Review of The Beethoven Enneagram

By Clarence Thompson

Somewhere in the genetic code of style Seven it is written that learning and pleasure are not only closely allied, they are married. This union suffers stress beginning about the 3rd grade with the multiplication tables and suffers from droning teachers. If the Believer attends graduate school, the childhood conviction is often fatally weakened, especially if he or she pursues sociology or education. But my own belief in the alliance of pleasure and learning was refreshed and strengthened when I obtained a copy of Elizabeth Wagele's Beethoven Enneagram.
 
 

Wagele is internationally recognized as an enneagram authority with three major books to her credit. But I was thoroughly impressed with an equally comprehensive knowledge of Beethoven and her ability to play the piano. Here's what she did (for 82 minutes, no less --who says Fives are stingy!) She would explain very briefly an enneagram style (this CD is really for people who know the enneagram, and for people using it to teach, I think).Then she would play an illustration of this style on the piano. But she doesn't just play and let you guess. She breaks down the chords, shows the progressions, comments on the emotional vitality, timbre and mood of the piece, then integrates the learning into the complete piece. She is a masterful teacher.
 
 

The reason it would be such a good teaching device is that she illustrates the mood and feeling of each style. When I teach the enneagram, I never use words with the numbers (like Assertive Eight or Negotiator Nine), because the words are too narrow, regardless of their conceptual precision. Many people try to get the perfect word and get a bit frustrated because no one particular word seems correct. Wagele, perversely enough, does use Perfectionist One and similar terms, but she atones for this by then playing chords that illustrate the anger of a One, then shows the perfect balance and occasional playfulness that marks the connection to Seven. When she does this, the personality comes to life.
 
 

She does well to choose Beethoven. He's a Four and like the Style Four actors who can often play any role because of their rich inner life, he has all nine moods, all nine energies. He can be the showy peacock Three or the laid back Nine or the romantic Four, all without stretch. One could argue that genius is universal and that may explain his range, but enneagram students would argue that emotional range is the specialty of the style Four. Only a few teaching aids exist that develop and explain the non-verbal aspects of the enneagram style. This is a marvelous teaching tool because it helps those who do not learn best through concepts and words.
 
 

If you've ever taught you'll realize what a valuable aid this is. The emotional richness, the audio medium and careful integration of the emotionaland conceptual information help people really understand that the enneagram style really is an energy, not just a series of traits. I'm grateful to Wagele for this work. I'll be most eager to use it in some classes and report to you later how it works. I've got a couple of gigs coming up, so I'll 
report later.
 
 

Oh, if you want to order a copy, you can get them directly from Credence Communications or Amazon.com - see the main Beethoven Enneagram page. Tell her I sent you. (I don't get a commission, but I want her to know how much I like her work).