If you have some time (32 minutes, to be exact), this is a profoundly moving lecture & demonstration by Evelyn Glennie, a masterful Scottish percussionist. She lost her hearing around the age of twelve. Her talk (and her life) is all about listening. My dad went to one of her performances a few years ago and was raving about it, when I asked if he knew that she was deaf. He said, no - she couldn't possibly be. I guess he didn't read the program. At the beginning of this talk, she takes off her shoes so, I believe, she can hear with her feet as well as with her hands, arms, head, and other assorted body parts. She may be deaf, but I suspect she hears more than the rest of us put together.
She says that if she holds on to the sticks too tightly, they feel "strangely detached" and there is more of a shock to her arms. However, if she holds them loosely, allowing her hands to be merely a "support system" to the sticks, that's when she feels more at one with them and with the instrument, and thus with the music. True in percussion. True in life.
I will refrain from describing the entire talk. It's sooooo much better with a Scottish accent. Click on the video below to begin.
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