Chance the Rapper is bringing American Sign Language to the stage by hiring ASL interpreters to join him on tour.

The 24-year-old announced the move toward more accessibility at his concerts in a Facebook video last week, alongside DEAFinitely Dope founder Matthew Maxey, who will be providing the interpreters.

Mandy Harvey, a singer with hearing loss, wowed judges with her perfectly pitched vocals on the reality TV show, ‘America’s Got Talent,’ on Tuesday.

Harvey, who lost her hearing about 10 years ago due to degenerative ear disease, was awarded the “Golden Buzzer” after her performance that received a standing ovation and hug from judge Simon Cowell.

Deaf people from far and wide joined together earlier this month, to celebrate the first deaf accessible music festival.

If you’ve been following along, you know I attended the Good Vibrations Music Festival on May 20, in Texas….

and it was amazing!

For the first time, deaf and hard-of-hearing people will be able to fully experience a summer music festival, through visual, tactile and auditory enrichments, in a special event created specifically for them.

Good Vibrations Music and Arts Festival, which will be held May 20 in San Antonio, Texas, was born out of the desire to allow people with all levels of hearing loss to enjoy music.

“I am always struggling at concerts and festivals to make my way to the front to be next to the speakers and to see the artists’ mouths,” says Emma Rudkin, the founder of the non-profit Aid the Silent, and organizer of the music festival. “I have always longed for captioning and interpreting at concerts.”

The music festival, she says, is the answer.

As a professional musician, I have been involved in many a discussion with friends and colleagues about the issue of noise induced hearing loss. 

For one, people simply don’t consider that it could happen to them. Another reason is the belief that earplugs distort sound, giving musicians a rather unpleasant experience.

But the big problem is that when noise-induced hearing loss occurs, it is often too late, irreversible and, if a significant loss, can be life-altering.

Sign language is a full body language, from the facial expressions to the movements of the hands and arms, making it the perfect language to portray emotional messages such as song lyrics.

Recently, we’ve seen more and more artists coming out with official music videos in sign language. These videos both increase accessibility to those who are hard of hearing, as well as display the beauty of the language.

A mobile hearing clinic is touring the country, not only proving free screenings and ear protection, but also sharing the joy of music. 

Songs for Sound, a charity that works to protect and restore hearing, has been touring the country with a mobile hearing clinic since 2015. The charity stops at local festivals and events to test people’s hearing and bring awareness to hearing loss. 

With around 2,000 hearing tests completed their first summer, this year’d first full-year-tour has been bigger than ever imagined.

Are you a musician who lost your hearing? If you are, you surely are not alone.

I first met Charles Mokotoff, a professional classical guitarist, through the Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss (AAMHL) in Washington DC.  The association serves as a resource for musicians both professional and amateur to exchange information and promote each others work and journey.

Charles has a tragic hearing loss story and yet a highly successful musical life.  

Does hearing loss affect how we enjoy music? If so, is it possible to regain our enjoyment of music even after hearing loss?

Many of us with hearing loss have stopped listening to music because it does not sound how we remember it. Nevertheless,  more musicians, singers and music lovers with hearing loss are coping and finding their way back to music.

Recently I attended a seminar about the impact of hearing loss and hearing aids on music enjoyment that was hosted and led by Geoff Plant, a hearing rehabilitation specialist, musician and mentor of mine. The seminar explored the challenges of experiencing music after hearing loss, the claim that hearing aids do not always provide a quality musical experience, and strategies being used to more fully enjoy music. 

Here’s what I learned…