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    Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning
    Unavailable
    Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning
    Unavailable
    Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning
    Audiobook5 hours

    Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    On the eve of his fortieth birthday, a professor of no discernible musical talent learns to play the guitar and investigates how anyone of any age might master a new skill.

    Just about every human being knows how to listen to music, but what does it take to make music? Is musicality something we are born with? Or a skill that anyone can develop at any time? If you don't start piano at the age of six, is there any hope? Is skill learning best left to children or can anyone reinvent him-or herself at any time?

    On the eve of his fortieth birthday, Gary Marcus, an internationally renowned scientist with no discernible musical talent, becomes his own guinea pig to look at how human beings become musical- and how anyone of any age can master something new. Guitar Zero traces his journey, what he learned, and how you can learn, too. In addition to being a groundbreaking look at the origins and allure of music, Marcus's journey is also an empowering tale of the mind's plasticity.

    In a quest that takes him from Suzuki classes to guitar gods, Marcus investigates the most effective ways to train your brain and body to learn to play an instrument. How can you make your practice more deliberate and effective? How can you find the best music teacher for you or your child? Does talent really exist? Or is hard work all you need?

    Guitar Zero stands the science of music on its head, debunking the popular theory of an innate musical instinct and many other commonly held fallacies. At the same time, it raises new questions about the science of human pleasure and brings new insight into humankind's most basic question: what counts as a life well lived? Does one have to become the next Jimi Hendrix to make a passionate pursuit worthwhile? Or can the journey itself bring the brain lasting satisfaction?

    For those who have ever set out to learn a musical instrument-or wishes that they could- Guitar Zero is an inspiring and fascinating look at music, learning, and the pursuit of a well-lived life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 19, 2012
    ISBN9781101538715
    Unavailable
    Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning

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    Reviews for Guitar Zero

    4/5

    82 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book as I am even older than the author trying to learn a new instrument.
    • 3/5
      Interesting reading, and I did finish it, but somehow it didn't work well for me. It didn't give me enough impetus to add some casual music education to my life-- which I expected it to-- since not many people would be willing to devote quite the time and energy he did to the project. It did make me think about some things I hadn't before-- can you enjoy music better by being more educated in the techniques, do you need to be creative or can you just enjoy playing (I'm not a jazz fan...)
    • 5/5
      A great book to read for anyone interested in guitar. It draws on a wide variety of scientific disciplines and expertly blends memoir with interesting facts.
    • 5/5
      As a musician I found this book to be informative in entertaining. Definitely would recommend
    • 3/5
      This book was an excellent read but the title is misleading. While the author's goal was to learn music and that desire was the inspiration for this book, the subject is basically "This is your brain on music" instead of how to play guitar. While he addresses the guitar in his book, he also addresses how the mind and body process music as well as discussing music theory. This is more a psychology of music mixed with a bit of memoir. Still a good book though.
    • 4/5
      Well done book about the psychology of making and listening to music, combined with the author’s personal experience in learning to make music in his late thirties. Good musings on the roles of talent and practice.
    • 5/5
      This book was fantastic. As a composer and hack musician, this book really allowed me to get some concrete actionable items to put into my processes. At the same time, the stories, data, and anecdotes made the piece extremely enjoyable to listen to all the way through.
    • 4/5
      Audio samples are all that seem to be lacking
    • 5/5
      I am a lifelong professional musician and educator having worked with hundreds of noted musicians from Sinatra to Campbell. I have taught jazz studies at colleges and universities and have a Bachelor's degree in piano performance and a Master's degree in Humanities. I only have a passing interest in guitar playing so I didn't know if this would be worth listening to. I gave the intro a shot and kept listening and I am glad I did. I previously listened to "The Music Lesson" (also well written) and enjoyed hearing some concepts repeated in "Guitar Zero". The author is very thorough covering topics related to learning any instrument and I would recommend and require listening to this to all students of music regardless of their performance or writing level. I really wish I could have heard this 50 years ago. "This Is Your Brain On Music" is also well written.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I love this book. On one level, it's a fascinating story of Gary's later-life journey from musical n00b to some level of mastery. But it is really a deep investigation and reflection on how we learn: guitar and musicianship specifically, but anything in general. It's quite a revelation how little we really know about how we learn music (it's not an easy or profitable research domain) and just how much of our understanding is on shaky ground to say the least (the age factor; role of genetics; has musicality been selected for by evolution?)

      If you are already musical, or if you have ever thought about learning an instrument, or indeed if you have never understood why people are so interested in being musical then this is a good read!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Many people have told me, "I wish I followed through with my music lessons when I was a kid." The prevailing understanding is that it's much more difficult to learn a musical instrument when your teenage years are fading in the rear-view mirror. Marcus challenges this assumption in Guitar Zero.When middle-aged Gary Marcus decided that he wanted to play music, he threw himself into the project. His training as a cognitive psychologist allowed him to only to learn, but to reflect intelligently on how he was learning. That's what makes this book interesting. The chapters in Guitar Zero flow freely between Marcus' attempt to stretch his fingers onto the proper frets and perceptive analysis on the nature of learning a new task.Yes, it is easier to learn a new skill when you're young—but with determination, you can follow in Marcus' footsteps and take on new challenges regardless of your age."I might not be picking up an instrument as quickly as an adept child might, but as an adult I still had some advantages. I had a greater capacity to understand the abstractions of music theory and a better sense of music composition as a whole. If practice, determination, and a greater conceptual understanding hadn't entirely overcome the twin obstacles of age and lack of talent, they had at least made for an even match" (192).