Zen Guitar

by Philip Toshio Sudo

Overview

Unleash the song of your soul with Zen Guitar, a contemplative handbook that draws on ancient Eastern wisdom and applies it to music and performance.

Each of us carries a song inside us, the song that makes us human. Zen Guitar provides the key to unlocking this song—a series of life lessons presented through the metaphor of music.

Philip Sudo offers his own experiences with music to enable us to rediscover the harmony in each of our lives and open ourselves to Zen awareness uniquely suited to the Western Mind. Through fifty-eight lessons that provide focus and a guide, the reader is led through to Zen awareness. This harmony is further illuminated through quotes from sources ranging from Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix to Miles Davis. From those who have never strummed a guitar to the more experienced, Zen Guitar shows how the path of music offers fulfillment in all aspects of life—a winning idea and an instant classic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780684838779
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	03/24/1998
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	200,412
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Philip Toshio Sudo (1959–2002) was the eldest son of Japanese-American parents. He attended Macalester College in St. Paul Minnesota, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a Liberal Arts degree. He then went on to Columbia University, where he received his Master’s Degree in journalism. He is the author of Zen Guitar, Zen 24/7, Zen Sex, and The Book of Six Strings.

Editorial Reviews

In a charming book that combines the mastery of the guitar with the mastery of Zen, Sudo introduces the Zen concept of Shyguo, according to which the spiritual journey, the Way, and the practice of art become one and the same. His explanation of Shyguo in conjunction with the 12 points of focusDspirit, rhythm, technique, feel, perfection, mistakes, stages, plateaus, limits, follow through, taste and collaborationDexplains the transformation of Zen practice into artistic savvy. In Zen Sudo finds a cohesive and insightful way of thinking about playing the guitar, or, for that matter, any musical instrument. His instructive little book teaches that mastery of Zen, as well as mastery of art, requires concentrated practice rather than simple instruction. For the student of guitar, Sudo's book offers important insights into what separates adequate musicianship from mastery; and, for the student of Zen, it illuminates a side of Zen practice not often discussed clearly and practically. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly