[Menvi-discuss] Your advice for music teachers working with blind and visually impaired students?

[Dana Ard]

My comments are probably too late. I missed this email. I strongly suggest that music teachers become somewhat familiar with braille music and introduce their young students to learning the basics. The best braille music raders I know, and I’m not one of them, began using braille music when they started learning an instrument or singing. So often teachers are impressed by the blind student’s ability to play by ear. Playing by ear is a good thing, but if you hope to be an independent musician, you need to learn to read the music. That is my comment. Sorry again it is so late in coming.

 

From: Menvi-discuss [mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org] On Behalf Of Marc Sabatella
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2021 2:09 PM
To: This is for discussing music and braille literacy
Subject: [Menvi-discuss] Your advice for music teachers working with blind and visually impaired students?

 

Hi!  I'm doing a presentation for NAfME - the National Association for Music Education - in a couple of weeks, and I've love to get your input.

 

The title of the presentation is "Teaching Music to Blind and Visually Impaired Students", and the audience is mostly grade school music teachers plus high school choir and band directors.  My wife - an elementary school music teacher herself - is co-presenting with me.

 

For those who you who have taught or been taught in that environment, what are some things you think it especially important for me to talk about?  What would you want a music teacher who may never have worked with a blind music student to know?

 

My own experience is mostly in the university area, teaching music theory specifically, and I have plenty of information I've gathered over the years on various tools and techniques that make sense in that world.  Much of my presentation will be focused on sharing what I have learned about communicating using different forms of notated music.  But I also know I have little experience teaching elementary general music or what unique challenges might come up in that environment.  Luckily, my wife has lots of experience in that world, but little of it with blind or visually impaired students.  Hopefully between all of us, I can find the right 55 minutes of material to cover!

 

-- 

Marc Sabatella
marc at outsideshore.com



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