Seeing Voices

Abstract We often think of music in terms of sounds intentionally organized into patterns, but music performed in signed languages poses considerable challenges to this fundamental definition. How can we analyze and understand sign language music? And what can sign language music tell us about how humans engage with music more broadly? Seeing Voices argues that music is best understood as culturally defined, intentionally organized movement, rather than organized sound. This redefinition of music means that sign language music, rather than being peripheral or marginal to histories and theories about music, is in fact central and crucial to our understanding of all musical expression and perception. Sign language music teaches us a great deal about how, when, and why movement becomes musical in a cultural context, and urges us to think about music as a multisensory experience that goes beyond the sense of hearing. Using a blend of tools from music theory, cognitive science, musicology, and ethnography, this book examines the history, cultural context, and analysis of a wide variety of genres of sign language music. It aims to center the musical experience and knowledge of Deaf persons, to bring the long and rich history of sign language music to the attention of music scholars and lovers, and to challenge the notion that music is transmitted exclusively from the hearing to the Deaf. Finally, Seeing Voices proposes that voice, rhythm, melody, and emotion are properties of music that are resilient across visual, kinesthetic, and aural modalities.