Mikey

Well, I finally had to bite the bullet and get new glasses. At 47, the Optomitrist said it is time for no-line bifocals. Problem is, I'm having trouble using them to read music. I am thinking I will need another pair of regular distance glasses for music reading. Does anybody else who wears biofocals have this problem, and if so, what do you do?

Mike

Walter

Hi Mike

I have a similar problem and would love to know how others resolve this. I can see close range without glasses but need correction for distance. I currently take glasses off to read the music but then can't see the audience (no real big deal) but it would be nice to see both....I have heard that bifocals don't work well in this situation....any help would be greatly appreciated.

Walter

Manny Laureano

dear mikey,

Well, well, well... you were reading my mind, it seems.

I've been using bi-focals since last year and it's been a challenge, to say the least. I wear them just about full time, now. My biggest issue with them is that when I want to raise my bell the music I'm looking at disappears! I've learned to manage them for the most part and do a lot of memorizing.

It just so happens that today, the very day you post this, I mentioned to my daughter on the way home from picking her up, that I thought I'd go to Pearle Vision and maybe have a pair of glasses made for reading music in orchestra. I don't know how well I'll be able to see the conductor, that's my only concern.

Other than that, I like them. If I weren't a profesional clasical trumpeter they might be great. I can say that I don't like playing ball with them. I can't hit worth a damn with them. It's harder to follow the path of the baseball, so I put on the other regular glasses.

Good luck, that's all I can say.

ML

Vulgano Brother

Am far-sighted, and made the mistake of geting bifocals that don't go all the way across the bottom, so am forced to move my head from side to side as I play: not fun. Having one set of glasses just for music should be an excellent choice. (In my pre-bifocal days I would slide my glasses down my nose so the conductor was a blur, and was thus blessed with getting the conducting without the personality.) Isn't walking up and down stairs an adventure now!

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Tootsall

Mike (and Manny and others), I did exactly what your optometrist has recommended you do: got a 2nd pair of "fixed" lenses (distance). They work great... I like to have my stand at least 3' from my face (leaves a foot clearance on the bell). I fooled around with "split" lenses with the "split" fairly high up in the lense and had the bottom half set for about 3' but that wasn't very effective... the split line kept getting in the way. Very happy now. In fact, if I forget to change them back to my regulars I don't even notice until I go to read something up close (or try to read the small print on some of the poorer quality scores that we have in the library).

And... they can be really inexpensive because you only use them for music; don't need safety lense, photogrey, fancy frames.... well worth the extra cost. Go for it, you'll be glad you did. Keep them in your trumpet case at all times you aren't wearing them; that way you won't be losing them.

Dave Mickley

I have been wearing bifocals [no line] for around 10 years now and I have a pair of "music" glasses that are "single" vision just for music. I keep those glasses in my horn case and have forgot them only a handful of times. I am near sighted so seeing the director is no problem but the audience is a different thing. Dave

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Richard Oliver

VERY timely thread. Last night at rehearsal, I'm asking the fellow next to me, "what is that, 2 feet or closer to a yard" referring to the distance from eyes to music stand.

Tri-focals here. The middle lens works okay.

New glasses . . . arghhh . . . I'll have to see if we have a Pearle Vision. The regular eye glass places charge an arm an a leg because we're in the Boonies.

Richard

Tootsall

Richard... my "regular" glasses cost me just over $600 (2/3 lens, 1/3 frame cost); the "music glasses" a measly $100 for the whole enchilada. Heck, I just spent twice that for a spare GR mouthpiece! "Cheap like borscht" and "don't leave home without 'em". A neat side benefit... the music glasses are GREAT for watching TV while laying on the sofa... you don't have to twist your head around to see the screen through the top of the "regulars"!

Chris Houser

I have been wearing noline bifocals for many years now. I also have a second pair of "music glasses" that I use when I am playing. These glasses have a small distance portion at the top of the glasses, and the main part of the lens is a near or middle distance part. When I first got these I asked for something so that I could see the conductor (don't know why) and the major portion so that I could see the music at about 22 inches (a friend of my had actually measured the distance from his eyes to the music at 21.5 inches). This combination has worked great for me for the last dozen years or so.

stchasking

I have trifocals.

The only thing I'll add is to be aware of getting motion sickness. The change in focal length as your eyes scan near to far can mess with your brain and make you a little dizzy and sometimes quezzy. My optomitrist admitted that about 5 percent of people with lineless lenses get motion sickness.

My trifocals give me motion problems once in awhile. I have bifocals for yard work because of the near to far scanning. I would probably use trifocals for trumpet playing.

Good luck, everyone.

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