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Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within, Book & Includes Online Downloadable code Paperback – November 1, 1998

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,271 ratings

Playing music should be as simple and natural as drawing a breath, yet most musicians are hindered by self-consciousness, apprehension, self-doubt, and stress. Before we can truly express our inner self, we must first learn to be at peace and overcome the distractions that can make performance difficult. Kenny's remarkable work deals directly with these hindrances, and presents ways to let our natural creative powers flow freely with minimal stress and effort. Includes an inspiring Includes Online Downloadable code of meditations designed to initiate positive thought. This book has become a favorite of many musicians who credit it with changing their lives! Many are so impressed that they buy copies for their musician friends as gifts. Easy, effortless reading paperback.

"Effortless Mastery is a book that the world really needs. It was not written by a philosopher or an academic. Kenny Werner, is one of my favorite pianists I've ever had the pleasure of working with, and in my opinion one of the best pianists living on the planet. Kenny teaches that 'The joy of practicing is concentration. The joy of playing is liberation.' Effortless Mastery teaches the seeker how to achieve both at the highest levels. It also shows how to practice effectively, promoting real growth and how to play and perform free from fear and self-judgment. I highly recommend this book." ---Quincy Jones
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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 Online Downloadable code 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

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Alfred Music; First Edition (November 1, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 196 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 156224003X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1562240035
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 0.54 x 8.98 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,271 ratings

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Kenny Werner
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KENNY WERNER has been a world-class pianist and composer for over 40 years. His prolific output of compositions, recordings and publications continue to impact audiences around the world. In 1996 he wrote his landmark book, Effortless Mastery: Liberating The Master Musician Within. Werner was awarded the 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship Award for his seminal work, “No Beginning No End,” a musical journey exploring tragedy and loss, death and transition, and the path from one lifetime to the next. He has performed with such legendary musicians as Dizzy Gillespie, Betty Buckley, Toots Thielemans, Charles Mingus, Marian McPartland, Bobby McFerrin, Lou Rawls, Michel Legrand, Gunther Schuller, Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny, Elvin Jones and many more. He is the founding musical director of the Effortless Mastery Institute at the Berklee College of Music and has composed for international orchestras, received numerous NEA grants and been nominated for an Emmy Award.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
1,271 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides helpful advice and insights for personal mastery. They say it opens their minds to music and other aspects of life. The book is described as simple and easy to apply. Readers appreciate the great messages and quotes from other teachers, players, and thinkers. Many mention that the meditations help calm nerves. Overall, customers describe the music as beautiful and timeless.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

92 customers mention "Influence"88 positive4 negative

Customers find the book provides useful advice and insights for personal mastery. It focuses on practical mental and emotional reprogramming, giving them a great perspective on life and how music connects us all. The book is simple yet powerful conceptually, inspiring readers to experience breakthroughs in their playing through consistent and correct practice habits.

"...n't make it "intellectual" enough for others, but I find it is plenty intellectual, just presented in a more direct and down to earth sort of way...." Read more

"...I've been able to experience breakthroughs in my playing by implementation of the 4 steps. The meditations are relaxing, as well." Read more

"...It is here where we receive practical, sensible, and easy to follow instructions on how to master ___________ (you fill in the blank)...." Read more

"...that reading this book resulted in a sea change that deeply affected my philosophy and approach to teaching, learning, playing, and listening to..." Read more

88 customers mention "Music knowledge"88 positive0 negative

Customers find the book helpful for music practice and spiritual development. They say it opens their minds to new ideas and helps them reevaluate their musical goals. The author applies zen principles to musicianship, helping them rediscover the value of playing their instruments. Overall, readers recommend the book as a must-read for musicians who aren't quite sure what's holding them back.

