[MusicTlk] Looking to Connect with Blind Musicians who Sing or Play in Large Ensembles

Tue Sep 5 12:48:40 UTC 2023

 Hello, 
I'm a vocalist and sing in the Synphony chorus. I always look over parts using braille music beforehand, and I also use YouTube a lot. 
I have sang a lot of atonal works, and find the best way to learn them is by intervals rather than tonally. Also, if you have a knowledge of serialism for example, and can work out what the composer is doing with the row or retrograde, this can help you learn the piece. Another example of a 
> On 5 Sep 2023, at 9:38 pm, Catherine Getchell via MusicTlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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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>> 
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