument. Only you know what you want to achieve and get from your playing.

I should be able to do this

I have had many pupils who, when they come to a difficulty they become frustrated. They could do it last week or on their own, so they thought they were past it. They say I should be able to do this', and of course their frustration makes it all the harder. They are looking at their learning in black or white; either I have learned something or I have not. To believe this is to believe you are a robot, and all your learning takes a perfect linear course.

Variety is the spice of life

There is an exercise you can do to help break out of routine habits everyone develops when learning something new. When playing new music or re-visiting old material, it is important to appreciate the intricacy of all music: no matter how simple, anything can be played in infinitely different ways.

New territory

Sit for a few minutes before playing the same piece again. Once again, write down your observations. This time around you are looking for any changes or new discoveries. Any new feelings, emotions or physical sensations? If you're in the groove why not try the exercise for a third time?

Fascination

Becoming aware of the subtleties in music allows us to fall in love with the process of learning music. What used to seem rigid and boring now becomes complex, organic and ever changing. It's this fascination that will carry you through any difficulties and setbacks you come across. Your playing will become finer and delicate as you begin to notice the details and layers in your own, and others music.

Pushing away

To push away a part of who you are when you play is not the same as letting it go. It can be comforting to push away the things you don't believe should be there, because we want to appear perfect to ourselves and others. Yet in doing this we take away the soul of our playing. We try to appear to be something we are not, more capable, less afraid or confident. When this happens you become cautious of every move you make; you start to try to control, and the flow of music dries up.

100% yourself

To be a great musician is to be 100% yourself. They are expressing how they really are, not as parody of themselves. Having a stage name or such like has nothing to with it. You either play honestly or you don't, only you can know. Being honest is frightening and amazing, it is standing naked in front of yourself and others. You cannot be honest and push anything away. You must accept everything you are. If you're afraid, be afraid. If you feel your playing is rubbish feel that too. That is not the problem, and your music can and will flow with all this going on in your mind. The problem is when you deny your feelings, and you push away that which you do not want others to see.

Accept who you are

Of course people being people, they often push away parts of themselves. That isn't too much of a problem, it's easy to laugh at your mind and move on. But if you judge your pushing away as bad, then you move further away from where you want to be. The groove will be hard to find when you battle with your mind. The more you judge and control, the more you move out of your body when playing, and the deeper into your mind you fall. The answer? Let your mind do what it wants to do, because that is all you can do.

Individuality

What is it that makes some musicians stand apart from others? Even when people have similar ability levels, some just shine through whilst others seem to lack something. When a musician has an individual voice they are playing the true role of a musician; communicating themselves, their me-ness'. Musicians who lack spark are just acting out the moves without that authentic connection to who they are. Their music may be technically fine, but there is no content or communication held in it.

Here I am

Individuality goes a long way in music. A great musician has the power to place themselves inside their music so deeply that even the simplest piece of music is spellbinding. A musician who lacks

individuality finds himself in a situation where he needs gimmicks and tricks to keep his audience entertained. They need to cover up for the lack of honesty in their music, and to come up with more and more stuff' to make an impression. A great musician can grab people by their heartstrings and say here I am, and this is what it's like being me'. A showman can only scratch the surface of an audience, but a great musician can dive to the bottom of their souls.

Music is communication

What does the music you play say about you? What message does it give to other people? What does it mean to you? To be a great musician you must embrace a musical truth; all music is communication. It doesn't matter if you're playing to a stadium or to yourself in the bathroom. You are always speaking to yourself, and if you have an audience, to others as well. Like speech, it's a language, yet it's capable of infinite subtlety and mood. Music can communicate things which words alone cannot. To deeply appreciate this is to handle the elements of music like an alchemist. Your music will have a truth in it; 'this is who I am, and this is how I express myself'.

Music is movement

When you focus on an end result; what should happen, you start to 'go out' of yourself. You are literally somewhere else. You're not inside the music, so the communication of yourself is diminished. Your music will become flat and lifeless. It looses that life and energy music has when the player is engaging with their music moment by moment. An audience will always instinctively feels when a musician is somewhere else, and they also know when a musician is inside his music.

