Andy Schneider

Guitar for Actors Andy Schneider

As an actor, you may not need to become a dynamite guitarist, but you will want to have some proficiency, since guitar playing is a great skill for your résumé. Or maybe you want to nail that upcoming audition. The aim of this book is to give you that basic proficiency and provide an awareness of the stylistic differences in genres. These stylistic differences provide visual cues to the audience. When working for TV or film, audio is usually overdubbed on the video so musical perfection may not be demanded of the actor. However, the visual cues from the actor are important to a convincing performance. That said, this is a book meant to give you skills, FAST. Think of it as a style guide. You will learn that guitarists of different genres approach the guitar differently, and give us different visual cues in addition to sonic cues as to the type of music being played. This book also discusses some of the key equipment used in each style. Usually, your properties department will take care of these choices, but if you're auditioning or find yourself directing one day, this information might come in handy. If you'd like to develop your musical knowledge and proficiency, Andy Schneider delves deeper into guitar playing in his first book, "Seeing Music on the Guitar". Remember, the goal here is to get you learning quickly without going too deep into the weeds of music theory. The reader should feel free to skip past any chapters or sections that seem like too much information. Guitar playing is a combination of knowledge, motor skills, and the choices a musician makes when combining those elements. This book aims to get your guitar performance up and running with some guitar playing fundamentals, then dives into a breakdown of the differences between styles.