Sprezzatura

Yet more very apt advice.
Thanks Derek, will forward on to others as ever!

This is a welcome reminder, Derek. Thank you! Of course, the work has to be work you love or you won't be able to sustain it. But this reminder helps give me permission to work as much as I want on what grabs me and holds me. Bless you.
Chris

Amen. I was impressed/inspired with this when I first saw it, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE when the mystique is broken down.

Effort. It's so taken for granted. And so few of us are willing to make the commitment that it takes to be THIS excellent.

Thanks for breaking this one down. Hopefully, it'll help a few people build something in its wake.

Nice one. I particularly like the thought of inspiring future generations to practice, practice, practice... the thing is that that process of conscious effort is therapeutic as well as educational. Can't beat that ;)

Bravo! I saw Elizabeth speak on TED months ago and it changed the way I approach my craft...really! It was amazing to be reminded of how to get out of my own way and let the creative spirit guide me. I loved learning that she actually did prepare for that because she did in fact come across so nonchalant. Thank you Derek for sharing your personal experience. One more reason to honor the commitment that goes into any craft.

"She said, 'No! I started preparing that talk the very next day! I've been working on that little 18-minute speech full-time, almost 8 hours a day, for six weeks.'"

That's what I am seeing as the reality for writers these days. I've been a writer for 30 years. Just as the Internet has changed music, it has changed writing. You need to be prepared to give away the writing and make your income at something else.

For many of the more visible bloggers online, that "something else" is giving presentations for a fee.

Giving a good presentation is an entirely different skill than being a good writer.

Fantastic insight. Thank you for sharing this, Derek!!!

I so agree. Especially since I also am a fiction writer.


Someone else said it first, but most of it is 2% inspiration and 98% perspiration.

And I'd like to say, also, Derek, that though the word "friend" gets tossed around a lot these days, what with everybody being friends online, it really does feel like having you out there is like having a friend out there. I met you, by the way, at a DIY conference in LA a few years back and I asked you if you thought I should go with my name for my "act" or with Crooked Roads. You confirmed my own preference for CR. Cheers and many thanks.

A couple of friends of mine were having this conversation just the other day. Sometimes it seems like talented people just "got it", but mostly it's the persistence!

I'm an enormous fan of Elizabeth Gilbert and have shared this video with many. Thank you so much for sharing your talk with her though. Of course, it's practice, practice, practice that gets one to Carnegie Hall and to the pinnacle of any worthwhile endeavor. How inspiring to discover that her effortlessness was the result of such concentrated and diligent work.
Thanks again, Derek - What a gift you are to so many!

Excellent! Thank you Derek.
love and peace~
LL

"The soft over comes the hard, the slow over comes the fast,let your working remain a mystery... just show people the result."

Tao Te Ching

Excellent article. One good thing about Dancing with the Stars is that it shows people how much effort and preparation is required to dance "effortlessly"

"When you take dancing lessons, you learn steps and you learn steps and you learn steps. It can go on for a long time. And then one day, you just learn to dance, and it is so different."

-Bill Austin

Derek,

By looking at your reading list you may realize this already.

Sprezzatura would sit nicely in one of the books 48 Laws of Power or 48 Laws of Seduction which are both excellent.

This and Prince also fit in with the law of 10,000 hours that Gladwell discovered. Indeed very liberating.

Wikipedia considers a negative side of Sprezzatura to be denying your nature - but I would think that means you lose sight of it as a perceptual tool. I don't really see any downside.

Peace,

Dan

Amen to all of this. I am a firm believer in putting in tons of "dirt time" prior to a performance. I also believe that most of us are capable of reaching much higher than we think we can. To me, being well-prepared is a matter of respect. Respect for the audience, respect for the art and respect for myself (not to mention the fact that people who come prepared tend to get re-hired!).

Derek does 'it'again. I'm about to be the featured artist on KISM Classic Rock in Bellingham,WA...& I'm "Kvelling". Yiddish 4 warm & fuzzy all over from this article. More later...p.s. I obviously survived the West coast bicycle ride to Hollywood.Sprezzatura!

True mastery

I have viewed this video a bunch of times, especially when feeling low.
It is an inspiration.

Thanks for posting it!
You have been on a roll the last few days Derek!!
xoxo Tina

wow! derek...i have been forwarding this speech for a couple months (great months think alike obviously!) . i really appreciate getting the background, as i had no idea and im so impressed you spent time with her. thanks for sharing that info. i am so hard on myself for struggling so long on lyrics, and yet i love the results when they finally arrive. Hearing how hard she works (and others whose work i love) makes me feel like i need to be a lot more gentle with me!

Working/practising hard! I hate it! Unfortunately, there's no shortcut to being as good as Wooten, Anthony Jackson, Richard Bona, Prince et al. These cats really practice HARD!!
I gotta put in the work I guess. Urrggh!!
Thanks Derek! ;-)

Olé! Wow, and thank-you.

Amen.

I would have never thought that Ms. Gilbert put so much effort into this speech. It is totally relaxed, she seems so comfortable and at ease and it sounds so unrehearsed. Thank you for sharing that even she has to put alot of effort into her appearances. All the best,
Arlene Faith

I reply to this blog more than I blog myself...

I wanted to add something random, today regarding Ted.com

http://www.ted.com/talks/emmanuel_jal_the_music_of_a_war_child.html

this was one of my favorite TED videos so far.

I have the feeling that people reading this blog would enjoy this
presentation as well.

//

as for preparation for being a musician...

yeah!

it's a lot of work :)

but it's a great joy to make music,
and it's better than doing a lot of other things.

be happy, and put your time in.

practice your scales.

& rock on.

Thanks for the post Derek

Mono

That's very freeing to be reminded of us not having to take on the huge responsibility of 'being' the genius.

When she talked about the poet Ruth Stone and musician Tom Waits being somewhere inconvenient for getting the idea down, I wanted to share that recently I had a song idea that came through a dream. I was near a phone early in the morning..., and was able to quickly call/ sing it into my http://voice.google.com from a phone, where it recorded the idea to my in box as an mp3 AND transcribed the words into text. This is a usage for google voice that I doubt even google anticipated.

