Cher Pop star and Academy Award-winning actress. You know she’s an outrageous dresser, but did you know she’s dyslexic? Sergei RachmaninoffRussian pianist, composer, and conductor. He had a learning disability. Robert Schumann German composer and music critic. A hand injury forced him to abandon a career as a pianist. He had a mental illness. Itzhak Perlman Celebrated Israeli violinist. He contracted polio as a child. Ludwig van Beethoven Revolutionary German composer who lost his hearing as an adult. Though he could no longer perform, he continued to compose works of great depth and complexity. Stevie Wonder Award-winning singer, composer, producer, arranger, and instrumentalist. He signed his first record deal at age 10. He has been blind since birth.
What do your kids think? Ask your kids if they can think of any famous people who have high musical intelligence. Start them off with a few familiar names:
Source: Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong (ASCD 1994)
