MUMBAI: Author Sidharth Kadadi’s book, titled 'The Guitar Journal Volume 01’, is due to launch on 27th March 2022, published under Locksley HalI Publishing and is your definitive guide to learning the guitar in 3 ways: Easy, In-depth and Fun. 

A music learning book that you would not want to put down. He has put in his 15+ years of teaching experience in this book and is an ultimate guide for teachers who are looking to follow a specific module for their candidates at a Foundational level. The book launch is scheduled for digital stores on 27th March 2022  (Amazon Pre-Order link - https://www.amazon.in/dp/8195405541/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apan_glt_i_VHV0KKJNBH1CAQCMEHTH)

Radioandmusic got in touch with the Founder/Proprietor of ‘Guitar Garage Inc’ Sidharth Kadadi to know more about his book and journey as a guitarist and now an author. 

Check the interview below: 

What inspired you to write a book about guitars?

I wanted to try and make my methods of teaching and the knowledge I accumulated over my 15+ years of playing and teaching, available to anyone and everyone. I understood how to inspire absolute beginners to love the instrument first and then while learning, decide their journey with the guitar. This book has everything my teachers taught me, a lot that I learnt myself while teaching students of different ages and calibre, and to magnify the importance of knowing your basics inside out. The lack of awareness of a structured method for those hungry to learn inspired me to create The Guitar Journal. So, with the vision to be available for passionate and aspiring guitarists or guitar trainers, this book is my answer to all those unattended questions.

As a guitarist and now an author, tell us about your journey to this point.

I was itching to put all this work together in 2019. That was when my band Zygnema, had a 16 city European tour lined up as well. After returning from the tour, we curated an 8 City India tour followed by our music festival ‘Scarfest’ as a farewell gift to our bass player, Leon. I got married the same year.   March 2020 was when the world was hit by the global pandemic. That’s when I got my act together and decided to finish this book. Along with writing the book, I was also trying to compose a lot of music for myself and my band. Managed to start my tiny little venture ‘Guitar Garage Inc’ where I have 40+ students coming in regularly to learn, jam and improve their chops. I managed to self publish 3  e-books on basic guitar learning that are available on my Instamojo page. They are for Foundation Level 1 & 2 students who use the e-books alongside their learning.  . So I attempted a lot of different ways to try and create a structure and module for everyone, who want to learn this instrument seriously.

What are the challenges musicians face in today’s world?

There are too many distractions in general which eventually ends up becoming a massive challenge when creating and publishing your work. None of this is meant to demoralize you, but it’s the reality and the hard work you need to put into to face these challenges. If you’re an amateur musician, your main challenge will be getting hold of the right person to record and produce your music at a reasonable price. After that, you need to plan on how you want to release and distribute your music. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. People today think, just by releasing music online, you’re done and you will achieve overnight success. If you don’t make some noise and hype up your release, nobody is going to know that you exist. It doesn’t matter if the music is good. It’s about awareness in today’s day and age. You need to chart out budgets to make a decent looking and well-edited music video. A cool looking music video will only give you more leverage to becoming recognized and wanted, which eventually would open a few doors to play live shows. Live music is very important and converts new music lovers into instant fans provided your music and your performance gives them the kind of impact they were not expecting from a newbie. After a few shows, then you get on tours. Then comes the biggest challenge of staying creative, relevant and working on building your fanbase until some new music is out. This is a never ending loop considering you want to make a living off music.

What motivates you as a musician?

The freedom to express myself through any style of music, the thrill of playing my compositions to a large audience locally and internationally and watching them sing along with you. The joy of being on the road with the boys for days playing back to back shows, meeting new people and learning more about the world, through music.

Tell us about your vision of contributing knowledge via your book.

The sole purpose behind this book is to standardize learning and a teaching method here in India and wherever else this may seem fit. There is also this vision where learners use this as an aid to learning the guitar chapter by chapter while they are following a learning method online or under a guitar instructor or all by themselves. This is a one-stop solution where finishing this book means your brain is ready to grasp, understand, ideate and perform more than what any campfire or self-taught learner would do cause they never finished. It’s like signing up for a course that guarantees you X amount of knowledge and skill to absorb what’s going to come later. Hence, The Guitar Journal Vol 2 will be the ideal combo along with this book.

What are the holistic and emotional benefits of learning to play the guitar?

Well, music, in general, is a healer. Music definitely restores your mind and it not only makes you feel better, but it also has this great sense of accomplishment cause it’s a skill set, after all. It’s art. Being able to learn and then express through this art means your brain is not ordinary anymore. It’s about letting creativity flow. And creative minds don’t settle for less. Learning music is like a lifestyle. Once it finds you, you won’t let it go for the rest of your life. Also, music helps a candidate shape his/her personality and gives them a better sense of decision making as well as improvising in life. That’s another set of skills you begin to apply in your daily life. And to top that, your sense of depth and detailing tends to get better than before, which kind of makes you a little headstrong with regards to achieving your goals which means discipline and hard work.

What are your upcoming Projects?

I recently partnered with ProCraft India and we launched our channel called ‘Learn Music Now’ on YouTube. This channel is just another way of giving back to the community and helping aspiring or enthusiasts to learn the guitar in a structured manner completely FREE. So we are working on a new set of videos to keep the learners intrigued and glued to their instrument. We are almost on the verge of starting offline lessons. Besides this, my band, Zygnema is in the recording studio with some new tracks for our 3rd album. I’ve written 3 solo tracks as well. Hoping to collaborate with some new musicians on that sometime soon. So that’s in the pipeline as well.

Your insight on the importance of Music education and having music curriculums being introduced in schools and colleges?

Music education and other forms of Performing arts need to be introduced as core classes in academic schools and colleges in India. 3 simple reasons why? First, it will help the youth to understand and experience music and art better and in a safe environment. Second, it will help the candidates to realize and think better for themselves. There are many bright and talented musicians/actors/artists struggling in the corporate world only because they were not sure where this would take them as they realized much later that music or other forms of art is what inspires them and makes them happy. After 2015, I was forced out of the corporate world and I found my true calling too. Third, music not only helps the mind to get more creative but makes one slightly independent from unnecessary thoughts and burdens. A musician having a day job is equally motivated to play a club gig for a few 100 people and come back to work happily the next day cause well, music makes people happy. Especially to the ones who are performing and having fun feeding off the energy of the audience. I lived that life for almost 10 years. It was fun and I didn’t complain.