Do you folks read much?

[Tillmanator]

Hi Folks,

I am teacher and many of my colleagues are amazed that as an educator, I don't read a lot. I tell them that I spend my spare time (that they would use to read) for practicing. This is totally foreign to them. They think I should already know how to play well enough and who would want to practice an instrument that they already can play.

I was wondering if folks here read often or would you prefer to spend that time behind a mando or other instrument of choice? Given the choice to either read or practice I will almost always choose to practice.

Am I some kind of intellectual inferior?

[Tim]

If you are making the choice that makes you happy, you aren't making an inferior choice. I personnally always have at least one book that I'm reading.

For me, the balance and variety is what's important.

[epicentre]

I just fought my way through "See Spot Run", and now am attempting a G scale.

This count?

[Robert Moreau]

Because of my apartment situation my practice time is limited to around a 9 p.m. quitting time so I tend to get the reading in as well as the picking. I would hate to give up one or the other.

[JEStanek]

For me it's not an either or choice. It's both. If I were completely honest, I would say I read more than I practice. Reading sure is easier. They're both very fulfilling and I would hate to be forced to give up one for the other.

You gotta do what fulfills you. Seems like practicing and playing is it!

Jamie

[mythicfish]

"Am I some kind of intellectual inferior? "

Well ... If you're an English teacher I'd consider taking out some form of malpractice insurance.

[Caleb]

Have any of you considered audio books? Audio books can transform your boring drivetime into a wealth of learning. I don't even listen to music in the car anymore; I'm either listening to a good book on CD or a college lecture series (also available from most libraries on TONS of topics). Most local libraries have a nice selection of audio books, and if yours doesn't there are several companies that do rentals via the mail. If you live in a large city like I do, you'll find enough great books on tape/CD at your local library that you won't have to spend your money on rentals.

I find many people that have never even considered these possibilities, so go check out the library!

[Mike Bunting]

I can see the value of audio books, I buy them for my 88 year old mom, but for me the act of reading is as pleasurable as the intellectual satisfaction. I love to sit down with tea or coffee and settle into my current reading material, most satisfying!

[Caleb]

I can see the value of audio books, I buy them for my 88 year old mom, but for me the act of reading is as pleasurable as the intellectual satisfaction. I love to sit down with tea or coffee and settle into my current reading material, most satisfying!

I don't see an audio book as a complete substitute for the act of sitting down with a good book, but they can greatly enrich an otherwise boring or non-productive amount of spent time.

[ShaneJ]

I am teacher and many of my colleagues are amazed that as an educator, I don't read a lot. I tell them that I spend my spare time (that they would use to read) for practicing. This is totally foreign to them. They think I should already know how to play well enough and who would want to practice an instrument that they already can play.

Your colleagues sound like typical academics - more interested in reading about things and theorizing than actually doing something.

OK, I'm now ducking for cover from all the flying books headed my way from all the eggheads.

[Dave Cohen]

The ridiculous thing about what you just wrote is not WHO you slammed, but that (a) you chose to single out a group of people having a profession in common and call them a name, and (b) you went on to stereotype them. Could'a been any group of people. So, have YOU been called any names lately?

[Bill Snyder]

Does reading the posts at the Mandolin Cafe count?

[ShaneJ]

The ridiculous thing about what you just wrote is not WHO you slammed, but that (a) you chose to single out a group of people having a profession in common and call them a name, and (b) you went on to stereotype them. Could'a been any group of people. So, have YOU been called any names lately?

Well, the lack of non-verbal cues strikes again. Sorry. Just a little good-natured ribbing, and not intended as a serious slam. I guess a sense of humor isn't the result of lots of reading.

[pjlama]

I read before bed, it's kinda hard to play yourself to sleep

[Mark Sullivan]

Does Harry Potter count?

[JimD]

I both read and practice.

I haven't watched television in about 10 years. My students (conservatory) and many of my adult friends believe that this lack will make me hopelessly out of touch.

[Andrew Lewis]

I'm an English teacher, and I manage to do both. I will admit, though, that if I didn't play instruments I would likely get a lot more reading done, so I'm just more selective in what I do read - I like to keep it to the classics like Faulkner and Joyce. Every now and then, though, I'll pick up a book about music for a little lighter reading!

[Alex Fields]

I do both. For a while I was reading at an insane rate of like a novel a day on average, but was neglecting music. Lately I've been practicing more like six hours a day so I don't have time to read that much, but I still read. Of course, I have the luxury of being able to do this only because I am a college student with no bills to pay, a house to live in for free, and financial aid/scholarships to pay my gas/cheap food stuff...so I don't have to work. If I had less time it would be a tough choice between reading and practicing. As it is I wish I had more time for both.

And I also find the time to do this by:

Never going to parties (I'm a junior in college and I don't even know what a party would be like), rarely hanging out with anyone other than my girlfriend (most of which time is spent practicing or talking about music anyway) or parents, never watching television except House on Tuesday nights, etc. I sleep occasionally, go to school, do my papers and study very quickly, practice, and read. That's it.

Oh yeah, and sometimes I waste time on the internet. But usually I'm practicing mandolin while I do so.

[Alex Fields]

I like to keep it to the classics like Faulkner and Joyce

Good man. Faulkner is probably my favorite novelist, and Ulysses is probably my favorite novel (although I've been working my way through In Search of Lost Time and it may take over that title).

[Larry Simonson]

I read a dozen or so books a year, about an hour or so each night- can't go to sleep without reading first. #I recently finished "The Living" by Annie Dillard, a wonderful novel of the gruesome mid 19th century living in the Pugit Sound region. #Orca Island was mentioned several times and I thought of Bruce and his Orca Island's Tone Woods. #Presently reading "Tis' by Frank McCourt which I highly recommend. #I also recommend that the instigator of this thread read McCourt's "Teacher Man". #Gonna re-read Griffith's "The battle for Guadalcanal", a book read 10 years ago that set me off to reading 40 -50 books on WWII. The best musical theme book I read was Annie Proulx's "Accordion Crimes". #I quit reading chemistry journals 2 years ago.

[Dave Cohen]

So, SJennings, namecalling and stereotyping are funny if you put a little smiley emoticon after the names and stereotypes? I must not have any sense of humor.

[GVD]

..I must not have any sense of humor.

Agreed.

GVD

[Joel Spaulding]

As an academic ( although not a typical, nor entirely serious one) I found both humor and truth in SJennings' statement.

It was a joke!

As to the OP: I also choose practice most often when faced with the choice but don't believe it is a "either/or" proposition. My reasoning is simple: When reading aloud in public, my skill level has often been recognized as at least elementary - I don't know if that could be said of my mandolin playing

[Andrew Lewis]

I like to keep it to the classics like Faulkner and Joyce

Good man. # #Faulkner is probably my favorite novelist, and Ulysses is probably my favorite novel (although I've been working my way through In Search of Lost Time and it may take over that title).

You've likely read some Cormac McCarthy then, but, if not, I would highly recommend him to a Faulker or Joyce lover like yourself. Try Blood Meridian or The Road (his latest). They've been making some films of his stuff lately (All the Pretty Horses and No Country for Old Men), but he is definitely hardcore literature.

[Alex Fields]

I loved Blood Meridian, also read Child of God but thought it was only decent. I plan to read Suttree eventually...have a ton of books on my to-read list (including a number on counterpoint and fugue and stuff) though so who knows when I'll get to it.