ZEN GUITAR

Rating:
Summary: A weak attempt at applying Zen Philosophy to Guitar Playing
Review: I know I'm in the minority here, but I was very dissappointed in this book. The fact that many of the topics were covered with only one paragraph shows that the author is merely tacking on Zen quotes and "soundbytes" to the art of playing guitar, without any serious or in depth discussion of playing guitar. I have read several Zen texts and believe that others that also have, can draw their own metaphors and conections to not only guitar but everything. Sorry I thought this was really lame.

Rating:
Summary: Claims to be no more than it is
Review: I like this book quite a bit. Some find it lacking as a zen text, which it doesn't really claim to be. Others find it comes short as a guitar instructional, which is also not its intent. To me it seems like a book which tries to place a guitarist ina relatively zen state of mind. It does so without going into the type of rigor that would require the reader to be a student of philosophy, religion, or zen itself to understand.

Its greatest triumph is its ability to focus a guitarists on self-expression and fulfillment through guitar. There's no competitive, flashy workout mentality, no boistrous 'do everything the way I do' bullying. Sudo comes right out and says that you'll need other resources for the nuts and bolts.

In short, this is a great book to help a guitarists get into a good guitar state of mind.

Rating:
Summary: Get in-tune with your inner guitarist.
Review: I really dug this book. It inspired me to get an old guitar out of the closet and start plucking away again. It is really an approach on life in general but applied to guitar. It makes you want to play guitar, not for the glory but the love of music and a spiritual connection to the music within.

Rating:
Summary: Required Reading
Review: I regularly give this book as a gift to my best students. It is, by far, one of the finest guitar methods ever written.

Rating:
Summary: The only reality is Within
Review: I think about music very differently than most people. I am not what you would call a "passive listener" of music. Great music tears at my insides when I hear it. This book voiced a lot of thoughts I've had about music without even thinking it. This is not a "how to play guitar book," but a "why to play guitar book." It shall enrich thy playing.

Rating:
Summary: As a seasoned professional, Zen Guitar opened my eyes.
Review: I was over all impressed with Zen Guitar. It offered very interesting insights into the world of guitar. There is a whole other side to the human thought process and I've learned to get in tough with this through Zen Guitar. Thanx Phil

Rating:
Summary: To the spirit of guitar playing
Review: If you can only play one string - then play it! That is the spirit of this book. it connects the basics of guitar playing to spiritual development. Start with the basics, play what you enjoy, do what you are good at. Such easy advice, yet so difficult to embrace. To really understand the book the reader needs to go through it several times, and really ponder what the author means. All chapters start with a quote from famous guitarists, people who know, and is worth listening to.

Rating:
Summary: simply a MUST for all guitar players
Review: In this age of mainstream music and synthesized music and voices, and [disappointing] boy bands, VERY few musicians, unfortunately, carry any passion at all for their instrument, or even their craft.
Since the first time i picked up a guitar back in 1995, i've been completely and utterly awed and inspired by Johnny Rzeznik of the GOO GOO DOLLS. His songwriting and guitar playing always amazed me, and in one interview i read, he had spoken about this book and how it had helped him.
Now, i have been playin guitar for 8 years now...and i'm pretty damn good! I've played for professional theatre productions, various bands, i even played in the band for Late Show with David Letterman. I thought i was good ~ Then i read this book and realized just how much i was MISSING!
Don't get it wrong ---> this book isn't going to poison you with some strange new dogma. All you need to do is believe that there is in fact a spiritual connection between what your fingers are doing on the fretboard and what is going on in your heart. This book teaches you how to harness that and use it to your advantage. I honestly believe, and dozens of my co-workers and friends have agreed, that my guitar playing has been taken to a whole new level.
ALL YOU GUITAR PLAYERS OUT THERE, I URGE YOU TO DO THE SAME. This book will be the best ... bucks you'll ever spend in your musical career. Enjoy it, and learn something. You might be surprised by what you find out.

Rating:
Summary: If you love music and are grateful for your gift, buy it.
Review: Let's face it- in this world, music is a force that spans the entire universe. One shimmering tone can send a person's being into spiritual ecstacy...a relentlessly turbulent, entrancing rhythm can lead a group of men into war. Music has powers which will never be fully explained.
We, as musicians, are capable of evoking these forces...Zen guitar helps us to understand and accept this gift.
What sets a player like Yngwie Malmsteen- with burning, toothless scales, impressing in one second, then repulsing the next...and Jimmy Page- one who creates music with timeless beauty and universally memorable and respected musicianship-even when it's sloppy??
Read Zen Guitar.

Rating:
Summary: My guitar playing has improved!
Review: My first reaction was to laugh out loud at how Zen has become a way to make anything seem mystical. However, I forced myself to keep reading and soon found myself caught up in the flow. I soon found myself picking up my guitar with "intention" and paying much more attention to what sounds were coming out. Looking back about a year after reading this book I suddenly realize that my playing has improved, I now practice 1-2 hours a day on average instead of 1-2 hours a week. I have a deeper emotional connection to my music than ever before. Just read this book and do what it says. Don't think about it because it will just make you laugh.