I know there are some medical ear specialists on this list, I just can't
remember who they are. So I ask everyone.
THE FACTS:
I took an eight year old reported to be a non-singer. "Completely clueless,"
according to her parents, as to hearing correct pitch. I took her because she
had a great desire to sing and said she could if she had the right teacher.
Besides she was a challenge and I 'hate' people who tell me that their child,
"will never learn to sing." "Never" is too long a time.
At first she was all over the musical spectrum. The second week I had her wear
headphones as she listened to the accompaniment and was astonished to hear her
hum along with all pitches very close to right-on. Over the next two weeks she
learned a simple song (Suogan) from hearing the melody over the headset and
reading the words from the sheet music. I recorded her singing it for
historical reasons and for her parents, who had their socks blown off when they
heard her.
This week I tried something new. I had her cover one ear and try to repeat the
pitch played on the piano. With her right ear covered, her left ear could
recognize pitches. But with her left ear covered she didn't hear the pitches.
She sang the harmonics of the pitch I played. So I adjusted the headphones so
only the left ear heard the accompaniment and she sang the song perfectly.
After a couple of times through I removed the headphones and told her to sing
the song listening to her memory of the accompaniment (a capella). Perfect.
After the song, I again tested her with pitches from C3 to C5. Oddly, with her
left ear she heard the lower notes and reproduced them near perfectly but the
higher notes, those above C4, she had troubles with. But it was the reverse
listening with her right ear. With the right ear she closely matched the high
notes above C4 but try as hard as she could, she did not match the pitches from
the low notes.
THE QUESTION:
What is this condition called?
Can it be treated medically?
How can I teach the right ear to hear what the left ear hears?
(See? I really don't know everything!)
--
Dean FH Macy, Lit.D./Mus.D.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
---------------
"Specializing in Management of exceptionally talented youth in Music"
<http://www.newenglandtalent.org> EPI Records - NetWork Films
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
---------------
"Making children do something they don't want to do is the job of the parents.
If that doesn't work, there are always juvenile detention centers." - Mike R.
-
|
