Music At First Sight

I admire the musicians who have persevered through their challenges and became excellent due to practicing.  I highly respect their utmost diligence in their ability to endure the challenge.  For some people with developmental issues, like me, I approach visual processing skills differently.  Reading music is one of the activities where we need to have strong visual skills.

Hand Independence In Music

An example of how learning to read words relates to learning to read music is learning music requires the same process as learning a new language.  For instance, when we learn music theory we are learning “the how and why” in music. One of the ways we begin to understand how music works is through chord function (how chords relate to each other in a sequence, also called a chord progression. For instance, one of the ways, among many other ways we learn chord function, for example, is that we learn how chords (the harmony) work in tandem with the melody. 

Now, I will describe the basic process of learning to read music. The process begins with coordinating the right and left hands. As pianists, we read two different music clefs at the same time. What is amazing is that the piano is the only instrument played while reading two clefs simultaneously. The left hand is responsible for the bass notes, and the right hand is responsible for the treble notes.

When we play the piano, we perform two tasks at the same time, each task performed separately while using both hands. Like the example above, the right hand is responsible for playing the treble notes and the left is responsible for playing the bass notes.  This is where the visual processing comes into play.

As you know, reading in general is a visual process and music reading requires the integration of even more visual acuity and attention. For some people, this can be a challenging process to manage. Reading music is an extremely challenging task in itself, regardless of the challenges musicians face on a disability level.

Since I’ve had to grapple with many challenges beginning with birth from being born extremely early, what makes me different is the way my brain is wired.  For instance, in childhood, I had visual processing issues based on how my brain wiring has formed. 

An example in my life where I struggle is when I read music for the piano.  I feel extreme physical discomfort in my head. The extreme physical discomfort in my head when reading music is not because I don’t understand how to read music, it’s the fact of integrating these processes, all happening at the same time.

Finding My Own Way On A Challenging Path

So how will I overcome the struggle of reading music and become proficient at reading music?  After years of searching for a solution, I have finally found an answer after struggling for many years.  The solution I have found is that I read music with a yellow tint overlay, which helps me process what I visualize. 

So you might ask, what are visual tints and how do people with visual processing issues use them as a learning aid?  Depending on the individual and their struggle, color overlays help individuals read materials better.

Change Through Acceptance

Do you ever feel like you can’t overcome something and that instead of changing how you feel, you have to adapt to it?  Sometimes we have to accept what we can’t change.  In some ways, it’s better to adapt to a situation, especially if we have no control over it.  Also, in a way, it’s better to adapt to our feelings instead of trying to change or control our feelings.  This way we adjust our lifestyle and work with our problems instead of against our problems.  I hope that you can adapt to your challenges as well.