Writing Led

Authoring a book is an experience with excitements and frustrations, successes and failures, self-congratulations and self-condemnations. But through the course of this roller-coaster ride, a sense of unmitigated determination must prevail; a pre-ordained belief that one's work is necessary, important, even...destined!

When choosing Led Zeppelin as my subject, inspiration is an intrinsic driving force. Their triumphs, their tragedies, their experiences and wealth of knowledge, all inform my own progressively developing musical path. Sharing this with others becomes an obligation, and a duty. However, inherent to any endeavor of teaching others (whether in a personalized or depersonalized setting) is a responsibility to be as thorough and accurate as possible as regards the information proliferated. No matter how much one has learned about a given subject, more can be known, and details must be clarified. A certain amount of subjective analysis is inescapable, but shoddy research and sloppy recall is not. But, perhaps most important of all, is an emphasis on implementation, so that what one learns is seen as demonstrable (where applicable.) This serves to authenticate what one teaches. It's one thing to regurgitate ones learning; it is quite another to demonstrate it from one's experience. Thus, the tri-fold tools of inspiration, information and implementation form a balanced triangle of teaching.

So, what of the hind-sight evaluation of my first book-writing experience? Though the process is rife with those previously stated highs and lows, I am convinced of this one thing: Back to Schoolin': What Led Zeppelin Taught Me About Music, is one more step in the generational passing down of musical knowledge and experience which is begun with Jubal (Gen. 4:21) and culminates with the song of the redeemed (Rev. 5:9-13). Since music ultimately transcends our empirical experience(s), Back to Schoolin' is, despite its author's many faults and lack of qualifiers, indeed necessary, important and destined.