[MusicTlk] General Discussion About Learning Music, with a Focus on Accuracy

[Brandon Olivares]

I’m a classical pianist, and with the complexity of piano music, there’s no way I could ever learn it by ear. When I was growing up my piano teacher would read me the notes and I’d memorize it. These day I use exclusively braille music and I’d never go back. I love being able to see all the notation right there.

The only downside is that there are sometimes transcription errors in the music, that I don’t catch until my teacher notices, so I’m always a bit nervous that I’ve gone wrong somewhere.

As for how to handle performance, for me there’s no getting around memorizing it, but I’ve been doing that my whole life anyway, so it’s not a big deal.

Brandon

From: MusicTlk <musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> on behalf of Ella Yu via MusicTlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org>
Date: Sunday, September 8, 2024 at 7:51 PM
To: Music Talk Mailing List <musictlk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Ella Yu <ellaxyu at gmail.com>
Subject: [MusicTlk] General Discussion About Learning Music, with a Focus on Accuracy
Hi everyone,

I know this is a topic that has come up many times over the years in
various settings—email lists, forums, and in-person conversations. However,
since we all love sharing advice, I think it’s important to revisit the
topic: should we learn braille music or not? What are the considerations
for choosing to learn and use braille music (aside from the obvious need to
acquire it)? There’s no simple, black-and-white answer to this question. I
want to start by saying that I don’t mean to be judgmental about anyone’s
approach. I just think it’s valuable to have a healthy conversation about
this topic from time to time.

One of the most commonly cited reasons for learning braille music is to
gain the same musical independence that sighted musicians have—learning
music without being influenced by others’ interpretations and being able to
see all the musical information in front of you. But one issue that doesn’t
seem to get enough attention is learning music accurately. By "accurately,"
I don’t just mean playing the right notes, I’m talking about rhythmic
accuracy, especially in higher-level classical music, where precision is
key.

For example, a highly syncopated or rhythmically complex passage in, say,
4/4, might feel/sound like it's in 3/8 or 6/8 or something else. How do you
personally respond to that situation? Does your approach differ depending
on whether you use braille music or learn by ear? For me personally, when I
learn such material by ear, I tend to feel the music the way it sounds
(i.e., in 3/8 or 6/8) rather than the way it’s written in 4/4. I've also
had situations where learning by ear made it harder to get the rhythm
exactly right because I didn’t have access to the notation, which led to my
teachers having to correct me more than I would have liked. I find that
braille music solves this problem for me because I can see exactly how the
rhythm is written, even if I ultimately feel it differently. This
information changes how I conceptualize and memorize music. Another thing
is interpreting rubatos, ritardandos, and other tempo changes in
recordings, especially with human-made recordings or YouTube videos.
Without the written notation, the likelihood of misinterpreting these tempo
fluctuations as extra beats, time signature changes, or rhythmic
alterations, can be quite high, at least for me. Similarly, distinguishing
between actual staccatos and short eighth notes in recordings can be fairly
tricky, though it is possible, and braille music helps clarify those
details.

Of course, there are ways to work around these issues if you learn by ear.
For example, customized recordings can be made to provide all the
information you need. Another option is generating MIDI recordings from
notation software, which avoids human errors in rhythm and note accuracy
and reduces the chance of being influenced by someone else's
interpretation. However, MIDI-generated recordings typically lack spoken
cues for dynamics, articulations, and other musical details. Whether using
MIDI or human-made recordings, adding a metronome or click track can help
with rhythmic accuracy.

So, my main questions for all of you are:
1. If you use braille music, what are your favourite reasons for doing so?
2. If you prefer learning by ear, how do you handle rhythm and accuracy
without the written notation? What methods help you fully understand the
music?
3. For the vast majority of instrumentalists, reading braille music and
playing at the same time is physically impossible, as we all know. How do
we make braille music relevant and meaningful in this context? I feel that
more people know braille music exists and that it can be useful, than, say,
ten or twenty years ago, but the inability to read and play an instrument
simultaneously (which isn’t anyone’s fault) still seems to be a notable
point of resistance. I completely understand if this is one of the main
reasons some of us prefer learning by ear.

I think it’s important to have this discussion with nuance and respect for
individual differences. As someone who is fluent in braille music and
generally loves using it, especially for classical music (orchestra,
chamber ensemble, and solo pieces), I understand it may not be the best fit
for everyone. For full disclosure, I am a classically-oriented musician who
has been totally blind since birth, and I play piano, violin, and viola at
a relatively high amateur level. I personally like using braille music for
learning classical pieces for both solo and ensemble contexts (though solo
violin/viola music is easy to learn off YouTube recordings for the most
part, though the two-handed nature of piano music is a different story). I
am also fluent in learning by ear, which I find particularly useful in
non-classical settings. My ear skills help me conceptualize the music I
play, and I often pick up certain things more quickly by ear than through
reading music, and I don’t think this is exactly an uncommon experience for
sighted musicians, either. For ensemble music, I also practice extensively
with recordings so I understand exactly how my part fits with the rest of
the ensemble, so I pick up quite a bit of information by ear that way, even
though I'm using braille music to learn all my notes, rhythms,
articulations, etc.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Ella
_______________________________________________
MusicTlk mailing list
MusicTlk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/musictlk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for MusicTlk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/musictlk_nfbnet.org/programmer2188%40gmail.com