Double Bass DB forum "what books are you reading" thread

[MLysh]

Currently reading "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" by Chistopher Moore and "The Alteration" by Kingsley Amis. The Moore book is just O.K. I'd heard about him for quite awhile and decided to give him a try. The Amis book, on the other hand, is very good, so far (20 pages in).

+1 on anything by Salter or Saunders, two of my favorite writers.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Have been busy and reading a bunch of fluffy crime novels to help my brain shut down at night, but just read this little gem by Will Durant with a very unlikely title:

I've always loved Durant but was skeptical about the topic. I read it anyway and it's a beautiful and enlightening little read.

Here's the synopsis:
"In the Fall of 1930 Will Durant found himself outside his home in Lake Hill, New York, raking leaves. He was approached by a well-dressed man who told him in a quiet tone that he was going to kill himself unless the philosopher could give him a valid reason not to. Not having the time to wax philosophic on the matter, Durant did his best to furnish the man with reasons to continue his existence. Haunted by the encounter with the despondent stranger, Durant contacted 100 luminaries in the arts, politics, religion and sciences, challenging them to respond not only to the fundamental question of life's meaning (in the abstract) but also to relate how they each (in the particular) found meaning, purpose and fulfillment in their own lives. Durant turned their answers and his own into a book entitled "On The Meaning Of Life", which was released to the general public in 1932. Unpromoted, the litte treasure found its way into few hands, and almost no copies of the book exist today. Now available for a new generation through Promethean Press, "On The Meaning Of Life" is a powerful book on a very powerful topic. In this book Will Durant has fashioned an unprecedented "dream team" of luminaries that is both profound and diverse: poets, philosophers, saints, inmates, athletes, Nobel Prize winners, college professors, psychologists, entertainers, musicians, authors and leaders. Within their varied insights, despite their uniqueness as individuals and the very different lives they led, the reader will note a consistent thread running through their viewpoints, revealing a commonality among human beings who not only seek meaning in life, but who actually achieve it."

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Harper Lee's Mockingbird is simply mind blowing. I can't believe I never read this before now (it's the current book). And how is it that she could write this and never write another? Wow.

Funny that I wrote this 7 years ago. Currently reading the newly found pre-version of "Mockingbird", Go Set A Watchman. It's too early yet to tell how I'll like the overall arc of the book, but that powerful narrative voice and telling character observations sure are there. Reminds me that the arts aren't really all that different in the sense that a great voice is discernible within the first few notes.

 

[Huy Nguyen]

I'm reading two books right now on kindle:

The Brazilian Music Book: Brazil's Singers, Songwriters and Musicians Tell the Story of Bossa Nova, MPB, and Brazilian Jazz and Pop. - Chris McGowan
Book of mostly interviews of the famous brazilian musicians and composers: Jobim, Gilberto Gil, Caetano, Airto, Sergio Mendes, etc.

The Art of Somatic Coaching: Embodying Skillful Action, Wisdom, and Compassion - Richard Strozzi-Heckler

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Huy, would love to hear your take on the second one when the time comes.

 

[Michael Karn]

The last two were The Pawnbroker by Edward Lewis Wallant, which was absolutely amazing, and Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada, which while not quite as good as the Pawnbroker was still great. And since I'm in the car all the time i just finished the (very long) audiobook of my favorite Raymond Chandler novel The Long Goodbye, which is super dark and kind of twisted (and i must admit, a little misogynistic), but in the funniest way possible

 

[Huy Nguyen]

Huy, would love to hear your take on the second one when the time comes.

I'm halfway through it. Strozzi-Heckler is a well known Aikidoka (I don't know what his rank is), and was pivotal in the establishment of Aikido here in the bay area. He is known for his association with George Leonard and Wendy Palmer to develop transpersonal psychology related understanding. Something like that.

The book basically talks about everything is related to the Soma (or Body), and there is a relationship between somatic psychology going back to one of Freud's colleagues. The idea is that much of psychological trauma/conflict/neurosis becomes trapped in the body. The feeling of knots in your stomach, tension in the shoulders, knots in the chest, etc., those are all related to emotional stress as somatic symptoms. The book's talking mostly about the what and why (no so much how yet) about understanding or unblocking these symptoms which then leads to a release from those emotional conflicts. I guess you can say it's going at psychotherapy from a different direction: address the body and it will address the spirit, rather than regular psychotherapy which is the inverse?

Having done a little bit and gotten coached, many of the exercises involve breathing and experimenting with creating tension in the body (through the tightening and relaxation of muscles), and then developing a body awareness to sense tension. The book briefly touches on this stuff but hasn't gone in depth yet. The goal is to allow the body to related to the rest of the world naturally and without conflict. Doing so also leads to more buddhist-like ideas that everything is interconnected and understanding suffering.

 

[gerry grable]

I'm halfway through it. Strozzi-Heckler is a well known Aikidoka (I don't know what his rank is), and was pivotal in the establishment of Aikido here in the bay area. He is known for his association with George Leonard and Wendy Palmer to develop transpersonal psychology related understanding. Something like that.

The book basically talks about everything is related to the Soma (or Body), and there is a relationship between somatic psychology going back to one of Freud's colleagues. The idea is that much of psychological trauma/conflict/neurosis becomes trapped in the body. The feeling of knots in your stomach, tension in the shoulders, knots in the chest, etc., those are all related to emotional stress as somatic symptoms. The book's talking mostly about the what and why (no so much how yet) about understanding or unblocking these symptoms which then leads to a release from those emotional conflicts. I guess you can say it's going at psychotherapy from a different direction: address the body and it will address the spirit, rather than regular psychotherapy which is the inverse?