Feeling boxed in

John found it difficult being in the moment with his music. When he performed he always had overwhelming fears about his playing. He had very concrete expectations about what he should be doing as a musician. The demands put him under pressure to perform; he expected himself to react a certain way. He described being onstage as feeling 'boxed in'. He felt so dominated by his anxieties to be perfect that it left no room for him 'to be with his music'.

Focus on the sensations

After talking with John a while, I gave him an exercise to do. John needed to focus on the sensations of playing rather than the turbulence of his mind. I told John to practice being with his sensations whenever he played, starting with when he played on his own, and building up to when he performed in front of others.

Softness and poetry

When John came back, he told me he was shocked at how often his mind took over' his playing. At first John couldn't pick up his instrument without a whole volley of demands and expectations entering his mind. It was a habit he'd reinforced his whole life. As he carried on with the exercise he told me that this focus on his mind had put him out of touch with the sensations of playing, which he was now beginning to discover again. He began to realise that his music has lost it's softness and poetry, and that his expectations had made his music harder and more calculating.

Honesty

Once he became more aware of his body when playing, his music became spontaneous and inspiring. He still had anxieties about his playing, but he just chose not to focus on them. Soon he was 'lost in his music'. He reacted to his music in an honest and natural way.

Putting up walls

When watching some musicians, it strikes me that they try to 'engineer' their emotions or reactions to their music. On the surface it appears they are inside the music, but look under the surface and you find quite the opposite. They are afraid to be honest so they hide behind a persona of emotionality. This stems from a fear that their real self is not enough for themselves or their audience.

Fascinated by the journey

Playing music is a perpetual journey, and you never really reach a destination. You have realizations and achievements, but once they are reached something else opens up before you. The great thing about music is that there's always more terrain to explore. Great musicians are fascinated by their journey; the journey of musical discovery is a reflection of our journey of self discovery. Great musicians never tire of their journey, because they enjoy the adventure and discovery. They will surely have challenges, but their faith in the musical and artistic process will carry them through. Great musicians love the fact that on the journey their music constantly changes and evolves.

Wanting to arrive

The ego mind wants our music to arrive somewhere. It's not interested in the journey, all it's interested in saying is; I'm here now and you can't take that away from me!' Once they get somewhere, they can sit back. They don't need to push and challenge themselves to move forward.

Shaping you music

If you loose interest in the day to day exploration of your music, you miss out on so much musical beauty. It's in being with your daily progress that you really see what music means to you, why it matters in your life. It's in constant exploration that you form a musical identity, an identity which shapes the music you create. The more we know about ourselves musically, the more confident we become at opening ourselves up when we play music. It's in the fascination of your musical journey that you lay the seeds for becoming a great musician. A depth of musical awareness is the hallmark of a great musician.

Playing inside the music

Letting go of expectations gives you the freedom to react to your playing in a spontaneous and free-flowing way. Try this exercise to stop your expectations and preconceptions from rushing into your mind when you play. Choose a piece of music you really enjoy playing. Avoid something too demanding, or anything you feel you should' be practicing.

Honesty shines through

Pick up your instrument and play. Now you approach your music with fresh ears. You're addressing how you really are, whilst your ego demands and expectations find it harder to stay alive. Remember it's your ego that makes music boring, restrictive and repetitive. Honesty makes it

infinite and limitless.

Into the mystic

When you play with no expectations, there's no place in your mind you need to go. You're there already, playing music, expressing your life with its love, joy, fear and creativity. It feels like playing music for the first time. Time stands still and reality fades away as the music takes over. Try to make your music mystical, romantic, like a dream. The point is never to make perfect music, the point is to loose yourself in the music.

Hear what your body tells you

James had been playing guitar for years. He had played since he was a little kid, playing in bands his whole life. Playing guitar was a big part of his life. As a child he had found it to be quite painful on his hands and fingers, but James was dedicated to the guitar, and played through' the pain. He just thought that is what you had to do to become good. Everyone else has gone through it, and so must he. James would play for hours on end without a break. As James grew older he began to experience stabbing pains in his fingers and hands. Sometimes his hand seized up completely, and he would be forced to stop playing. Even though he found this alarming, he carried on playing in his usual way; it was just something to get through'.

