BROOKINGS – Learning music is like learning a second language – at least, that’s what Brookings High School Band Director Ron Stary said – and even under the best of circumstances, that can be difficult to learn.

But at Brookings High School, a senior who has hearing loss has achieved much, becoming an accomplished musician.

Eighteen-year-old Jenna Knudtson has had hearing loss for as long as she can remember, and it’s a mystery if it was something with which she was born or if it came about following ear infections.

Although she can converse with people fairly well, her high-frequency hearing loss means that there are certain sounds she cannot hear: She can’t hear the last octave on a piano, for instance, but she can hear the sound of that key’s hammer striking the piano string.

If Knudtson plays the bells in orchestra, she can only hear about half of the notes ringing out.

Some syllables or consonants are harder for her differentiate, such as “th,” “s,” “p” or “t.”

But these challenges haven’t stood in her way of pursuing a lifelong passion for music.

Since her mother taught piano, it’s no surprise that it was one of the first instruments Knudtson learned. She started learning how to play that in the second grade. Then in the fourth grade, she took on the viola and also joined orchestra, and in fifth grade started percussions.

Not only has she been at home in a variety of band groups – marching band and jazz band, for instance – but she enjoys being on the stage, too.

When she was 7 or 8 years old, she recalls being in a local production of “The Sound of Music,” and she was a part of the recent high school musical “Cinderella.” She played ensemble, and her sister, Bridget, played Cinderella.

These activities and hearing loss don’t typically go well together, especially since they require communication in sometimes noisy environments. 

“That’s probably where I struggle the most with hearing loss,” Knudtson said, but she’s had a lot of help with it from her teachers and peers.

The most important means of communication has been nonverbal communication.

“Especially out on a big football field where we usually perform and practice, that’s super important, being able to communicate with gestures or body language or tone and inflection of voice. That’s helpful,” Knudtson said.

The band’s philosophy of HBO (Help a Buddy Out) has been especially helpful for her participation. 

“Help a Buddy Out means that you know what’s going on and you make sure the person on your left side and your right side know what’s going on. They do that for me a lot,” Knudtson explained.

For the average student, Stary said that there are three hurdles to learning music: building on basic skills, the finances involved, and having a supportive home.

In his experience, finding support from others is all the more important for a student with disabilities who wants to learn music, and Knudtson credits her mother’s role there and her bandmates.

“I think everybody has tremendous respect for Jenna, so they try everything they can to help her,” Stary said, adding, “The biggest thing is that she has earned their respect. She’s proven to them that she is going to overcome this and that she has the skill of anybody with normal hearing, if not more.”

Technology has been helpful in working around her hearing loss, too. An FM transmitter with a microphone helps capture someone’s voice and deliver it directly to her hearing aids.

Some of the colleges and universities she has visited have Phonax Pens available for people with hearing loss. Those resemble a pen in size and appearance, making it easily portable and discreet for its user, but connect with hearing aids with Bluetooth.

Visiting with a college’s student services center to see what kinds of aid and accommodations there are isn’t something the typical college student has to think about, but she has a practical outlook on her circumstances.

“It’s not the kind of thing where every day I’m thinking, ‘I wish I didn’t have hearing loss,’ ‘I wish things would be easier,’ that kind of thing. It’s something that I deal with every day and I just have to accept that, I think. And I have to hope that the people I have relationships with can accept that as well,” Knudtson said.

It’s even helped her gain a unique perspective on certain aspects of life, such as communication.

“It’s allowed me to explore the most effective, efficient ways of communicating with other people (and) how to make a connection,” she said. “Music is so great because you can make a connection with a person without even having to voice it. It’s like the universal language.”

Math and science – universal languages in their own rights – have fascinated her just as much as music. Math comes naturally to her and science appeals to her curiosity, so she’s applied to several universities so she can study engineering, possibly mechanical or electrical.

But as she pursues that career, she plans on keeping music close by.

Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.