How has the mandolin changed your life?

[JeffD]

I mean non-obvious changes you would not have predicted that took you by surprise.

A couple of big ones for me:

1-Mandolin has entirely taken over my social life. Outside of work, there is not much, if anything social that I do that doesn't involve music somehow.

2-I have much more diverse friends. What they do for a living, what religion they are, what political affiliations they have, all has become irrelevant. I have friends from every age, race, creed, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability, marital status, and socioeconomic status, that I can think of, and most of the time I am friends a long time before I even know many of these things about them. Other than the music we play together, I usually have no idea if I agree with them on any other thing.

3-Stopped watching broadcast or cable television. Its been years and years. Nothing deliberate at first, just no time for it. And it has just dropped off the list. I don't have a television in my home anymore.

4-I have become much more impatient with appliances that stop working after two years, and much more interested in things that get better with age, mandolins of course, but also leather bags, cowboy boots, pocket knives, etc.

I am sure to think of other ways I am changed. You?

[DataNick]

Without going into a litany of items, I'm +1 on your points one through three.

I never dreamed I would become so obsessed with an instrument and a style of playing (Monroe Style Mandolin)...

Good Stuff!

[Ellen T]

It brought me here!

It also gave me some ugly fingerprints, but those are a badge of honor.

Third, and seriously, it can make a bad day turn good, and a good day turn awesome.

[BJ O'Day]

I am getting better at doing sudoku puzzles. Does trying to read music help with logic or mathematics?

BJ

[JeffD]

Third, and seriously, it can make a bad day turn good, and a good day turn awesome.

Yes, and the way that has changed my life, really, is that I have come to consider that I can take on anything, if I can play some music afterwards. I think I am perhaps a bit bolder, socially, professionally, etc., because of it. Fewer situation, or people intimidate me anymore, because I can go get my mandolin afterwards and play The Down Home Waltz.

[Ryk Loske]

It's been the people who are much further down the trail than me who turn around and help us along. I was "introduced" to the mandolin by Jethro. To have the chance to spend a long weekend studying with Don Stiernberg has been the highlight for me. The generosity of folks like Don Julin who has so much helpful stuff on YouTube as well his two books. And the folks here at the Cafe who have been pretty generous sharing their knowledge and insights on a site created by Scott for just such a thing.
It's been the people .....

Thank you!

Ryk

[JeffD]

What do folks do or like or how do you behave differently, because the mandolin is in your life?

[Cecily_Mandoliner]

Playing the mandolin opened a new world of music and people to me. I do have more friends, and as JeffD described, friends from different walks of life.
Playing mandolin has helped improve as a musical person. When I was in college, I used to walk past the music building and pine, because I didn't think I was good enough at anything to make it a major or even take a class (other than voice).
Now, years later, I feel more confident in my music. I play better piano (!) and better guitar. And, I sing stronger than I did before.
With this hobby, it demands a daily interaction with the instrument and a weekly interaction with jammers (although this summer hasn't worked out that in that regard). And, because of this frequent practice and play, everything improves.
I have learned a great deal more than I ever thought I could in the last two years. I have met some really cool people,
have heard some awesome music to aspire to, and learned that I can do so much more than I thought I was capable of.

[Cecily_Mandoliner]

I am getting better at doing sudoku puzzles. Does trying to read music help with logic or mathematics?

BJ

I believe it does! Music is a language!

[Petrus]

It's definitely had an influence on my bank balance.

[journeybear]

I once was lost, but now I'm found.

I was a nobody, and now I'm a somebody. (While I'm playing, anyway.)

I never would have been asked to join a band otherwise. And if I had, it would've been weird. I would have been that guy hanging around musicians, taking up room on stage. You know - a drummer.

[Lou Giordano]

It has giving me something positive and productive to focus on in my retirement.

I never ever thought I would pay some lady to stick pins all over me (acupuncture) Just to help my fingers work better, so I can learn faster

I like bluegrass but I like the people I meet at the jams even more.

[Mark Wilson]

I reallocated all my nightly TV time to mandolin. Even if I quit mandolin - which I won't - I don't see myself spending 2-3 hours a night staring into a tv again. That's a big change.

