Effortless Mastery 2

Course Number
PSEM-300
Description

Effortless Mastery 2 will focus on the third and fourth step of Kenny Werner's Effortless Mastery book. In the third step the students will learn to play pieces they know very well "from the space." That also means playing intellectual material while maintaining a deeper connection between the body and the instrument. Playing the pieces without having to manage them will define for the player much more clearly what they have and haven’t mastered. It’s a window into solving the puzzling question of why they are stuck on one level and not able to access a higher level of performance. They learn the difference between playing a piece correctly and having the piece "play itself." The blocks that they experience will bring to the surface the areas where the student must work to freely perform a piece while maintaining the space. The space may be defined as "the seat of their own greatness." Once they are able to play something that they know well in an effortless and wholly-connected manner, they will move into the fourth phase of the course. During the fourth step the student learns how to focus on something new that they want to learn and will study this from a deeper place. They will be able to take what they’ve learned through the previous three steps and channel the space while in the practice room. Only when they can play the new material from the space would it be considered mastered. This allows the students to move up through layers of mediocrity to more and more brilliant levels of mastery.

Credits
2
Prerequisites
PSEM-200 and written approval of course instructor
Required Of
None
Electable By
All B.M. and P.D. students
Semesters Offered
Fall, Spring
Location
Boston
Department
PFDV
Course Chair
Ron Savage
Taught By
Courses may not be offered at the listed locations or taught by the listed faculty for every semester. Consult my.berklee.edu to find course information for a specific semester.