[MusicTlk] Looking to Connect with Blind Musicians who Sing or Play in Large Ensembles
Catherine Getchell
cgtrumpet at gmail.com
Tue Sep 5 11:37:15 UTC 2023
Hi all,
Thanks for the posts and ideas. I realized that before asking for
suggestions, I probably should have described how I currently memorize music
and follow the conductor, and if anyone does something different or has an
idea for a better way, I'd love to hear about it.
For memorization, I do make extensive use of YouTube. I use these
recordings to understand how the trumpet parts fit into the larger fabric of
the piece, and so that I always know when to come in correctly based on what
others are playing. Of course I can get thrown off if a really key part I'm
listening for doesn't come in at the right place, but if I know a piece well
enough, my brain sort of does a correction and I try to mentally put their
entrance where it was supposed to be, rather than where they played it.
For getting recordings of my part, I have musician friends who will either
record it for me or generate a midi file. I'd love to know if there are any
programs out there that now do a relatively error-free job of OCR of music.
I know about SharpEye, but I found it to be too error-prone to be reliable,
but that was several years ago.
Once I have the recording of my individual part and the full ensemble, I
spend anywhere from ten minutes to two weeks working on memorizing a piece,
depending on whether it's a five-minute Sousa march or a full-length
symphony with modern harmonies, or somewhere in between. I've always
learned fastest by ear, and while I'm a good braille reader, I never
developed proficiency with braille music. Of course this means I have to
get the music pretty early in order to have it learned in time for the first
rehearsal. For orchestra and brass quintet where I'm the only one on my
part, I don't have the option of learning the piece during rehearsal. So it
had better be ready before that. Unfortunately this means no sight-reading,
and I'm pretty out of luck if the conductor makes a last minute rep change.
Once I've memorized a piece, it's pretty solid in the memory banks. Though
I find it difficult to memorize some 20th and 21st century stuff that is
more atonal or has odd harmonies. I'd love to hear suggestions on better
memorization strategies for this type of literature.
For following the conductor, I mostly just listen to the band or orchestra
and guess/interpret what the conductor's doing based on how the group plays.
If I have to come in right at the beginning of a piece, my section mates try
to give breath cues, and this works somewhat well, though I'm still guessing
at what the tempo is unless the conductor is very consistent on this
rehearsal over rehearsal.
Sorry for the long post. But I wanted to lay it all out there. Any
suggestions/improvements? Thanks!
Catherine
-----Original Message-----
From: MusicTlk <musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Jennifer Bose via
MusicTlk
Sent: Tuesday, September 5, 2023 2:42 AM
To: Music Talk Mailing List for Blind Musicians <musictlk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jennifer Bose <jen10514 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [MusicTlk] Looking to Connect with Blind Musicians who Sing or
Play in Large Ensembles
This is a great conversation! I'm Jen, and I sing in a choir and am working
on getting back into playing piano regularly. Playing piano as part of an
ensemble is a dream I have for the future, but I've sung in choirs since I
was a kid. I was a band kid (flute player) in middle school and played
chamber music and jazz in college ensembles, also on the flute. I picked a
different major, but music basically has my heart. I'm also blind. Yes,
trumpeters really stand out and can't get away with missing entrances, but I
bet it's great when you pull the group together! I use Braille music when we
do big well-known pieces that are available, but I mostly end up writing
down the words and learning by ear. The choir director is great and uses a
lot of YouTube recordings, plus a program called Soundtrap which shows and
plays people's individual parts. Soundtrap could be more accessible than it
is, though. She always wants to know how I'm doing with the music, and she
provides opportunities to practice a lot in sections. I have the same
experience of missing cues sometimes and starting later, but on a number of
occasions, I've come in at the right place while other people were staring
at their music and not really listening, or watching the director. Very
interested in everyone's comments and suggestions.
Jen
On 9/4/23, Humberto Avila via MusicTlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello Catherine,
>
>
> My name is Humberto and I have been blind all of my life. Starting in
> high school I joined the orchestra, playing the violin for 2 years in
> it. And, what I'm about to say may not nor doesn't have to apply to you.
> Certainly there are many musicians who are fully sighted who are, in
> air quotes, musically gifted, and those of us who are blind who pull
> this off rather well, presumably because our brains elastically work
> towards allowing us to efficiently use other senses like hearing. I
> was that stereotypical blind musician who learned the music by ear,
> just as is, whatever I heard being played by my fellow violinists
> stuck with me, and sometimes the music teacher would help out with my
> part, but most likely I learned the music on my own, with no help. I
> have learned Braille music, but for me, learning the music is by far
> more efficient by ear than it is in Braille.
>
> I still catch myself doing just that from time to time. I am a
> Braillist by profession, and recently I worked at a school where my
> Braillist's office was situated rather conveniently next to the band
> and orchestra rooms. sometimes I would find myself singing to or
> writing down the scores they rehearse as they stick in my head. :)
>
> but anyways, please feel free to ask more questions of us, and we can
> help you find the system that best works for you. One amazing thing
> about our digital age is that we can find most scores or even recorded
> concerts on YouTube, or even songs you are going to rehearse, on that
> platform. So, I would encourage it if you are an auditory learner.
>
>
> Take care and have an awesome day.
>
>
> Yours in Music,
>
> Humberto
>
> On 9/2/2023 6:17 PM, Catherine Getchell via MusicTlk wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm new to this list and am not sure how active it is. But I'm
>> wondering if there's anyone on the list who plays or sings in a large
>> ensemble such as a band, orchestra, or choir. I'm a totally blind
>> trumpet player and have played for decades in bands and orchestras,
>> both in college and in the community. Not professionally usually,
>> but I'm pretty active. I know there are lots of blind musicians out
>> there, but I've never met anyone who plays in large groups. I'd be
>> interested in meeting people who do, to exchange tips and tricks on
>> things like memorizing large volumes of music, following the
>> conductor, and getting music in accessible formats. Thanks!
>>
>> Catherine
>>
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