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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>It’s very important for blind teachers to have a fairly good grasp of the visual aspects of print notation. Two good resources to explore tactile notation are:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Bastien: Note Speller, Level 1 (if you can borrow a hard copy from the Library of Congress Music Section, it gives raised line drawings of staves, treble and bass clefs, and note values for whole, half, and quarter notes. Not sure if it includes sharpts/flats/naturals, but it’s very good for exploring bar lines and how the stems of notes point different directions depending on where the note sits on the staff.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>RNIB had a book by Eric Taylor called “The AB (Associated Board) Guide to Music Theory, Parts I and II” which also had a separate supplement with raised drawings of every musical concept in the book. This would be great for more advanced teachersor those working with a variety of instruments and/or singers. You’ll find everything in here: tenor and alto clefs; ornaments; beaming of notes; small-value notes; … All in all, a terrific way to explore printed music by touch.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Another fun way to do this is to look for musical notes and clefs at craft or art-supply stores. Pairs of eighth notes are very popular in decorations, and the swirly treble clef is a favorite design for jewelry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>To teach the concept of lines and spaces (for blind or sighted students), lay 5 large pieces of paper on the floor with gaps in between. Have the student stand on a piece of paper at one end of the row while you stand to one side. Start by telling them they are on a line and have them step into the gap between the paper tjey’re standing on and the next paper. Tell them this is a space. You can then progress through moving by steps, skips, and get a three-dimensional and total-body understanding of how far apart notes in intervals really are.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>I hope some of these ideas are useful to someone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Stephanie<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Menvi-discuss [mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces@menvi.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Jeanie Willis via Menvi-discuss<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, January 31, 2023 7:58 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'This is for discussing music and braille literacy'<br><b>Cc:</b> Jeanie Willis<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Menvi-discuss] Accessible piano method books for teaching beginners<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>Oh, no, well I haven’t looked at my copy yet as it isn’t one I’ve been using this last 6 months. But should be able to spot that issue pretty quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>That is ridiculous and adds no value to a Braille music reader who does not use the graphic up and down of notes for pitch, so why do it like that in Braille, that to me is just silly!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>But as a teacher, having a nice little transcribers note that lets me know that that is what is happening in the print is always useful and when it happens consistently through lots of the early songs that is the kind of thing that should be noted in the transcribers notes at the front.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>I do have an advantage on these as I do remember what so much of it looks like, but therefore hope I’m not making assumptions based on that for how well someone reading it in Braille for the first time can follow it. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> Menvi-discuss <b>On Behalf Of </b>Stephanie Pieck via Menvi-discuss<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, 1 February 2023 1:57 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'This is for discussing music and braille literacy' <menvi-discuss@menvi.org><br><b>Cc:</b> Stephanie Pieck <themusicsuite@verizon.net><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Menvi-discuss] Accessible piano method books for teaching beginners<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Very similar to the Primer level stuff in the regular Adventures series. The main problem with the earlier transcription of that lesson book was that the transcriber tried to mimic that arrangement of the braille notes on the page so that a lot of pieces took up entire pages and the notes were all on a slant! Really challenging even for a proficient braille reader!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Menvi-discuss [<a href="mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces@menvi.org">mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces@menvi.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Jeanie Willis via Menvi-discuss<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, January 31, 2023 7:13 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'This is for discussing music and braille literacy'<br><b>Cc:</b> Jeanie Willis<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Menvi-discuss] Accessible piano method books for teaching beginners<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>I love the first book of the My First Piano Adventure Series. It is so cute and is designed for non readers. For print readers it develops eye tracking along the page and up and down for pitch using finger numbers and later in the book letter names but no staff.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>There is a heap of info on the pages that parents can read out and lots of colourful pictures that follow the characters that they call friends who journey through the books with them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>So way too much info to consider putting into Braille for a young one, but as the course is designed mainly as non reading anyone could easily just make simple resource pages of just the finger numbers or letters written out in literary Braille or even tactile for a blind student.