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I cant read and listen to music, I cant concentrate. Even if the music is instrumental.... something about it... I dont know.

I used to listen to instrumental Harp music, it was really peaceful. That was back in high school, and its strange, because when i think of Death Gate Cycle novels, I can still hear the harp music in my head... even tho I have no clue who the group/creator is.

If I have any choice at all about it, I do not listen to music while reading. I love both, and trying to do both at the same time seems to me to be a dishonor to both.

I also cannot read and listen to music at the same time. I can however read and watch TV at the same time. The same holds true for homework. I find any music, even classical to be too distracting, but I can ignore the TV fairly well. Doing homework in silence degrades into listening music and doing homework, which shortly becomes just listening to music.

An interesting question.

I struggle to read if the TV or speech radio is on. I'm usually okay if music is not too loud and will often have it on but if I was to choose music knowing I was going to read it would usually be classical music, Radio Three (A classical music radio station) or bands like Sigur Rós.

I don't usually have music on while I read but sometimes in the background I'll have Sigur Ros, the 2 Low Level Owl albums by The Appleseed Cast, God is An Astronaut, Sufjan Stevens, and Explosions in the Sky..I also have a pretty good chill out playlist that I'll have on sometimes when doing hw or reading.

slow, low, repetitive guitar is best if anything, low volume TV blather is ok as it just disolves into background buzz once I get into the book.

I'm with Jamie and Coalbanks. I prefer instrumental rock with slow builds into massive crescendos of sound for reading. Post-rock like Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, This Will Destroy You, The Big Sleep, Do Make Say Think, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra, etc.

If I'm not feeling that then I go for downtempo electronic music like Thievery Corporation or Hooverphonic or trip-hop like Massive Attack or Portishead.

I can't read in silence. I don't know why but I'm completely unable to focus in silence. However, if the TV is on in the background or I have music playing then I can just drop into the novel's universe with no problem.

ah i love Mogwai & Thievery Corporation.


sometimes when i'm at my boyfriend's apartment..i get my best reading done when the tv is on with something i don't want to watch..like a sporting event..unless it's a team i like..then i'll watch.

and sometimes i'll read while watching the Phillies..only when the other team we are playing is up to bat...and definitely not during the world series. i just can't read then.

but silence is a no for me..i need some sort of sounds in the background..

Does anyone else try to read at Starbucks or similar places??

I get too into people watching. I can read at Barnes & Nobles if I tuck myself away in a corner chair..but otherwise..i just sit there observing people.

I can never read with music on, I just don't have the attention span!

I practically never read with music on but if I do it is our sme background music I didn't put on or the music I have on my MP3, a bit of everything.

I used to be able to read during anything. TV, annoying loud people, professors giving lectures, and music especially. I had a weird ability to tune things out. I seem to have lost that part of my brain with pregnancy, the whole concentration thing. now it takes almost complete silence (ie bedtime). there is one exception. sunday and monday night football and sports radio. I seem to be able to ignore those things.

For me it has to be on the quiet and smooth side.... I enjoy listening to classical, but I also sometimes listen to Jazz. This group also got me into Morcheeba! I do enjoy them in the background too. I have a lot of trouble watching television and reading.

I don't usually listen to music & read either. I would only be able to read to an instrumental, something like light classical or acoustic guitar.

When I read on the subway, I listen to anything. Depends on my mood, but usually 70s music. When I read at home, I can only listen to Classical. I think the quieter the environment, the softer the music has to be.

I would rather have silence but if I can't, It's classical baby!

I can't read and listen to music at the same time; I don't have the attention span for it. Even when I read during commercials, I put the TV on mute. Every once and awhile I am able to tune out the TV but it's usually when my fiance is watching Star Trek or something.

I have three active kids. I can tune out anything or else I'd be a stark raving lunatic by now! :0

I notice that I tend to filter everything but the story out- so it doesn't really do any good to listen to music anyway. Once I get into the book, I'm not actually listening anymore.

I also like the TV in the background

I don't put music on if I am going to read, but if its on already I will just tune it out anyway. When I read I really get lost in a book.