I love listening to lectures about the arts. There is also a beautiful lecture given by Sir Ken Robinson at TED that I think everyone should listen to.

http://blog.ted.com/2009/01/sir_ken_robinso_1.php

Thanks Derek.

She's right, a major component of creative process is the concert of the traffic director of our conscious mind and the subconscious which is acting as a transceiver to the infinite.

p.s. It took me about 7 hours to write this little article. :-)

Derek,

Thanks for the post. I like this quote: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” or “I have more respect for the fellow with a single idea who gets there than for the fellow with a thousand ideas who does nothing.” - Thomas Edison. There is nothing worse than a retired person, especially CEOs that can't do more with their life than play golf and "play" with their retirement. Create something new, give your life new purpose!! Great job Derek.

An incredible work ethic will make you better but I don't believe there is something outside of ourselves that helps us create.

There's most likely a thorough but less poetic, scientific explanation.

People are inspired differently by outside sources. A person takes advantage of those situations and out comes art with varying degrees of quality.

The NOVA documentary MUSICAL MINDS (watch this if you haven't) profiled Tony Cicoria. Cicoria began to obsessively compose classical music after being struck by lightning. He was never musically inclined before the incident. The lighting most likely "awakened" the part of his brain that puts creativity in overdrive.

While I haven't read it, the book Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation by R. Keith Sawyer, just might counter the "divine, cockeyed genius" explanation.

Gilbert's speech was very well done and thanks for sharing :)

Thanks for posting this. Your comment about hard work resonated with me.

Have you read Gladwell's "Outliers"? (I didn't see it on your books page, but could have missed it). He references everyone from the Beatles to Bill Gates. I don't agree with all of his premises, but essentially he says that hard work and opportunity are as much the secrets to success as any "natural" talents. Combine this with Gilbert's take on genius and creativity. I guess it just makes me feel a bit better about, and maybe a bit more motivated to undertake, all the hard work.

Thanks again. ~Kyra

It started with the feedback of "wow, you make that look so effortless." In my head it's: if they only knew how much work I put into that.

The unfortunate thing is the difficulty in finding other musicians with the same workaholic, practice to make possible, ethic.

I truly appreciate the people that have that same work ethic in the creative fields.

I've seen this before. Did you use it a while ago?

She talks about creative anxiety. The only anxiety I have is because I have to spend 40 hours a week at work, doing something completely unrelated.
Yep! See this">sive.rs/genius">this post from last February. — Derek

Great presentation! I might add that while Gilbert rightly looks at the Renaissance as the string beginning of placing human creativity on human shoulders, the "classical" idea of genius being an extrnal gift persisted through Mozart's day, the very end of the 18th century.

The movie/play Amadeus (which means "beloved of God") is not about Mozart, but is a fictional account of an aging, demented Salieri's view of Mozart and himself: If I worked so hard, so devotedly, why was I not given those gifts instead of this repugnant cad, and I myself allowed to wallow in mediocrity? This unfortunately popularized the notion among the last few generations that Mozart was inspired but did not work hard. He actually did work hard at his craft. (For example, in those mostly copyright-protectionless days, he wrote to his father that would have to hurry and make wind arrangements of the music from his latest opera for publication before someone else did.)

It was the Romantic era beginning in the 19th century which created and popularized the Byronic hero, the sensitive but tortured creative artist, which is what we've been saddled with mostly until today, though it in now the obliquely aberrant "personality" which substitutes for in contemporary pop-culture and world-around media.

Sprezzatura? Yes--quite like riding a bicycle. But my elaborations about that will come in a subsequent essay.

Ciao.

--mg

Yes, I do that all the time, I'm a European.

Cheers,

Henry.
www.iTunes.com/henrysoul

Pianist Cary Lewis said a few years ago: "We like music that sounds more difficult than it actually is."

I couldn't agree more. Talent is a myth.

I play bass with my left hand and comp and solo with my right hand on different keyboards while I sing some really syncopated funky jazzy originals and smile effortlessly. Not showing off sir, just the facts.

Yes i stumbled upon that talk a few months back and was completely moved by it. so much so it awakened the genius in me to email someone and ask for something i never would have done before. they responded with the same inspiration.

sprezzatura.

I find it hard to believe she actually rehearsed it. she was so in the moment. her voice was so reassuring. brilliant.

something tells me thought that even with blood, sweat and tears there will always be moments that exist as a special intersection of time, spirit and grace. she may have prepared for the moment but her genius went far beyond preparation.

Workaholism, like perfectionism, is not something I admire.

The essence of creativity is not work, but play.

Hi Derek

nice speech very will said,

It is always interesting to see what gos on in other peoples heads. Do this is not the way that i think myself it is very like the way my friend thinks and will the better you understand dos around you the easer it is to help them or in my case not say something that will drive them mad... or should I say madder.

Do if you feel as if the presser is getting to you. Remember that happiness concurs all. If you are not happy yourself you are no good to anyone. Why do that of witch is expected upon you. Just stop what you are doing and ask yourself is this really what i what to do?

In any case i am asuming that you would love to speack at the TED Conference yourself(: if i win the lotto i will be there. (that with out a ticket will be some feat)

Just a few random thoughts on this wonderful post...one of the greatest compliments I can give or receive is "You make it look so easy". To me that means that you've gone that extra level beyond skill, practice, and time and have made your project look appealing and fun.

I love all the talks on Ted.com. There are so many great speakers who demonstrate what passion means.

We tend to look at the final result of one's accomplishments and ignore the joy and adventure of the "process". You have to go through the process many times to trust that "OK, right now I don't know where this is going but I've been at this point before and through the journey of daily work, I know I'll find something even I didn't know I could do."

Derek:
Thanks for sharing that exquisite speech from Elizabeth. I read her book a couple of years ago and loved it. All the better to watch her in action! How inspirational!

re: daemons, faeries, transceivers to the infinite, I'm curiously reminded of lyrics from an old gospel song by Albert E. Brumley:

"Get in touch with God,
Turn your radio on."

