Living with musical people

American Music Teacher, Dec, 2003 by Herbert S. Posner

Ulysses S. Grant admitted he knew only two tunes: "One of them is 'Yankee Doodle' and the other isn't." (1) He was musically challenged.

Others have had a problem living with musical people. The most erudite of these in the English language is Charles Lamb (1775-1834). In Essays of Elia he writes: (2)

I have no ear.

Mistake me not, reader, nor imagine that I am by nature destitute of those exterior twin appendages ... handsome volutes to the human capital....

When ... I say that I have no ear, you will understand me to mean--for music. To say that this heart never melted at the concord of sweet sounds would be a foul self-libel. "Water Parted from the Sea" never fails to move it strangely. So does "In Infancy."

I even think that sentimentally I am disposed to harmony; but organically I am incapable of a tune. I have been practising "God Save the King" all my life; whistling and humming of it over to myself in solitary corners; and not yet arrived, they tell me, within many quavers of it.

Scientifically I could never be made to understand ... what a note in music is; or how one note should differ from another. Much less in voices can I distinguish a soprano from a tenor. Only sometimes the thorough-bass I contrive to guess at, from its being supereminently harsh and disagreeable. I tremble, however, for my misapplication of the simplest terms of that which I disclaim. While I profess my ignorance, I scarce know what to say I am ignorant of.

It is hard to stand alone in an age like this ... to remain, as it were, singly unimpressible to the magic influences of an art which is said to have such an especial stroke at soothing, elevating and refining the passions. Yet, ... I must avow to you that I have received a great deal more pain than pleasure from this so criedup faculty.

Charles's sister, Mary, was fourteen years older than he. She was subject to attacks of violence and eventually stabbed her mother in the heart and wounded her father on the forehead. As a result she was placed in a "lunatic asylum" and released on Charles's recognizance. She lived with Charles for the rest of her life; he took her to the asylum as necessary. They published much together, and Mary lived to be 80; Charles had died seven years earlier. Henry Morely wrote, "both needed, for the mind's health, restful lives." (3) Charles, himself, had spent six weeks in a mental institution the year before Mary attacked her parents. He never married, "wedded to the fortunes of my sister and my poor old father," (4) as he put it. An unstable aunt also came under his care until she died. He was not one to avoid his felt obligations.

London Magazine remarked, "Lamb's indifference to music is one of the bestknown features of his personality." (5)

My own career involved life sciences research and, for a while, I did studies concerning birth defects and congenital deficits. The Birth Defects Compendium (6) lists the functional deficit, tune deafness, or amusia, as a lack of musical ability for melody. Those who have the condition often are identified in their early school years. They are told, "Don't sing just mouth the words." These individuals usually have normal pitch modulation in their speaking voices but are unable to carry a tune or distinguish much change when a series of pitches is presented. About one in twenty of the adult population is affected. As with color blindness, I suspect that most of those who have tune deafness are not aware of it. Many children outgrow tune deafness by age 12, and it doesn't affect an appreciation for rhythm. Otherwise, they cope or avoid as need be and, in time, choose occupations where it is not a problem.

National Public Radio's All Things Considered featured Joe Palca's report, "Born to Be Tone Deaf?" (7) Researcher Isabelle Peretz worked with a woman who knew she was not good at music. In her church choir she was told not to sing: "Just open your mouth and let others carry the tune." Her attempt to play in a band didn't work either. She avoided music, if at all possible, and claimed that just listening to music gave her a headache.

Peretz applied three tests. First was a series of five tones, the fourth of which was higher. When the change in pitch was adequately large, she detected it 60 percent of the time. If the change in pitch was Less, or when the pitch was lower, she could not notice a difference.

A sidebar on this NPR report highlighted Florence Foster Jenkins, who made the most of her alleged pitch deficiency. It noted, "She belted out Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach and Brahms with great style and rhythm, but stunningly out of tune." She performed on the East Coast with a career-climaxing performance at Carnegie Hall. It was said, "She didn't let a little thing like pitch get in her way." And Jenkins quipped, "Some say that I couldn't sing ... but no one can say that I didn't sing."

I haven't had a problem appreciating music. I had violin lessons for six months in elementary school but decided I couldn't stand the squeaking anymore. While I would like to believe this was a sign of my improving ear, neither did I have patience for the piano. However, more recently, I mentioned to my wife, a piano and voice teacher, "One of these days, I am going to rent a cello and see what I can do with it. The thought of bowing is very positive for me." My granddaughter currently takes cello lessons, and I found I could produce a decent sound on her instrument. Her sister will begin viola lessons this year, one of my grandsons is studying the violin and another grandson is studying the drums. I sang in a choir for many years, and I enjoyed this immensely.