Description:
On Cover:
Self-Discovery Through Music
Recognize your individual talent
Overcome stage fright and nervousness
Develop your concentration
Realize your full potential
On Back Cover:
For anyone who_s ever suffered through music lessons, or sat paralyzed with fear at the piano, here_s a master teacher_s remarkable self-help guide to realizing all your musical talents. It_s a tested, practical program for conquering nervousness, sharpening memory and concentration, building coordination and flexibility - for demolishing the stumbling blocks that every musician faces. So that you can know the joy of making the best music you can. All with your own two hands.
On Inside Flaps:
Why study music? If not for a career, then to what end? If not for recognition, to what purpose? In his remarkable book, Seymour Bernstein boldly confronts these and many other questions that haunt the student of music. Out of a wealth of experience as a pianist, teacher, and composer, Bernstein teaches us what it can mean to reproduce masterpieces of music by our own efforts. And he directs us to the truth that lies at the heart of music - the truth that binds the musical self to the personal self.
The problems Bernstein treats in With Your Own Two Hands are those of the musician, but his words reach out to all those who would acquire knowledge for its own sake. He speaks to the dedicated amateur whose efforts are often misunderstood and undervalued. He speaks also to those performers who wonder at the enormity of their suffering in the minutes or hours preceding a performance. He explains what causes nervousness and how to cope with it. Hie discusses that rare camaraderie between teachers and pupils, musicians and colleagues. And he advises parents, too, on how to best supervise their children_s practicing.
Beginning with chapter seven, "You and the Piano," we enter a world of technical know-how, and benefit from the expertise of a master teacher. Bernstein sweeps away the cobwebs of misconception, revealing formulas for physical and musical control that really work. We learn to sharpen concentration, cope with mistakes, be responsible to our talents. We learn how to synthesize feeling, thought, sensory perceptions, and physical coordination. And in keeping with the central theme of the book, Bernstein shows us how this synthesis can be related to our lives, and enrich it as well.
All instrumentalists (and singers, too) will find the chapters on "The Relaxation Myth", "Natural and Controlled Tension", and "Choreography" applicable to their needs. An outline of sequential steps for memorizing music, applied to a simple piece by Schumann, illustrates Bernstein_s gift for making even the most frustrating of tasks into a rewarding activity. With Your Own Two Hands addresses itself to all those who love and practice music, professionals and non-professionals alike. It teaches us, perhaps for the first time, the real reasons for practicing.
Seymour Bernstein has caught the spirit of excellence of the works he has studied, performed, and taught so well. Like the best of counselors, he encourages us to do the same. To reproduce music with our own two hands, he demonstrates, elicits what is best in our nature, builds our self-esteem, and secures an enduring happiness.
