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Musing on Music

Lying ill in bed, just over two weeks before my scheduled Cochlear Implant operation date, I'm listening to some music on my phone. And Stuart's suggestion that I find some way to chronicle my CI journey comes to mind. 

See, I can't just turn on any old music and listen to it. Too often, to me, it's just a clash of sounds, a disharmony of instruments, and a cacophony of noise from which I try but fail to pick out any kind of rhythm, tune, or vocals.  And if I do manage to find a song that has a prominent vocal track, with minimal instruments, then I have no way of understanding the words - unless I can read along (and even then I can get lost all too easily). 

But there is some music I can listen to. Worship music from CDs that I spent hours listening to during my study and exam revision at university. Every afternoon I'd take a short walk through the University Parks, or along the river behind college, and listen to my CDs on a portable CD player (remember them?!) and follow along by reading the lyrics on the CD sleeve. Over and over, I'd maybe listen to just one song on repeat for the entire 20 minutes, as I slowly committed to memory the words, learned the rhythm, the tune, and the timings. 

And so, this morning, as I played one particular album from that era (on my smartphone: where is the portable CD player now - in the loft?) which I haven't listened to in at least 4 years, since before I had children....I didn't need the CD sleeve for the words. I even knew instinctively, just from hearing the first few chords of each track, what song was coming next. All that memorisation from 13+ years ago has stayed indelibly in my brain. 

And so as I approach my CI operation, and wonder what my hearing will be like after, compared to before, and I ponder ways of comparing and tracking the progress I will hopefully make, I wonder what it will be like to listen to this familiar music with my new unfamiliar ears in a few months time. Will I still recognise the songs? Be able to pick out the vocals?  Might I even hear more details and nuances of the music, enhancing my enjoyment? Or will I need to start again, work at it until once more I have some songs in my favourites folder that I can relax and listen to when I'm ill in bed? 

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