"...Werner has a lot of really interesting ideas about music, performance, jazz, etc that I find challenging and provocative but ultimately can find..." Read more

"I found this very helpful with my development as a musician...." Read more

"...What made this book unique for me was that it was written by a musician and though the content can be universally applied, it has an intimacy with..." Read more

"...Werner has a very spiritual approach to music that at times borders on what a friend of mine calls, "hippy, trippy-dippy, New-Agey nonsense."..." Read more

24 customers mention "Ease of application"19 positive5 negative

Customers find the book's approach simple and easy to apply. They appreciate the clear exercises and the 12 step program for improving their playing.

"...It's that simple. Not easy, but simple. He lays it out...." Read more

"...I am amazed at how simple the application of this book is yet how profound a difference it has made in my rate of improvement on the drums!..." Read more

"...where great effort, consistent and correct practice habits, and infinite patience -- along with honest self-evaluation of one's technical ability..." Read more

"...What type of "Mastery" is this book talking about? "Playing without effort." So, congratulations!..." Read more

19 customers mention "Message"16 positive3 negative

Customers find the book's message simple and inspiring. They appreciate the quotes from great teachers, players, and thinkers that illustrate the points. The concepts are universal and can be applied to any career or hobby.

"...for others, but I find it is plenty intellectual, just presented in a more direct and down to earth sort of way...." Read more

"...me was that it was written by a musician and though the content can be universally applied, it has an intimacy with the musician's struggle...." Read more

"...Still, there are some great quotes and ideas in the first chapters and throughout the book." Read more

"...may agree or disagree with Kenny's ideas but in a whole, the message is clear... Effortless Mastery is achievable through the proper mindset and..." Read more

9 customers mention "Relaxation"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book helpful for relaxing and meditating. It provides the foundation for feeling great while making music. The meditations help calm nerves for gigs and college auditions.

"...The meditations are relaxing, as well." Read more

"...There are basically relaxation exercises to just get you to take the tension out of playing music...." Read more

"...The meditations are helping calm my nerves for gigs and my upcoming college audition(s)...." Read more

"...can go about the pursuit of making music, and provides the grounds for feeling great in the process...." Read more

5 customers mention "Beauty"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the music easy and beautiful. They appreciate the new perspective on a timeless concept.

"This book is sweet, and by sweet I mean badass. I am Kung Fu guitar. I am Kung Fu bass. I am Kung Fu piano...." Read more

"...Music is easy and beautiful. And there are no wrong notes!" Read more

"Kenny Werner is a genuine and beautiful person. This book was a revelation to me as a young college music major." Read more

"Wonderful look into the mind of the anxious musician." Read more

8 customers mention "Cd included"3 positive5 negative

Customers have different views on the CD included. Some find it helpful for meditation, while others say it's useless without it.

"waste of time. drones on and on. cd was not included but doubt it would have added anything...." Read more

"...It's simple powerful conceptually and the book includes a cd and meditations (which I've never done) that are supposed to help with that...." Read more

"...However, it is wothless without the CD. I received the book all right, but WITHOUT the crucial part for practicing and/or meditation - the CD...." Read more

"Didn't receive CD with book. I'm sure book is great but I'm disappointed ." Read more

6 customers mention "Value for money"4 positive2 negative

Customers have different views on the book's value for money. Some find it useful and a good purchase, while others feel they wasted money.

"...Werner offers a stupendous model here for a replacement. This is priceless stuff and just what I was looking for as a way of answering my many..." Read more

"waste of time. drones on and on. cd was not included but doubt it would have added anything...." Read more

"...that will spark their fire about music again, this is certainly a great investment...." Read more

"brilliant book, brilliant price....!!" Read more

Maybe the most prolific book I’ve Read
5 out of 5 stars
Maybe the most prolific book I’ve Read
“The mind is always supplying a steady stream of these illusions of limitation”That is just one of the brilliant insights from the book. To set the stage, I’m 59, a guitarist and an engineer.This book was seemingly written directly for me with all of my perceived limitations and unquiet mind - the effects of which have led to great episodes of struggle with both music and electronics.I’m only 23% into reading this book, and it is certainly the single most important book of my lifetime - and I have a read a crapload of books. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2020
    I am about halfway through the book, and it is exactly the sort of medicine I need, to deprogram myself away from the fear-based paradigm that Werner describes that taints my relationship with music and my instruments of choice. It's not rocket science, and he doesn't beat around the bush. It takes work, and sacrifice, and compromise, but anyone willing to put in the honest effort will reap a reward. It's that simple. Not easy, but simple. He lays it out. The book starts with his own compelling story, and then an overview of the fear-based paradigm that we are all trying to transcend. Then it gets real practical in the second half, which I am just about to start, and am really excited to do so.

