The Sweetness of Heard Melodies (and Harmonies)

This morning, I left Elite Hearing Centers with two new devices: a high-end hearing aid for my left ear, and a CROS transmitter for my right.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, Ray Charles's "America the Beautiful" started up on Spotify and, as if on cue, I started sobbing like a kid hearing music for the first time. The harmonies, which are normally a single blur, were clear and distinct. I noticed instruments I hadn't realized were there before. And most important, the music had a warmth to it that it had never had before. Do normal people hear music like this? I sure hope so. It is heavenly.

For someone who’s been mostly deaf since childhood, these new devices aren’t just technology—they’re a door opening up to a rich musical world (and I thought my musical world was already pretty rich)!

How do you describe the moment you hear a favorite song as if it’s brand new? Here is a bit about my hearing-aid journey.

From One Ear to Two

I’ve worn a hearing aid since 1999. Back then, with a tight budget, I got a basic model for my “good” ear (the one with moderate-to-severe hearing loss, unlike my “bad” ear, which no hearing aid could help). It was life-changing—I cried for days, overwhelmed by sounds I’d missed for years. Once, hiking with friends, I marveled at the “silent” woods during a snack break, only to learn (after popping my hearing aid back in) that a noisy bird fight was raging nearby. My friends thought I was nuts!

In 2006, after accidentally crushing that hearing aid while working at a bookstore , I eventually upgraded. Better sound, more tears! In 2014, a new mid-range model brought even clearer audio ... and yes, I cried again. But my 2014 hearing aid started slipping out a few months ago, and after it took a muddy bath in my yard during a rainy week, it became unreliable. Time for a change.

CROS and Music Mode

At Elite Hearing Centers a few weeks ago, I discovered how far hearing-aid technology has come. And this time, I could get not one, but two high-end devices. I picked them up this morning: A hearing aid (with a dedicated music setting!) for my left ear, and, for my right ear, a CROS device, which looks like a hearing aid but beams sound from my deaf side to my good ear. Now, I'll be able to hear my passenger while driving—no more shouting matches in the car! But the real magic happened as I left the hearing aid place and turned on the music. It was so clear and beautiful. I just wanted to stay in my car and listen to music all day.

What’s Next?

I'm itching to get home and test my new hearing at the piano. I know this will help my ear training. Will it help my piano playing as well? We'll see, and I'll share it here first!

Comments

The Rusty Lock and Key

I'm in a room. There's a door in front of me. On the other side of that door is a whole world of adventure and imagination and joy and delight, but for the moment, I'm locked in this gray little room. The door itself has a lock that is all rusted. I've tried to open it in the past, but I've never gotten very far. Sometimes I try to scrape the rust off the lock. I also have a rusty old key that I occasionally try to polish. Each time, after I've made a little progress, I'll put it into the keyhole in hopes of opening the door. It turns a half a millimeter or so, but the brief excitement at my progress dies quickly when I realize, once again, the lock isn't opening. I set the old key aside, and from there I can forget about the door, the lock, and the world outside, for months—years, even. But then something happens—I hear birdsong, or I catch a glimpse of color—and I pick up the key and start picking away at the stubborn rust. That dark little room is my ...

March Goals Recap/Looking Ahead to April

It's April 1, and time to revisit the goals I set for last month. I practiced a total of 50.45 hours in March, averaging 1.62 hours (or just over an hour and a half) per day. Realistically, I practice about 45 minutes to an hour a day on weekdays, and I usually get at least one longer practice (or multiple shorter practices) in on one or both days of the weekend to bring the average up. CLASSICAL GOALS Chopin, F Minor Nocturne March Goal: Have entire piece by memory and performance-ready. I have about 90% of the piece by memory, but I still have some work to do before it's performance-ready. The only two sections that I don't quite have are "The Agitation" and the "stretto" section with the seventh chords. I'll work on both this week and will have them both memorized before the weekend. April Goal: Finish memorizing, and polish, polish, polish! My focus now is really on phrasing and dynamics. I have the notes down, even in the difficult passages. Fro...

The Amazing Practice Tracker 2.0: Leveling Up My Piano Game

(Apologies for the cheesy clip art. I needed to come up with something, or the Blogger template would show a fuzzy, overly-enlarged snippet of the first chart below.) When I showed my husband my piano practice tracker, he said I should market and sell it. Ha. It’s not for sale, but I’m excited to share how this tool has transformed my practice—and why it might inspire all three of my readers. Since my last post about the Amazing Practice Tracker, I’ve made it even better. Here’s a peek at how it works, using my June data. All The Pretty Colors, All the Pretty Winners My tracker now sparkles with color: darker shades for active pieces, lighter ones for maintenance, technique, and sight-reading. Each day, the piece I practice most gets a bright yellow highlight—a little “gold medal,” if you will. (Click image for a slightly larger view.) A leaderboard automatically shows the day’s top piece and time. And if that isn't enough, I keep track of the month's leaders--specifically, ho...

Picking Up the Pieces

Search This Blog