Between the Strings: The Secret Lives of Guitars

Rating:
Summary: If only the instruments could speak.
Review: Between The Strings is a compilation of individual stories featuring an interesting hodgepodge of musicians and celebrities sharing tales of the individual guitars that formed their dreams and shaped their lives. Ranging from Kill Bill/Kung Fu actor David Carradine's home-patched summer-of-love sunburst Gibson acoustic, to folk-rocker Janis Ian's 30+ year absence from her father's 1948 Martin D-18, to the National resonator an anonymous fan gave to John Hammond that was passed along to Blues Legend Johnny Shines who owned it until his death, the founding publisher of Guitar Fingerstyle magazine focuses the reader on the uniquely symbiotic relationship between humans and their instruments. The times of struggles, pennilessness, and hardship that accompany the stories of the many musicians featured in this volume are forgotten momentarily; they have a chance to tell the reader/fan of their favorite axe with the vivid image in their minds of the day they strummed the first chord. All content copyright www.maximumink.com

Rating:
Summary: very inspiring, but...
Review: I'm amazed that this is just about the only anthology of guitarists talking about their beloved instruments and how it changed their lives.

There are a lot of inspiring, uplifting stories in this book, and in many places it makes for a very good read. Very famous renowned guitarists and their colleagues/teachers lovingly and reverently recall their experiences in learning and growing with the instrument and their love of music.

Particularly heartwarming were the short stories on Segovia, Segovia's students, and Jose Feliciano.

Each short story is usually quite short-- as short as a page or two, ten pages tops. So, there are literally dozens of short stories in this book that are easily accessible.

My only caveat with this book as a guitar anthology is a significant one, however. I'd say that 50-60% of these stories are by artists who are devout or born-again Christians. So while this book appears to be a mainstream guitarists' anthology, it is virtually a Christian guitarists' book.

For those readers who are not Christian, I think many of them will be turned off (or tune out) the many stories involving guitars but really centering around the authors' Christianity and how 'God told me to give this guitar away'.

Still, there are quite a few non-religious, often humorous stories of being broke, struggling, having lost/stolen/broken/miraculously recovered instruments and other tales of discovery and enlightenment that make this book worthwhile.

There really is something special about the guitar and the people who play it.

Rating:
Summary: Between the Strings--- Behind the scenes
Review: If you play guitar, You'll love this book.
Think of your first guit-fiddle and remember the nuances it carries with the tunes. The little quips and tricks of procedure you had to preform in order for it to sound just right. Remember how you jammed out in your parents basement imagining yourself as a rock star; "Thank you New Jersey!" you stand up and shout, like and idiot, just as your girlfriend walks in the room. Did you ever take your axe to a park bench and pretended to be an old blues traveler crying through the strings; the sullen half of your broken heart blown like dust off the fret board? Think of all the times you couldn't sleep and just sat in the dim lights of your living room with a glass of whine and played yourself off to a sunset, a dawn, or a surreal and tranquil place that no one else could go but you. This is the bedrock of Between the Strings- the self made memories, yes, behind the scenes of great musicians as a segue to all who are great musicians in their hearts.
John August Schroeter purveys, in this page-turner, that even the best inspiration is just a catalyst for your own imagination. It could be a name carved on a guitar you bought in a pawnshop that triggers you to write a song that lasts forever. Or a girl named Lucille who inadvertently almost set fire to it. For those who love, and/or live to play the guitar, know- its always going to be a part of you if not it "being" you and you it.
I highly recommend picking this one up and reading two hundred times... because each time you read each story, you get a little bit more as well as feeling all the more inspired to be more inspired to start creating.
A real treat.

Rating:
Summary: Between the Strings--- Behind the scenes
Review: If you play guitar, You'll love this book.
Think of your first guit-fiddle and remember the nuances it carries with the tunes. The little quips and tricks of procedure you had to preform in order for it to sound just right. Remember how you jammed out in your parents basement imagining yourself as a rock star; "Thank you New Jersey!" you stand up and shout, like and idiot, just as your girlfriend walks in the room. Did you ever take your axe to a park bench and pretended to be an old blues traveler crying through the strings; the sullen half of your broken heart blown like dust off the fret board? Think of all the times you couldn't sleep and just sat in the dim lights of your living room with a glass of whine and played yourself off to a sunset, a dawn, or a surreal and tranquil place that no one else could go but you. This is the bedrock of Between the Strings- the self made memories, yes, behind the scenes of great musicians as a segue to all who are great musicians in their hearts.
John August Schroeter purveys, in this page-turner, that even the best inspiration is just a catalyst for your own imagination. It could be a name carved on a guitar you bought in a pawnshop that triggers you to write a song that lasts forever. Or a girl named Lucille who inadvertently almost set fire to it. For those who love, and/or live to play the guitar, know- its always going to be a part of you if not it "being" you and you it.
I highly recommend picking this one up and reading two hundred times... because each time you read each story, you get a little bit more as well as feeling all the more inspired to be more inspired to start creating.
A real treat.

Rating:
Summary: Bring some cleanex - You will shed a tear or two
Review: Wonderful book. Easy to read. Every story is short (maximum 5 pages), but they are written in a very sensitive way. From classical to steel string to electric, all guitars are covered. The important thing is that many personalities described the love afffair with their first guitar. Others tell about the guitar love of their life. I learned a lot from this book. I am a guitar player and maker. Every sentence of this book taught me somthing. If you play or make guitar, you must read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Bring some cleanex - You will shed a tear or two
Review: Wonderful book. Easy to read. Every story is short (maximum 5 pages), but they are written in a very sensitive way. From classical to steel string to electric, all guitars are covered. The important thing is that many personalities described the love afffair with their first guitar. Others tell about the guitar love of their life. I learned a lot from this book. I am a guitar player and maker. Every sentence of this book taught me somthing. If you play or make guitar, you must read this book.