    The book is music focused, but I share it with anyone who seems to struggle psychologically or emotionally with any sort of craft or practice. It's 90% relevant to anything, not just art and certainly not just music performance.

    I would deduct a half star, as the audio recordings are great but have some quality issues with pops and distortions that really have no reason for existing. During a meditation those artifacts can be distracting, but really if you *get* the content that you are studying, it's another opportunity to practice the concepts that you are learning :) But as amazon doesn't allow half a star, I am rounding up to 5 stars again :)

    This book belongs in the heart and mind of anyone who cares about understanding and embodying the concept of "mastery" in their own life.

    As a side note, I find it (perhaps unintentionally? but Werner seems to have a bit of tongue in cheek to his communication style) varying degrees of entertaining to hilarious to read and hear Werner talk about mindfulness and other concepts from his east coast blue collar cultural background. Not being elitist, just enjoying the busting of the stereotypes that you can't be a zen muthaf***** with a Brooklyn accent. Werner is plenty of proof that you can, and I appreciate the groundedness of his upbringing and story make mindfulness more accessible culturally for me. It's like mindfulness for "real people" and not just the "eat pray love" of unexamined economic privilege.

    So if you've been wanting to check out mindfulness, but get turned off by so much of the implicit economic elitism in so much of it (also like that with yoga) I recommend this book for that reason alone, as well as the Mindfulness app that is put out by the VA which is also really good and accessible (and free!) without being froofy. Maybe that doesn't make it "intellectual" enough for others, but I find it is plenty intellectual, just presented in a more direct and down to earth sort of way. Werner has a lot of really interesting ideas about music, performance, jazz, etc that I find challenging and provocative but ultimately can find little or no fault in when I put my own ego and insecurities aside.