I cannot read whit music, but I did study whit music. I liked to study in public places and needed un contrloed sound to ignore the noise around me. Mostly I used opera. its great to overlap the other noises, and I dont get distracted following the lyrics

I used to only be able to read in silence.. but dorm life and moving into an apartment full of boys has required me to adapt. I try to drown out the noise with instrumental music. Explosions in the Sky is my favorite to read to.. I also enjoy listening to Mogwai & The Appleseed Cast, as well as certain classical songs.

Silence please.

Logan and Jamie... you guys mentioned some groups I've never heard of before. I tried Thievery Corporation last night! Wow! Thanks.

No music, but it is seldom quiet around here.

Well, lately I've usually got something from Pandora.com on my computer. You can select an artist or song here and then the site creates a station for you with music similar to the song or artist, including the original choice. I listen to my Hey There Delilah station a lot. Artists include Bright Eyes, Jack Johnson, Dylan Platt, Howie Day, Joshua Radin, Colin Hay, and Stolen Shack. If I'm putting on a CD, it would probably be jazz.

As I sit here listening to my station on Pandora, I feel compelled to add more artists, such as Dave Matthews, Iron and Wine .... I recommend using Pandora. You will love it!

I can't listen to my music and read. I love heavier music, I would not be able to concentrate.
KB

Kathy
I am a HUGE Pandora fan myself!
It's a great sight. I love chosing a bunch of stuff and them selecting the random feature where it plays a cut from each selection.

I like peace & quiet when I read.

When I'm with a very wonderful book, I don't mind whether it's noisy or silent just as long as nobody is talking TO me (because I wouldn't answer and that would be rude). I guess that would mean they could talk ABOUT me. But then again, I don't care, i got to read. LOL!

Yay Pandora! A lot of the music I listen to on there is similar to several CDs I own that are connected to Zach Braff (J.D. on Scrubs). Two of his movies from which he chose the music are Garden State and Last Kiss. I have both soundtracks and love them. I just recently purchased the Scrubs soundtrack and love it, too. Some favorites from it are All in My Head performed by Shawn Mullins, Good Time by Leroy, New Slang by The Shins, Beautiful World and Overkill by Colin Hay, Dracula From Houston by Butthole Surfers, and Hallelujah by John Cale.

I suppose it depends on the book or my mood. Lately I have been reading in silence. But most often I choose music that is soothing like brainwave pulse, flute or koto, or classical music(I <3 "Afternoon Classics" with Greg Kostraba! And "Electronic Currents," "Thisle an Shamrock," and "Hearts of Space"). One of my favorites is a CD of nature sounds combined with Jewel playing piano. Very nice. But sometimes I have to feel upbeat while I read so I will listen to jazz or techno.

I prefer silence, but I do okay if any music without words is playing. Words distract me. The TV kills my concentration. My husband and I both work night shift, and you'd be amazed at the crazy stuff he finds channel-surfing late at night. It's not all infomercials if you have a decent amount of cable channels. That's not to say it's good though. So I'll be trying to read while he's flipping through the channels and I'll hear something crazy and look up with a "What on EARTH are you watching?" I'll try to make it make sense, go back to my book, and 2 minutes later he changes the channel, I hear something crazy, and we go through the whole thing endlessly through the night. His TV time has become my GR time. I can concentrate on the computer.

I can't listen to music when reading. It's just too distracting.

Most of the time I can not listen to music when reading. I just get distracted because a songs starts which I really like, or one I am not feeling like listening to right now or whatever.
The TV noise is kind of more constant.

But most times I read when people are around me (train etc) or somebody is watching Tv or something.

I don't care to listen to music while I read. Mostly because it distracts me and I find myself reading the same paragraph over and over again because it didn't sink in due to half my mind being controlled by the music.

I have no problem, however, reading with the TV on, in a noisy break room, or in any other particularly noisy or distracting background.

Side note: I can read while riding in a car, which my cousin thinks is a miracle. She says that it gives her motion sickness. I had never heard this before... How about you guys?

