Answers for textbook questions from chapter 2 The Sound of Music can be found here.

1. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.

1. How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?

She was 17 years old.

2. When was her deafness first noticed? When was it confirmed?

Her deafness was first noticed when she was eight years old. She was waiting to play the piano and when her name was called, she didn’t move because she hadn’t heard. It was confirmed when she was eleven when her parents took her to a specialist for a checkup.

2. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (30-40 words)

1. Who helped her to continue with music? What did he do and say?

It was percussionist Ron Forbes who helped her continue with music. He discovered her potential and began tuning two large drums to different notes. As she was deaf, he asked her not to listen to music through her ears. Instead, he urged her to sense it in some other way.

2. Name the various places and causes for which Evelyn performs.

Evelyn gives regular concerts. Apart from those, she gives concerts in prisons and hospitals. She also gives classes for young musicians.

3. How does Evelyn hear music?

Evelyn became deaf by the time she turned eleven, but that did not stop her from pursuing music. While everyone else listens to music through their ears, she senses it in some other way. She has opened her mind and body to sounds and vibrations.

Evelyn says that music pours in through every part of her body. It tingles in her skin, her cheekbones and even her hair. When she plays the xylophone, she can sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. By leaning against the drums, she can feel the resonances flowing into her body. On wooden platforms she removes her shoes so that vibrations can pass through her bare feet and up her legs. When she was a child learning instruments, she could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower drum from the waist down.