RDAM offers music training for people with hearing loss

‘Music Training for People with Hearing Loss’ is a project developed through a unique research collaboration between an artistic institution, a research institution, and a hospital—namely, RDAM, Aalborg University, and Rigshospitalet. The project is part of the PhD project "Music and Technology," led by Jesper Andersen, an associate professor and head of the Tonmeister program at RDAM. With around 200 participants, the project is one of the largest of its kind in the world.

The project's focus is to help people with hearing loss regain access to music. Jesper Andersen works to improve the musical experience for people with Cochlear Implants (CI) and hearing aids (HA). Most of the development in CI and HA technology has been focused on optimizing speech comprehension, not music perception. It has been scientifically proven that music training improves hearing for those with severe hearing loss, but little research has been done on how to make this practically applicable. This is where Jesper Andersen's project comes in.

Flexible music training from Home

The target group for the project is people who, due to severe hearing loss, lose access to music. Through the project, they are trained to regain it. The training takes place in the participants' own homes over eight weeks and consists of 24 lessons, which can be experienced as a series of small radio shows or a podcast. Participants gain online access to the training, allowing them to organize it at their own pace, using a PC, tablet, or smartphone—convenient and flexible.

The lessons are based on six different songs and focus on topics such as instrumentation, lyrics, melody, song structure, and historical background. The training begins and ends with a quiz featuring numerous sound examples and music-related questions. The test is used to gauge what the participants can hear and not hear, as well as to measure progress in training.

In previous projects, Jesper Andersen has observed results among participants who have regained music in their lives. The quality of the music they can hear will not be the same as for people with normal hearing, but their perception of music will be improved.

An Overwhelming Number of Participants

Participants have been recruited through contact with municipalities, regions, associations and Facebook groups for people with hearing loss, as well as physical postings at Rigshospitalet. They have signed up in the hope that the project can improve their hearing and access to music. Many are also motivated by the opportunity to contribute to scientific research in an important field.

"It's overwhelming that so many have signed up. It allows us to create a very solid research project while demonstrating the great need for research and development in this area. It makes my work on the project very meaningful," says Jesper Andersen.

You are welcome to contact Jesper Andersen at jesper.andersen@dkdm.dk if you are interested in being part of the project.

Project Results

Jesper Andersen will complete his PhD project at the end of January 2025, and in the spring he will defend his thesis, which will include several scientific articles sharing the project results. Additionally, the project will hopefully bring about a change for the 200 participants. Jesper Andersen also hopes that the results will be shared in relevant trade magazines/newsletters for people with hearing loss, as well as in scientific journals. In this way, his research could lay the foundation for further studies in Denmark and around the world—and perhaps even lead to music training becoming part of the healthcare offerings in Denmark.

Academic research at DKDM

Academic research at RDAM is conducted by RDAM instructors and may take the form of research projects, possibly in collaboration with researchers from Denmark and abroad, including publications in the form of articles, books, papers, conference contributions, and more.

In 2018, RDAM launched the research initiative Art and Learning, which currently consists of four independent PhD projects and a shared research forum, as well as other joint efforts. The project is conducted in collaboration with degree-awarding universities. Art and Learning is anchored in RDAM's core competency: Educating classical musicians at the highest international level.

Academic research, together with artistic practice and development activities, forms the knowledge base on which RDAM's programs are built, collectively referred to as FOKU (Research, Artistic Practice, and Development).

Learn more about research at RDAM
Learn more about FOKU
Learn more about Music and Technology

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