Free Play: Improvisation in Life and ArtFree Play is about the inner sources of spontaneous creation. It is about why we create and what we learn when we do. It is about the flow of unhindered creative energy: the joy of making art in all its varied forms. An international bestseller and beloved classic, Free Play is an inspiring and provocative book, directed toward people in any field who want to contact, honor, and strengthen their own creative powers. It reveals how inspiration arises within us, how that inspiration may be blocked, derailed or obscured, and how finally it can be liberated—how we can be liberated—to speak or sing, write or paint, dance or play, with our own authentic voice. Stephen Nachmanovitch, a pioneer in free improvisation, integrates material from a wide variety of sources among the arts, sciences, and spiritual traditions of humanity, drawing on unusual quotes, amusing and illuminating anecdotes, and original metaphors. The whole enterprise of improvisation in life and art, of recovering free play and awakening creativity, is about being true to ourselves and our visions. Free Play brings us into direct, active contact with boundless creative energies that we may not even know we had. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 28
Page x
... musician discovered the subtle beauties of its tone and brought it back home, where he gave concerts all around the ... musicians approached him and asked how long it would take a skilled player to learn the new flute. “Years,” he said ...
... musician discovered the subtle beauties of its tone and brought it back home, where he gave concerts all around the ... musicians approached him and asked how long it would take a skilled player to learn the new flute. “Years,” he said ...
Page 1
... musician . One of the things I love best is to give totally improvised concerts on violin , viola , and elec- tric violin . There is something energizing and challeng- ing about being one - to - one with the audience and creating a ...
... musician . One of the things I love best is to give totally improvised concerts on violin , viola , and elec- tric violin . There is something energizing and challeng- ing about being one - to - one with the audience and creating a ...
Page 5
... musician's art of playing over themes , motifs , or chord changes . In classical times , the cadenzas of violin , piano , and other concertos were meant to be improvised — a chance for the player to put their own creative display into ...
... musician's art of playing over themes , motifs , or chord changes . In classical times , the cadenzas of violin , piano , and other concertos were meant to be improvised — a chance for the player to put their own creative display into ...
Page 6
... musicians confined themselves to the note- for- note playing of scores written by a handful of com- posers who somehow had access to the mysterious and godlike creative process. Composition and performance became progressively split ...
... musicians confined themselves to the note- for- note playing of scores written by a handful of com- posers who somehow had access to the mysterious and godlike creative process. Composition and performance became progressively split ...
Page 7
... musicians to the pleasures of spontaneous cre- ation. Beyond these forms of extemporization on a theme or within a set style, free improvisation and the invention of new and personal styles of art making are coming into their own. Today ...
... musicians to the pleasures of spontaneous cre- ation. Beyond these forms of extemporization on a theme or within a set style, free improvisation and the invention of new and personal styles of art making are coming into their own. Today ...
Contents
15 | |
The Vehicle | 24 |
The Stream | 31 |
The Muse | 37 |
Mind at Play | 44 |
Disappearing | 55 |
Sex and Violins | 63 |
Practice | 72 |
Vicious Circles | 141 |
The Judging Spectre | 149 |
Surrender | 158 |
Patience | 166 |
Ripening | 172 |
Eros and Creation | 185 |
Quality | 193 |
Art for Lifes Sake | 205 |
The Power of Limits | 85 |
The Power of Mistakes | 97 |
Playing Together | 104 |
Form Unfolding | 113 |
Childhoods End | 127 |
Heartbreakthrough | 216 |
Afterword | 225 |
Illustrations | 235 |
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Common terms and phrases
activity addiction art forms artist artwork audience Bach beauty become Beethoven blocks Blue Cliff Record body breakthrough bricolage child comes consciousness create creation creative process dance deeper e. e. cummings emotional emptiness energy everything experience exploration express fear feel flow flute free improvisation free play Galumphing Gregory Bateson hand ideas Igor Stravinsky imagination improvisation inner inspiration instrument intuition judging spectre kind koan learning lîla limits listen living look material matter means meditation ment mind muse musician mysterious Nachmanovitch nature ourselves P. D. Q. Bach painting pattern performance person piece player poetry practice resonance rhythm ripen samadhi sense sound spiritual spontaneous Stéphane Grappelli string structure surprises surrender T. S. Eliot technique temenos theater things tion tune unconscious violin voice whole William Blake words writing Yehudi Menuhin