Hey Derek:
Thanks for sharing that. Not to mention it was a great break from thinking about the 4 hour work week, and time paradigm and other admin. type things, which I also enjoy:)
Glenn

Ok, I said I'd give it 10 min. then go on with my busy day...by 5 min. I had to know where she was going with this, back to Greece, Rome? By the end of the piece I could hardly hold back the tears of joy. You mean I don't have to be a genius, EVER, to make music? I can be fulfilled just showing up? This gives us all hope...thanks Elizabeth and Derek, Ole! btw, as to comment by Steven Cravis...iphone recorder also works for capturing those genius moments.

Many years ago I had to make a turning-point decision in my life. I am so very, very glad that I chose companionship over perfection.

help me to succeed in music and videos

How could you help me in my cd music to promote. To get more sales and, etc.

bravo

Thank you Derek!
I love what I saw, very positve.
Many thanks for sharing this video with us.

I've known people who can write songs in 15 minutes. It's nice to know that other people, like me, actually have to work at it. More often than not for a really long time. :)

The best takeaway from her talk is that waiting around for inspiration to strike is a waste of time. If you want to summon the muse, you have to be there first, working on whatever it is you're trying to create.

I wrote about something related a couple days ago: http://cinderbridge.blogspot.com/2009/08/mood-music.html

hey! Glad you were there, I saw the speech too, one of the best of that conference. Her story about Tom Waits was just great. Again here I think it's the whole 'quality not quantity' work that you do. John Zorn famously writes, scores, records and mixes many of his VERY complicated movie soundtracks in 1 day. Same ethic, working 24/7 at what you LOVE can NOT stress you out, believe me. Then it becomes something other than a 'job', and thus difficult to explain to people who have not done that. If any of us are doing all day what we love, and it is possible, we are the lucky few unfortunately...someone in China has to work 20 hours a day to make those sneakers you're wearing. Not just saying that in passing, I've been there, well, visited, didn't make the shoes! Of course the mountain is High and the Climb Long, but the enjoy the journey, I hear there's a Starbucks at the top... ,-)

Derek, Great, great!!

There's no short-cut to success and creativity acknowledged is pure hard work. Believing the contrary,the Bible tells us, is a deception not to fall in.

James 1v16-17 reveals the consistent nature of God with regards to his gifts as a God who does not change like a shifting shadow. In other words, He is a consistent and a hard working God.

"All good gifts come from God, the father of heavenly lights who does not change like a shifting shadow" (James 1v16-17.)

He's a God of divine objectivity and does not stop until the job is done. When He created the universe, it took a consistent six days of pure hard work (Genesis 1v31).

He is a perfectionist too, knowing what He wants and when He gets there. He always accomplishes His objectives with the touch of a pro.

After creating for each day, the Bible says, He evaluated his job for each day and graded/rated it "Very good". "God saw all that He had made and it was very good" (Genesis 1v31; Genesis 1v10,12,18,25).

In addition, He was able to discern when the work was done. The Bible says "By the seventh day, God had finished the work He had been doing" (Genesis 2v2). But Knowing the progress of the work was just pure hard work.

You see, it all sums up to hard work and nothing less. And this is the spirit He has put into man and commissioned man to dominate the earth (Genesis 1v28). The artists, the business guys etc. should all dominate in their respective areas.

Dominating in any areas of life is pure hard work. Hard work to be objective, hard work to be consistent, hard work to do our best, hard work to rate our best, hard work to be successful. Indeed, there's no short cut to success.

Thanks for the posting and God bless you, Derek.

Great stuff!

That was incredibly encouraging and uplifting. Genius - a gift, a touch from God. Being creative - working hard, loving your art, never giving up.
Awesome.

I remember this video. I tried looking for videos from TED to view last time Derek mentioned it, but did not ask for search engine directions, probably because I'm a man.

Today, for some reason, I was smart enough to google 'videos from TED', and ended up here:

http://www.ted.com/talks

Lotta good stuff, there.

One of the great things about your post is it has scattered seeds for all sorts of new conversations about the nature of creativity and our relationship to it. Bravo.

Thanks for sharing this, Derek. Besides the importance of practice and "showing up"/being available for inspiration, I loved how she made creative longevity about choosing a construct that takes the fear out of it - a belief system that motivates you to continue positively (or at least sanely) forward.

I'd say she's on the path to creative liberation = finding a belief system, a construct and practices that WORK for YOU.

What I liked most was

genius!

The hard part is separating yourself from the outcome of your work. We've been taught as a society, from an early age, to accomplish and reap the rewards for our individual hard work.
Maybe Jung's "collective unconscious" is the source of our geniuses.. so who gets the royalties? :p

Spezzatura is THE reason we watch performances, be they artistic or athletic. Who wants to see a ballerina struggle to stay en point? The seeming effortlessness IS the magic that keeps us watching.

In sports, Michael Jordan was the first to arrive at practice and the last to leave. He was so competitive about weight lifting that they had to have him lift weights separately from other team members because they were afraid he would hurt himself. (He wasn't the strongest guy on the team.) Watching him on the court, you'd think he just worked his wonders naturally.

Great blog Derek, and Thank you for sharing Elizabeth Gilbert's words.

The scoop with me is that I suffer from Multiple Identity Disorder (D.I.D) and I'm unable to take 8 hours out of any day in my life and rehearse anything, my alters come out and do their own work along side with mine and I find the combined work done in my recordings. It's quite interesting, yet I do find errors, Which I keep some of them in the mastered recordings of my songs. Some may think this is nutty, but I like what some of my alters create.

Peace
Mark

Elizabeth Gilbert made a wonderful presentation of the daemons and struggles of artists and writers. she sweated and struggled with her own after weeks of probation. she assembled the contents of her speech and made it "look easy."
somebody once said (not exactly certain of the source) that genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.
however, if you don't have your 10 percent of breathing in from Ole, God or being at one with the Universe, then the other 90 percent will not get you too far.
a writer and an artist made two great statements.
Andre Gide, "the most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes."
Wanda Landowska, "I never practice;
I always play."
I say it is a true wonder when words or music sound as if they have been magically improvised rather than laboriously crafted.
tell your dreams with some soul.

