Will I love The Advancing Guitarist?

This Zen-like book affirmed, for all subsequent generations of guitarists, that music instruction books didn't have to be dull, theory-laden texts filled with patterns and cliches. Mick was all about creativity, open-mindedness, exploration, and thinking outside the coffin.

Ultimately, many years after reading it as a teenager, I was greatly inspired by its refusal to adhere to the status quo when I wrote my own book. All musicians, even those less creative, are aware that the essence of great playing is spontaneity: the willingness to stand close to the primal fire of creation, even though there's a danger of being… show more.

This book brought me hours of pleasure, and I learned a ton from it. He takes brainy concepts about modes and scales and turns them into exercises any working guitarist can grasp. The book isn’t written as a method book that needs to be followed from beginning to end. It’s more of a grab bag of fun exercises. You can open any page and just start working there. He coins some pretty interesting terms, such as the “unitar.” “The first guitar probably only had one string…” All written from a fun and lighthearted angle, you’ll be surprised at some of… show more.