William Westney's wonderful new book The Perfect Wrong Note was released shortly before October's World Piano Pedagogy Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. I had the opportunity to talk with Westney there about his thoughtful, provocative book, and enjoyed following up that conversation with him via phone after the conference. If you haven't already purchased this book for your music reference library, run out to your local music retailer and do so now!
Bill's deep belief that the study and performance of music can – and more importantly, should – be enjoyable throughout one's life, lies at the very heart of his book. Its title, "The Perfect Wrong Note" conveys so well the concepts that he explores in depth within its pages: an exploration of specific ways that he suggests to bring joy and a natural pleasure back to our study of music, to our teaching, and to our own personal musicmaking. By approaching all of these facets of the musician's world with an open mind, an unfettered spirit, and a willingness to seek solutions to problems patiently, earnestly and imaginatively, we can indeed achieve "the perfect wrong note." (This is sage advice for both amateurs and professionals.)
Bill has long been acclaimed for his unique and innovative approach to the traditional "master class." Instead of a teacher-oriented lesson, his Un-Master Class® sessions stress the importance of mutual discovery, group work, and putting the student's ideas, perceptions, and innate creativity first. His sessions have been praised as an ideal model for teachers and students, their message revelatory and transforming.
Having talked at length with Bill recently about his passionate and vibrant ideas, I would venture to say that he is motivated by an intense desire to ask important questions that will prompt us all to rethink our basic assumptions about how to teach, about how musical knowledge is communicated. A fascinating idea that we talked about was the intrinsic value of the learner's innate knowledge, a natural ability that he believes is vital to preserving musical expression.
Having a son in a terrific Montessori school here in Milwaukee, I found myself drawing parallels to the student-oriented teaching that is a hallmark of Montessori training, and what Bill was saying about how we might guide our students at lessons. It came as no surprise, then, when he mentioned that his first inspiration for music-making of this sort came directly from his very early-childhood experience with Dalcroze Eurythmics and its whole-body, intuitive approach to learning basic music skills. More precisely, to discovering that latent skill within oneself with gentle guidance and whole-body involvement. This led us to a great conversation about how Bill has students do rhythmic and musical activities away from the piano in his Un-Master Class® presentations and studio lessons, and how those kinds of activities are invaluable for all musicians, whether they are pianists, instrumentalists, or singers. In short, although there is a keyboard on the cover of his book, all musicians will find his provocative and transforming ideas beneficial for themselves, regardless of what their instrument may be!
I found Bill's comments about practicing most intriguing. His astute advice in his book for this important aspect of music study struck me as particularly "true," perhaps because my own teacher had always encouraged me to practice with the same positive attitude and sense of patience. In his book, Bill notes that somewhere along the way, many music students, both amateurs and students who become professional musicians, lose that gift of spontaneity and enjoyment in their practice and performances. He asks the simple question, "Why?" and then formulates some convincing and exciting reasons and solutions to that "why?" Practicing, in Bill's view, is a lively, honest, adventurous and spiritually rewarding activity. And it can (and should) meet with daily success, which empowers us to grow even more. Bill's compelling book brings artistic vitality, freedom and confidence within everyone's reach.
His practical and inspiring advice is especially relevant to adults who once had lessons. We talked for some time about how he often meets adults who, upon finding out that he is a pianist, immediately say, "Oh, I used to take piano lessons (or another instrument), but I quit because...," or, "...but I don't play any more." He told me he was struck by the fact that these often perfect strangers spoke with a mixture of regret and longing, and then described how thwarted by their early experience they felt.
Many of us have also experienced the same sort of conversations with friends and strangers who have learned that we are musicians. Bill talked about his thoughts following those chance revelations by strangers, and said he kept wondering what these people, who had begun their lessons with a really deep love of music-making, had lost. His liberating and practical advice to these former students in his book is most intriguing. And so, The Perfect Wrong Note is also a perfect book to give to a friend or colleague who "used to" take music lessons. It may well inspire that person to return to a rich, joyful love of music-making once more.
Finally, as teachers we are actively engaged in passing along to our own students a deep and abiding love of music, helping them to realize all that music study can contribute to a life well-lived. This book, with its wonderful insights into just how joyous and spiritual that valuable process is, how learning is a "dance" between student and teacher, how natural, spontaneous, and free practicing and performing can be, will enrich our minds and our hearts greatly. This, in turn, will help us to inspire courage and confidence in our students on a daily basis in our own studios.
Toward the end of our conversation about his book, I asked Bill, "What do you hope that your book will accomplish – what impact do you hope it will have?" He responded:
"I hope that it will open our thinking in some new ways so that on all fronts we can keep experimenting and not cling to ideas that are self-defeating. I hope that it will help recapture spontaneity and joy and vitality, even in the most rigorous forms of music – for people at any level. I hope that the discussion of my Un-Master Class® workshops will help us open our minds to how we can work together in our specialized settings in our universities and conservatories in ways that are also encouraging and inspiring and empowering. And I hope that parents with children reading this book will be choosey (about selecting a teacher), and then maybe have a few questions in mind to ask a potential teacher. That, if they agree with some of the points in the book, it might give them some questions to ask that would have a lucky effect in whom they choose and what the outcome is on their kids. I hope that it might also help those parents process their own past experiences in music-making."
William Westney holds two endowed faculty positions at Texas Tech University: Paul Whitfleld Horn Distinguished Professor and Browning Artist-in-Residence. He has been honored with many professional awards as educator and artist, including the Yale School of Music Alumni Association's prestigious Certificate of Merit. Westney's acclaimed Un-Master Class® performance workshop, which has been featured in The New York Times, is increasingly in demand in the United States and abroad. An active concert pianist, he won the Geneva International Competition and holds masters and doctorate degrees in performance from Yale University. He lives in Lubbock, Texas.
Reprinted from In Touch with permission from Hal Leonard Corporation. All rights reserved.
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For the Pianist • For the Teacher • For the Student • For the Parent
