Book Review: The Inner Game of Tennis
The Inner Game of Tennis
By W. Timothy Gallwey
This book was very helpful to me. This book, along with Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner, was required for a class all freshmen in the tuba studio at FSU were required to take their first semester, probably because our professor needed butts in the seats to keep the class going. Even though there were about 30 of us in the class, he never again offered it.
That’s a loss to the students. It was a very influential class for me, even though I didn’t take it seriously. I only read the books half-heartedly, and barely even took part in the discussions when I was there. But, it was similar stuff taught in my lessons anyway. I took this book along with me to read with more attention later.
Self 2 is the more subconscious part of our minds. This is the part of our mind that we use when doing things that take no thought or analyzing, like walking or driving, or playing “in the zone.”
Self 1 and Self 2 are in a constant tug-of-war. Self 2 can do it (whatever “it” may be), but is very soft spoken and submissive. Self 1 can’t do it, but thinks it can, is very aggressive, and tells Self 2 to relinquish control so Self 1 can fix the problem. During this inner turmoil is where we fall apart.
When I started college at FSU, I learned while in the class how to get “in the zone.” Over the years, my abilities increased on the euphonium, and most of the stuff I learned to play so second nature, I didn’t really need to think about it any more. Then I started to learn to play bass. I rarely played like this on bass.
When I got to the ship, I was completely out of my element. The floor under me was very rocky, I was given music that could barely pass as legible, I would sometimes get this music only hours before a show, and for me, worst of all, it was on the electric bass, an instrument that dangles on the bottom of the list of instruments I play. On top of that, I was trying to please the guest artists all the while having a power hungry MD threatening to fire me if I so much had a fret buzz. Unless you’re a seasoned gigging musician who doesn’t need this job, it would be easy to be shaken up in the beginning.
After reading this book, and combined with some personal information about the MD given to me from a friend of mine who played with him long ago, things started to sort themselves back out. First, I realized that I could dispense with Self 1 altogether, and allow H. to be my Self 1. No sense in having two Self Ones, is there? And for some reason, the idea that Self 1 is outside of me rather than inside seemed to help the progress out more.
Next, every time H. comes and yells at me, threatens me, or just tries to put me down, I think of the story I was told about him that he would be super embarrassed to know that I have heard, and I have a hard time trying to not laugh in his face about it.
The day all this came together, I thought to myself “what’s the worst he can do to me? Fire me?” To which the answer is a resounding “NO!” since he’s only temporary. Also, I would have to be a horrible player, and even the real MD would have to have a very good reason to fire me and be given permission by the cruise director before the steps can take place. In other words, I’m not going anywhere.
I’m not a bad player, no matter what he says, and in my opinion, I am a much better musician than he is. His weaknesses are so much more lacking than any of mine. So logically, if I get fired, so should he and a few others for similar reasons. To know all of this makes me go into rehearsals with a smile, and just smile and nod at all of his critiques. I know when I play a wrong note, and don’t need him to tell me. So I pretty much let his lectures go in one ear and out the other, and that really eases up the stress on me and in turn lets me play much better.
This book is all about relaxing, which is what I needed to relearn. It’s a book I think all musicians should read, or even anyone who’s trying to improve anything in their life. I have heard about the book The Inner Game of Music, but what I’ve heard by people that have read both is that “Tennis” is much better and makes more sense, even if “Music” was edited by Gallwey himself.
By the way, I probably won’t write reviews for the following books, but I think all musicians should own these as well:
by Eugen HerrigelEffortless Mastery
by Kenny WernerThe Music Lesson
By Victor WootenTao Te Ching
by Lao TzuIf you’ve noticed, I’ve recommended five books for musicians to read, and only two out of the list are actually written on the subject of music. If you don’t understand why, Wooten’s book should help you out for the answer, and will even teach you how to use the other books to your cause. The Tao book is probably the most far-fetched, but still includes a wealth of information. It would probably be best to read Herrigel’s book before, as it’s a book on Zen from a Westerner’s point of view, and explains it in a way we can understand.
About the author
Haha Ghostwriter, I made the comment on one of your other posts about “in one ear and out the other” before I saw this post – great to know you had it figured out already! This all puts a smile on my face.
Keep up the good work.
2/22/2010
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