goodwill67
New member
Hello Everyone.
This is not a strictly musical question, but it certainly affects many of us, or at least likely will in some form at some point. I am on the verge of it now. The subject is eyeglasses for organists, particularly handling the needs of different visual distances as occurs with age. At age 41 I am starting to see that I will need a reading lense in the not too distant future. I ordinarily wear contact lenses and switch to glasses in the evening. I told the optometrist that if at all possible I would like to continue wearing contact lenses. He said that it would be quite possible to do so and to wear a reading lense bifocal, or even trifocal at some point as needed, over the contacts. I pointed out that organists must look at a music rack that is highly positioned and that I did not want to have to twist my head very far back in order to see through the reading lense situated in the bottom of a regular bifocal lense whether they are progressive lenses or traditional. I also explained that it would be necessary for me to see the gestures of a conductor at a distance and so just the reading lense alone would be insufficient. He said that I could wear a sort of occupational bifocal over the contact lense consisting of a very high bifocal segment, or even a pair of glasses that is mostly all reading lense with a narrow sliver of distance glass at the top in order to see a conductor. I have heard of organists complaining about bifocals and trifocals but never really considered it further. Now I think I see what they mean. Since you were all so helpful with my page turning question I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this kind of thing and what kind of solution was employed. I am sorry for such an odd question. Thank You. William
This is not a strictly musical question, but it certainly affects many of us, or at least likely will in some form at some point. I am on the verge of it now. The subject is eyeglasses for organists, particularly handling the needs of different visual distances as occurs with age. At age 41 I am starting to see that I will need a reading lense in the not too distant future. I ordinarily wear contact lenses and switch to glasses in the evening. I told the optometrist that if at all possible I would like to continue wearing contact lenses. He said that it would be quite possible to do so and to wear a reading lense bifocal, or even trifocal at some point as needed, over the contacts. I pointed out that organists must look at a music rack that is highly positioned and that I did not want to have to twist my head very far back in order to see through the reading lense situated in the bottom of a regular bifocal lense whether they are progressive lenses or traditional. I also explained that it would be necessary for me to see the gestures of a conductor at a distance and so just the reading lense alone would be insufficient. He said that I could wear a sort of occupational bifocal over the contact lense consisting of a very high bifocal segment, or even a pair of glasses that is mostly all reading lense with a narrow sliver of distance glass at the top in order to see a conductor. I have heard of organists complaining about bifocals and trifocals but never really considered it further. Now I think I see what they mean. Since you were all so helpful with my page turning question I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this kind of thing and what kind of solution was employed. I am sorry for such an odd question. Thank You. William