Category: Jam Session
I have always played by ear. I'd like to learn the Braille music system. Any suggestions on material I should look at to get started?
Well, a couple of things you can do. If you are in the United States, check out some of the offerings from the Music Section of the National Library Service. Also, Dancing Dots has published a couple of books by a gentleman named Richard Taesch. I believe I have his last name spelled right. one is just called "Who's Afraid of Braille Music?" The other is something like Braille Music for the Piano. Those are the only two resources I know of. Good luck.
Lou
There's also a course from the Hadley School for the Blind. Personally I could never get the hang of braille music, and I tried for a lot of years.
I think I read on another similar topic that the Hadley course was dropped.
Hey if u need help, I can totally help u. I am very good at braille music, and i'm learning more all the time. I have to for what I want to major in for college so yeah
I'm sort of torn on this issue myself. It'd be nice to be able to read guitar tabs but at the same time I'm not exactly the most patient person in the universe. For one thing I've never been able to perform a power chord on a guitar.
I'm not sure, but I don't think that guitar tabs exist in braille music, or I've never seen it if it does. The closest thing I've seen is "Lead sheets" containg words, chords, and melody. The chords are written with letters like C, G7, etc. I'd like to see how they do tab in braille sometime.
Lou
Has anyone heard of a way of writing music for drums?
I would assign a different note to each drum, and write it that way.
The main thing with braille music that every letter apart from A and B is a letter after in normal braile. So C is normal braille D, D is normal braille E etc. Then A is I and B is J.
Add dot 6 for crotchet, dot 3 for minim, and both dots 3 and 6 for the semis.
Senior is absolutely right. Different notes are assigned to each drum part. Braille music drum parts look stranger than most braile music I've read, but then again, I haven't had that much exposure to drum music compared to piano music.
Lou
Richard Taesch's book "Who's Afraid of Braille Music?" was helpfull. I still need a lot of practice, though. Any suggestions on materials that contain beginner pieces for the piano?
Try looking at the piano courses available from the NLS if you're in the states. I don't know if it s still available from them, but an old eries that comes to mind is Michael Aaron's Beginning Piano for Adults. You start right in with easy two-hhand stuff.
Lou
welll.. most people start out with bach iNventions. I do have some here on my personal collection that might be of use. Furthermore its best you acquaint yourself to the printed music notation system. For instance, there are a few basic components that make up the staff and the notes: the noteheads are the "sape" of the note. Sometimes they'll have different shapes for the percussion instruments but mainly they indicate the durations. Additional heads are placed about the originals with a separator line called the "stem" that connect the initial noteheads to the durations for eight notes and smaller subdivisions. The stems are crucial when reading music both in print and braille. When the stems are all up on printed music, this means that one voice (in vocal or any other kind of music, even instrumental) is having to play or sing that fragment. If the stems are down, it can mean two things: another voice is also playing or singing the fragment (this is used to save space and put 2 vocal parts on a single staff) or, in piano, the right hand must "cross over the left hand" and play on the lower notes. I thought you'd want to know this, you'll not see it now but on works from haydn its possible you will. The staff lines and spaces vary. For example, if you're writing a part for two timbales or congas, you only need a 2 line staff. Simbols are used to indicate whether the sound is choked or stopped or muted (a plus sign) or open (a 0 or an o above the note is placed), ETC. Finally, the bar lines or other bars: those are used to separate the bars. So, i have a line, from left to right, then there are 4 circles with a stem going up and a notehead's atatched to them. Then there is a line that's horizontal, right after my right-most note. This means the bar ends here and there is another one starting. Similarly, in music braille the spaces represent this concept. THere are repetition bars inside brackets that surround a musical phrase, with a number at the beginnnig telling you how many times to repeat. A square box with a number above it surrounds the music when you hsould play an "alternate" ending to the first or second or third repetition, the number above the box lets you know. There are more repetition styles but this is the most common in printed music. Finally, there will be bars, bigger than the others to indicate the end of a section. THis is good visualy ecause many people will notice a "break" to the music when they see that bar. Finally, the double bar (in braille is dots 1-2-6, 1-3) is like a bracket, or a ceal at the very end, which of course tells us that the piece or composition has culminated. Music for drums or percussion is somewhat customized, but there is a set standard in the classical repertoire (google "guide to drum notation" to learn more) . To start, I highly recomend you write out familiar melodies with the rhythm and everything. So, since i know you play solely by ear this will be a rather interesting exercise. Get a grip on music theory. For instance, many people thing that 3/4 is the same as 6/8, WRONG! The accents are at the same place, but the writing is definitely different when the denominator gets changed! so, 3/4 : one quarter note fills a beat, you would need 3 quarter notes to make up a bar. 6/8: an eight note fills a beat, you'd need 6 eight notes to make a bar. And finally.. the surprise: 3/1 (mathematically "incorrect") but works: a whole note fills a beat, you'd need 3 whole notes to make a bar!. It surprises me how many people get this wrong, especially when they think they are the "gurus". So, this is just one way on which music is closely associated and related to mathematics.
Just stopping by to say this Topic regarding:
Braille Music
has so much of value discussed here.
I've not taken the time
at this time in passing
to read all posts.
There is so much of value
that personally I've not considered.
Thank You for allowing me to listen in
as it were.
I can't read braille music and never could find someone to teach me. It'd be interesting to see what a piece like, say Moonlight Sonata or ClairDeLune would look like. Both are pieces I'd like to learn to play if I was to take up the piano or at least the keyboard.
Does anyone know what a dot 5 followed by dots 1,3, and 4 is?