Thank you for sharing this! I think it will help me to stop feeling guilty for practicing. Here is a new video I recently recorded called The Money Coffin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFACfMx0dSs

My happy suspicion has been confirmed in the most eloquent way I've ever heard!

By the way, how do you pronounce sprezzatura?
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Sprezzatura — Derek

This seemingly small insight changed my career path from 'not happening' to 'very satisfying' when I realized that I just had to persist with good old-fashioned hard work. Before this realization I always thought that deep in my DNA I had been cheated and I kept making excuses for my non-achievements, like I haven't got the right connections, was born in the wrong country at the wrong time, etc. Now I know, and have it confirmed in your post, it's up to me and how much I want this. this is so liberating.

You'd better believe she sat in the chair for three hours with her hairstylist to get that casually disheveled 'overworked housewife' look of wind-tossed, sloppily tied-up blond locks!

Creativity that seems nonchalance
( and might actually be ) might
also be the result of years of
hard work and discipline.

There may well be other unseen external factors that motivate
truly 'great' work from the mediocre , but you can't just
will this into being for yourself.

It has to come from the personal experience of the individual composing, writing, painting, etc.

I think we have to be aware of our state-of-mind when we practice. Remember that "practice makes permanent" and if we don't feel the joy of music when we practice, this eventually comes out in our performances. We must never allow our instrument and the mastery thereof, to be more important than our musical message.

In my opinion, those who listen to music because of technique alone, are very few in number. We have to love our practice because we have to "let-go" of it when we perform. If we demand or even expect a pay-off from all the sweat and tears we put into practice, we risk becoming bitter when the audience fails to use our acquired technical prowess as a criteria for their enjoyment or our work. Our practice must be a self-rewarding means unto itself. Balance is the key.

-Jeff

SO GLAD... you've highlighted this... (I haven't even watched the video yet but I will). However I've had this discussion a number of times with bands I've managed or artists I've produced. When I ask them why they rehearse their songs but don't rehearse their show? They often respond by saying things like “we don't want it to appear contrived”, “we want our stage show to be spontaneous and heave natural energy". To which I've always answered; “it's only when you rehearse your show and know what to expect from start to finnish that you'll be comfortable enough on stage to be spontaneous or at least fool the audience into believing you are”.


Or they might say 'We do, we finish our rehearsals by running through the set list from start to end”.
And I ask them what about the other stuff, In between the songs?... for instance. Does everyone in the band know where there will be spot for banter or interaction with the audience and which songs will be played back to back without a gap or as little gap as possible? Does everyone in the band know where a guitarist will have to switch guitars or retune for alternate tuning? Do you have signals you use or acoustic versions of songs you can do in case of equipment failure?

Even if you don't have an Alice Cooper or Kiss style theatrical show, all these things are extremely important if you want to be comfortable on stage and be able to improvise or be spontaneous without looking like it's coming apart at the seems and the more you rehearse it the more effortless and natural it will appear.

Sadly very few of the bands or artists took my advice seriously and I say some potential great bands/artists make a hash of it on stage.

Ultimately it's often the reason a hard working avaerage talent will have much more success than the super-talent gifted BUT LAZY artist. Then it's usually the lazy artists who do the bitching about how bad some of the "Pop Stars" or succesful artists are.

Thanks for sharing your story and insight to the creative process. I think we all have the spark but then we must draw near to the bonfire of our deepest sub-concious and try and draw forth somthing of value. It's sweaty hard work!

To think it would have only taken an extra 5 seconds (in addition to 7 hours) to have included "sprezzatura pronounced sprāt-tsä-ˈtü-rä"
just kidding...
Absolutely love your article and the video.

Prince is a good musical example. Guys from The Time said they never rehearsed as hard as that but when it was all over they could play it backwards and forwards in their sleep. It was like they had been in the Marines.

Another musical example is Ronnie Van Zant of the original Lynyrd SKynyrd. They rehearsed from 8:00 A.M. until well past sundown in a tiny cabin nicknamed Hell House. No insulation or air conditioning. Band memebers would get punched out for playing wrong notes on stage. Despite their grueling tour schedule they continued to write a song a day. The real reason the moder-day tribute band lacks the fire of the original is not just the lack of original members like Van Zant and Allen Collins, it's the lack of a strong disciplinarian leader. Bassist Leon WIlkeson remarked, "Ronnie ran Skynyrd like Stalin ran Russia." Somebody else remarked that was unfair to Stalin.

And then there's James Brown who set the precedent for Prince and Van Zant. Fines for not having your shoes shined! A lot of guys who have played with me have complained about me being too strict but they have never done anything as tight, or blown the audience's mind so hard, as when they were with me. The results speak for themselves.

The 10,000 Hour Rule that Malcom Gladwell spoke of is it. There are no shortcuts. You get out of it what you put into it and when you've practiced something extensively it becomes second nature. It looks as effortless as breathing to your audience.

I studied Italian for two years as part of my five years living in Italy. I only came across this word once in that time. It is not in common use.

thanks for offering all the info, but I'm getting more than I want in general and ,so, I ask you to please unsubscribe my email address.
thanks and best to you, Sara P. Smith.

The Lord has used my hands and being to write books, i had already copyrighted the first, when then 2nd was only for my use and the Lord used my hands to tear off the copyright page from it "WE LAY DOWN OUR CROWN; Sealed by the Spirit of God, there are 3 other occurrances I call miracles. I was frightened when He used my hands to type Sealed by the Spirit of God and did not want to touch the book again, it took a year and the Lord put it in my heart to publish it. You can read miracles of that book in my website. I believe the Lord taught me that we are possessed by the things we possess ie the work of our hands is only one way of possession. This is a "self" oriented world and we must become selfless to please the Lord. We must not claim the work of our hands to ourselves if we want the Lord to possess us. In the book of revelations the Lord says "The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; Rev 9:20

Are books made of wood (paper)? I originally thought this referred to statues, but now i know it is of everything made, ie statues religious and non religious the Lord desires Praise to himself, we are nothing! May the Lord fill you with His perfect love that bears all things, casts out fear and conquers all of our enemies. May you be blessed! Lord Help us to obey you and please you! You alone deserve all the glory, honor, and power In Jesus Name. I say this not to judge you but rather to share what the Lord has taught me.

