''Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning'' is a 2012

popular science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

book by research psychologist

Gary Marcus Gary Fred Marcus (born 1970) is an American psychologist, cognitive scientist, and author, known for his research on the intersection of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence (AI). Marcus is professor ''emeritus'' of ps ...

. It documents the author's process of learning the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

while discussing aspects of

music cognition The psychology of music, or music psychology, is a branch of psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and/or musicology. It aims to explain and understand musical behaviour and experience, including the processes through which music is percei ...

and the role of critical periods in learning a musical ability. The book was released on January 19, 2012 and published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, and in December 2012 was released as a paperback under the title ''Guitar Zero: The Science of Becoming Musical at Any Age''.

Reception

The book reached 24th on the

New York Times Best Seller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

list for hardcover nonfiction during the week of February 19, 2012. Maria Popova on Brainpickings.org named the book among "The Best Music Books of 2012." In a review for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', Norman Doidge wrote ""Guitar Zero" is a refreshing alternation between the nitty-gritty details of learning rock-guitar licks and Mr. Marcus's survey of the relevant scientific literature on learning and the brain."

References

External links

Official site
2012 non-fiction books Music books Popular science books {{music-book-stub