Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Zen Guitar
Book Review: hendrix meets buddha
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this book for nearly two years, and it has been an interesting read, to say the least! Sudo's book is inspirational and thought-provoking. If you're a guitar player, you might think it's just another "become a guitar god in one hour" by Shred Johnson; to stop there would be to deny yourself a spiritual insight into an instrument that conveys such soul and emotion. From my personal experience, I can say that my emotion has come out more in my music than before I read this book- my playing has become fluid and relaxed! I still "rock out", but I do it with much more openness. Do what the greats do: go into this book as a child, and come out as a master of your musical soul!!Book Review: pretty much for performers only
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this book hoping it would add a spiritual dimension to my practice of zen, and my practice of the guitar. I don't believe it did much of either, primarily because I'm not a performer and this book is definitely geared toward performers. I found the treatment of zen to be somewhat diluted as well. I guess it was just not for me! However, it's a wonderful topic and I'd like to see the author give it another go, this time perhaps with the guitar hobbyist/wannabe (e.g., moi) in mind, and a more rigorous treatment of zen.Book Review: simply a MUST for all guitar players
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: the book that musicians want to refer everybody to
Summary: 5 Stars
I was pretty much gushing about this book for a while..., it felt life-changing..., but things usually do, and the initial excitement wore off, and i forgot about it for too long. i need to make sure that i read this thing every night..., or every morning when i wake up..
i am a musician who has always had a profound problem with laziness.., then inability to focus on practice, and embarrassment at the prospect of performing.
this book is a guide for me to confront many of my personal issues and overcome them..., though it's what i need to do with my playing..., not just reading this book..
anyways... i later read
"the secrets of succesful practicing for guitarists" by k downing or some such name..., and it was dry and boring in comparison, with rules etc...,
this book's attraction is that it is not really about playing guitar..., but it is more about guitar than any other book.... it is not a book with "information' as the author states..., i am working throu leavitt's modern method for guitar and countless supplementary materials for that now..., but this book is like...,
i hesitate to use the word spirituality...
but many would call it that..
it's just that it deals with the psychology of playing guitar... the feedback loop that is your mind..., and inserting these words into that feedback loop is bound to do good things for your playing.
everything in here i agree with. the name zen is misleading to many peopple..., as it has been with his other books..., but this is more of a practical manual..., still, i must regret that so many people feel as though a spirituality with such history and power is being gradually lost and forgotten to a bunch of misinformation.
. whenever i read this book i feel so incredibly happy and motivated to play music and live in a way that will promote my ability to make sound and be creative and happy..., without being embarrased of sounding sappy or new-agey. i am the anti-newagey person, a skeptic..., who believes in pure science as a governing principal..., but there is a grey space of unknown and this book is a guide to this unknown for me, in this area.
--Daniel Page