Tao 3–How to Achieve Wu Wei

Tao 3–How to Achieve Wu Wei
If on occasion we can achieve the experience the Tao calls “Wu Wei,” or effortless action, when the music flows out of us like water, why can we not achieve it all the time? Or how can we at least achieve it more often? A part of my brain says to me that if it can happen every now and then, I should be able to make it happen always, or at least most of the time. I should be able to find a way to will this magic thing to happen. Imagine a big dam holding back a big body of water. My Western mind looks at that body of water and tells me that I could engineer an intricate system of pumps that would let the water flow freely. It would take a lot of planning and hard work and technical know-how, but after I got through building my system, I could let the water flow at will. The Tao says open up the dam and let the water flow. You can’t will Wu Wei to happen. You can only open up and allow it. Unfortunately, we have a lot of mental and physical blocks in the way. The secret is removing the blocks. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Breathing–Breathing is a perfect illustration of the Tao. It flows in, it flows out. One of the fundamentals of T’ai Chi, the martial art/exercise based on Taoist principles, is breathing. Proper breathing is a circle, a very full circle. If I can learn to breathe when I play, my music will breathe too. But breathing is one of the first ways I block myself. As a solo approaches, my breathing quickens. Right before I start, I take in a big breath. Then I hold it as I play. At the end of my solo, I let it out. Then I wonder why my playing was so forced, so mechanical. If I can breathe in and out, very fully, very naturally, in a big circle of air, throughout my solo, my music will breathe too. One way to practice this is to play chord progressions while concentrating on breathing. Breathe in as you strum a G. Then breathe out on the C. Then back in on G. Then out on D. Then back in on G. Play the progression again; this time the breathing will be reversed. Once you feel comfortable with chords, play a tune you know very well, and practice breathing in and out to the phrases. This might be hard at first, but after a time, you will be able to do it unconsciously. This is the first step in letting the music flow out of you freely.

2. Muscle Tension–Our muscles also illustrate the Tao. They tighten and relax. They make a circle of their own. The muscles illustrate a paradox of the Tao, as well as a paradox of music. Action requires muscle, but a tense muscle restricts action. Del McCoury, who surely is a Taoist master, taught his son Ronnie to play the mandolin. His beginning advice was to keep your right wrist as limp as a dishrag. The power in Ronnie’s playing comes from that loose, loose wrist. When I first started playing, I wanted to get as much power and speed as I could get, as fast as I could. So I started playing with a very stiff wrist, using my whole forearm. Over the last few years, I have tried to turn all of that stiffness loose. I changed my pick grip from posting the pinky on the fingerboard to a loose fist. I straightened my curved wrist. I practiced keeping my wrist loose. Most recently, I switched my tremolo from a stiff wrist to a loose wrist. (I had thought that my tremolo was faster using my whole forearm. I stubbornly would not give that up, even after I had changed everything else. Then I actually listened to the two ways of playing, and realized with great surprise that the loose way was just as fast as the stiff way, and much smoother.) All of these changes are keys to opening up and letting the music flow. The right hand makes a circle as it hits the strings up and down. A circle is the key to effortless action. The right hand is just the beginning. All the muscles must be relaxed if we are to let the music flow freely. I find that I need to concentrate on my left hand and consciously relax it, not letting the fingers work harder that they need to. I especially have to relax my shoulders. I find that I block the flow of the music by raising my right shoulder just slightly. Even a subtle movement can block what my right hand does. If I let that shoulder drop, I can feel the music flow. Just as my breathing tightens right before I begin a solo, my muscles do too. And that, of course, cuts off the flow. I have to let myself relax. Loosen the right wrist. Loosen the left hand death grip on the neck. Let my shoulders drop. The power is in me. If I relax, it will come out.

3. Mental Tension–What am I so afraid of? What is it about notes coming out of a lump of wood that so terrifies me? I can sit in my chair in my music room and play these notes for hours. But put me on a stage, or even with just one other person, and the terror begins. What am I so afraid of? Or I think that I need to plan. What should I play over that change? Should I do the safe solo or try something new? Do I dare to try the Monroe chop break I’ve been working on? I think so hard that the moment passes and I’ve mangled every bit of it. The great Taoist philosopher John Lennon once said, “Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream, it is not dying.” The music is in there. Let it flow.

Don’t worry about it. It is not dying. If I make a mistake, I laugh. The music is still in there. It can flow next time.
Now all of this is not to say that there is no need to practice. That body of water didn’t build up behind the dam all by itself. I practice every day to let the music fill me. But when it comes time to play, all I have to do is open up and let it flow. If I let down all the obstacles that block it, the water will flow. Wu Wei, effortless action. Breathing in and out. Circles. Relax. And then what power will come!