Beyond the Keys
Music and Stories of Inspiration
Beyond the Keys is a seasoned performer’s memoir, infused with unrelenting optimism and bursting with artistic expressions.
Phenomenal positivity, tips for daily inspiration, and a whole host of musical tidbits appear in classical musician Jeeyoon Kim’s memorable multimedia book Beyond the Keys.
Formatted to reflect the five movements of a classical music composition, the chapters are organized to maximum effect. Kim’s career as a working classical pianist serves as a backdrop and wellspring for a collection of essay-length dives into her life as a performing artist, her acclimatization from South Korea to the US, and her unrelenting optimism. Her wealth of experience and talent as a pianist are alluded to, too; at the end of each chapter, QR codes link to her live solo performances, wrapping the work up with an ethereal bow and driving an enlightened patina over her musings. Contemporary paintings from artists including Kaoru Yamada, MOSLA, and Van also appear at each chapter’s end as contemplative enhancements.
In the book’s memoir portions, Kim confronts memories of her estrangement from her father, the solace she took in playing piano, and the binding awareness of abiding wisdom. Performances at legendary venues including Carnegie Hall are covered, and Kim also recalls her life-altering divorce, which precipitated her going into artistic survival mode and led to her most recent album, 10 More Minutes. Other chapters, like “Notes to My Younger Self,” reveal Kim’s latent pedagogical bent, where her coordinated curriculum for positive outcomes is laid bare with a bullet-point guide to being a musician in the twenty-first century.
Insatiable hope in the face of looming challenges emerges as a primary instigator for the practical messages compiled in the book. For example, Kim’s nascent love of surfing folds into considerations of the inherent changes in one’s learning curve that come with age. Heaping helpings of productive nudging transform some chapters into ersatz therapy sessions, with armchair wisdom and takeaways encouraging optimistic steps forward to tackle personal goals, new interests, and emboldening new vistas of understanding: “Giving love and being of service to someone seem to be vital ingredients in feeling connected and fulfilled through one’s career and beyond.”
The accoutrements of aural and visual supplements are refreshing and contemplative and the combination of Kim’s solo performances with the artwork of others is provocative, resulting in a kind of ecstasy on the page. However, the unwavering positivity of the text thrusts some chapters into saccharine territory. Some of the suggested exercises, as with those for making daily tasks more enjoyable by putting on music or doing them with friends, are also unsurprising.
Issuing advice to fellow creators, Beyond the Keys is an inviting, wonderful memoir about music and memory.
Reviewed by
Ryan Prado
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
