Thinking about the Text

I. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each:

1. How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?

Answer: Evelyn was seventeen when she auditioned and was accepted into the Royal Academy of Music in London.

2. When was her deafness first noticed? When was it confirmed?

Answer: When she was eight years old, she was noticed to be deaf when she did not respond when called to play the piano. It was medically confirmed when she was eleven years old, after a slow decline from nerve damage.

II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (30–40 words):

1. Who helped her to continue with music? What did he do and say?

Answer: Percussionist Ron Forbes saw Evelyn’s musical potential and encouraged her. He tuned two big drums to different notes, and told her, “Don’t listen with your ears. Try to feel it some other way.” This allowed her to feel vibrations in different parts of her body.

2. Name the various places and causes for which Evelyn performs.

Answer: Apart from her regular international concert tours, Evelyn gives free performances in prisons and hospitals. She also attaches importance to teaching music to young children and inspiring hearing-impaired children.

III. Answer the question in two or three paragraphs (100–150 words):

How does Evelyn hear music?

Answer: Evelyn Glennie hears and feels music in her body, not in her ears. She feels vibrations in different parts of her body. Under Ron Forbes’ guidance, she learnt that she could feel the vibrations of the higher drum from her waist up and the resonance of the lower drum from her waist down.

When she plays the xylophone, she can feel the sound waves travelling up the sticks and into her fingers. She leans into the drums when she sings, feeling their deep resonance in her body. She takes off her shoes on wooden concert stages so the vibrations pass directly through her bare feet and legs.

As Evelyn explains, “Music courses through every part of me. It’s a tingle through my skin, my cheekbones, my hair – a testament to music being a total physical and sensory experience.