[Perform-Talk] General Discussion About Learning Music, with a Focus on Accuracy

[annedonnellon at gmail.com]

Hi Ella,
Great questions and I appreciate you bringing this up: This is honestly a subject I've often been nervous to talk about as I've been one to learn a ton of music, (including choral works) by ear.
Note: I am classically trained, but have been singing more jazz and popular standards lately that are more open for interpretation.  That said, when it comes to YouTube videos, I try to be choosy about the ones I listen to because some jazz singers interpret songs in a way that makes it confusing to know the exact melody.  Same with church music.  As for custom-made recordings, I always try to ask the director (or whomever is recording) to clearly communicate the rhythmic intricasies, key changes, ETC. that are important to accurately learning the music.  I do feel that braille music is helpful for those things: rhythms, key signatures, ETC as you say.
To be brutally honest however, I do not consider myself fluent☹.  Knowledgeable, sure, but fluent--not even close!  (this could also be me being self-conscious and critical.  While I have had success, I am always open to learning😊.
-Annie

-----Original Message-----
From: Perform-Talk <perform-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ella Yu via Perform-Talk
Sent: Sunday, September 8, 2024 7:49 PM
To: NFB Performing Arts Mailing List <perform-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Ella Yu <ellaxyu at gmail.com>
Subject: [Perform-Talk] 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
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