#guitar zero

Guitar Zero #8 (after a year+ wait! ahaha)

This is an interesting work of non-fiction about a thirty something psych professor who decides to finally learn to play the guitar. After some unpleasant attempts to learn an instrument when he was younger, he found out he was congenitally arrhythmic. He assumed he had no prospects of ever learning to play. However, after about a year and half of intense study, he makes a lot of headway. 

I think my favorite part of the book was the evidence he provides for there being no innate musical sense among humans. About five percent of us are tone def, and the idea that musical aptitude would confer an evolutionary benefit is dubious. There is also some interesting philosophical discussion on the nature of music as an art form. It probably has more repetition than any other art. And this repetition is essentially. It is a mysterious discipline. 

The one area that could have been explored more thoroughly is the nature of musical talent. Talent is real, but it doesn't seem to be particularly well understood. At least that's what I gathered from this book. The author didn't shed much light there. 

Better late than never. You can see our choices and why we chose them Here.

Ben (Pick: A Princess of Mars)

It is with a heavy head that I must admit that Mr. Burroughs has bested me. I could not finish A Princess of Mars (better known now as "John Carter of Mars", thanks to Disney's public execution of the franchise). As was pointed out in an excellent article from Vulture.com, the biggest problem comes from the fact that this story has been pilfered until there is very little of its originality that feels original today. In addition John Carter is the epitome of the "white man taming the savages"; he comes in from a distant land where he quickly rises to prominence, and easily gains the upper hand in any situation that puts him in peril. I appreciate it as a foundation for high fantasy (hardly sci-fi, despite being set on Mars), but I'm pretty glad I put this one down before the deadline. I'm just sorry I gave it up without enough time to dive into another book.

Dean (Pick: My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business: A Memoir)

As the title suggests, this book is a cheery look back at Dick van Dyke's career by none other than Dick van Dyke himself. As a sketch performer in my own right, I found the sections about his early career in local variety programming to be both nicely familiar as well as informative of the budding television scene of the 1950's. As an ardent fan of The Dick van Dyke Show, the parts about the show were endearing. As a real person I found the rest of his life, however lucky, rather rose-colored, to say the least. Perhaps that's the way it was, but I find it hard to believe that alcoholism and divorce could be merely unpleasant. Overall, it's charming for a fan, but most likely flat for anyone else - just like Diagnosis Murder!

Ed (Pick:  Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning)

I liked this book. The author did a good job of weaving the science of music learning into his own personal narrative about an almost two year long quest to be a guitar god. There were some particularly enjoyable parts (e.g., the time he spent at a camp as the bass player for a band consisting of children) and I even picked up a few tips (e.g., making sure your guitar hangs at the same position regardless of whether you are sitting or standing to avoid "mechanical errors"). The only negative, in my opinion was that the book lacked very few in-depth examples of music research studies, something that I always appreciate in these kinds of books.

Jordan (Pick: 1Q84)

Podcast with me and Guitar Hero/Rock Band founder Eran Egozy!

My interview with NPR - Notes From A Former ‘Guitar Zero’

In which Ray calls the show and and says:

"…but at the age of 38, I was offered to join a very famous punk band from Milwaukee known as the Violent Femmes.”