[Menvi-discuss] Young Braille music student/keep those suggestions coming/question

[Bill McCann]

A big Amen to Stephanie's post.  In fact, the approach she describes is just the approach that Richard Taesch takes in his series "An Introduction to Music for the Blind Student" series.

Richard does stress the use of solfeggio syllables for the braille music beginner but he also recommends singing the "note numbers" and even the letter names once the student has mastered the necessary code switching technique.

Yes, the fun is actually not just for fun, if you know what I mean.  When I teach braille music (or anything else for that matter) in a small-group setting, I give my students just two rules.  1: Nobody types while I'm talking to the class and 2: have fun.

Bill McCann, President, Dancing Dots
Visit our YouTube page:
www.youtube.com/DancingDotsAccess<http://www.youtube.com/DancingDotsAccess>


From: Menvi-discuss <menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org> On Behalf Of Stephanie Pieck via Menvi-discuss
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2023 10:14 AM
To: 'This is for discussing music and braille literacy' <menvi-discuss at menvi.org>
Cc: Stephanie Pieck <themusicsuite at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Menvi-discuss] Young Braille music student/keep those suggestions coming/question

Hi again,

Another thought is to go counter to just about every print music book out there and start with eighth notes instead of quarter notes. This way, you are teaching your student the basic pitches (which will never change) that only use the upper four dots of the cell: 1, 2, 4, and 5. Once they've gotten these pitches really solidly and can read/sing/play them on solfege syllables, scale-step numbers, and (don't shoot me, anybody!) pitch letter names, introducing quarter notes and longer values is quite easy.

I have very successfully taught many students using this approach and find that they learn faster this way because they are taught how braille music is built. Remembering the dot formations for seven pitches and then just adding dots 3 or 6 or both for other note values is a lot easier than trying to memorize 21 different signs (for pitches A through G in quarter, half, and whole notes).

Another advantage to learning this way is that, since there are only so many dot combinations we can use, we'll eventually have to "recycle" notes-for instance, whole notes can look like sixteenth notes. By teaching the sequence eighth notes, quarter notes, half notes, whole notes, and only then moving on to smaller-value notes, you are also reinforcing the importance of contextual reading in braille music. If a student knows that in four-four time, a whole note will be the only note that will fill the entire measure by itself, and they encounter a measure in four-four time with more than one note that "feels like a whole note," they'll be able to recognize, "Oh, that can't be a whole note!" Kids think it's pretty funny when I say to them, "That can't be a whole note; if it was, along with all those other notes in there, you'd bust out of that measure because all those whole notes can't fit in there."

Most important thing for teaching braille music? Have fun, experiment, and if one way doesn't work for a student, try something else, and keep trying something elses until you find the thing that makes them go, "Oh! I get it now!" Plastic Easter eggs; coins; wooden blocks with pegs you can stick in them to form the braille cells; cookies; braille Scrabble tiles ... you name it, I've probably done it!

Stephanie Pieck


From: Menvi-discuss [mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org] On Behalf Of Kimberly Morrow via Menvi-discuss
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2023 12:21 AM
To: menvi-discuss at menvi.org<mailto:menvi-discuss at menvi.org>
Cc: drkimctvi at gmail.com<mailto:drkimctvi at gmail.com>
Subject: [Menvi-discuss] Young Braille music student/keep those suggestions coming/question

First, I want to thank all of the wonderful people on this list who have offered suggestions for teaching an 11-year-old Braille reader to read Braille music. Now, yet another question. I'm confident he hasn't covered fractions yet in school. So. . .what is the easiest way to explain note values to an 11-year-old? How can I simplify the process of rhythm to make it more comprehensible?

Many thanks again!

Kimberly in KC

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