Deafness

[chopin2015]

So a deaf composer/genius like Beethoven...cool. But what would a deaf pianist do? Face it...we all have ears and so we all hold that which is most dear to us and can loose hearing. Any time, explosion, someone turns on loud music, someone hits your ear...swimming/perforation...

What would a deaf pianist do? How do you make up for time you wont have later? What should we be doing? How can we represent what we love in the music we learn and play...and put it into music we hear? How do we put it into music we feel?

 

[outin]

What would a deaf pianist do? How do you make up for time you wont have later? What should we be doing? How can we represent what we love in the music we learn and play...and put it into music we hear? How do we put it into music we feel?

 

Deaf people can learn to hear with their body. There are deaf musicians, they use the vibrations from the instruments to "hear". If one is not deaf from birth it helps to also know how "normal" people hear if you are making music for them.

[indianajo]

I lost most high frequencies in one blast of the howitzer at ROTC summer camp, 1969.  The whistling (tinitis) has finally stopped, but the factory tests in 2008 showed I am 10 db down at 14 khz and have nothing above that.
I still thoroughly enjoy music.  But I take the occasional ear infection very seriously.  My grandmother was mostly deaf, due to a "bad cold" in 1905.  She had damaged stirrups in her ears. 
With a lot of retina deterioration in my father's family due to diabetes, I'm memorizing pieces on the piano as hard as I can go.  I tested diabetic three years ago.    I could deal with bad eyesight;  I ride the bus a lot now to accomplish errands, just due to the price of fuel and vehicles.  But no music, no radio, nothing played by me- that would be very boring.   

[iansinclair]

It would depend a lot on the nature and degree of the deafness.  My mother, since passed on, was quite deaf in both ears, but towards the end of her life hearing aid quality began to improve enough so she was still able to play (to the extent her arthritis permitted -- getting old is tough) beautifully, and really enjoy it (she always said she enjoyed my playing too, which was nice of her).

[birba]

I can't imagine anything worse.  Last year i took up scuba diving, and after a particularly long dive, i had water in my ears for two months.  It was a nightmare and needless to say, i gave up scuba diving. I was sure i would never be able to hear properly again.  I would truly prefer going blind.  One of my last teachers has been suffering from acute deafness and though her husband says she's coping i can't believe she's not suffering inside.  She says she hears herself and still performs once in a while.

[chopin2015]

Go get your hearing checked. If you still have a perforation, you can get tympanoplasty. Ive had it done...it really breaks my heart. I have good hearing in my right ear but every time there is noise I get really upset...i took a taxi to my grandpas once and the driver blasted bass the whole way there. I asked him to turn it down but he only did for a little bit. I stuffed earplugs so deep in my ear and wore isolating headphones over them...ive never felt such pain. I will never forgive that fool. Ever. Just like the time i got blasted by feedback by an idiot. Hearing is not permanent. When its stolen from us, it is one of the saddest things a person who has to continue living can experience.