I'd like to comment but I'm too busy practicing!!

Thanks Derek,

That was awesome, like so many of the links/writings you share.

Excellent observation!

This situation is one of the things that makes me love music, dance, and similar things so much. Making it look easy, non-rehearsed, etc...

Okay, I know that I probably need a new adjective, but soooo AWESOME that you posted this. I listened to this speech a few weeks ago and it moved some pieces of my brain around. She's brilliant. And it's good to know she takes her time getting there.

:D

Okay, Derek...you got me! Enough to reply, that is. THIS was mega beautiful...your introduction of sprezzatura and so luscious a talk...how the world can change...in 18 minutes! How special to transcend the anguish of "not being there." How exciting to just get out there and do what you do.

I'm a guitar poet, living in Austin Tx. Thanks for forwarding to me this delectable video! I am truly inspired and treasure it. It also happens to be timely for me,as I'm scheduled to take part in the Granada Film Festival, in Spain, scheduled for late Oct. I've been wanting to live in Spain since my early teens (I'm currently 47)and now this opportunity to go all expenses paid falls from the sky! As an African American, I always wondered why I had such an affinity for the Spanish language(at an early age, I could read Spanish out of a book with perfect pronunciation and accent without understanding the words) and why I specifically longed for the "landmass" of Spain. As soon as my Oct trip was confirmed, I google/mapped searched Granada and was surprised to find that it's considered the birthplace of Flamenco (Sacromonte) and that it's Southern Spain location is a literal skip jump from Northern Africa! Theoretically, at least, there's my direct Ancestral connection. So of course, to me personally, at this particular time, to hear Elizabeth comment on the Ancient Northern African desert "Alla" chanting traditions and the subsequent Moorish, southern Spain "ole" chanting definitely strikes a chord with me! So much so, that I will continue to believe in this beautiful delusion and I imagine relocating to Spain, could I actually be returning home?!

Totally amazing speech from such a genuine person. Wow!!, this was so motivational, touching base with a few home truths, and some great messages in between. Thanks for sharing with us, I really needed to listen to this as there was many great pointers and direction about creativity.

This is simply amazing.

The only thing that keeps me sane throughout my writing is believing that my Creativity is an extension of God through me. He was the first being to create, and I can learn a lot from Him.

I was very worried after I released my debut album about writing more songs. I was unsure if I had enough in me to write another album. After I wrote Hope, I no longer worried about where the next one will come from.

With that untainted gift to create comes the hard work. I love this post!

Thank you Derek.

What to say?! This made me cry. You provided a beautiful setup to the video with your insight into how she crafted the speech, and your tie into what makes musicians able to tap into the divine: practice.

Of course, you too are making art. It's often lonely and hard to be a musician. We need your words sometimes to get through. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

This is such an important article. I don't think musicians realize how much work goes into being s
successful. But the work is best done when done in bits and pieces.

I wrote an article about this on my music marketing blog a few weeks back. There are little things that make a huge difference and when done in increments can make your life easier: http://grassrootsy.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/social-networking-in-1-minute/

-Joy
p.s. always carry a notebook around and take notes

Thank you Derek for posting her wonderful speech! Listening to her thoughts on creativity in the Greek tradition reminds me of some of the thougts of Peter Kingsley about the spiritual roots of our Western Civilization. Here is a link to that interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow-_G26lpOk&feature=channel
Best Regards, Thomas

Maybe the 90% of the possible "quality" can be achieved with hard work and self-discipline; greetings form Ivan Lendl ... The remaining 10% are talent. (A non-talent has always the advantage that an only-talent normally tends to be lazy.) Real master-pieces emerge from a combination of both: talent and hard work.

It's quite rare.

And the rest's for us :-)

Note: always be cautious that "sprezzatura" doesn't become "spazzatura" :-)

Hi Derek,

a personal note ... Congratulations for the people you reach with your blog. It's also fruitful to read most of the comments. - That's not self-evident!

Best

Patrick

Thanks Derek for bringing to light, the most important subject...Eliabeth unravels so well..It is the process of self awakening, self awareness, as much as it is hard work and practice...the hard work is waking up, to all that we already knew, and forgot after we reached the age of two..the Daemon..the god within...the Fairies of the `universe, the Thunder poem that chases us...the genius outside of us...would like us to know that it is really the Source that is within us all that we have all pretended out of existance...and it's now time to "Awaken" that connection again...it is the source within every living thing..it is within..and everyone is indeed the center of the universe..we are not egotistical to reclaim our own godhood- and the lost art of becoming the Creators of our own reality.."Channeling" as it is often called today - is the same as that known to the Greek oracles or Joan Of Arc..as it is with the electric guitar on stage in the 1960's, as it is also to speak directly with the non-physical genius...for example you can talk with "God" right here right now if you want too:

www.abraham-hicks.com

or is it that we will be accused of being crazy for knowing this? having our head in the clouds as a a whacked out artist

or right here: an excellent description of the Golden age of consciousness that is coming - that Elizabeth Gilbert in her speech, so beautifully hits the "nerve" of in us all..
we all remember this on some level- it is this that is coveyed in her speech at least it is for me. thanks!

I forgot to add the second link...

http://johnsmallman.wordpress.com/

thank you

Hi, Derek. Thanks for this (I came to it from Twitter). Are you sure that "sprezzatura" is the right word? I am not a linguist, but in Italian this word has a negative meaning ... and I think this is not the case here.

Hi, Derek. Thanks for this (I came to it from Twitter). Are you sure that "sprezzatura" is the right word? I am not a linguist, but in Italian this word has a negative meaning ... and I think this is not the case here.

This is something every comedian has to master, because every performance has to seem fresh, as though you just thought of what you're saying. I've been working on one particular routine now for over a year.

