<html> <body> And I can't even "imagine" the decibel level in practice rooms! For hours! Avery At 12:53 PM 5/5/2006, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">From: "Robert Finley" <rfinley@rcn.com></blockquote> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">I have been wondering whether musicians could also suffer hearing loss and what the difference is >between tuning a piano (where the notes are played loudly to set the strings) and playing  music t>hat has loud passages in it such as a Liszt's Transcendental Etude 'Mazeppa" or Rachmaninoff's >Prelude in G minor Opus 23  and practising pieces like that for several hours a day.</blockquote> According to one study: 90% of musicians exhibit the initial stages of a hearing loss. 52% of classical musicians have a permanent hearing loss 30% of rock/pop musicians also possess an irreversible hearing loss The official theory as to why classical musicians tend to suffer from hearing loss more than rock musicians is amount of exposure; rock musicians tend to listen on weekends and classical musicians practice, teach and have rehersals throughout the week.  ( The IPods will probably change all that.) Savy orchestras are starting to wear earplugs! Diane </blockquote></body> </html>