Zen Guitar

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Zen Guitar is an approach to the guitar that is primarily spiritual rather than technical.

[edit] Overview

Zen Guitar is grounded in the belief that there are innumerable paths to understanding the true nature of reality, or Dharma, including playing the guitar. but more importantly zen guitar says we all carry a song in our souls worth singing. zen guitar is about pushing away the showyness of stardom and really focusing on the music. The term was first coined by author Philip Toshio Sudo in his book "Zen Guitar" published in 1997.

The significance of Zen guitar lies in part that it provides an alternative to traditional methods of guitar study and performance. Traditional guitar study tends to focus on technical aspects and memorization of chords, progressions, scales, and the like; in contrast Zen Guitar encourages an intuitive approach. That intuitive approach combines one's natural aptitudes and abilities with one's innate sense of musical style to produce a style that is unique and suited to the individual.

Zen guitar is also significant in that it offers an alternative form of meditation. "Zen" in Japanese, or "chan" in Chinese, means meditation. The most common form of meditation is sitting meditation, but it is commonly accepted amongst Buddhist practitioners that any activity, approached with proper mindfulness, can function as meditation. Thus can practicing, performing, and composing for the guitar become as forms of meditation, helping the practitioner develop a deeper understanding of mindfulness, concentration, and more.

zen guitar is about feeling at complete oneness with your self and your instrument many describe it as touching the face of god.

[edit] Quotes

"The way of Zen Guitar is such that it applies at any time, in any situation; the truth assumes ten thousand shapes and forms." -- Philip Sudo, author of the book "Zen Guitar"

"Zen guitar will mean different things to different people. As we are unique people, so will our experience with the guitar be unique." -- Clarelynn Rose, guitarist