    This book is helping me find peace with myself and my own musical practices. Can you put a price on that?
    28 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2024
    I found this very helpful with my development as a musician. I've been able to experience breakthroughs in my playing by implementation of the 4 steps. The meditations are relaxing, as well.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2008
    Don't let the fact that this book was written by a musician distract you from buying it if you are not a musician! The principles contained herein are universal and the author has written a book from which anyone can learn if he or she is a seeker. The key here is to be open to new ideas. That is not to say that these are "new" ideas. The ancients have promulgated the features and benefits of meditation for years. Since, many have written and/or captured on tape, cd, and dvd a variety of approaches to meditation. There is something for everyone it would seem. What made this book unique for me was that it was written by a musician and though the content can be universally applied, it has an intimacy with the musician's struggle. I felt, possibly for the first time ever, that the obstacles I've encountered in my attempts to improve as a drummer, were/are not peculiar to me alone! Indeed, Mr. Werner has written a book about me in the sense that every limitation on my playing appears somewhere on its' pages. My own history is clearly laid out in the first half of the book. Reading it helped me to come to terms with my own mediocrity! Enter the hero (which in this case, is the second half of the book)! It is here where we receive practical, sensible, and easy to follow instructions on how to master ___________ (you fill in the blank). Really, 'Effortless Mastery' is a manual on how to master anything! Since I am a musician, that blank is filled with 'the drums'. I began to apply the instructions Mr. Werner sets out in the book and they had an immediate effect on my playing and my enjoyment of practicing. I am amazed at how simple the application of this book is yet how profound a difference it has made in my rate of improvement on the drums! It doesn't take long to see the difference either. If I could put Kenny Werner's teachings into one simple axiom, it would be: choosing quality over quantity. By paying attention to how we are doing something and how our bodies are responding while we are doing it, we open a whole new world in which opportunities are limitless. But the real expansion in our conciousness takes place when we can detach from the results of our efforts. That is when our efforts become effortless. You simply MUST buy this book and read it, then practice it and your life will change for the absolute better. Of this I am certain! Then you too will be saying, "I am a master! I am great!" Thank you Kenny Werner, for taking the time to write it and for continuing to spread the word. I have never enjoyed playing music more than I do now. I am a master! I am great!
    13 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • jeff kennedy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Unravelling the mystery of mastery...
    Reviewed in Canada on January 7, 2025
    As a long-time bluegrass player, I have long absorbed the strategy of learning, memorizing, and then performing fiddle tunes. Mr. Werner's book hopefully can take me to the next level of playing or at least immerse me deeper into the art of musical mastery.
    I'd recommend it to any player who wants to get deeper into this mysterious thing we call music.
  • Sara Guzman
    5.0 out of 5 stars Genial!!
    Reviewed in Mexico on March 24, 2022
    Uno de los mejores libros sobre cómo abordar la música para dejar ser al Gran Músico que somos y llevamos dentro.
  • Junior
    5.0 out of 5 stars Livre incroyable
    Reviewed in France on November 9, 2024
    Pour tous les musiciens(ennes) qui se posent les mêmes questions existentielles et pensent être les seuls, ce bouquin sera une révélation pour vous.
    Une approche de la pratique et de l'apprentissage de son instrument qui change notre vision, vision fortement troublée et confuse à une époque où le contenu foisonne en libre service.
    Une manière de re centrer sur l'essentiel, être là et faire corps avec son instrument. Merci pour cet ouvrage.
  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Different and inspiring
    Reviewed in India on August 16, 2024
    I loved this book which takes you to a different journey about practising music.It helps you at so many levels in practising your instrument especially psychologically and holds your hand to guide you like a teacher.Highly recommended to musicians at all levels.
  • Paolo Picutti
    5.0 out of 5 stars Un Viaggio Profondo nella Realizzazione Personale attraverso la Musica e la Meditazione
    Reviewed in Italy on November 10, 2023
    "Effortless Mastery" è molto più di un libro: è un percorso profondo e trasformativo scritto dal leggendario musicista Kenny Werner. Quest'opera non solo offre una guida preziosa per musicisti di ogni livello, ma costituisce anche un'ispirazione per chiunque cerchi la padronanza di sé stessi e della propria arte.

    Il libro con le sue meditazioni audio in italiano scaricabili si distingue per la sua approccio unico nel favorire la crescita personale attraverso la musica e la meditazione. Kenny Werner condivide non solo le sue esperienze, ma offre anche strumenti pratici per superare gli ostacoli mentali che impediscono la piena espressione artistica e individuale.

    Le meditazioni guidate in italiano, disponibili in download, sono un vero tesoro. Esse accompagnano il lettore in un viaggio interiore, aiutando a superare blocchi emotivi e a trovare un approccio più libero e autentico alla musica e alla vita stessa. La chiarezza e la profondità delle meditazioni sono un punto forte di questo prodotto, offrendo un sostegno prezioso anche per chi è nuovo alla pratica della meditazione.

    La bellezza di "Effortless Mastery" è la sua capacità di andare oltre la musica stessa, trasformandosi in una guida per superare le paure, i limiti e le insicurezze che spesso affliggono gli artisti e le persone in generale. Questo libro rappresenta un viatico per abbracciare la creatività e la realizzazione personale con una prospettiva rinnovata.

    In conclusione, "Effortless Mastery" con le sue audio meditazioni in italiano è un'opera che consiglio senza esitazioni a chiunque desideri esplorare nuovi orizzonti nella musica, nella meditazione e nella crescita personale. È un accompagnamento prezioso e ispiratore per coloro che cercano la padronanza di sé stessi attraverso l'arte e la spiritualità.