Comments on: Tone-Deafness Begins In Brain – Study

By: Oscar Escalada

Oscar Escalada — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:57:11 +0000

I made contact with Dr. Loui and received his answer which is very exciting and match with the experiences that we state in our discussion. I am transcribing it:
“By showing that the arcuate fasciculus is diminished in tone-deaf individuals, we do not intend to show that tone-deafness is unrecoverable, rather that we now have a target in the brain that can be sensitive to rehabilitation. There is plenty of evidence that the brain is plastic and can change in its structure and function as a result of training; therefore I am not surprised that it is possible to get initially tone-deaf people to sing after much careful training”.

By: Oscar Escalada

Oscar Escalada — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:52:57 +0000

I am 64 years old and live in Argentina. I work as a Professor of choral conducting for students of Musical Education at the Conservatory of La Plata and I have been teaching children for more than fourty years. Mainly I tought my students what I prooved with the children, that is: acting in the same way that Mr.Delvecchio describes and many of you agreed I arrived to the same result. What I find quite disturbing is the fact that Dr. Psyche Loui has made an investigation that found that tone deafness is a neural abnormality. So, would it be possible that we join our experiences in such a different specialities as medicine and choral singing/teaching? It might come to the light why tone deafness can be treated successfully as far as our experiences states. I am most sure of the results I acheive throughout all these years and indeed all of you who passed trhought the same experience can support. On the other hand, I have no dubt that Harvard University will offer to the science what they found as a true in their research, but then, something is missing in the middle according to our personal experience. I am not talking only from a subjective point of view, I am talking from a scientific point of view. I tought to my students to make a diagnosis of tuning in the first class, write it down and follow the evolution of the child throughout the semester. The test has several items such as the amount of notes sung in tune, keep the pitch, etc. After the diagnosis, they start to apply the method that has many similar aproaches as stated here. At the end of the semester EVERY CHILD has increased their tuning skills. Why is that? I would like to link these experiences with Dr. Psyche Loui’s in order to understand this phenomenon. (Please forgive my English)

By: Melissa Chesnut-Tangerman

Melissa Chesnut-Tangerman — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:25:20 +0000

Bravo, Susan Marrier, for your analogy of the math teacher. What strikes me in this discussion and in the culture at large is the ubiquity of people who have been traumatized by others, not necessarily their music teachers, telling them they cannot sing. We all sang before we talked. The article mentions those cringable people on American Idol who have a blissfully false sense of their ability. I submit that we encourage truly bad behavior in our culture which would have people of any and all ability sit in their living room chairs freely judging those who pour their souls out (never mind the motivation being for fame and money). Witness the global response to Susan Boyle back in the spring! My young students hear nothing but digitized “perfection” on CDs, and participate in the hyper-critical model of American Idol (and other “reality” shows) by judging from the safety of their non-effort. This makes them internally and unconsciously hyper-critical of themselves, and impairs their own good effort.

By: John O'Neal

John O'Neal — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:32:45 +0000

You are so very right. I have done the same thing on many occasions and had good luck. While I have not found 100% results, it is pretty close. Furthermore, Those individuals may never gain the acuity of those “hardwired” for pitch, but it does provide a hope for them and often gives them confidence to play handbells or percussion and participate fully in joyful music making. I would be curious for this study to further define whether or not the participants recognize pitch and simply cannot recreate it and if there are individuals who cannot recognize pitch at all.

By: George Berglund

George Berglund — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:45:19 +0000

I couldn’t agree more. This works even with people who haven’t been traumatized or mistreated early in life, but who simply claim: “I can’t sing.” They can too! All they have to do is BE WILLING TO TRY THE ABOVE APPROACH. In my early years of teaching, I once had a high school student who was a member of the track team. He was famous for telling tales on the back of the team bus in his booming bass voice. But he couldn’t match pitches – at first. I played several pitches in his range, asking him to match them. When he couldn’t even come close, I asked him to hold a pitch and proceeded to find that pitch on the piano. When he heard the match, he nearly jumped out of his skin! It was an entirely new experience for him. He was willing to come in for regular 5-minute sessions, gradually gained in confidence and ability to sing, and eventually earned the role of Captain von Trapp in our school musical, “The Sound of Music.” He went on to college on a football scholarship, majored in drama, and continued singing. So I always remember this experience when people tell me they can’t sing!

By: Susan Marrier

Susan Marrier — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:16:57 +0000

My experience is much the same as Mr. Del Vecchio’s, after some forty years of working with both children and adults. Any such problem in the brain, with most people, has probably been as a result of the emotional trauma and resulting atrophy of which he speaks, or, in the case of young children, is probably from lack of full development. The study published can only serve to confirm people in their supposed tone deafness. Ten percent is certainly excessive and points to flaws in the research rather than to real-life experience.

Music teachers who tell children they cannot sing and should just “mouth the words” are like a math teacher who would tell a child she cannot do math and should just move the pencil across the page. The teacher’s job is not to judge or assess, but to TEACH!

By: zella mcgettrick

zella mcgettrick — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 02:59:06 +0000

Hope you can make out what website I really read this on. They changed it in the middle of my reply information. . .
I have turned deaf, as of 3 years ago, or so, and I can’t sing, on key, even with hearing aids (very, very expensive ones), but, if I start the music, in ‘my’ key, I can usually maintain a ‘tune’. . . However, I am always, at least one step below the piano, and sometimes, in the upper ranges, as much as l and l/2 steps off. . . Is there any help for me, as I have always been a singer of some excellence (this according to other people, not myself, for I’ve a tendency to downplay my abilities, having always been taught humility.) If anyone, out there, knows any way in which I might retrain that portion of my brain that has the damage, I will be forever grateful. I have suffered some TIAs, almost certainly as a side effect of sleep apnea, and I am supposing that this deafness stems, in part, from this malady, for the doctors indentified that problem, about the same time I began to be very deaf. Thanks for your most informative articles on the internet. . . Zella

By: Peter Del Vecchio

Peter Del Vecchio — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:50:14 +0000

I am a lifelong music teacher. I discovered early in my career that those people who were “tone deaf” all had some traumatic treatment at the hands of others (mean music teachers, choir directors, parents, etc.) when they were young (pre-teen to young teen), wherein their singing was roundly criticized. Many were publicly humiliated and stigmatized. Consequently, they stopped singing altogether and developed a deep fear and negative image about their own singing. In effect, they abandoned even trying to sing, some for many decades!

What I discovered is nothing short of miraculous! Traditionally, music teachers play (or sing) a note and ask the student to then match it. Most can, but those who can’t are often told they “can’t sing” and are labeled “tone deaf”. What I discovered is that for those people (at ANY age) who have thought that they just “can’t sing” and who even call themselves “tone deaf”, if I let THEM give the first tone, and then I match THEIR tone, then they can maintain that pitch (that I matched) very well. There immediately becomes a spark of confidence! They are singing with another person for the first time in their life!

Next, (after informing them of my plan so they are ready for it) I lower my pitch one half-step (a chromatic step), and 100% of the time, they can also then match that tone AND next, with my encouragement, RETURN to their original tone! 100% of the time! If I try to make them go UP a half-step the first time, they usually cannot do it. From the little successes of going down and then up gradually, their confidence broadens, and their control of their pitch matching steadily improves.

I have NEVER met any person that could not learn this way! I am now almost 57 and I discovered this technique when I was around 20 years old. My rate of success with supposedly “tone deaf” people is 100%, no fooling! One must be ultra patient and kind, and this must be done privately, with no observers, as the person is usually so traumatized from mistreatment as a child, that they so fear criticism and embarrassment. Do it right and it works!