CAUTION: MUSIC CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH

H ave you noticed yourself straining to hear low sounds recently? Have you frequently found yourself asking, "What? " Have you had a ringing in your ears that doesn't seem to go away as rapidly as you th ink it should? If you have answered yes to any or all of these questions, then teaching music could be or may already have been hazardous to your heal th. O n e of the main problems of modern life is noise pollution. T h e idea that professional jobs should not adversely affect employees ' heal th has gained wide acceptance (Axelsson & Lindgren, 1981), and aware-ness that exposure to high sound levels can result in hearing loss has raised concerns in industry and gov-e r n m e n t (Cutiet ta, Mill in, & Royse, 1989). Yet, as strange as it may seem, one setting that has been com-monly overlooked in relation to hearing loss has been the musical environment. Problems There are many aspects to the risks that musicians take: • Hazardous environments. Because of the auditory demands of their work, musicians consider that their hearing needs to be more sensitive, accurate, and dis-criminative than that of most nonmusicians (Axelsso