[FLATROCK HILL]

Because of my job, I end up spending quite a bit of time in hotel rooms. That time felt like wasted time for the most part until I started bringing the mandolin with me. I try to learn, or at least practice a new song with each stay.
The people in the adjoining rooms may not be as enthused with this new productivity as I am.

[Sweetpea44]

I think it also brings families closer. People have already mentioned watching less television. I have three young children with two more (twins) on the way .... I love when I sit and pick around and see one or more of my kids come over and want to strum with me. My husband also plays (guitar and banjo) so I hope we can really encourage our children to be involved in music. And, I love how my kids know what a mandolin actually is .... and not just a small guitar or uke!

[jaycat]

I quit watching TV too. Also smoking and drinking. Nightclubbing -- that's out. Women -- forget about it. I've quit eating sweets and make sure to brush and floss 4 times a day. Also make sure to look both ways before crossing the street. Cancelled all my subscriptions to various magazines and other periodicals. And I quit doing the hootchy-coo.

[red7flag]

The mandolin has become the musical instrument that I write most of my music with. I did not expect that at all. The nature of the mandolin steered my writing toward Celtic/Irish and Gypsy music that were never in my soul. I also seem to write a number of pentatonic tunes that I never wrote before. I knowledgeable musician told me that pentatonic tunes are natural to the fiddle and mandolin due to ease of fingering.

[journeybear]

Geez, jaycat! Sounds like you got the rockin' pneumonia and the boogie-woogie flu. But even worse, sounds like you need a life, 'cause you done divested yourself of a lot of what makes life worth living. I think you might want to reevaluate your priorities - if you were being serious, that is. I mean, that's asking a lot of one little instrument, to replace all that. After all, playing music is supposed to help bring women and the hootchie-koo into your life, not drive them away!

[Mandobart]

You know I also quit TV. Not as a conscious decision, I just don't make time for it and don't mind if I miss anything. There is always something better to do, usually with an instrument.

#1 change for me is now I play a LOT more. I spent years as a mediocre guitar player, and there are hundreds of them around. Now I'm one of just a handful of mandolin/OM/mandocello players around (and the only one willing to go beyond BG and OT) so now I get many more invitations to play and sit in with bands than I can accommodate.

#1 change for my wife is I went from having 1 6-string, 1 12 string, 1 electric and one fiddle to now housing way too many instruments.

I've made many new friends and learned tons more theory and refined my ability to play by ear. All this in less than 7 years.

[journeybear]

Another way the mandolin helped me is it made sense of these odd motions I kept making with my hands and fingers.

[Denny Gies]

Aside from the unalloyed pleasure in playing it, the mandolin has given me an opportunity to meet a diverse group of people that I would never had met without playing.

[JeffD]

Another way the mandolin helped me is it made sense of these odd motions I kept making with my hands and fingers.

[Randi Gormley]

I bonded with my husband over music -- when we were dating, we'd play duets with me on the mandolin and he on guitar. Never expected my interest in music would cement my interest with a sweetheart; like everybody else, I've met some incredible people playing around and about; I've discovered whole genres of music I didn't realize existed; when I go to a new place or I'm on vacation, I connect with people almost immediately through sessions so I'm engulfed in friendship from the beginning. Not to mention finding new places to spend vacation while doing workshops.

[Caleb]

Great thread, JeffD.

I'm not sure I fully understand it or can explain it, but the mandolin has helped me better connect with things generally "old." Old as in things that last and matter and stand the test of time. The mandolin somehow fits well with old books, pipe smoking, good beer, good coffee made at home, sitting around by candlelight, and understanding the world beyond all the flash of modern life with its gadgets and gizmos. It fits well with a man/woman going his/her own way, not paying much attention to fashions, but finding one's own style and pace. I'm convinced it's made me more laid back, and I believe I enjoy life more since finding the mandolin.

[JeffD]

I am with you there.

Pipe smoking, playing dominoes with a really old set, candles, things, like mandolins, where the joy transcends the mere physical object.