[musictlk] introduction and a question

Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen swellsj at bgsu.edu
Sat Jan 10 17:45:29 UTC 2009


Hi, Chris,

The trick with braille music is to understand that,like print music, 
it's simply different than learning by ear: a whole different set of 
skills  is needed and a different set of information is provided.
When I want to learn a piece quickly in a folk setting, or when there 
is no music, I play by ear.  When I need to learn fingerings (my 
violin skills are weak enough that I'm not yet worrying about 
bowings!), then the music is really useful.  Ideally, I like having 
the braille music *and*  a recording of the piece: the more 
information the better, right?  The best results are often obtained 
by combining printed music and playing by ear.  In the folk circles I 
travel, they refer to people who read music as 'paper trained' and 
ear players as 'paperless', but it's very clear that often printed 
music makes a piece faster to learn: you can read through the score 
more rapidly than it can be played, skip sections easily, skim ahead 
and puzzle over complex measures without hitting rewind.  When you 
forget the song in twenty years, you can just look at it again rather 
than trying to dredge it out of your reluctant brain.    When you're 
reading the music, you're thinking about how to play the piece not 
figuring out what the notes are.  You have to memorize it either way, 
but if you can read the music, you have another option for how to get 
the information into your head in the first place.  Two paths, one goal.

Peace,

Sheri W-J
At 12:01 PM 1/10/2009, you wrote:
>Hi.  I just joined this list.  I have been playing violin for a 
>number of years, and recently started again with a new 
>instructor.  I have learned by playing by ear up to this point, and 
>my instructor would like me to start to learn Braille music to help 
>communicate fingering, etc.  I tried to learn Braille music before, 
>and it seemed like learning by ear was much faster.  What are some 
>of the advantages for those of you who use Braille music?  If you 
>are a violinist and learn by ear, are their any good sources of 
>recordings of intermediate to advanced pieces recorded slow enough 
>to be learned?  How have you mastered bowings, fingerings, etc?  I 
>realize most fingerings are easily figured out, but I have had 
>trouble figuring out bowings in the past.  Any suggestions?
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