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> Menvi-discuss <b>On Behalf Of </b>Stephanie Pieck via Menvi-discuss<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, 1 February 2023 1:07 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'This is for discussing music and braille literacy' <<a href="mailto:menvi-discuss@menvi.org">menvi-discuss@menvi.org</a>><br><b>Cc:</b> Stephanie Pieck <<a href="mailto:themusicsuite@verizon.net">themusicsuite@verizon.net</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Menvi-discuss] Accessible piano method books for teaching beginners<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>That’s cool! I’ve done similar things for very young students; I have a packet somewhere with a whole bunch of traditional children’s songs written out using letters rather than notes. This is great for kids who have only just learned to recognize letters (not even reading yet).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Steph<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Menvi-discuss [<a href="mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces@menvi.org">mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces@menvi.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Jeanie Willis via Menvi-discuss<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, January 30, 2023 8:15 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'This is for discussing music and braille literacy'<br><b>Cc:</b> Jeanie Willis<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Menvi-discuss] Accessible piano method books for teaching beginners<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>Thanks Steph,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>I will need to check my copy now of the Primer Book, hope it is the right one!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>I should have also mentioned that on the various catalogues most don’t say which edition they are, but the one to look for for second edition is the one transcribed by CNIB in 2015. Often it is also just labelled as Piano Adventures Level X without saying what books such as Lesson, Theory, Christmas, Sight-Reading, Technique, etc as the zip file contains all 8 books for each level. When you actually open a file the first page is usually really clear to say second edition if it is.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>As far as I know no one has transcribed the My First Piano Adventure Books A, B & C for the younger beginners. But if anyone wants it I do have document files with lots of details recorded from these and a few Braille extracts that I have started myself of various rhythms for ear training games etc. The songs are so simple I just played them by ear, but my document notes down finger positions and other written info on the page.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> Menvi-discuss <b>On Behalf Of </b>Stephanie Pieck via Menvi-discuss<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, 31 January 2023 11:55 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'This is for discussing music and braille literacy' <<a href="mailto:menvi-discuss@menvi.org">menvi-discuss@menvi.org</a>><br><b>Cc:</b> Stephanie Pieck <<a href="mailto:themusicsuite@verizon.net">themusicsuite@verizon.net</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Menvi-discuss] Accessible piano method books for teaching beginners<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Hi,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>I concur with everything Jeannie Willis said in her reply to this message. I will only add that, if you’re going to use the Primer Level of the Piano Adventures series that’s available on NLS/BARD, make sure you choose the version transcribed in 2021 by WY Brand Industries. The older transcription was incomplete, while the newer one contains all four “core” books: Lessons, Performance, Theory, and Technique and Artistry. I assisted the transcriber who worked on this transcription, and their rendering of it is outstanding for both sighted teachers and beginning braille music readers, as they included helpful introductions to braille music signs as part of their transcription. Also, the descriptions of visual aspects like colors, icons, etc. is supremely useful for blind teachers working with sighted students, particularly very young children and/or beginners with absolutely no music background, since the blind teacher can easily refer students to things to look at based on the brailled descriptions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Stephanie Pieck<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Menvi-discuss [<a href="mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces@menvi.org">mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces@menvi.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Elisabeth Egel via Menvi-discuss<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, January 30, 2023 7:07 AM<br><b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:menvi-discuss@menvi.org">menvi-discuss@menvi.org</a><br><b>Cc:</b> <a href="mailto:elisabethegel@gmail.com">elisabethegel@gmail.com</a><br><b>Subject:</b> [Menvi-discuss] Accessible piano method books for teaching beginners<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=ET>Hi everyone,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=ET>My name is Elisabeth and I am a 2nd year music student.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=ET>I am currently taking a module in music pedagogy, and during this module, I have to give 5-7 short lessons to a sighted student.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=ET>I was wondering if anyone could please recommend any piano method books for beginners which would be accessible in Braille/musicxml as well as in print for the student, so we would be able to use it simultaneously.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=ET><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=ET>With best wishes,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=ET>Elisabeth<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>