Toward “Little Victories” in Music Education

Abstract

This chapter is about d/Deaf music-making and the problematics of singing in sign language. The discussion troubles inclusion in music education by drawing connections between deaf music-making and constructions of who is considered dis/abled. Employing Deaf studies, disability theorizing, and the sociological work of Christopher Small and Lucy Green, this digital ethnography examines two US examples of contemporary signed-singing. The authors argue that the musical agency of deaf signed-singing in the context of the global disablement induced by the COVID-19 pandemic resists deficit narratives of Deaf culture. This provokes a fresh discussion about what abled society and music education has to learn from listening to d/Deaf musicking. The chapter links to audiovisual explanations of signed-singing.