Hi Derek, I woke this morning thinking about that very speech by E Gilbert.Cool that her words continue to fly through our minds
I'm thrilled at her humanness regarding the time she put out preparing her 18 minutes. Though prior to learning this information I was also thrilled when it seemed she just flawlessly got up and spoke. It certainly was a well crafted piece- ideas worth sharing!

...the term "Spezzatura" also connects to the idea of "effortless mastery", as described by pianist/ composer/ educator Kenny Werner
http://kennywernerlive.com/

The trick with learning to be perfectly affected is to not lose oneself in the affectation. Most artists that I have met may succeed in the short term by obsessing, but lose over the long haul. My own take on this? It is much better to miss a note or two onstage than to miss important events in the lives of those I care about.

Matt Good put me onto this a while back. Just watched it again and it's a very comforting idea. It makes me feel 100 times better about spending 2 days recording a song that seemed to come to me from 'nowhere' and knowing that other souls go through the same process.

Thank you Derek! I have to share this with my music students where I'm a part of the faculty of the music department at North Carolina Central University. Music major hopefuls are very interesting when they first come in the door to audition. Countless potential Music Industry majors are shocked to know our a degree in that particular major have to study music, and equally miffed when they learn they have to practice piano, theory, etc. They mention Prince as one of their icons. Your sharing this is priceless!

Derek, I had just finished looking at my CD baby accounts for BIM, , amazed at the amount of CD's downloads etc your company has generated, and knowing all the proceeds go to charity, and thinking - wow - it was so lucky I did all that. Then this pieve of inspiration, which I will forward to all my struggling musio friends. You Derek, were the little bit of 'Ole' that came my way 4 years ago and spurred me on to do the CD's. Thank you for being part of that spirit, and for your continueing inspiration.

before anyone else gets in - I am sorry for my dreadful spelling - I wrote it all in a rush of "ole"!Paul TJ O'Neill (not veri gud at spellinks)

Wow! After listening again to Elizabeth Gilbert, I am grateful to her for opening a door of renewed commitment to the wisdom of putting your head down and working feverishly, day in and day out. I have never been a fan of the tortured or staving artist myths. And she does speak so effortlessly, the info you shared with us about her laboring for 6 weeks, 8 hours a day is such a profound lesson for us all. Thanks again, Derek.

Derek,

I've always followed this credo:

"There may be those more talented than I, but none that will work harder to achieve my goal."

Behind every successful person is an unsung legacy of hard work, dedication and persistence.

-Cowboy Surfer

http://networkingmusician.podbean.com/2009/08/18/stu-shulman-interview-vol-7/

This is one of those deals where all that practice and all that learning to constantly improve isn't really work. Both because you love doing it AND because, if you want to be proud of your work (no regrets), you know you have to put out your best work possible.

I would GLADLY take 18 hours in a studio or 9-12 hour rehearsals six days a day than even 4 hours at the job I have now.

Derek,

I loved that speech and that woman, Wow, what a powerhouse.

The work that goes into even a 1:30 trailer for a film is intense, re-writes, mods, throw-aways, It's all there ! and the ultimate is " We found another composer " after three weeks of grind.

But it all serves as knowledge and grist for the mill.

We must learn to manage frustration and rejection as part of the process and come up with exciting work.

And I really agreed with the woe is me Ray Carver, Sylvia Plath references, Why so many who follow that path ?

It should be a joy !

Thank you very much for forwarding this, Derek. (Making peace with one's art can be just as elusive as the art itself, and all help is greatly appreciated!)

HELL YES SIVERS!
love this

Hi Derek,
As a working musician and a music teacher, I tell myself and my students your message all the time. You are so right! There's also another reason to do all that hard work. There's a quote from Mickey Hart's "Drumming at the Edge of Magic" that sums it up. "You practice for years so that you reach a point of technical proficiency where the instrument becomes a part of your body. You no longer have to think about fingering or counting beats, so your mind is free for higher matters..." The "higher matters" he is speaking of is the emotion behind the music. Like an actor who can't play a role properly if he/she's worrying about remembering lines, you can only completely throw yourself into the meaning behind the music if you don't have to think about the technical details.

And it's all about the meaning!

Thanks for your posts. You rock.

-Julie

Good to know my genius is still hiding in the wall somewhere, 'cause he certainly ain't up here in my mind today!

wow. This is totally amazing.

touching speech, and thanks for publishing the amount of work that went into it.

That is a huge commitment to excellence.

Hi Derek,

Nothing good comes easy, not even sprezzatura.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful piece. I'm sure it's going to ginger many like me.

You rock man!

Benedict

yes she's an amazing person like you ...practice ..again and again it's good ..could you explain the way most of my recording was 98 % one take when i'm in the studio..every time i played or sing ..the studio clock never stop me giving the message..it's good thing to share like she does ,like you do...

Thanks Derek! As a Christian artist/musician, I fully embrace this idea, for me it is just a little more clearly defined. I simply view anything that is a blessing to others (my music, concerts, CD's, or other productions) as a gift from God - a gift to be shared, to enjoy immensely as I work to develop the gift, and remember that it's not me, it's Him working through me. I know of no greater joy than seeing lives changed, putting smiles on peoples faces, maybe even seeing them cry because they have reconnected with something deep inside that is very precious to them, through listening to the music that God has placed in my heart! Thank you, God, for allowing me this privilege!

Keep up the good work, Derek! I feel like you're my personal assistant, gleaning treasures from a plethora of sources and sharing them here in concise form! Thanks for what you do! (Although I do miss your influence at CDBaby!) All the best to you!

Wow, I am speechless over this observation Derek! She so eloquently gives words and tangibility to the muse that creativity brings to our world. To be able to put this concept into words, priceless. Thank you for sharing this gift with all of us!

What? God? What a relief!!! Elizabeth put into very articulate words what EVERYONE needs to make it through their life's work. Brilliantly composed and presented.

We named our first album Sprezzatura because of our love of the concept. Love to all!

www.cdbaby.com/rondosterling2

I often hear "you're so talented" and I reply' I call it practice'...my practice has always been play..later in life it has become more serious.

rada

Awesome. Olé! I just happen to be a flamenco guitarist, even more inspiring!

that word was used in XVI century italian ;)...

