‘The Music Mind Experience’ is all about how we can transform our playing and listening into convincing performances and satisfying meditations every time. No neuroscience here: this book is thoroughly practical, intuitive, chock-full of simple practices and deep, common-sense insights. “A fantastic resource. Karl’s purpose is to reach beyond all intellectual concepts and feel the magic of intuitive playing and listening that we are all born with. Very easy to read and follow“ says the world-renown keyboardist John Medeski. The Italian composer Luciano Troja adds: “Karl’s book is miraculous because it speaks in a simple but profound way to musicians and listeners of any background. It opens worlds“ ‘The Music Mind Experience‘ speaks for all kinds of music and styles, because it addresses the elements common to all the music in the world. The great guitarist John Scofield comments: “Karl’s book reminds me of what I‘ve learned from conversations with the great musicians I‘ve known. These masters spoke the truth about getting in the ‘flow’ and the best mental attitude while playing. I‘ve found that these techniques are universal.“ In this book we emphasize the extraordinary power of our intuitive minds. The masters‘ ‘techniques’ that John Scofield is referring to are all explored here in surprisingly simple practices and exercises. We learn to integrate them into our daily routines of musical practice and listening with astounding results: our satisfaction and confidence is growing strong and steadily.
Pianist/composer Carla Bley refers not just to this book only, but to Karl Berger‘s life-long work at the now world-renowned Creative Music Studio when she says: “Karl has made it ok for hoards of musicians to explore their particular and personal identities without fear of censure“. The German composer Markus Stockhausen says: “Karl shows us that we all have a hidden capacity of unexplored, infinite creative potential“. And he concludes: “Listening is the key to all the music mind.” (Verlagstext)
Table of Contents
- Preface 9
- Foreword by Billy Martin 11
Chapter 1
- What is Music Mind 13
- Minding Our Music 14
- Finding the Ground Floor in Your Music Education 17
- Music Mind is for Listeners Too 18
- Music Mind is Also for Amateurs 19
Chapter 2
- Chatter and Flow 21
- The Gift of Flow 22
- Playing by Heart 28
- The Playing Mode 30
- Waiting for the Next Train 31
- Key Points to Consider Here 33
Chapter 3
- Our Sense of Rhythm 35
- Counting and Feeling 36
- Universal Rhythm 37
- Rhythm is Natural 40
- Relaxed and Alert 43
- Retuning 44
- Rhythm in Movement:
- Dancing, Walking, Gestures 45
- Key Points 47
Chapter 4
- Our Sense of Dynamics 49
- Pronunciation—Articulation 49
- The Dynamics of Language and Rhythm 50
- Crescendo—Decrecendo 52
- Listening for Dynamics 54
- Using Dynamics to Harmonize Sound 56
- A Great Exercise (that we hope that you won’t ignore) 59
- Key Points 62
Chapter 5
- Our Sense of Sound and Harmony 63
- Listening to Just the Sound 64
- Keeping Our Ears Open 67
- Preparation and Confidence 68
- Listening to Our Sound 70
- Learning from Others 71
- Hearing Sounds Blend 72
- Key Points 73
Chapter 6
- Our Sense of Space 75
- Practicing Creating Space 76
- Finding the Breaks in the Sound 80
- Finding the Balance of Sound and Space 82
- Music in the Silence 85
- Practicing Silence 87
- Key Points 89
Chapter 7
- Stop Scheming and Start Listening 91
- Learning to Listen 92
- Listening Beyond Just Music 93
- Moving from Listening to Ourselves to Listening to the Whole Ensemble 94
- Expanding Our Listening Horizon 96
- Scheming Versus Actually Listening 97
- The Challenge of Listening While Playing 101
- Listening to Each Other While Playing 103
- Key Points 105
Chapter 8
- Our Voice 107
- Perfecting Our Musical Expression 107
- Reconnecting with Our Music Mind 110
- Our Minds Connecting to One Mind 112
- Reconnecting with Our Voices 114
- KeyPoints 116
Chapter 9
- Our Personal Touch 117
- Personality and Blending In 122
- Uniqueness and Trust 123
- Universality 124
- One Mind 126
- Key Points 127
Chapter 10
- Blending Music Mind into Our Daily Practice 129
- Takeaways for Musicians 135
- Takeaways for Listeners 138
- Moving Ahead 140
Appendix 1: The Music Mind Experience Continues
Appendix 2: Exercises 155
References 165
Biographies 166
Thank You 168