A really nice article/interview today in The Guardian (British newspaper) about Art Garfunkel.
It also led me to look at another article in the Guardian from 2024 about Paul Simon
Also a nice read. Iāve always loved the music they made together and what they did as solo artists.
Paul Simon suddenly lost all his hearing one day in his left ear and talks about how it affected his music. I was particularly interested in that because in 2016, I also suddenly lost all my hearing in my left ear in less than 12 hours. Since then, I have 100% hearing in the right ear and 0 in the left. Paul Simon could no longer play with other musicians and only play solo. Itās taken him a long time to be able to play with other musicians again. I can relate to this.
One of my difficulties in learning the guitar is that while you only need good hearing in one ear to hear what you are playing, you need two ears to be able to spatially separate sounds coming from different sources or instruments. So playing along to backing tracks is really difficult because itās sometimes impossible to separately hear your guitar from the backing track and get the timing right - the sounds all merge together. Even with a metronome, I canāt play along easily to the metronome clicks - I use it visually, eg. if it has a flashing light or a rotating display like on Justinās time trainer app, I use the visual queue not the sound - that works. But it doesnāt help for playing with other musicians. Thatās basically why I try to learn songs that I can play and sing on my own rather than playing along to the song or a backing track.
Iād love one day to play along with other musicians, but I think that will be too much of a challenge for me. Perhaps a duet with another guitarist could work, if I were to watch what they are doing rather than listen.
Anyway, I was very pleased to read that Paul Simon managed late in life to overcome this difficulty. Iām sure it wonāt stop him making great music.
This resonates with me completely. I have hearing loss in both ears with the left being worse and I know what you mean about everything merging together. I had a nightmare on the recent BLIM playing to BTās and eventually didnāt bother.
I had a temporary disability, and it absolutely did prevent me outright from doing certain things. I have friends and family who have permanent disabilities. some things they can adapt to. other things they cannot under any circumstances.
I have hearing in both of my ears and can sometimes spatially distinguish sounds if there arenāt echoes, but they still often get merged together in my brain. the more chaotic the soundscape, the more this happens. I also find myself using visual cues with my metronome. I try to look away or close my eyes to practice following the beat by ear but I think my brain still de-emphasizes what I hear.
Iāve been tempted by the metronome watches that vibrate. it seems that cue would also work for me.
I said to get the better of our capacities.
it means that there are some things we cant do anymore but what really matters are the things we can still do !
focusing on this part and trying to find ways to live the best as we can is what matters
all of you trying to use your eyes instead of your ears , I admire that !
I have one friend in particular who gets angry about disability porn and toxic positivity, so I try to keep myself grounded when it comes to these things. I trust that she knows what sheās talking about more than I do.
In my case itās not something that I ever tried to do. Itās something I just noticed myself doing and always felt that it was something I should try not to do. I spent a bit over a year focusing on little more than just being able to identify the beat in basic group ācampfire jamā scenarios. I still find that those can be horribly difficult at times. In no small part because in groups like that it seems inevitable that the tempo drifts and is inconsistent and that not everyone in the group is always doing the same thing.
Itās easier in smaller groups. I donāt know how much of that is because Iām hearing the beat more clearly or if Iām using visual cues.
I admire you for what you have overcome and especially what you are contributing.
I grew up with Simon and Garfunkel. Fond memoriesā¦
The two of them singing together, they were all time classics. I think that we covered Bridge over Troubled Water and a couple more at music class in elementary school.
Iāve always admired Paulās ability to finger picking.
I spotted this article yesterday, and it did hit home with me on a couple of points.
Itās interesting that here in the US, The Guardian is the best news source these days.