Music, Drumming and Rhythm for the Hearing Impaired

It’s no secret to music lovers and concert goers alike that loud music can be one of the best parts of a musical experience. There’s nothing quite like standing a little too close to the speakers at a concert to get your adrenaline going. Many people jokingly chide each other saying if the music’s too loud, then you’re too old. However, the reality of the situation is that if you’re listening to loud music, you could be doing some pretty serious damage to your hearing.

Hearing loss currently affects around 16 million people in the baby boomer generation. In fact, the baby boomer generation is more likely than senior citizens to be affected by hearing loss. This is most likely due to the popularity of loud music and loud music performance.

With all this information you may think that musicians would be at the highest risks for hearing loss or impairment, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact, the opposite may very well be true. Recent studies have shown that people who receive musical training, especially from a young age, may have better hearing than most. Some researchers believe that musicians are better trained in tone differentiation, a skill which helps people separate conversation from background noise. This early musical training has actually been proven to prevent hearing loss over time.

Drumming can be an excellent way to help develop tone differentiation through an exploration of low tones and high tones. It can be a fun and easy way for musicians to retain their musician’s ear, and also a great way for someone without musical experience to help develop this skill.

While drums may be considered a loud instrument by many people, the typical drum produces a sound that is far from the level it requires to cause damage to the ear. Drumming can stimulate the brain and help with a magnitude of problems from hearing loss to conversational skills to self-confidence. More benefits to drumming are discovered by researchers every year, but most drummers will tell you that drumming is a fun and rewarding hobby.