By: Emily B.
Since the beginning of time music has
been a way of communication. It expresses feelings and gives people a way to
escape from reality for moments at a time. Stop and think for a minute about
how you listen to music. Do the lyrics you hear make you feel happy or
comforted? Is there a tune you just can’t get out of your head? But what if you
couldn’t hear the music?
Could you still enjoy it? Ambassador Leader and former Girl Scout Laura Lenz
says, “Yes, music is for everyone; even the hearing impaired can enjoy music
without actually hearing it!”
Lenz is a board certified music
therapist, a health professional who uses music to help people with all
different kinds of problems. She says that the deaf respond more to the rhythm
of music than the sound. They feel it more than they hear it. Very few people
are 100% deaf, so most hearing impaired can hear something.
During therapy Lenz has met sweet young
kids who couldn’t get enough of music. “They were fascinated by the drums I
brought and loved marching around to the beat!” she said. But if you can’t hear
the beat of the drums then how can you interact with it? The answer is in the
rhythm of it. Everything that we do in our lives is to a rhythm. Our heart
beat, or blood flow, our eating, and breathing are all in rhythm. Also, being
able to feel vibrations is a big part of music too. When you go to a concert you
can feel the sound from all the amps vibrating throughout your body. Not only
are you hearing the music, but feeling it. Lenz came up with a game for her
students where they would close their eyes and whenever they thought that they
heard a drum beat they would raise their hands. “The awareness of presence and
absence of sound was one of their goals and they absolutely loved playing this
game,” Lenz said.
But these aren’t the only methods when
it comes to music therapy. Many therapists use light shows and moving art to
describe the wonders of music. The kids will connect the colors and movement to
the vibrations and have a whole new understanding of melodies and sound. “Good
food tastes better when it’s presented in a beautiful way. For the deaf, if you
pair music with a visual experience, I would imagine it helps bring everything
to life!” says Lenz.
So let’s dispel the myth that deaf
people can’t experience music. They feel it, they see it, and they respond to
it every day. As Lenz would put it, “music is something that can be enjoyed by
everyone! Music is everywhere, it’s natural, and it’s FUN!”
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