The Creative Process

 

I recently watched an inspiring documentary on concert pianist Seymour Bernstein.  Bernstein is an eighty five year old native New Yorker who still teaches music.  His specialty is teaching professional musicians how to hone their craft. As a master of his own art, he pays special attention to the nuances of the creative process.

Bernstein’s life and his musical talent are not separate.  He speaks quite frankly about himself, the importance of solitude and how he finds God, not as a deity “out there” as  most religions teach,  but within.  He does not claim to be a spiritual or religious person and yet one could say that everything about him is spiritual. 

No two pianos sound the same, according to Bernstein, even if they are made the exact same way.  This is because pianos are built by different people and the wood used  comes from different trees, which means the wood is not exactly the same and therefore carries the sound a little bit differently.

In the beginning, when learning a new piece of music, Bernstein explains how he plays very slowly until he gets each part down.  Only after he has learned the piece in its entirety does he pick up the pace.  He instructs his students in techniques like posture and breathing, things one might think are less important. And he listens.  He brings his whole self to the process and teaches that everything is important, every last detail. 

Bernstein is sought after by professional musicians because of his unique approach to the creative process. These musicians are accomplished in their own right and yet are willing to discover what they don’t know as he gently places his hand on their shoulder while they play making them aware of the tension held in their body so they can soften just a bit.  And as they do so, the music likewise softens, becoming more fluid as it begins to flow in new ways.  Bernstein also instructs his students in the art of breathing.   These very precise moves help shape not only the music but the musician.  After all, what we bring to our art form is more than just talent or technique, it is the entirety of our whole being, and this too effects the music in very subtle, yet profound ways.   

It occurred to me that Bernstein's approach can likewise be applied to any art form or craft, even the craft of living life.  A craft is something that is learned step by step as we carve out our particular expression; it doesn’t come in one magnificent flash, unless of course it does.  We bring our attention to it by being fully present.  Nothing is irrelevant.  Everything matters.  And if a log falls across our path, we step over it and keep going (Bernstein’s analogy).

In his younger days, Bernstein was a concert pianist.  However, he quit performing publicly when he was fifty because he says he was tired of the pressure, the stage fright, and the whole social scene.  Instead, he began teaching piano, which he says is his first love anyway.  Thirty five years later, at the age of eighty five, actor and friend Ethan Hawk (producer of the documentary) asked Bernstein if he would consider performing for his theater group in New York.  Bernstein decided to accept  the offer.

On the evening of his performance, the piano was positioned in front of a large picture window overlooking the busy streets of New York.  Passersby would stop to watch him play, some even snapping photographs.  I thought to myself, “Why don’t they shut the curtains!”  But they didn’t need to shut the curtains.  Bernstein was not in the least perturbed by the passing scenes outside the window.  He played with unwavering focus and elegance. It was like music from heaven. Now you see why I say he is truly a spiritual person.  You cannot play music like that unless you are infused with spirit, because as the music enters the listener, it effects the whole mind, body and spirit, and one is changed by being in his presence.