Having done a little bit and gotten coached, many of the exercises involve breathing and experimenting with creating tension in the body (through the tightening and relaxation of muscles), and then developing a body awareness to sense tension. The book briefly touches on this stuff but hasn't gone in depth yet. The goal is to allow the body to related to the rest of the world naturally and without conflict. Doing so also leads to more buddhist-like ideas that everything is interconnected and understanding suffering.

Try to find "The Horn" by John Clellon Holmes.

 

[Huy Nguyen]

Try to find "The Horn" by John Clellon Holmes.

Gerry, can you give some details? Sounds interesting but not sure how the two relate.

 

[ColdEye]

I jump between Shogun by James Clavell and Journey East.

 

[gerry grable]

Gerry, can you give some details? Sounds interesting but not sure how the two relate.

Gerry, can you give some details? Sounds interesting but not sure how the two relate.

I'm sorry if I seemed to imply a relationship between the two books. I was just adding a suggestion to the list of books on the thread: Pawnbroker and Long Goodbye.
Holmes, in my opinion, was the best (technically) writer of all of the "Beats." His first book "Go" is about his early relationship with Kerouac, Ginsberg and the rest of the group. "The Horn" is a rather vague roman a clef dealing with the jazz world in the 40s and 50s. I think he catches the jazz feel of the times pretty well for a writer who is not a musician himself. Remember, the Beats liked jazz and idolized jazz players, not like the hipsters now who are into rap and rock.
.

 

[the_Ryan]

I just bought the book So You've Been Publicly Shamed. It sounded interesting and a few people I follow online had good things to say about it.

 

[Huy Nguyen]

I've been wrapped up with Dan Pink's "Drive" on my daily commute - mainly how it's related to my occupation.
Drive | Daniel H. Pink

Much of it has been making me think why I approach music as I do and why I abhor typical musical pedagogy. I'm halfway through it and he talks about how motivating through inspiration goes a far far longer distance than the carrot/stick approach. Grit and follow through on tough studies is one thing but it makes me think much that rote teaching and rote learning can actually sap motivation. It's not about being "fun" but not turning an what should be an enjoyable endeavor into a slog.

@Chris Fitzgerald, I think this is a must-read for you (along with many resident teachers we have here).

 

[Joshua]

I'm re-reading:

I do so every few years. Between the fascinating life story that it is and all the amazing photos it's one of my fave reads.

 

[Groove Doctor]

I've been wrapped up with Dan Pink's "Drive" on my daily commute - mainly how it's related to my occupation.
Drive | Daniel H. Pink

Much of it has been making me think why I approach music as I do and why I abhor typical musical pedagogy. I'm halfway through it and he talks about how motivating through inspiration goes a far far longer distance than the carrot/stick approach. Grit and follow through on tough studies is one thing but it makes me think much that rote teaching and rote learning can actually sap motivation. It's not about being "fun" but not turning an what should be an enjoyable endeavor into a slog.

@Chris Fitzgerald, I think this is a must-read for you (along with many resident teachers we have here).

Rote learning CAN be fun, and is great at building confidence quickly, but only at a pace a student is comfortable with.

Experiential learning varies enormously. I'm best thrown in the deep end, the first person to volunteer, etc.

Other people prefer to watch then go away and work it out themselves. A few poignant questions/pointers to ruminate on and it all falls in place later on for them.

Find what works for each student and nurture that.... plus an occasional shove when you think they're ready to fly.

 

[Huy Nguyen]

Find what works for each student and nurture that.... plus an occasional shove when you think they're ready to fly.

Agreed. But that's the key, spending the time to find the thing that nutures the student, that nutures their interest and motivation.

It's a little more clear that the problem is with cookie cutter instruction. Do X,Y, and Z, and you will get a diploma/certificate/etc. It may be good to get a the required stamp of approval but it doesn't necessarily foster genius or mastery. They may end up acquiring what skills they're forced to learn (or coerced through reward), but they're unlikely to stick with it.

tl;dr; version of the book: Stick and carrot have been studied and shown in many cases not to work. Rewards drive down motivation. Rewards only work in certain applications where the task is well defined and done by rote, with a very short duration.

 

[Treyzer]

@hdiddy, I'm certainly not a proponent of "cookie cutter" instruction and I may not be totally understanding your point, but for me, it's always been about self motivation. It has been pretty well established through any number of sociological studies that there are many modes of learning. In addition, students are inspired by different things and we all learn at our own speeds. However, in music, there are many scale exercises, arpeggios and fingering drills that are based on memorization and/or rote learning. Although these forms of study are not always exciting for everyone, typically, over time, these skills help a musician access more inspirational and creative levels of playing. A good teacher/mentor is key but he/she can only do so much. After that, it's up to the student. He/she has to take ownership of what nurtures, inspires and motivates them. IMHO

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Sound like we're kind of talking around the same point: Inspiration fuels motivation and is it's own reward, thus replacing the carrot. Sounds a lot like what Daniel Coyle calls "ignition" in The Talent Code. Or am I missing something?

 

[jthisdell]

Excellent book on Django, really interesting read.

 

[jasonrp]

Been reading Cronin's Passage trilogy lately. I've been struggling to find books lately that are re-readable; most are one and done junk food for the brain.

Maybe Martin will finish the Winds of Winter this year.