Gerald Klickstein's Excellent Musician's Way Blog (Updated)

A few days ago, and old acquaintance of mine, Gerald Klickstein, emailed me out of the blue to inform me about a book he's written called, The Musician's Way. I haven't gotten the book yet - taxes have consumed all of my time for several days - but I have gone through the companion weblog, The Musician's Way Blog. If you are a guitarist - especially a nylon string guitarist - this is a must read and bookmark.

UPDATE: Gerald has pointed out that The Musician's Way is also available in paperback for only $24.95, which is 75% less than the $99.00 hard cover edition. Now we poor musicians have no excuse not to order this valuable resource.


Gerald Klickstein (Left)

To back up a second, I call Gerald an acquaintance and not a friend because we didn't really know each other well at all. Circa 1990 I was a master's degree student at Texas State - then Southwest Texas State - and he was the guitar professor at UTSA. So, I've heard him perform and lecture, but we didn't exactly hang out.

What I want to talk about then, is the wonderful attitude Gerald exudes in a world where there are more than just a few out of control egos and bad attitudes. Once he made me smile by mentioning that sometimes you just have to pour a glass of wine, light a candle, and pick up the guitar simply to enjoy it, versus being a slave to some detailed practice regimen. That excellent perspective permeates his blog and also his students: Nothing gets passed along to a student faster than a hyper-critical perfectionist attitude. Back in those days, for example, I'd encounter some ridiculously over-critical undergraduate guitar student and be tempted to ask, "Excuse me, but which one of the Holzman brothers are you a student of?" lol. Gerald is the opposite of all that and a real class act. He reminds me of Bill Kanengiser - a guy who makes page turns look elegant - in that respect.

So get thee hence!