Understanding Signed Music
Cripps & Lyonblum
audio-centric experience as a result of a poor sense of identity. Such outcome is understandable
when considering that some deaf people do not have optimal access to ASL, and are thus restricted
by not knowing or being part of deaf culture. The large number of deaf people born to hearing
parents who do not learn to sign in their early years (90% - 95%; Lederberg, Schick, & Spencer,
2013; Mitchell & Karchmer, 2005) is a serious matter. It is known that many deaf people learn
signed language upon enrolling in a school for the deaf or upon reaching adulthood and meeting
other deaf people through the deaf community. Deaf children integrated in local public schools in
recent years have their own challenges. The impact of many deaf people not experiencing full
enculturation in ASL is part of the reality for the deaf community.
This lack of enculturation includes how deaf performers (listed in the quote above) have
used auditory musical instruments and have imitated hearing musicians. (See French (2016) and
Jones (2015) for examples of imitation performances). What must be considered is the poor
accessibility for deaf people concerning deaf music as compared to signed music. It is true that
deaf people enjoy vibrations (as mentioned by Loeffler and Leigh et al.), but this is only one part
of the musical experience. Experiencing music through tactility and vibration is simply a means
of following the path of audible music. Deaf people will continue to be left out when appreciating
the meaning of a musical performance, especially when depending on translation between ASL
and English. What deaf people need is exposure to signed music in action. Only signed music can
provide a comprehensive and fully accessible musical experience.
In comparison, the musicians discussed in the preceding section, Janis E. Cripps and
Pamela Witcher were born to deaf parents and grew up in a signing household in a family with a
strong affiliation to the deaf community. This strong background in deaf culture is why these
musicians with strong deaf culture backgrounds were selected to study. Moreover, J. H. Cripps et
al. (in press) explained that signed music has the quality (in the case of Eyes and An Experiment
Clip) to serve as a natural enculturation and mentorship experience promoting the solidarity of the
deaf community. Other deaf musicians born to hearing parents can produce high quality musical
pieces when exposed to ASL early in life and taught properly in school about what signed music
is, for example.
Finally, the term “deaf music” is narrow in its definition when compared to signed music.
Deaf individuals are not the only ones that create signed music performances successfully. There
are hearing signers who have created signed music performances as well (e.g. Earth Move 3
performed by Sherry Hicks and Michael Velez who were raised in a signing household with deaf
parents and are CODAs). The term “signed music” appears to be more socially inclusive as
compared to “deaf music.” Hearing individuals who have the intention of performing signed music
will need to be fluent in ASL and demonstrate respect for deaf culture (i.e., cultural sensitivity; J.
H. Cripps et al., in press).
Another term, visual music, also needs to be addressed. This term is attractive (as deaf
people perform signed music through the visual means), but this term can create confusion. Visual
music is popular and in active use among hearing people. Visual music has been reported in the
music literature since 1910s. Roger Fry coined this term in 1912 (Zilczer, 2005). During the 1910s
to 1920s, visual artists such as Wassily Kandinsky and Frantisek Kupka asserted that their abstract
paintings included the nonfigurative structures of musical composition, which paved the way for
a new type of art - visual music. Synaesthesia is the concept that visual music artists pursue,
incorporating different senses (i.e., smell, touch, taste, sight, and hearing) along with the variety
of arts (Strick, 2005). Visual harmony with color aesthetics is one of the most popular properties
3
To view the excerpt of “Earth Move”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9n1L08BWWE
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