 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: JonTheReeds
Date: 2015-09-16 15:39
Does anyone have any info or links about the effect that ADHD has on musicians? I have found lots on how music helps children with ADHD but almost nothing on how musicians with ADHD have coped, and what the disadvantages / (advantages???) are
Is it something that isn't talked about in the music world? Perhaps a bit like mental illness?
--------------------------------------
The older I get, the better I was
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-09-16 17:01
I can't answer your request for links. But as to why it isn't talked, I would guess that it isn't as noticeable a problem for performers, for whom many of their stock-in-trade behaviors overlap or resemble behaviors that characterize classic ADHD.
Besides, if you're talking about adults (you say "musicians," not "music students"), you're in a field that generally gets far less attention than ADD and ADHD in children, for whom the "disorder" part of that acronym can interfere aggressively with learning process and social development. Anything I've ever read on the subject of adult AD(H)D suggests that an adult who wasn't diagnosed with it as a child is only infrequently diagnosed with it as an adult. IMO, this is probably because adult values and more mature behavioral styles tend to allow people to compensate for most of its outward effects. If they've reached adulthood without being identified, they've probably developed the coping mechanisms they need to get on day-to-day life, which is all treatment can do in any case.
I realize this isn't responsive to your request for sources, but I don't think the difficulty is that it's "something that isn't talked about in the music world? Perhaps a bit like mental illness." I think it may not be talked about, at least in comparison to child AD(H)D, because it isn't so clear a problem and its consequences in adults are much more covert.
Karl
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tony F
Date: 2015-09-16 17:49
There is a young brass player in a band I play with who suffers from ADHD. He's a nice kid, and a very good player, but unfortunately his disorder makes it difficult for him to practice the sort of discipline needed when playing multi-part arrangements, He rarely plays a piece the same way twice and we're never quite sure what he's going to do next.
It makes for a frustrating situation, as his mother regards his participation in the band as therapeutic, whereas we just want the band to be the best it can be. We can't really exclude him as he fulfills all the requirements for membership, and in a small community it wouldn't be a good outcome for him. His behaviour has improved over the last year, so I guess we can hope that it continues to do so.
Tony F.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarinetwife
Date: 2015-09-16 18:33
Tony F said: "He rarely plays a piece the same way twice and we're never quite sure what he's going to do next." That is exactly what I have found with students, and exactly what we have worked on using strategies such as focusing on small "chunks", teacher and student call and response, etc. I think it does help them in other aspects of their lives. I can't speak to what happens with the adult musician, though.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: MSK
Date: 2015-09-17 05:37
I hadn't thought about it in a long time, but for some learning disabilities, music can be an area of success. My now adult niece has learning disabilities (not ADHD) and struggled in her academic subjects. However, she was a talented high school musician who made first chair in her Texas band. She gave up music after high school, but it was often the only thing that kept from dropping out of school.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
