I woke up and turned on my radio to find that there was a wonderful talk about something I had been ruminating on for quite some time now, “Trying not to try.” I called in and managed to get in a plug for the Alexander Technique. It was sort of ironic as I was so nervous that the idea of trying not to try went out the window, but here it is for your listening pleasure:

Trying not to try

Check out my essay on this topic:

How the desire to do things keeps us from doing them (well)

Excerpt: If musicians play a piece and try very hard to “make” a beautiful sound and to “make” or “create” music, what happens? Short answer: Music. Alternatively, if we play a piece and don’t try to “create,” what happens? Is it no longer music? Is it boring? Is it no longer our interpretation if we don’t try to “make it our own?”