[blindkid] Braille Music Sources

Richard Holloway rholloway at gopbc.org
Thu Apr 17 16:41:57 UTC 2014


I agree Lydia that Braille music is very important. We’re a little out of sync here in that Kendra is way ahead with some musical skills but somewhat behind (comparatively) with Braille music reading, so I’m anxious to keep her interested in learning to play while we let her Braille music reading skills catch up with her overall knowledge of music theory. 

I’m pretty familiar with traditional teaching methods. I’m fairly musical and I grew up in the home of a mom and dad who were university professors of music. Kendra has absolute pitch recognition (discovered at age three) and instantly recognizes the key of any given piece. She can name any music interval she hears, or any chord she hears played. She also understands the concept of musical meters and many general concepts which are so important to music. I’m fairly certain if we get music she is interested in under her fingers, she will quickly pickup the Braille music as well. She already understands the basics of the Braille music too, but she hasn’t had her hands on much actual Braille music, and what she has seen so far is much more in the realm of basic examples which she finds it fairly uninteresting.

Looks like I may need to have some music custom transcribed to get us started. The software for DIY solutions sounds nice, but also pretty expensive. I may try the free trial, but I’m not sure it will work with out equipment here— sounds like it isn’t Windows 8 certified yet.

Anyhow, thanks to you and to all for the suggestions!


On Apr 16, 2014, at 8:09 AM, Lydia Anne Schuck <lydia.a.schuck at wmich.edu> wrote:

> Braille music is a must for students who want to be able to read and interpret the composer's intent, rather than play in the same style as the recording.  There is a print book called "Piano for the Blind Child" and three braille booklets that go with it called "Read, remember, and play".  I saw the braille ones listed at LOC recently, and a few years ago, they sent us the print copy.  However, they are not intended for the child to do alone, and you need someone who can read braille.  These books teach beginning piano and braille music at the same time, in a logical way. Braille music very systematic, but you do have to learn the system, the way sighted kids learn to read notes.
> 
> Lydia Schuck
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: hpscheffer at aol.com
> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 23:00:02 -0400 (EDT)
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Braille Music Sources
> 
> Alyssa, I'm not the original person posting this question, but found your post interesting, can you tell me how to access the audio music scores on bard?
> thanks
> Heidi
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alyssa <alyssahenson95 at gmail.com>
> To: Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children) <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tue, Apr 15, 2014 10:24 pm
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Braille Music Sources
> 
> 
> Also, if you use bard provided by NLS, there are audio music scores. Here's 
> another thought. Is playing by ear an option? I play the piano, the violin, and 
> sing this way. I was exposed to Braille music but found it rather tedious and a 
> bit random. Many of the notes don't seem to follow any sort of pattern. Just 
> some thoughts.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Apr 15, 2014, at 5:16 PM, Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org> wrote:
>> 
>> I’m wondering what sort of sources are available for braille sheet music, 
> especially for reasonably current pieces— like things on the radio. (Maybe 
> something such as some fairly recent Taylor Swift pieces, for example.)
>> 
>> Does any one know of good sources? We’ll probably want some other things like 
> maybe classical or even jazz at some point, but for now our need is basic for, 
> beginning music for Guitar and/or Piano.
>> 
>> Ideally, I’d like the same edition in print as well as braille. Surely someone 
> must sell these together, or maybe they sell the braille transcriptions for 
> particular print editions. Or perhaps there are NLS options?
>> 
>> In fact, I may be somewhat ahead of myself. I know a fair amount about music, 
> but very little about the most common approach to Braille music. I have no idea 
> what exists as far as chord chart and/or tablature for Braille, but there must 
> me some fairly standard approach. 
>> 
>> Ultimately, Kendra will need to read conventional music beyond anything that 
> exists like Braille Chord Charts / Tab, but having all these options available 
> to her would make sense to me.
>> 
>> Suggestions?
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