[MusicTlk] Braille display versus paper braille for music

[carcione at access.net]

I play harp, which uses 2 staves, and tin whistle, which only needs one.
I have braille music in my braille notetakers, which are 20-cell displays.  It's OK for the whistle, but I don't like it for the harp.  I need to see how the left and right hand measures line up, and it's hard to do with the braille display.  And, if I want just the melody while I'm learning a piece, I have to keep jumping over the left hand part.  Hardcopy is much better.
I also prefer hardcopy for the whistle, and braille out what I've written down digitally.  It just seems easier to read.  Not sure why.

I have transcribed a lot of music myself, and I have a braille printer to put the music into hardcopy.  My printer uses the wide size of paper, so that is what I use when I write music out on the brailler, just because I have it.  And I think more fits onto 1 page with the wide paper.
Tracy

-----Original Message-----
From: MusicTlk <musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ruben Rincon, Jr. via MusicTlk
Sent: Monday, June 1, 2026 10:49 PM
To: MusicTlk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Ruben Rincon, Jr. <rrj782 at gmail.com>
Subject: [MusicTlk] Braille display versus paper braille for music

Hey everyone. I may have asked this question before on social media but I don't think I've asked on this list, and if so it's been quite a while and ideas may have changed. For those who read braille music, do you prefer a braille display or reading on paper braille? I'm in a transition period with my vision, going from primarily low vision techniques to mostly braille music now. 

I am an organist and choir director and I very much prefer paper because it is much faster to read one line to the next and to go between sections, probably because of spatial memory. What I mean by that is that for me, it is easy to remember that a certain section starts at the top of a page, or in the middle, or something similar. This is probably common for many of you, too. I don't get this with a braille display but the convenience of not having to haul loads of paper around is quite nice.  

Secondary question about paper. I much prefer letter size paper (I'm in the United States, so that is quite close to A4 paper) over the standard large paper size just for the sake of portability. I do practice both at work and home and haven't figured out how to easily transport large braille paper easily. The smaller size fits in a backpack and also is easily stored in files without special sizes of folders or shelf space being needed. Just wondering your thoughts. 

Thank you,
Ruben 
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