"It didn’t take him too long to conquer Guitar Hero (on medium), which he described as a gateway drug to other instruments. Next, he turned to a real acoustic guitar, learning music theory and taking lessons. Now, a couple years later, he can strum a tune on the real thing, and more importantly, he feels comfortable making up his own music – something that he finds to be pleasurable and immensely satisfying. “I might never be Jimi Hendrix” Marcus confesses near the end of Guitar Zero, “[but] I was able to create sounds and textures I had never heard before… for a brief moment I could sense what it was like to explore a new musical landscape."
I'm sorry, but two years of lessons and he can "strum a tune..."?? That's great, awesome, and all, but is it really worthy of writing a whole book with deep insights etc? I mean, that sounds like normal progression, or if anything, a little bit behind the learning curve. Hardly a "guitar hero" as the whole "zero to hero" cliche implies. To me the whole thing really seems like a lot of hype to sell a book in a market with high demand. There are millions of people looking to learn to play guitar just like there are millions wanting to lose weight, another big market that has the same kind of "check out the amazing insights I learned on my journey" books.
There's no secret to any of this stuff. Learning to play guitar just takes time and practice. I'd say the most important thing is knowing why you're practicing what you're practicing... don't just practice stuff blindly with the hope you'll be a better player for it. You also don't have to cross some imaginary finish line to enjoy guitar... experiment with what you are learning... come up with your own chords without worrying about what the names are, write your own song, jam along with a beat box, create your own solo or learn someone else's... whatever makes you happy, but you've got to take time to enjoy what you know, even if its just being able to play a couple of simple chords or something.
I certainly encourage anyone of any age to take up learning guitar, or learning anything new for that matter (hey, I learned to kiteboard last summer in two months!). Any progress is good progress, whether it comes easily or is a hard fought battle... but being able to strum a few songs after two years of practice hardly qualifies someone to write a book that is part instructional manual. Learning guitar to that level in that time at that age is something tons of people do all over the world... I really don't see what all the hype is about.
