Tag: Hearing Protection

Originally Written for Quora

Two things: I’m speaking from my experience as a guitarist who started at 50 and is now 64, and knowing a bit about the science of the ear, predominantly as it reacts to different sounds and sound levels in industrial settings over the long term (provided the ear is well protected from overly loud sounds). Can we still hear the same range of frequencies as we age and what impact does age have on hearing loss?

There is no doubt in the almost fifteen years of regular playing that my ears have become much more seasoned and I can hear nuances in tone now that I could not hear when I started. I believe part of that is due to the fact that I learned to play predominantly by ear and still use my ears to emulate lead guitar in songs I’ve never heard before. I challenge myself to see how close I can get on the first pass and on how many passes it takes me to nail it down. I was doing this well enough to enjoy my own playing from the get-go and eventually I learned the pentatonic scales without ever looking them up. The fingerboard just seemed to make sense to me. I know, I was quite surprised myself as I found this to be a skill that I never knew I had. From there, of course, I had to focus on technique, just like anyone else, so this is what “playing by ear” meant to me. I believe there’s a range to what this phrase means to different players who have this innate ability. No one just walks up to a guitar and plays songs from start to finish without undergoing years of practice. I still have difficulty in hearing the different chords that comprise a song unless it’s something simple like three well-known major chords. It is only after hearing a song numerous times that I can begin to put the chord changes together (again, challenging myself before looking up the tabs which I’ll often have to do to get it absolutely right).

I collect guitars and a lot of the research that goes into that involves A//B-ing guitars either at various guitar shops or listening carefully to well put-together comparisons online. Doing this in person is the better method but if I’m listening through a good set of headphones along with a phone designed with playing music in mind (I’ve found that the Sony Xperia I IV is superior to anything else) I can hear the minute sonic differences between two high-end guitars of the same build quality and materials, say, a Collings D-1 and the Martin D-18 that it’s modeled after. In the case between these two specific guitars, price isn’t of as much significance. The D-18 is the industry benchmark for many guitars made by boutique builders, as is the Marrtin D-28 and the Gibson J-45. Though relatively small, the differences in tone jump out at me. It would be the same if I were comparing the Standard Series Martin D-18 to Martin’s Authentic Series D-18 1937 model. These guitars sound very similar but there are differences that, when combined, make it easy for me to discern which is which. But I’ve been A/B-ing guitars for years and distinctly recall not being able to hear these differences fifteen years ago.

If I had to quantify how far my ears have developed relative to whan I was beginning to play, I would say the difference is around two times better in recognizing differences in tone and sustain, but not in overall hearing like volume. I’ve become somewhat of an audiophile and, if I can help it, will only listen to music through high-quality equipment, including headphones and earbuds. As much as my “well seasoned” ears have become a gift, it has also come at a financial cost in what guitars I know gravitate to and the expense of the equipment I use to listen to and play music.

In terms of the deterioration of hearing as it relates to age, we all know that age can have a tremendous impact on our hearing but, in speaking from experience, if we spend our lives keeping the longevity of our hearing in mind and are sure to always wear protection when the situation calls for it, we can mitigate against hearing loss to a great extent. My hearing was tested many times over the course of my career and I have experienced an almost insignificant loss. But the converse is just as true and people who are either unaware or think that their hearing isn’t something important enough in any given moment to take adequate measures will suffer the consequences. My father and his father before him have and had significant problems with their hearing because they are and were lifetime rifle hunters who practiced regularly without hearing protection. Much less was known about hearing and hearing protection back then. I grew up hunting and shooting high powered rifles from youth on, but they made sure that I wore ample hearing protection. I have also been into sports like motocross which can be extremely loud, but I wore protective foam earbuds under my helmet.

In my teens and early twenties, I saw my share of concerts but I would get nowhere near the stage and could be found in the “cheap seats” which were well past the seating and out into the grass at least 75 yards from the amplifiers. All of these things have paid off and, while I have some fairly serious random health problems, my hearing isn’t among them. Because of my career in engineering, design, and construction, I had to take annual hearing safety courses and they made an impact. Without that background, my hearing would likely not be what it is today, in my mid-60’s.