[NABS-L] Braille Music Courses

Sun Jan 26 22:20:02 UTC 2025

Hi everyone,

To add a little onto this, and to give the OP some more ideas to think
about as they move forward with this project, I think that we do need to
consider that there are a few unique issues faced by aspiring braille music
learners and users that do need to be overcome in some way.

1. Access to instruction in music braille: Certainly, there are already
some wonderful braille music tutor books out there, such as the one Noah
linked above, and there are a number of accomplished blind musicians who
are teaching braille music, but the educational landscape is still quite
fragmented, which means there are notable gaps that still require attention
in order to make braille music more embrace-able (for lack of a better
word). As many of you know, many TVIs don't know music, let alone braille
music, and even many who have some knowledge of standard staff notation may
not know braille music, and music teachers don't know braille. This results
in a pretty disjointed situation for all, so learning by ear becomes the
most convenient/quickest approach for many blind students doing
band/orchestra/choir in school or taking private music lessons. In that
vain, the DAISY Braille Music Project is gathering braille music teachers
and related individuals to take part in a panel discussion to examine where
the instructional gaps are and what are the best ways to close them. It is
happening on March 7, and the link to sign up is here
<https://soundwithoutsight.org/teaching-braille-music-roundtable/>. To me,
this looks like a good sign that will hopefully see some filling in of the
gaps I mentioned.

2. This is obvious, but the fact that braille music is structurally very
different from print music means that it is easy for misunderstandings to
occur, particularly among sighted teachers and related individuals
supporting blind music students.

3. As someone who lives in the classical instrumental realm (piano, violin,
and viola), I like to be very upfront about the fact that I cannot read
braille and play at the same time (though I realize vocalists can sight
read braille much more readily). I feel that this is an area where there
are a lot of misunderstandings, which leads some people to believe this is
a limitation of braille music itself when it's really more of an
unavoidable physical limitation in nature. As a result, some individuals
have been discouraged or dissuaded from using braille music for this
reason. When the average person encounters braille music for the first time
via an internet search or word of mouth, they immediately start to think
about how braille-reading instrumentalists are going to sight read while
they play. As much as we would like a perfect solution to this issue, the
nature of human anatomy means we can't be completely equal with our sighted
peers in this regard, but braille music certainly brings us the closest.
What I like to say is this: Memorization is essential for blind
instrumentalists, regardless of whether they learn by ear or by braille
music. While learning by ear naturally involves memorization, the same
necessity also applies to any tactile music-reading method, not just
braille music. Reading with the fingertips while simultaneously playing an
instrument (which of course requires both hands) is physically unfeasible,
so sight-reading, as typically understood, becomes virtually impossible,
except for vocalists. This limitation arises from physical constraints
dictated solely by the nature of human anatomy rather than the mental or
musical capacity of the musician or the design of braille music or any
specific tactile notation system. (Some but not all brass players may be
able to read braille with one hand and play with the other to some degree,
but even then, they will very likely memorize eventually. Pianists can read
with one hand and play with the other, but assembling both hands requires
memorization). The main issue to look at here is making braille music
relevant and meaningful given this physical constraint, and I certainly
have my thoughts on this in favour of braille music notation, but I won't
reveal them for now, though anyone is free to ask.

I will also add that it is quite common for many classically-trained
print-reading musicians to have the (opposite) problem where learning by
ear or improvising is difficult, which can become an issue if they need
to/intend to increase their versatility in other styles where playing by
ear and improvising are much more the expectation, so our natural tendency
to learn by ear as blind musicians does give us the upper hand here in this
specific department.

Anyhow, I know this was a bit long, but I definitely think we need to be
transparent about these things and acknowledge them openly and properly.

On Sun, Jan 26, 2025 at 1:18 PM Noah Carver via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Hi Sidney,
>
> Hope this message finds you well.
>
> I would respectfully push back against your (and your choir director's)
> assertion that Music Braille is not necessary. Speaking as someone with
> personal experience pursuing a music degree and career, music literacy is
> quite simply a bassline necessity for anyone wishing to succeed in this
> field, and the only true way to be musically literate as a Blind person is
> to use Music Braille. Yes, you can get pretty far simply learning by ear,
> but if you continue studying or playing music, you will eventually hit a
> plateau at which point you will need music literacy as a skill. Mind you,
> I'm not discounting the value of being able to learn music by ear. Even
> though I read Music Braille daily while at conservatory, I still learn lots
> of things by ear perhaps because it might take too long to get the Braille
> score, I've been asked to do a gig last minute, a Braille score isn't
> available, or for a number of other reasons, but learning by ear should
> absolutely not be the only tool available to you as a musician. In summary,
> it's quite unfortunate that your teacher discouraged you from learning
> Music Braille. It's an invaluable skill. In my opinion, every Blind person
> should learn Music Braille along with literary Braille and should have
> consistent exposure to it, especially given that sighted musicians in music
> classes are all taught the basics of the inkprint notation system and are
> expected to use it when learning instruments like recorders, etc. If
> someone doesn't choose to study music further, they've been given the same
> access as everyone else. If they do choose to study music further, they
> will have received (and will continue to receive) an education in musical
> literacy at parity with the education given to their sighted counterparts
> and will not struggle to catch up like I and so many Blind musicians have
> done when the necessity of music literacy finally became clear.
>
> Hope this helps, and best of luck in your musical endeavors. Please
> consider learning Music Braille. If you would like any help, resources,
> suggestions, or support, please reach out to me. I am happy to help fellow
> musicians in any way I can.
>
> Warmly,
>
> Noah
>
> --
> Noah Carver (He/Him)
> Candidate, B.M. '27, Applied Music (Performance) -- Voice
> Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
> Board Member, National Association of Blind Students
> Chair, Content Creation Committee, National Association of Blind Students
> Chair, Students Committee, National Federation of the Blind of New York
> +1 (207) 557-9143
> noah.t.carver at outlook.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Sidney Horn via
> NABS-L
> Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2025 12:05
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> >
> Cc: Sidney Horn <sidneyh05 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [NABS-L] Braille Music Courses
>
> Hi MaKenzie,
> I have actually never studied braille music. I've always listened to music
> by ear and picked up on it that way. I feel like so many of us do though to
> be honest. Learning by ear is very common for all of us. Even the choir
> drector here at my blind school does not teach braille music because it's
> why learn it when we can all just so easily pick up on all of it by ear?
> You know what I mean?
> I do not know of any teachers who teach it. When I was younger, my former
> TVI did mention me possibly learning it, but I refused.
> Sidney
>
>
> Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
> ________________________________
> From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> on behalf of Makenzie Love via
> NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2025 11:58:16 AM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Makenzie Love <love.makenzie07 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [NABS-L] Braille Music Courses
>
> Hello NABS,
> I hope everyone is doing well and having a great weekend!
> I am participating in a senior project for my AP Literature class, and the
> topic I chose was the impact of learning braille music in an educational
> seeting. For my practicum hours, I have to start learning the basics of
> braille music. Does anyone know of any programs that have courses on the
> subject, or teachers that have given lessons in the past or can recommend
> any other methods to learn the system? Any responses would be appreciated,
> and thank you for taking the time to read this email.
>
> Kind regards,
> MaKenzie Love
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