Trying to push through

As the years past it became harder and harder for him to play, but James response was always to ignore it. Then one day he found it impossible to play. He went to a doctor, who said he had developed Tendonitis. He was shocked, and instantly wanted to know how to solve the problem. He wanted to sweep his problem aside, and then go back to his old habits. James body however, had other ideas. When James came to me, he was still looking for a quick fix solution. I explained that he had developed Tendonitis because he routinely ignored his bodies' signals to stop playing and rest his muscles. Instead he did the opposite and applied more effort to push through'. James was shocked at this news. He thought that Tendonitis was one of those things that just happens when you have played a long time.

Trying to tame the beast

When we approach learning to play an instrument, it is easy to see it as a beast to be controlled. We believe we must apply effort and strong forces to tame the beast. The instrument is to be conquered, and then we will have control over our playing. When we approach music like this, we become hard in our body. Our muscles tighten; we want to be a solid controllable body. More than this, we turn off the messages we get from our body. The tensions and aches. These are hints of how we could correct our playing, how it can be made more effortless. Yet when we ignore the bodies' reaction to playing we are essentially saying do this and don't complain' to our body. After a while, your body will begin to shout louder at you in the form of injuries and permanent pains. Listen to your body when it whispers to you, otherwise you will have to deal with its shouting further down the road.

Lines of communication

Aim to constantly strengthen your communication between your mind and body whilst playing. In that link you will find all the answers needed to find your groove and become a great musician. Your body is your greatest teacher, because only you know what you need to do to allow your playing to flow. Focus your awareness inside your body whilst you play. If you're a singer focus

into your lungs, mouth and head. If you play a string instrument, concentrate on your hands, fingers and arms. If you play a wind instrument, focus on your lungs and lips. Choose something simple and undemanding to play, just a couple of chords or a few notes will do. Before you begin to play focus your attention on the body areas that will play music in a second. Try to put the sensations into words like hot, tingly, excited, hot or cold. Or you might want to describe it as a colour, such as gold or transparent, or a texture such as dense, heavy or fluid. Go into as much detail as possible. Write all your observations down under the heading before playing'.

Awareness in music is everything

Now begin to play your notes/ chords, focusing your attention in the body. Be aware of any new sensations, but continue playing. Also notice any pain sensations. After a few minutes, stop playing. Write down any new observations under the heading during playing'. Notice any similarities or differences in the two lists. This exercise is very revealing, because we often generalize our playing; we don't really know what's going on. This exercise begins to uncover how our body reacts to playing music. Once we realise what's happening we can move on to playing more effortlessly, and slip into the groove more often. Without this awareness we can delude ourselves that everything is fine with our playing, yet then wonder why our playing ability does not progress or deepen.

Your imagination

Your imagination is a great tool to becoming a great musician. Mozart used it. He imagined a great kingdom, and he wrote his music for the subjects of his kingdom. Visualisation (using your imagination) can soften the edges of your musical experiences', make them seen less hard, less ego dominated. Visualisation scenarios can be developed for practicing, jamming, song-writing or performing.

Playing by the sea?

Let's take a simple visualisation: imagine that when you play you are sitting in an amazingly inspiring place, perhaps by a beach, or in a lush forest? How about sitting on a porch in deep-south Virginia as the rain pours down. Or even in a stadium in front of thousands of fans screaming YOUR name! Creative visualisation is really just another name for having a fertile imagination. Yet visualisation is very real to your body. When you vividly imagine being somewhere else, your body believes you're really there. This then has an impact on your music. If you visualise being in relaxed surroundings, your body relaxes and your music becomes calmer, open, inspired. If you imagine yourself at a gig, your playing may become focused and sharp as if it's really happening. Creative visualisation allows you to be something you are not, to step outside the limitations and fears of you ego mind.

Rehearse in your mind

You can visualise your playing before you actually play: imagine in your mind letting go into the flow of music, playing fluidly and spontaneously. Hear how unique and inspiring your music sounds. Imagine how good that feels: see in your mind how others react to your music. By visualising what will happen you are rehearsing letting go, yet in your mind you've already let go, so when you come to play in reality' you've already let go!

If you can imagine it, you're already there

During your playing you can visualise yourself being inside the music. Imagine all the notes of

music being played coming out of your body. Give them a colour, shape and texture (you could imagine them on a huge stave, comic style!). Visualise the notes surrounding you, with you in the centre of it all. See how the notes interact and change the environment, the listeners, and you.

