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 31
Page i
... thought , a bracing new way of looking at the familiar , a penetrating in- sight or a wise bit of advice . And reading it is so thoroughly enjoyable ! ” -WILLIS HARMAN , REGENT , UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA " The mother of all ...
... thought , a bracing new way of looking at the familiar , a penetrating in- sight or a wise bit of advice . And reading it is so thoroughly enjoyable ! ” -WILLIS HARMAN , REGENT , UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA " The mother of all ...
Page
... thought have influenced all of this in ways that are incalculable. I am grateful to the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, where the ideas here were conceived and sketched out in the composer's cottage in 1983. This book is dedicated, with ...
... thought have influenced all of this in ways that are incalculable. I am grateful to the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, where the ideas here were conceived and sketched out in the composer's cottage in 1983. This book is dedicated, with ...
Page 5
... thought to the search after effects that might have occurred to him with pen in hand.5 He knew how to make such an impression on every listener that frequently there was not a single dry eye , while many broke out into loud sobs : For ...
... thought to the search after effects that might have occurred to him with pen in hand.5 He knew how to make such an impression on every listener that frequently there was not a single dry eye , while many broke out into loud sobs : For ...
Page 6
... thoughts. The rise of the formal concert hall in the nineteenth century gradually put an end to concert improvisation. The Industrial Age brought with it an excessive empha- sis on specialization and professionalism in all fields of ...
... thoughts. The rise of the formal concert hall in the nineteenth century gradually put an end to concert improvisation. The Industrial Age brought with it an excessive empha- sis on specialization and professionalism in all fields of ...
Page 16
... thought fresh and clear , she must also eat , live , make money , suffer , enjoy , be a friend , and everything else human beings do . In composed music or theater , moreover , there is yet a third kind of time : Besides the moment ( or ...
... thought fresh and clear , she must also eat , live , make money , suffer , enjoy , be a friend , and everything else human beings do . In composed music or theater , moreover , there is yet a third kind of time : Besides the moment ( or ...
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