Understanding Signed Music
Cripps & Lyonblum
to what is known for music in general. Also included in the study is the consideration of signed
music incorporating the deaf experience. While there is some discussion of deaf people’s musical
experiences in the literature, and about the concept of visual music outside the deaf community,
some clarification is needed. This includes explaining why the term signed music appears to be the
appropriate term used to describe the musical phenomenon that is created within the deaf
community. For this paper, it is necessary to start by defining the key properties that constitute
music. Language and culture play significant roles in creating and shaping musical performances
that can be applied to deaf people and their music.
Language, Culture, and Music
For this paper, a simple diagram of what constitutes music is critical for understanding
signed music. The interwoven relationship between language, culture, and music must be
appreciated as a universal phenomenon concerning human beings. Figure 1 illustrates how
language interacts with culture and culture with music. Language has a relationship with music as
evident through the production of lyrics. Non-lyrics do not include language in an explicit manner,
but musicians who produce these sounds are expected to possess the necessary language and
cultural knowledge. This explains the “broken” line between language and music concerning non-
lyrics.
Figure 1: Music’s Ties to Language and Culture Through the Production of Lyrics and
Non-Lyrics
Readers will learn this paper represents a different point of view on what constitutes music.
With this in mind, this section has three topics for discussion: 1) ASL and deaf culture as the basis
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