Thanks a lot for sharing that Derek. I appreciated her thoughts on the creative process.

No way, Derek. Ferget "Sprezzatura' - You are a naturally kind, big-hearted genius. And as Clarance Day might say in "LIFE WITH FATHER"- let's have no more nonsense about that! Ric

As Malcolm Gladwell said in his book "Outliers", even Mozart, considered a musical prodigy, didn't actually write anything really GOOD by himself until he was almost 20. It's his theory of 10,000 of work = mastery.

Very True Derek. I've can hardly have a conversation with people these days without mentioning "The Outliers" and the principal of 10,000 hours.

The Ted conference was yet another amazing discovery from this ongoing missive. The idea behind it is fantastic and yet I can't help but be bothered by its top down methodology. That is as far as I can see, only people who are known get invited to speak. If a person that is an unknown entity has something of great worth to present as a speaker then it is doubtful that they get an opportunity to speak there, at this very wonderful event.

As far as the subject of toil making the genius event, that is pure wisdom. Bach was known to have said "People have no idea how hard I work." Mozart also said similar things and he was supposed to be the poster child for genius that effortlessly penned masterpieces. Go look at his C minor piano concerto, he reworked it many many times much in the way of Beethoven. The master who wrote what I think is the most powerful piece of music ever, Mahler and his 9th symphony was also about thousands of hours of work. Unless a person commits to tremendous work they will never know what they might have achieved and the outer ring.

It is also helpful to be able to talk on occasion to such hard workers as they tend to reflect what you tell them in ways that produce great insight.

But I actually AM a natural musical genius. I still had to get a day gig. :)

Seriously, thanks for sharing this. EG succinctly articulated what so many creatives feel, and offered new insights in such an elegantly relevant way perhaps this SPEECH will go down as her most important work, not her books. :0

Bravissimo!!

This is about stepping outside of yourself and becoming more.
I've always viewed the sub-conscious as a hotel, peopled by unexpected guests, when none are visible you have to find them, they are always there, others you allow to wander in at their own timing.

She is wonderful and an inspiration to those who think great things come easily, when they come after great research and preparation! I am fortunate to work with a band with that work ethic. They rehearse two nights a week, every week, work full time day jobs, support their families and gig on the weekends, and they have been doing this since 1993! I hear bands say they don't need to rehearse, and guess what, they sound like they don't rehearse. Great lesson today, Derek!! Keep the great articles coming. It is like going to school! Love you always!

Granted I always thought that on certain days/night I'd put in 8-10 hours of songwriting when I could (since I hold down a day job not related to my art)thinking that was enough work to take a break for a few days, was I mistaken. Her speech really drives home the hard work that is required to become a true success plus the method by which you hone those inspiring moments when the genius visits you, yes, this really does happen and I'm glad I'm not the only one that has these visitations. Thanks Derek great video speech.

Hey Derek,

Thanks for sharing this, it was a wonderful, inspiring riff on the creative impulse and its mystery that we all, as creative people, wrestle with. In Greece, they were also called Muses, and there were nine of them if you recall from school (as well as Daemon).

What Elizabeth also didn't mention (and didn't need to for the TED audience) is the ancient tradition that we postmoderns call "channeling" but has gone by many names.

I've been studying developmental psychology and how channeling fits in (I believe it to be a multiple intelligence per Howard Gardner), and actually have a paper being published in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice. So there's a lot of information on my website about it if you're interested.

I am also a musician (have my Mindscapes CD on CDBaby and iTunes, so thanks for making that possible), and totally related Elizabeth's take on the creative process itself. I think of it as "capturing my muse" when she "speaks," and as such try to be prepared for her to show up (BTW, those car and other "inappropriate" appearances are often a purposeful wake up call to pay fucking attention! I AM HERE with you, ALWAYS).

There ARE ways to develop and solicit a relationship with our personal muse that may benefit all creative types. Channeling is only one name for it.

So just a thanks and keep up your great work.

All the best,

Paul

I'm remindad of the four stages of mastering something-always in this order:

1) Unconscious incompetence

2) Conscious incompetence

3) Conscious competence

4) Unconscious competence

with love and gratitude,
Joel Laviolette

Hello, Derek

It's wonderful that you offer this lovely video to share with your friends. We all are creative people in many different area and in many different way. And we "work hard" in different style, too. To creat a piece of art. It requires us a great deal both mechanically(technically) and emotionally. Ms.Gilbert created an 18 minutes "Speech solo Work" of her own with full of emotional charge and intellectual balancing in front of the audience. I think that her 6 weeks hard work was paid off handsomely. Thanks for sharing all of these.I enjoy them very much! Best regards! GongQian Yang

Just fantastic - thanks for pointing me to this Derek and for giving us the inside story on the work involved.

My take on it is this... My experience of the music that I "hear" or receive is so similar to hearing from writers about their characters writing themselves. I find the best songs are the ones that I really didn't have to work much at all to write - they just simply showed up in my head. I do want you to know that they didn't come uninvited. I ask them to come and even ask for the form. Sometimes they show up right away and sometimes they take years. The practicing with my band, KIVA, and the work at improving our skills is what makes for a good vessel for the divine. The more skilled you are the better you can express what is coming through. Unlike another blogger here I don't think that we are "nothing". Us human personalities are the filter through which a particular form of "information" comes through. Some are writers and some are musicians and some are dancers and each of us is unique in how we interpret that divine spark that comes through. The story about the poet was one that I can relate to... that's why I keep a tape recorder with me most of the time. What is most important to me is to make my mind available for the inspiration. As Elizabeth said - I show up for my part of the job and inspiration will follow if I am open and not running a lot of fear (interFEARance) thoughts. As another blogger said self-awareness is key and this kind of work (creative pursuits) requires self-development in order for a person to succeed at it and not be destroyed by it.
Blessings to all here! Ariana

Wow great stuff...

Thanks Derek for passing on that beautiful speech! i wrote a song about 11 yrs. ago called 'Offerings' and it embodies a lot of what Elizabeth is talking about here. I always announce the song by saying that after much struggle trying to write or finish a piece, I am often reminded that songs are simply gifts that we are given...from some place....and I believe it's part of my job to give those gifts back to you (the listener/audience). Full circle.
Showing up is everything. Amen.

