Benjamin Zander is an English conductor. He is currently the musical director at the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.
Benjamin Zander is passionate about his music. About sharing his music with as many people as he can. About teaching music in such a way that he can get anyone to engage with it. So that the transformative effect of music can help change people for the better.
Below is a story from Benjamin’s website:
“You know, a gentleman was once watching a presentation I was doing, when I was working with a young pianist. He was the president of a corporation in Ohio. I was working with this young pianist, and said, “The trouble with you is you’re a two-buttock player. You should be a one-buttock player!” I moved his body while he was playing. And suddenly, the music took off. It took flight. The audience gasped when they heard the difference. Then I got a letter from this gentleman. He said, “I was so moved. I went back and I transformed my entire company into a one-buttock company!” –An excerpt from Zander’s TED Talk
Music moves listeners and players emotionally, but it can also do so physically. Whether playing a challenging showpiece on the violin or leading a conversation with a large group, living life on ‘one-buttock’ allows for spontaneity and freedom. This collection explains the concept of living on the edge of one’s seat and offers a few examples of musical moments that push us to our side. It also provides strategies for being open to movement and change on a broad scale.
Zander shares several stories on how playing the piano in one buttock can help us understand how to live our lives for the better.
Finding flow
In the extract above, Zander talks about working with a young pianist. How this pianist was a two buttock player. How he suggests playing on one buttock. Then when the pianist plays, their music takes off. The audience gasped at the difference.
In this scenario, a two buttock player is someone who is fixed in what they are doing. They are serious. They are strong, rigid and unmovable. This is the type of student a teacher dreams of. A serious student, who is committed. They will go away and practice diligently. They will do their homework. They will put effort into their work. They build a structure and a routine to help them progress. This way of practising becomes the way they play and perform. Structured and serious.
Peak performance, however, is experienced during flow.
In positive psychology, a flow state, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energised focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterised by complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in one’s sense of space and time.
When you are in flow (in the zone), everything around you disappears. You are fully immersed in the activity you are undertaking. Just difficult enough that it requires your full attention, without being too difficult that you lose your focus.
That is playing on one buttock. By removing some of the rigidity of playing on two buttocks, you allow yourself freedom and choice. You allow yourself to experiment. You allow yourself to be swept away with the feeling, with the emotion of the music.
You may not play music but there are areas of your life where you could play on one buttock. If you take your kids to the park, don’t be too fixed on a plan or routine. Go with the flow. Give yourself permission to play and enjoy yourself.
You may be very serious at work, a real professional. But don’t forget to enjoy yourself a little. Laugh with your work colleagues now and again. If the work allows you to, put your headphones on. I find I can get in the zone when working to some rock music. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Enjoy yourself a little.
Patience and opportunity
Zander shares an example of teaching a child the piano. His story shares the child learning a specific song at the ages of 7, 8, 9 and 10.
At seven the child plays with an impulse on every note.
At eight the child plays with an impulse on every other note.
At nine the child plays with an impulse on every four notes.
At ten the child plays with an impulse on every eight notes.
Then most children give up. They stop playing the piano.
If they had continued until eleven, something amazing would have happened.
They would then play with a single impulse on the entire phrase.
The music then takes over you and you move from sitting on two buttocks to one buttock.
This story highlights you can’t play the piano with one buttock straight away. You have to start on two buttocks like everyone else. But there will come a point where playing on two buttocks holds you back. To progress, you need to move to one buttock. To get to that point however you have to be patient. You have to work in your craft. You then have to be ready for the opportunity.
It could be anything. Starting as a writer, a musician, an athlete. It could be starting a blog, a podcast, or your own online business.
Or on this journey of self-discovery, it could be figuring out who you are today, who you want to become and the plan to get you there.
The journey of self-discovery especially, you can’t figure out in five minutes. It takes days, weeks, months and even years. You have to piece it together over time. You have to be patient. And only when you are ready will opportunities start knocking on your door.
Keep the end in mind
Zander uses a piece of music from Chopin in his TED talk to engage the audience in classical music. He describes the start (B note), the end (E note) and the journey of the story. He explains how the music starts at B and works its way down to the E but doesn’t quite hit it. The music hits a false note called a deceptive cadence. Then it works it’s way back up to B then back down towards E. Again not quite hitting the actual E note. The piece of music is the up and down roller coaster. The top of the rollercoaster starts at the top, the B. It then flies up and down, round and round, then side to side before finishing at the bottom, on the E.
Zander explains that he cannot play this piece whilst worrying about every single note. He knows the start and the end and must follow the line of the music. The feeling of the music. The music has a feeling of being away from home then finally returning home. He calls it ‘focusing on the line of the music’.
He must play the music on one buttock.
The same should be said for this journey of self-development. The start of the journey is who we are today. The destination is who we wish to become. The journey will not be a straight line. The journey will be a rollercoaster ride in between. There will be peaks and dips. Loop de loops. Twists and turns.
You cannot worry about each note of the music. You cannot worry each twist, dip or turn. You cannot worry about each missed opportunity, each failure, each problem that arises. You have to go with the flow. You have to think long term. You have to focus on the destination and make sure you are making steady progress towards it.
Follow the line of the music
Takeaways
Playing the piano on two buttocks provides routine and discipline. Playing on one buttock provides freedom and choice. To find ‘flow’, to get into the ‘zone’, you need the freedom to let go. To be fully absorbed in what you are doing. That is where peak performance lies.
When learning something new, you cannot play on one buttock straight away. Playing the piano on two buttocks provides routine and discipline. That routine and discipline is great for learning skills and becoming competent. But there will come a point when two buttocks will hold you back. You have to be patient. When the time is right and the opportunity arises, you need to let go and start playing on one buttock. But you have to wait for the right time.
Remember, whatever your goal or destination, keep focused on that. Life will not allow you to get there in a straight line. Just as a piece of music will not take a straight line between the first and last note. Don’t worry about the bumps on the way. There will be twists and turns, dips and bumps. But if you know where you are headed, the bumps are easier to bear.
Footnotes
You can find Benjamin Zander’s website with the opening paragraphs above, here:
https://www.benjaminzander.org/collections/one-buttock-playing/
You can find Benjamin Zander’s TED talk ‘The transformative power of classical music’, here:
The transformative power of classical music | Benjamin Zander
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