Music and Audiology

"A sound life involves oscillating through ups and downs, finding that which resonates with your existence, accomplishing something that will reverberate in generations to come. Do not be afraid of coming across intense. Be always ready and willing to pitch in, because the truth is, life is the melody and you are the lyricist."

There are many compelling reasons that propelled me into the field of audiology.  Some border on the theological, and some along the practical.  Yet, perhaps the one that appeals to me the most is the  knowledge that I am in a vocation that will help people hear music.  Yes, audiology as a field has not been very focused on music, in fact some may even argued that we have thus far focused primarily on helping people hear everyday speech better.  The frequency response of most hearing aids can attest to this.

While I grant that to be the case, central to my personal pursuit of promoting hearing and balance in people's lives, is the firm belief that through helping people hear better, I can increase their chance of being exposed to music.  There is something magical about music that speaks louder than some of the best written speeches.  There is something about melodies that transcends all else.  When one speaks of sound, of resonance, of striking a cord, of tugging at the heart strings; one does not immediately conjure up lyrical poetries.  No, one imagines a song, a melody that stirs within them a memory, an emotion.

Music speaks, it is a form of communication.  I know as verbose as I tend to be at times, I find myself relating more to music, and reveal more of myself through songs than I would if I was speaking in tongues.  If we are lucky, each of us have strong ties to music, be it an early memory of a simple tune hummed by your mother or father as they lulled you to sleep, or a particular song that speaks out to you at a certain time when you are feeling most misunderstood.

Music are tied deeply into emotions.  Film score composers know this to be true.  Even from the early days of silent film to current blockbuster, sound effects and film scores have a special place in engaging the audience.   Music amplify, and even dictates how we feel during a certain scene.

At it's heart, music is vibration of a most complex nature.  With it comes vibrance, rhythm, and cadence. It makes words into lyrics, it turned walking into dancing. Think of the progression of movies.  When a play was not enough, we moved to operas, and from there we moved on to musicals.  Simply put, music is the spice to life.  Sure sure, we can have great conversations, but life would be so much more if we have background music and theme songs to go with it.

Being an audiologist allows me the opportunity to ensure people around have the faculties necessary to appreciate music, to feel the beat, to sing and dance.  There is music in all things, from a child's laughter to familiar voice, and I want everyone to hear it  Music helps us to stay sharp when the world is flat.