[nabs-l] Braille Music

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi,

I am a college music major who uses braille music a lot.  here is what
I did to get over this issue.

When I was just learning, a blind woman I knew in my area made me a
chart.  It listed each note in the diatonic scale from C to B in each
rhythmic value.  Eighth notes were one row, quarters were another,
half notes were next, and then whole notes.  She included the signs
for the rests and flat and sharp, along with the piano hand symbols at
the bottom.  Each row was separated by a line of dots 3 and 6 to
separate the rows.  She instructed me to read the chart a lot, and to
consult it when I was reading braille music.  It is important to not
think of literary braille when you're doing this.  Learning the music
code is just like learning any other code of braille; there are only
so many combinations of 6 dots.  Nemeth uses some of the same symbols
too and these symbols have different meanings, but you just need to
approach it in a different context.

Another trick I used on my own was to just go backwards a letter in
the alphabet to the corresponding note name.  If you do this enough it
can help you remember that what looks like a literary D is actually a
C, what looks like a literary G is really an F, etc.  It's correcting
yourself.

The biggest thing is just to do these things and practice reading
braille music.  It can be hard at first, but there is a method to the
madness that makes sense over time.

HTH.

On 12/24/13, trising at sbcglobal.net <trising at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Hello:
>
>      I have a Master's Degree in Voice and also teach voice. I am a soprano
> as well and sing in two or three choirs, depending on
> the time of year. I also do as much solo work as possible. I would really
> like to learn Braille music. I read Braille at 300 words
> per minute and I have helped people improve their Braille reading speeds,
> but when I look at Braille music, what I feel is what the
> letter is supposed to be in real Braille and not in Braille music. For
> instance, I feel dots 1, 4, 5, and my brain instantly says D
> and not eight note C. I did all of my college work by ear and got high
> grades doing it, but I know Braille music would be of
> benefit. Sandra, how do you get your brain to turn off recognizing Braille
> as Braille and get it to recognize Braille music, since
> the symbols are the same? I hope this question is clearer than mud!!
>
> Merry Christmas from
> Terri and Nick Wilcox
>
>
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-- 
Kaiti