Change your mind, change yourself

You might think that imagining and visualising things in your mind won't change your music. Yet in your mind changes are already happening. The visualisations will change how you feel in the moment, playing music. Remember the ego mind will resist exploring with the imagination. The ego will feel uncertain, because who knows what will happen, how you'll feel, what your music will sound like. Just ignore your ego nagging. Remember you can choose whether to act on its fears and insecurities.

Your calculating mind

The more you visualise, the deeper you go into yourself, and the further away you move from your calculating mind. Develop your ability to visualise and you'll create a cushion between you and your fears and expectations. They may still be there, but they won't seem so close, and you won't feel you'll have to react to them by trying to control your music.

Flexibility

Joan was a professional classical musician. For most of her life she had played in orchestras and smaller groups. She had just landed a role in a new dynamic orchestra. She was pleased with herself, she had worked damn hard to get the job. Joan had a fixed routine for her practice: 3 hours a day. Hours of practice a day is normal in the classical world, and she had kept to the routine her whole life.

Change is demanding

Joan found the new orchestra very demanding. It was a big change from the playing situations she was used to. The philosophy of the orchestra was to do much more than concerts: they ran workshops, recorded for film, split in smaller groups when needed. The member's roles changed from day to day. The new orchestra required Joan to be flexible.

Living outside your comfort zone

Joan panicked: her regular routine was interrupted. She had found herself completely outside of her comfort zone. All the time she was playing beside new people, in new situations. Her ego mind found it intolerable to be in situations where she did not feel in control.

To grow you need to let go

When she asked me for help, she said she felt out of control, unsure of herself. We also talked about why some of the members actually liked being out of their comfort zone. I pointed out to Joan that these people decided to be comfortable going outside of their comfort zone. They constantly extended what they were comfortable with, rather than reducing it. This kind of musical growth' was something Joan didn't think she needed, until now. Joan needed to accept that constant change was a part of music, a part of her music.

Being comfortable outside your comfort zone

Joan had two choices: either she tried to stay within her comfort zone, find the orchestra intolerable and leave, or she could begin to live with the reality that she can't control her musical world. She had to learn to consciously expand her comfort zone, handle more situations, and become more intimate with her music.

Change and challenges

When she contacted me again, Joan said that although she sometimes found that she couldn't cope with the lack of control, she found overall that she was more at ease with the change and challenges in the orchestra. She found she was more relaxed, less serious. More importantly she found the new challenges gave her music spark and life that it hadn't had for years.

What is natural talent?

The idea of natural talent has stopped many people from even trying to play music. Natural talent' lets people of hook: why should they risk learning something new when they could find out they have no natural talent? They compare themselves to others who play: they already have expectations and they haven't even started playing!

We all start from the same place

It's not that natural talent doesn't exist, but to call it that is misleading. It implies that it is something that is given at birth. Not so: natural talent should be called natural learning. People who seem to have natural talent are just learning very quickly, therefore it seems like that musical ability was already there. After all they started from the same place anybody starts: not being able to play. The difference is that they let go into the learning process. They get out of the way of their mind and body, and let their unconscious do the work. When you control your learning you're bringing your conscious mind into play, slowing down your ability to absorb new information, and use your body ergonomically. Yet when you let go you open your unconscious to learning far more, far more quickly.

Great learners

So to have natural talent' you have to be a great learner, and that means letting go rather than controlling. Great learners are fascinated by the journey, ignore any expectations or demands they put on themselves. People call it natural talent because they don't want to see that their struggle has been for nothing: that there is another way, and that it works better.

Is that it?

So to be a great musician, all you have to do is let go of your expectations, put in the time, and everything else will work out. Well yes that is all you have to do, but if it was that easy everybody would have done it years ago. It takes time to learn new habits, and it often takes uncertainty and doubt to get to the point where you can let go. The path of a great musician is always challenging and demanding: you can't feel secure and push the envelope at the same time. Change happens gradually: it's a lifetime's journey, not something to be forgotten once learnt. But being a great musician means making great music: music that's dynamic, interesting, and unpredictable.

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