The difference between mastery and arts
I stumbled upon this little story, retold by Sean Kelly, of a young Herbie Hancock playing with Jazz legend Miles Davis. Herbie, who was young at that time, was playing a “wrong” chord. It didn’t fit and was about to destroy the entire set. But, instead of ruining the song, Miles Davis took the chord and “made it right”.
Sean Kelly uses this story to explain a larger point in this video. He tries to explain how Nietzsche answered the existential question: `Why are we here?`
By doing so, he also gives a good example of the difference between a master of a field and an artist.
What is mastery? People who achieve mastery usually have worked for years and decades in a field. They have seen every situation, gained a lot of experience and are therefore able to know the right answer to every situation the world throws at them. Nothing can shock them. They are literally the master of their domain (think of Mister Miyagi of the Karate Kid, a Nobel laureate, a chess champion).
So what is an artist? Sean Kelly tries to explain it with the jazz metaphor. An artist takes something that appears to be “wrong” and “makes it right”.
But wait. Isn’t this the same thing? If the definition would be: “Someone who can handle everything, the world throws at him”, the answer might be yes. But there is a difference between the two. While the master handles the difficulties of his domain with knowledge and experience, by knowing how to handle, how to change each situation to make it right, the artist incorporates whatever life throws at him and incorporates it into his work. He makes it right, by not changing it, but by adding his art.
