How to Play the Guitar and Y Audiobook By Elvis Costello cover art

How to Play the Guitar and Y

Words + Music, Vol. 21

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How to Play the Guitar and Y

By: Elvis Costello
Narrated by: Elvis Costello
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“This isn't strictly speaking an instructional manual, but a work of comedic philosophy.”

Elvis Costello - songwriter, singer, author, and Fender Jazzmaster known to his admirers as “The Little Hands of Concrete” - spins his tale with wit, grit, and spit to spare.

How to Play the Guitar and Y, Costello’s new entry into Audible’s Words + Music series, combines recitation, impersonation, and musical illustration to show you how to turn a three-chord trick into a four-chord caper and let your curiosity take you where it will.

Part madcap musical method, part comic chronicle, How to Play the Guitar and Y is accompanied by the author throughout on a number of different instruments with his 10 wandering fingers.

So gather round your favorite listening device to hear a storyteller and musician at his most captivating as he reminds you not to be afraid to fail and to never forget to play.

©2021 Elvis Costello (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC. Entertainment & Celebrities Celebrity Funny Witty Inspiring

About the Creator

Born in London and raised there and in Liverpool, Declan Patrick MacManus—also known as Elvis Costello—has been performing in public for over fifty years, solo and with the band Rusty, the Attractions and his current ensemble, The Imposters.
He is a writer and part-time musician who made number of records in the twentieth century, some of which are still remembered today.
Elvis Costello is the composer and lyricist of several hundred songs, including fifteen titles co-written with Paul McCartney and renowned collaborations with Allan Toussaint, The Brodsky Quartet, and T Bone Burnett, with whom he wrote the Academy Award-nominated song, "The Scarlet Tide."
Costello has composed songs for artists like Roy Orbison, Chet Baker, and Johnny Cash and written songs with Loretta Lynn, Fito Paez, and his wife, Diana Krall.
He has written lyrics for music by Billy Strayhorn, Oscar Peterson and for twelve Charles Mingus compositions, as well as composing music for twelve unpublished lyrics by Bob Dylan.
Costello’s most enduring songwriting collaboration has been with Burt Bacharach, beginning with the song "God Give Me Strength" in 1995 and continuing to the present day. Their co-written, award-winning album Painted From Memory led to the composition of a significant number of songs for musical theatre, some of which were collected on the album Look Now and the EP.
He is author of Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, a more than 600-page memoir which has been translated into six languages. Costello is also the composer of a half-finished opera, two ballet scores, and songs for several motion pictures and stage musicals, including an ongoing adaptation of Budd Schulberg’s A Face in the Crowd.
Making his debut in 1977 with the Stiff Records release My Aim Is True, Costello’s recording catalogue now runs to more than thirty-five titles, including Get Happy, Imperial Bedroom, King of America, All This Useless Beauty, North, National Ransom, and Wise Up Ghost with The Roots. 2021 has seen the release of a Spanish-language adaptation of his 1978 album This Year’s Model entitled Spanish Model.
He is a member of both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2020 was awarded an O.B.E. for his services to music. He holds two honorary doctorates in music, one from the University of Liverpool and another from the New England Conservatory. Despite this, he is known for playing the guitar with almost no regard for common sense.

Witty Commentary • Humorous Insights • Eloquent Narration • Musical Interludes • Personal Reflections
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I wish this fanciful monologue about music and guitars were longer. I have tickets to see Elvis and The Impostors next month, and the timely appearance of this Audible book was a delight. It did not disappoint at all. The sound quality of the recording and the timbre of Mr. Costello's voice was superb on my car's speakers. I had no idea this jerky young man would turn into such an eloquent writer and speaker.

Now I have to seriously consider a ukulele!

Short, but very enjoyable

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This Audible original will be enjoyed by any music lover, and not just guitar players. However, it will make you want to pick up a guitar right away. Great use of voice, music, and sound fx.

Beautiful

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As a guitarist of more than half a century, I found his essays both on the mark and very entertaining.
Unfortunately, there are parts where music cuts in and you completely lose the dialogue.
I would have given a higher mark except for this problem.

Vocal gets drowned out.

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Just listen and enjoy… you need this in your life. Supremely entertaining, the mood, the magic —- take a long walk and let this be your soundtrack.

Brilliant, soothing and inspiring

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Elvis has as wonderful a speaking voice as he does a singing one. Loved it!

Incredible performance!

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What a fun performance! I found it whimsical, clever, and so very enjoyable. I want to hear more from Elvis Costello.

Fun!

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A departure from the other entries I've listened to in the Words+Music series. Elvis Costello focuses more on humor and wordplay, where others are more autobiographical and include songs recorded for the series. Costello mostly hits his mark with the way he turns a phrase, but there are some clunkers that thud like missed notes on his Fender Jazzmaster.

Still worth a listen, even if I didn't learn as much about the author as I would have liked and didn't get the songs I hoped for. The central conceit of teaching a beginner how to play guitar is not meant to be serious, but the "Y" part does end up being quite an effective message.

I was hoping for a higher ratio of music to words

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Interesting for musicians of every level, people who like Elvis Costello, beginners, and anyone who enjoys good audio essay he is a great writer deep and funny

Really good didn’t get into it for the first 10 minutes but very worth it

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I enjoyed it, tells his story in-between philosophical explorations of live music and everything.

Sureal or maybe Postmodern biography?

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Enjoyed how Elvis wore stories into how to play. Very entertaining even for those with no desire to play the guitar.

Great listen

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