Go with the flow... Be yourself and practice what you do best... Be grateful for your talent what ever it is... it will inspire those around you!

This message has inspired me. Thanks.
Robert

Permit me to say this is the best ,most articulate, most interwoven, most magnetic and inspirational piece of speach I have ever heared.
Thank God for you, thank God for Elizabeth.

again.. a great bit here... like Edison and the light bulb. many, many tries before his success...

Ole. Awesome. Thanks so, so much for sharing... I gotta get to this conference...

Great video to share. Being a musician, I've heard echoes of this philosophy from other famous musicians that I thought worth sharing, if just for analogy. My apologies if I'm not quoting them verbatim.
Keith Richards: "It's like being a radio and switching on antennae."
Bono: "We knew that those albums were under par for us, but I'd rather keep doing it than take long breaks."
Johnny Cash: "I always did the best that I could with what I had at the time."

Wow - that's fantastic! Her speech was truly inspiring, and I've been looking for an example of how much more satisfying the results of hard work can be rather than just winging it.
Thanks for sharing this!

I absolutely loved that speech. Process is everything to me and as a composer, designer and wide angle creative, I've found the load very heavy to bear when I egotistically thought I actually was totally responsible for my work. Magic happens with the invitation of the muse and trust in the "genius" to come through us. Bravo for yet another great post Derek and whoa, I guess I should read her book. My wife loved it.

cheers,
Andrew

Agreed. We need God. We are not in control of God.

I was surprised to hear Elizabeth explain God. I forget how secular our society is sometimes. Like, "Y'all know God, right? He was at the Christmas party last year."

I have faith that the next inspiration will be there when I need it, and I double my chances by actively looking for it. It's a sure thing, basically. That's how God works: Results every time, eternally. The well is infinite. There will always be another song.

I haven't really had any problems with God. I ran away from my parent's God and, when I was looking back, slammed into my own. It's kind of the same God, I think. I don't know. I think when God is talking to us, it's kind of like one of us talking to our dog. "Let's see, it says connect the red connector to the right speaker wire. What do you think about that, Rover?" Woof.

I'm rambling. Very inspiring video. I like her a lot. She's asking very good questions. And we are agreed about the need for God. Pick one or make one up. they're all the same God. I think. Woof.

Great word, Sprezzatura...
Great concept.

But don't misunderstand, i'm really are a natural genius!
(uhuh)

Thank you for a very inspirational video. Nice to have someone so succinctly explain what has obviously been a mystery for centuries.
I've always thought that inspiration was something you have to be there to catch!
Thank you Derek for your amazing service.
Most appreciated.

I couldn't agree more with much of what Ms. Gilbert has to say. My very first work of visual art, in fact, was a satellite dish hat - all about channeling the ambient creativity that's hovering around looking for a willing receptacle upon which to alight. However, this thing about fear I really don't understand - she's only 40 - why spend even single moment worrying that your best work might be behind you? Why does it matter? If we really are just channels for the muse, then "showing up" IS the reward. And the more we hone our craft, perhaps the easier it will be for our "geniuses" to use us. I think in our culture people get way too caught up in some sort of external measure of "success" - sure, sometimes we may get frustrated that we're not smarter or that we can't absorb something quicker...but it seems to me that the best art comes bubbling up not out of a desire to make something marketable, but out of the pure joy of finding yourself in the moment when the muse arrives, and you just happen to have a pen in your hand.

"Every brain is like a satellite dish, each one attuned to a unique frequency emitted by the Cosmic Infinity, where All that Is to Be Created, All that Can Be Created EXISTS, woven into the energy particles of the universe, ready to be absorbed, translated, assimilated, manifested,by bodies that hear that feel the Harmony of the Spheres. Be tuned in. Reality is your oyster."

It was nice hearing Ms. Gilbert say continue your dance regardless. Also, the question that people ask just to keep you from being creative. Even though the second book could be greater or may not be she was going to work on her job. I like the encouragment she gave me. The songerwriter she spoke about made me think of me. About three weeks ago I refuse to get up for a song that I was singing in a dream. Days prior to that I was singing another song, but I had to get up. I've missed several songs, because I would not get up.

Thank you for sharing this vedeo.

Paula

She nailed it - wonderful talk, and she is a delight. Along these lines I recommend Kenny Werner's book "Effortless Mastery," which elaborates exactly this theme in very useful ways. It's been incredibly helpful to me.

bonjour derek,je tenais a t'envoyer cet article que tu ma inspiré http://www.livre-positif.fr/la-sprezzatura-l%e2%80%99art-du-courtisan/.
a bientot

I saw this article about a year ago and thought it was great. I bookmarked it and I read it whenever I slack off. Actually I'm preparing for my school's speech contest and this is what keeps me going. Thanks a lot

Thinking of Zu's comment above,
When I won a Toastmasters International speech contest I heard an expert speaker tell his wife, "Sean practised more." I didn't know it showed.

My steady practise of nonfiction writing during the week has been noticed at my Friday Free Fall group. Again, it showed. (Yes, you can practise nonfiction)

One of the ways, among other ways, that I keep my practise from being a drudgery is I am lifted by thinking of my eventual audience. I like the people, and I want to gift them with what I can.... You might say, if I like people then my muse will like me.

I have long appreciated this word since discovering it a few years ago. I like the analogy of watching a duck swimming past you on a pond. At the surface, the motion appears effortless as the duck glides across the water, but one the duck passes you see the wake behind it. If you were to look beneath the surface, you would see the duck paddling at a furious pace. That’s sprezzatura!
☺ — Derek

Hi Derek,

Great article… you practice, you work hard, and go the extra mile… it makes you do your job better and better… and afterwards, you can go and have some well deserved rest… to enjoy the fruit of your labor… first in your mind… then your body… then because of the people who appreciate the work you’ve done, the energy you shared with them… practice, perform, give/share, be grateful, take a rest and enjoy… and then… start practicing again…

Thanks for sharing.