Life by Keith Richards

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Book Review: Life by Keith Richards

The autobiography of Keith Richards, the famous guitarist of the Rolling Stones is out in the market and is ready to be consumed by fans worldwide. He has narrated the book in a very interesting, content rich and enjoyable manner. However, credit should be bestowed on the author James Fox for writing this book in a very acceptable and understandable manner.

The book talks about the various events that took place in Keith's life, dropping in and out of music but particularly focusing on the music. The events also included the formation of the band and the engagements of the members. Other than this the randomness at the time of practice sessions and the use of drugs were also huge part of the book.

He also describes the various fights that took place on the roads as well as during practice sessions.

The book is really a book of secrets about the techniques and ways Keith uses his guitar. It is a real treasure for guitar players and hardcore fans of the Rolling Stones.

It is very interesting to read the bonding and affection that Keith had with his son Marlon, the complexities of life Marlon was exposed to in his environment, these obviously shaped him for his future life.

The last pages of the book talk about the moments that he shared with his mother when she was on her death bed.

Life, the book by Keith Richards is a transparent view into his sometimes wild life, the book draws you into his world and lets you get a little closer to the real Keith, a must have book for guitar enthusiasts and hardcore fans.

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Fingerstyle Guitar Method: Step-By-Step Lessons and 36 Great Fingerstyle Songs - Book Review

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Fingerstyle technique is one of the most exciting ways to play the guitar. It's a technique that will enable you to turn the guitar into a complete solo instrument playing several different parts at the same time. If you've been looking for an easy to follow fingerstyle guitar course, than the "Fingerstyle Guitar Method: A Complete Guide With Step-by-Step Lessons and 36 Great Fingerstyle Songs" from Hal Leonard Publication would be a good book worth checking out.

Although the book is not for the complete beginner, it does start off with a topic on how to choose a guitar before moving on to fingerpicking basic and builds on them using the styles of great artists such as The Beatles, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Adrian Legg, and many others as examples. Lessons on fingerstyle solo guitar arrangement are broken down into two parts, with the melody of 'Silent Night' being introduced as you learn how to turn a melody into a complete solo guitar arrangement by adding other element such as bass and additional notes. In between these two parts, the use of a 'Capo' and playing on 'Alternate Tuning' are discussed. The second part features lesson on a more advance solo guitar arrangement that incorporates the use of the newly learn techniques.

The 104 pages book also features fingerstyle arrangement to 36 songs although it would've been nice if all the songs were completely tabbed. Nevertheless, about a dozen were completely tabbed, enough to keep you busy for some time. Included with the book is an audio CD that contain all audio to examples and the featured songs which are; Dust in the Wind, Fire and Rain, Georgia on My Mind, You've Got a Friend, Imagine, Tears in Heaven, What a Wonderful World, Annie's Song and Yesterday among others.

Overall this is a good book for anyone who already been playing for a while and ready to expand their playing technique beyond strumming.

Eddie Kisah is a guitar teacher and webmaster of edguitar.com. Visit his website for free guitar lessons.

Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music Review

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I just recently finished reading the book, Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music. I'm kind of mad at myself for waiting so long to read it. It's been in the "to read" pile for a long time and I just got around to reading it. It's a fantastic look at the evolution of music over the past 20 years or so. From the rise of indie bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes, to Prince's record label, to mp3's and the "pay what you want" model introduced by Radiohead and NineInch Nail's Trent Reznor.

I can't honestly say that I remember much about my 7th grade history class. I couldn't even tell you my teacher's name, let alone what we "learned" that year. The one thing that I do remember is that there was a banner hanging above the chalk board. It read, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

If you are going to be a musician today, then you need to understand how the music industry has changed so that you can try to figure out where it's headed. Sure it's great to know about the writers in Tin Pan Alley from the late 1800's to the early 1900's; it's important to understand radio's role in the emergence of popular music and how payola controlled that; it's important to know that the first video ever aired on MTV was The Buggle's "Video Killed The Radio Star" (seriously think about that for a minute).

In the last 20 years, the music industry has changed more than it has in nearly its entire existence. Or, certainly in this century. The current music industry that we operate in is still changing at a rapid pace. There's speculation on the extinction of CD's within 2-3 years, there's been a major resurgence in vinyl (who saw that coming?!), the major record labels as we knew them may cease to exist within 5 years, mp3's and file sharing are now a good thing and a major source of world-wide distribution (what?!).

Greg Kott's "Ripped" is one of the most fascinating books on current music history I've ever read. He jumps right in with the first chapter about the major consolidation that all of the big 5 (at that time there were 5 major record labels, as opposed to the 2 1/2 there are now). This was a huge shift in the record industry at the time. It scared a lot of artists and put a lot of people out of work.

Greg does a great job in detailing the consolidation of the majors, the rise of indie bands, the fight against and for sampling on hip-hip records and new mashup records and artists, Prince's record label and his do-it-yourself approach, the rise of mp3's and the fall of Napster and the "pay what you want" model that Radiohead started with "In Rainbows," that Trent Renzor "improved" upon.

I don't want to give too much away, because I want you to be able to enjoy this book. It isan enjoyable book. It discusses in detail the many things that have happened over the past two decades that have changed the face of the music industry dramatically.

You can read each chapter as a vignette about each band or person or aspect of the industry. But when taken as a whole, "Ripped" reads more like a cautionary tale with a hopeful ending.

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

Nick Peay is an independent DIY musician who has been releasing music on his own for over 15 years. His blog, D.I.mY Music Blog, details all of the resources and tips he used to become a successful independent, DIY musician. For advice on how to successfully release your own music without the constraints of a major or indie label, check out the D.I.mY Music Blog at http://www.dimymusic.wordpress.com/.