I have to have music on while I'm reading, cleaning, computing, etc - silence drives me nuts! I too am a Pandora fan(atic) - listening to it now actually. I can listen to anything while I'm reading and the only time it'll distract me is if it's something I hate which isn't very much. If its something I really like I probably won't notice it's playing until its almost over and then I'm like "oh, I love this song, wish I could listen to the whole thing"

I absolutely cannot listen to talk radio or even too many commercials on the radio, they distract me and will force me to either turn it off completely or find another station. I much prefer my MP3 player or the music channels (the ones without commercials) on the t.v.

I can take the music or leave it. But it has to be my music. If the neighbors are being loud and you can't quite make it out...that makes me crazy. I do tend to prefer mellower music when reading...things that I do tune out, but like in the background...Jack Johnson, Dave Barnes, Jason Mraz, Ben Tayler, Matt Nathanson, Matt Wertz...But I can't read and watch TV...visual stimulus overload...

BOB MARLEY
OAR
THE BEATLES
ROGUE WAVE

Fiona, I am with you on the silence part or total noise. I cannot believe when someone sees me reading and then sits next to me and begins a full blown conversation without regard to the fact that I am READING A BOOK. One voice in my ear = total irritation.

If I do listen to music, it is usually new age jazz. Nothing with lyrics.

Ahh, those after my own heart.

I prefer silence. My husband is good about not trying to start a conversation in the midst of my reading, but my dad sometimes isn't (which is funny cause he's a big big reader).

I can't listen to music while reading but I have learned to tune out the Backyardigans and other preschool shows, so I can read during those "quiet" times in my house when my son is relaxing.

For me, music and reading come off as two completely different things. For me, the music system remains on throughout the day and it may range from Bach to Metallica. However, some personal favs esp. when i am reading a novel are :-
The Carpenters
Lobo
Snow Patrol
Coldplay
Don Williams
John Denver
Usually, The Carpenters always seem to fit in with me. Love their music.

My boyfriend adores it that I read and go completely in my own little book world, because then he can sit the whole time at the pc/laptop without being interrupted!

Fiona and Linda.... I'm right there with you... I'm currently staying with my mother, and she does this to me all the time. She's a TV person, and she's always hollering to me to come out to the living room because, and I quote, "You gotta see this!!!!!!!" Even though I'm in the middle of a book that I'm quite happy with. If I cave and go out there, it's usually something I don't give two sh**s about.

The other thing she does, is make random comments that break into my zone... Mostly because she expects me to answer so she keeps repeating until I finally put my book down and answer her. I then pick my book back up and just start getting into it again when, inevitably, she says another random thing that apparently needs a response.

The thing that's scary, is that she will do this a multitude of times when I'm at the end of a book... It's like she has some 6th sense that tells her I'm on the home stretch so she should holler at me every 3 minutes until my ending is close to being ruined....

can anyone explain this to me? I just don't get it...

Darla ! I seriously think your situation deserves a LOL. Try wearing headphones while you're reading. :)

Darla, I get motion sickness when I try to read in the car. I don't really go on long car trips though, so it's not that big of a deal. But it really sucked when I was a kid and tried to read in the car and just got nauseous and had the worst headache ever.

Atishay -- I wish headphones would work... she'd just end up barging into my room... Oh well, I guess I'll have to deal with it until I find my own place again :(

Jessica -- That's quite interesting. I wonder how prevalent that is... I had never heard about the whole motion sickness thing until my cousin

Hmmm :(

I just can't concentrate to read in a noisy room or listening music/TV in the background.

For the same reason I can't read on car/bus/subway trips, but I'm trying to revert this one :)

I read on the bus to and from work, but have found the jabbering of people around me distracts me. So I normally listen to my mp3 player which is on random. I'm able to use the music as background noise, whereas I get too irritated listening to peoples' conversations (which are usually racist, sexist or some other -ist, or just plain ignorant).

I do love reading in the car as a passenger on a road trip, though when it's just me and my boyfriend he tends to get frustrated as he thinks that as the passenger I should try to keep him from sleeping at the wheel. :)

I love to have music on while I read, but mostly, it is just instrumental pieces, because if there are words, I get distracted.