A while ago, someone recommended reading Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel. I was interested, and it was only like $10 through Amazon.com. I’ve finished reading it. For the second time. It’s 81 pages contain some very philosophical ideas that musicians and teachers can use.
I must admit, I have always been facinated in the East. As a young kid, I was addicted to Karate and Kung Fu movies. David Carradine and the TV series Kung Fu was a regular thing on my TV, as was a time slot on one of the channels around here that they called “Kung Fu Theater”. The code of the samurai, Bushido, etc, etc. All were, and still are passions of mine. I took martial arts classes for 3 years in Junior High/High School. In college, one of the classes I most enjoyed (no, sorry Tim Smith it wasn’t your Wind Ensemble) was a class on Early Japan. In fact, I still have the text books from that class somewhere here. So, when someone suggested Zen in the Art Of Archery I got it.
It is the true story of the author, Eugen Herrigel, a visiting German professor of Philosophy at the University Of Tokoyo between World War I and II, and his taking Archery lessons in the hopes of learning about Zen. Zen at that point in time, and perhaps still today, was a mystical hard to understand and define “thing” that people of Eastern decent seemed to understand, but Westerners could not fathom. I think today, with the proliferation of TV and movies, we have more of a understanding or at least a point of comparison as to what Zen is. I’m not going to describe it. Go read the book to get your own definition of it.
Professor Herrigel spent six years studying archery. The first year was merely learning to pull the bow string and loose the arrow. He questioned everything. He never received answers he liked. But in the end he understood Zen.
For music, imagine learning to pull the bow string and loose the arrow as blowing your horn and playing all your scales without thinking about it. That was what Professor Herrigel’s teacher was trying to get him to achieve. I can relate to this. I don’t know when it happened, but it is a reflex now. I can pick up my horn and play through all my scales and not even think about it. The same as pulling the bow string and loosing the arrow without effort.
There are more comparisons you can make to music, such as when Professor Herrigel learns to hit something, etc.
As a music player, I learned that I shouldn’t worry about HOW to play something. It should be a reflex. If I see a Em7b5 A7b9 Dm7 I should, without thinking, be able to play a D Harmonic Minor scale, or whatever, to fit that. That is why we practice all those scales and patterns. It has to be a reflex. It takes time, and there is PLENTY of time to learn to do it.
As a teacher, I saw a lot of things that I do in this book. I let students explore and set their own pace. Time is relative. Some people might be able to play something faster than others. It doesn’t matter. I am giving them a foundation to being able to identify notes and rhythms without thinking. I have been doing it now long enough that I can actually SEE some of them who can do it. It’s a great feeling.
As a musician, you should get this book. You can spend all that money on that Werner Effortless Mastery book. But for a third the price you can get Zen in the Art of Archery and read it 2 or 3 times in a day (it’s only 81 pages). Ponder it for a few days or weeks, then read it again. It’s inspiring. Get it. Now. Right now.
10 out of 10. A must for anyone’s library.
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