By cues other than pitch I meant other than direct pitch matching: such as
reducing the number of beats between two almost-in-tune pitches (for which
you still have to get into the ball park, pitch-wise), and trying to do
larger intervals of which the fifth is the most useful, since it's easier
to hear things like difference and addition tones, and other harmonically
rich things, so that one is listening for a harmony rather than a pitch -
it's something that one can play around with. Thirds and sixths might be
useful to play with, since the ear accepts a wider range of tuning for
those intervals, though the kind of accuracy that is acceptable there
wouldn't usually work for unisons, octaves or fifths. If you're brave a
major second can have a very rich harmonic pattern. I hope this isn't too
confusing.
You might also want to test and see if she hears differently through her
left or right ears. Perhaps sing simple rounds, like "Row, row..." with
alternate ears covered and see if you notice anything.
If larger intervals are easier it may be that she does better when notes
have a harmonic context, and that therefore some kind of accompaniment
should usually be employed, so she can hear that context. I'm not a
neurologist, but I understand that the brain tends to break down tasks and
assign them to different locations - for instance a different part of your
brain processes your perception of vertical lines from the bit that
processes horizontal ones, so I have little doubt that harmonies are
processed somewhere different from where melodies are, and it may be broken
down in even more detail. Also with training the brain assigns more nerve
resources to specific tasks.
Sorry to be long-winded, and good luck. john
At 06:29 PM 5/16/00 -0400, you wrote:
>Thanks, John. I don't have a problem with patience and the student knows
>there is a problem. Her brain damage was the result of being hit by a
>bus when she was 5. She has some paralysis on the right side and we know
>she doesn't hear as well on the right and she definitely has speech
>problems and has worked with a speech pathologist for years. Perhaps I
>should breathe for a moment having just noticed my long run on sentence.
>Could you explain what you mean by cues other than pitches? I have
>noticed she does better with larger intervals--scale wise passages seem
>to be more difficult.
>
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John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
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