ASL and Music

This is my opinion on signing music in ASL.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• ASL
• Music
• opinion
• sign
• language

[sarace7340]

:) Good job - great way of putting it!

[MaryMary1965]

Any language can be art.....ASL, spanish, french, german etc....my german mother taught us some wonderful german poems and although we didn't know what most of the words meant, we loved them just the same. My cajun father never taught us his language, but I loved listening to them talk.....in my own church I do perform songs through sign and my prayer is always that someone will be blessed....and you know what? Someone always is.....and that, my friend, is what it's all about!

[bearanike]

I am a beginning ASL student. I speak 6 other languages. The more senses a student uses the more they retain. For hearing students we have the option to use music to help us learn & retain what we learn. I understand the importance of conveying context over transliterating. I have friends who are hearing but don't speak & use ASL & friends whose children are autistic who use ASL. Using music helps me learn new words & to focus on meaning and work on using my face and body to convey meaning.

[storykeeperkb]

Obriensign...keep it up, I love watching your videos, they help me to see other ways I can interpret songs and different techiniques I can use. A wise ASL teacher once told me to focus on the people who encourage me in ASL, and ignore the ones who don't. Some Deaf don't think hearing people should learn at all which is discouraging. You're signing is AWESOME! very clear and ASL grammar focused which is a rare find. Thank you!

[storykeeperkb]

cont....

i go on youtube and see people interpreting (PS it is interpreting, not translating) songs straight from English to essentially signed English. If we can use songs to show students the difference between English and ASL and how the two don't always match word for word then I'm all for it. And if the Deaf community is so against it then why does the Deaf Performing Arts Network exist? Go check them out, it's pretty cool. ,

[storykeeperkb]

You know...I've read all these comments and I think that it's shameful for grown adults to be attacking each other this way. I am a hearing interpreting student and I have VERY strong feelings about respecting Deaf culture. But why can't it go both ways? I think using music is a great tool to teach students the differences between ASL and English and to perhaps encourage future interpreters who can respect both cultures.

cont....

[DefLord]

I see NOTHING wrong with integrating music and ASL together. If we are going to be that selfish - then I will tell NSAD (National Softball Association for the Deaf) to STOP signing and doing the National Anthem before the Championship game because a group of deaf individuals says it is culturally wrong and that music has no business in our world. Give me a break! There is NOTHING wrong with using music as a tool for teaching. @obriensign you keep up with what you're doing!

[Drumethan]

I found ASL through a desire to express myself more intimately to God through worship music and worshipping in Sign Language. At first it was just fun, but as time goes on I feel it has connected me more to ASL, because 1st, I feel more comfortable interpreting something I am passionate about and 2ndly it is a unique ability to express ASL while hearing music. Not all deaf will appreciate it, not all hearing will be able to do it, but when the two become one, it's a marriage of beauty!

[InsaneMisha]

@lilcherubx You're missing the WHOLE point of ASL, geez! You don't ever get it at all. Deaf people can NOT consider ASL as form of art. HELL NO! Because ASL is Deaf people's true and native language, even birth right to the language, not art, for chrissake.

Singing in ASL is, of course, a form of art. Signing in Poetry in ASL is also a form of art. Yes in those two but singing doesn't belong to ASL classes however poetry is sometimes okay.

You have a lot to learn.

[lilcherubx]

@InsaneMisha Deaf people don't think ASL can be a beautiful art form? That's tragic... and clearly not true. I've seen many beautiful ASL poems that may or may not interpret English or include music. "Playing with language " is a critical component of L2 acquisition and if working the language into music (with appropriate guidance on conceptual accuracy and cultural sensitivity) helps why not encourage students to do so? It will help them fall in love with ASL: a goal of any good ASL teacher.