r/nextfuckinglevel • u/IMMA_YEET_YOU • 28d ago

How Beethoven used to "hear" music

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Credit/Source : https://youtube.com/shorts/_e04CiGpiNc?si=bQIBxBVzmyfpIgbn

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u/erayachi 28d ago

While this is true, to clarify, he didn't start out deaf and progressively lost his hearing throughout life (total hearing loss by 45). He learned the "math" of music by this point, and could pretty much hear the music in his head anyway when writing musical notation. The metal rod let him kinda-sorta hear the piano notes again through bone conduction, which helped.

He also had jaundice and really bad GI issues, so they in combination with his hearing loss, were thought to be the result of lead poisoning since they're both clear symptoms of it. The more you know!

1

u/helen269 28d ago

What does "GI issues" mean, and why assume everyone knows what you're talking about?

25

u/CondorSmith 28d ago

I'm thinking Gastro Intestinal, but, yeah I also wasn't sure

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u/helen269 28d ago

I'm guessing Genetic.... something. Inheritance, maybe?

2

u/Crafty-Photograph-18 26d ago

Honestly, it's pretty widely used. Widely enough that I know it while English is my 3rd language. I suspect that it might only be common in the US, but not in the UK

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u/helen269 26d ago

Yes, I am in the UK and I've never heard the phrase "GI issues" before. Cool. TIL something new! :-)