Will Hodgkinson, Guitar Man

Remember back when 100b celebrated our 100th post and we said we had some new themed post ideas for you all? And remember how we said we didn’t have a name for one of them yet? Yeah, we still don’t. So for the time being, this post will be called “100b’s School Of Learnin’” - just hope we’ve come up with something better by next month.

Tam and I both love the geeky side of music, and we know we’re not alone. So this monthly post will feature the kind of things that you might like if studio released albums just aren’t enough for you anymore. It might be a documentary, a new collections of b-sides, a historical cd boxset, or even just a really great article that we read. Stuff that will take you from a listener to a big dork. So to start things off this month, we’re going with a book.

I just finished reading Will Hodgkinson’s Guitar Man and I thought some of you might enjoy it. Hodgkinson (a journalist who’s written for Mojo and The Guardian, among others) decided it was about time he stopped just listening to guitar and learned how to play one. I don’t want this to become a review, but it really is a charming book. I think you’d probably have to be into music to really enjoy it (a lot of the book covers the history of the guitar and guitar-based music, which is pretty fascinating if you love it too), but wanting to be a guitar player yourself isn’t necessary. I doubt there’s anyone who hasn’t at some time tried to learn something completely new and felt like they’ll never, ever be able to do it. There’s that clumsy time where you don’t even understand the directions or book you’re learning from and then, after a while, you get the basic concept but you just can’t get yourself do it right. When you finally get it, you can’t believe how clueless you were in the beginning.

Hodgkison describes that frustration perfectly, but his learning is pushed along by some great guitar players - Johnny Marr, Mr. David Viner, Devendra Banhart, and Robert Johnson, and many others - who are kind enough to share some of their wisdom on the subject. He booked himself, and his merry band of misfits, a gig in a public place to force himself to learn and learn quickly. Of course I’d never ruin the end for you, but when the gig starts getting close, it’s gripping stuff. I can’t imagine doing such a foolish thing myself - I have the worst stage fright known to man - but you have to admire a man who is that dedicated to a task he set himself.

You can find out more about the book and the author here, and even have a listen to Mr. Hodgkinson’s newfound skills. Or just go buy the book at amazon (UK).