The Sense Most Valued
I have sensitive ears, and the longer I live I become more and more aware at how much I value my hearing. Words truly cannot describe the value I place on hearing.
I get a plugged left ear every now and then, and I have one right now. It makes me crazy-nuts when I can't hear so well out of my left ear. I'm so disoriented and cloudy when this happens, and I get scared that this will happen more and more often.
I started playing music at six-years-old. And for whatever skill I had on the drums, it is pretty clear to me that my best asset as a musician was my ability to listen to my fellow musicians and play along with them. I was a pretty good drummer with some skill and chops...but my forte was being able to blend in almost immediately in whatever situation I played. I got that by playing all styles of music in my formative years...from pop to rock to metal to jazz to polkas to classical to blues to opera to cajun to gospel to disco to funk to r&b to bad cruise ship gigs. I did all of that and more, and the thing that allowed me to do that was not my hands--indeed, most drummers had better "hands" than I had. But I had good ears, and that got me through a lot of gigs. Got me into some incredibly magical situations, too, as I was able to hear and react and play almost any song as if I had heard it before, even though it was brand new to me. Fellow musicians have said many more good things about my ears than my hands. I was always happy with that.
And now, in my next life-act, my ears are still paramount. I'm trying to be a therapist for crying out loud. I've long felt that I like psychology and therapy because there is a creative element to therapy. Every client and sesison is different, and a good therapist needs to be able to listen, adapt, and react. Can't do that without good ears. As a practicing therapist, as I was as a practicing musician, I am interested in developing "good ears." Good ears is so far more important to me than good chops. Good ears create good chops. It's not so much about practicing as it is about listening. Practice is important. Listening is more important.
And I have a plugged ear.
posted by Teodoro Callate @ 12:41 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
careful, Teo. I have had plugged ears as a result/side-effect of upper respiratory and sinus problems in the past. I hate it and as ear infections can facilitate the onset of deafness later in life, I do my darndest to avoid them now, over-medicating on antihistamines etc.
as a part-time music teacher I think about the development of listening skills and acuity of hearing a lot. With some of my students, their good hearing can actually hinder there playing as they simply imitate what they hear me play without regard to proper technique or refinement or tone sometimes creating a recognizable facsimile of what I want but not a good one, so I would have to disagree with you to a degree about listening=chops. I even had a eurhythmics teacher (no, not Annie Lennox!) demand that we stop listeing entirely and only rely on our "inner pulse" for good rhythm (the definition of the greek word, Eurhymics) Some students really do have what I would call "lazy ears", prefering to rely on information on the page and what I told them to do rather than listen to themselves and then analyze what just went on. They usually play fine but never really well. I usually have those students sing as the internalization of music always helps facilitate better analysis of performance.
I am curious about your reference to having good ears as a therapist. To me it would seems that as long as you can understand the language being spoken by the patient you are "hearing" good enough. the listeing is really understanding inner perceptions of what is going on, what is the solution to the problem that is not concrete or visible or tangible. Is this a correct assessment?
sorry again about the plugged ear, try going to a sauna.
I hear you (!) on the chops thing. Of course, one must have some chops, and by some, I mean enough to do what you want to do. Which is different depending on what type of musician you want to be. Years ago, in music school, chops were way more important to me than they are now. I played a gig a few weeks ago after not having picked up sticks in about 6 months, and it was just fantastic. Now, I wouldn't try to play half the music I used to play at my current level...but I wouldn't be in the position where I needed those chops. These days, the ears are far more vaulable for me. There are approximately twelventybillion (like that, Bets?) different angles to this conversation, none of them wrong.
Re: your assessment of good ears as a therapist. Lots of angles for this, too. I think your assessment is accurate. Also, think of it this way: People speak and talk, and what you hear is "manifest" content. If I have good ears, I should be able to hear the "latent" content. That latent (unconscious) content comes through themes, metaphors, repeating patterns of interaction, dynamics, defense, resistance, transferance, etc. Gotsta have good ears to be able to pick up all of that stuff. I'm probably good enough to hear one or two of those things. Better ears would enable me to hear all of them or at least more of them. The more I hear, the more I can become an effective therapist. Make sense?
I definitely see you point about a therapist's "ear" being related to a musician's "ear". we trained musicians likewise "hear" things that are latent and need to be ferreted out.
I had a children's recital yesterday and when the teachers gossiped about their students afterwards, they ALL mentioned the particular challenge of teaching a student with excellent listening skills but little patience, will or insufficient opportunity of developing their "chops". just sayin'
Yeah, you have to have some level of chops. I guess all I'm saying is that one's ears are also a form of "chops," and a musician without good ears may as well give it up.
Like I said...lots of different angles on this. My guess is that ears vs. hands/fingers is totally dependent on the situation.
And I'm probably prejudiced in this regard because my ears are all I have left! My hands have gone to shit. Drummers atrophy.
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