About Guitar Zero
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: The Penguin Press (January 19, 2012)
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.
About Gary Marcus
Gary Marcus is an award-winning professor of psychology and director of the NYU Center for Language And Music (CLAM), where he studies evolution, language, and cognitive development. He has written three books about the origins and development of mind and brain, including, most recently, Kluge: The Haphazard Evolution of The Human Mind, which was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice.
He is also the editor of the The Norton Psychology Reader and the author of numerous science publications in leading journals, such as Science, and Nature. His essays have appeared in forums such as Wired, Discover, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.
Gary’s Tour Stops
Tuesday, January 17th: Suko’s Notebook
Thursday, January 26th: Ted Lehmann’s Bluegrass, Books, and Brainstorms
Wednesday, February 1st: Library of Clean Reads
Monday, February 13th: The Rat Race Trap
Thursday, February 16th: Strat-O-Blogster
Monday, February 20th: Guitar Lifestyle
Tuesday, February 21st: helenjane.com
Wednesday, February 22nd: GuitarZ
Monday, February 27th: Not Playing Guitar
Wednesday, February 15th: Pickstroke
Monday, March 5th: Dolphinstreet