Free Play

Table of Contents

 


Title Page

Copyright Page

Epigraph

Acknowledgements

Introduction

 


The Sources

Inspiration and Time s Flow

The Vehicle

The Stream

The Muse

Mind at Play

Disappearing

 


The Work

Sex and Violins

Practice

The Power of Limits

The Power of Mistakes

Playing Together

Form Unfolding

 


Obstacles and Openings

Childhood s End

Vicious Circles

The Judging Spectre

Surrender

Patience

Ripening

 


The Fruits

Eros and Creation

Quality

Art for Life s Sake

Heartbreakthrough

 


Notes

Bibliography

Illustrations

About the Author

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The author thanks the following for their permission to reprint from copyrighted works.

 


Constance Crown, for Hands by Rico Lebrun.
Walter Gruen, for Musica Solar by Remedios Varo.
Ben Berzinsky, for his photograph of a Carlo Bergonzi violin, c. 1770.
Grateful thanks to the late Arnold Fawcus of the Trianon Press, Paris, for permission to
photograph his magnificent William Blake books.
Artist Rights Society, Inc., for Two Children Drawing and Dawn Song by Pablo Picasso. © ARS
N.Y./SPADEM.
Charles E.

Free PlayPrologue: A New Flute
Introduction


The Sources
Inspiration and Time's Flow
The Vehicle
The Stream
The Muse
Mind at Play
Disappearing


The Work
Sex and ViolinsPractice
The Power of Limits
The Power of Mistakes
Playing Together
Form Unfolding


Obstacles and Openings
Childhood's End
Vicious Circles
The Judging Spectre
Surrender
Patience
Ripening


The Fruits
Eros and Creation
Quality
Art for Life's Sake
Heartbreakthrough


Notes
Bibliography
Illustrations

Stephen Nachmanovitch performs and teaches internationally as an improvisational violinist, and at the intersections of performing and multimedia arts, philosophy, and ecology. In the 1970s he was a pioneer in free improvisation on violin, viola, and electric violin. He has presented lectures, masterclasses and workshops at many universities, and has had numerous appearances on radio, television and festivals. He is the author of two books on the creative process: Free Play and The Art of Is. He lives with his family in Virginia.

Nachmanovitch tells it like it is in the most important book on improvisation I ve yet seen.  
Keith Jarrett, pianist

A classic . . . altogether vitalizing. The remedy for creative block and existential stuckness.
Maria Popova
 
This is an unusually intense, packed, thought-through book on the most difficult subject in the world: mystic creativity. If you want to be intellectually informed about how people actually create things, then you should read it at least once.  
Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

When I first heard Stephen Nachmanovitch in San Francisco and when he later visited my school in England, I was captivated by his being, as were all others. Now having read Free Play, I understand his approach more deeply. Would that Free Play found its way into every school, office, hospital, and factory. It is a most exciting book and a most important one.  
Yehudi Menuhin, violinist

I am grateful to Stephen Nachmanovitch for sharing his wisdom in these pages. I expect I hope to be rereading his book and practicing with it for the rest of my life.
Ruth Ozeki, author of The Book of Form and Emptiness
 
Stephen Nachmanovitch has produced a celebration of human uniqueness. In so doing, he helps us to make better use of our resources of playfulness, ingenuity, and creativity in general. What it amounts to is a guide for getting the most out of whatever is possible.  
Norman Cousins, author of The Anatomy of an Illness

I absolutely love this book. What a blissful, friendly, fiercely intelligent thing; it expresses truths that I am groping towards in a way that is emboldening and clarifying. I don't think I have ever felt so happy to shout about or recommend a book and I know I will read it again and again.
Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of Write It All Down
 
The mother of all improvisation books.