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

Mon Feb 20 17:50:10 EST 2023

Hi,

I have a similar approach with my sighted students to most of what people
have already suggested.  And as I have children as young as 6 learning to
read music they definitely don't know about fractions!

When we first start counting a number of the tutor books use the approach of
counting saying 1 for a crotchet (quarter note), 1 2 for a minim (half note)
and 1 2 3 4 for a semibreve (whole note).  I have to say I am not a fan of
the American names for the notes as they seem unduly complicated and make no
sense what so ever when you are counting in 3/4 or 2/4 where a whole bar is
not a whole note and a quarter note is only 1/2 or 1/3 of the bar.  So I
would avoid any reference to anything to do with fractions what so ever.

So counting like this a bar of each you might say: 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 4.
Of course, that is just to get going and once the proportionate lengths of
the notes are understood related to a steady beat or metronome being tapped
along side this then when time signatures are introduced you revert to
counting for the full bar.

If you haven't taught music before you might want to consider reading
through some of the Piano Adventures Primer and Level 1 lesson and theory
books.  I think the layout of these will be far too complicated for a young
Braille reader as they have been beautifully transcribed with every little
detail of the print put in (bold, italics, bullets, arrows, graphic
descriptions, teacher duets etc) so quite easy to get lost on a page.  But
they might be a valuable reference for you as they are a very good teaching
resource and a great way to learn lots of tricks on how to teach music from
some very experienced music teachers.  Nancy and Randall Faber who put these
out also have info on the Piano Adventures website and YouTube channel
including demos of lesson plans, getting started etc and much of this could
be easily adapted as needed.

The Piano Adventures series can be downloaded from NLS in Braille and there
would be nothing stopping you from cutting and pasting or selecting just a
song by itself without all the surrounding info to have embossed on a page
so your student can have just the music without all the clutter and
additional info.  I love these songs because they are great music in their
own right.  They also come with backing tracks either still available on CD,
mp3s on the website or best of all the PA player app which is quite
accessible on iphone and ipad and has the advantage of listening to one hand
at a time, slowing down or adding accompaniment.  A really handy tool for
both blind student and teacher to hear the music and work by ear as well as
Braille.

For rhythms I have created rhythm rods very similar to David's lego idea.
Mine have been cut out of white cabinetry board (like the stuff inside your
kitchen cupboards by a local kitchen maker) but you can just as easily do
them with stiff cardboard.  Mine have hand written on notes with felt tip
for sighted students but will soon be getting some added Braille labels for
me.   So the semibreve is about 40cm long, minims 20cm, crotchets 10cm,
quavers 5cm and semiquavers 2.5cm.  I also have a dotted minim and some
dotted crotchets.  I have a few extras of most so that I can use them not
just to demonstrate how they fit into each other, but also can create
rhythms with them that show the proportions when working on theory
exercises, correct grouping and counting.  I have rests drawn on the back,
so you can flip them over for rests.  I have a tray they are all in and the
lid is large enough to act as a work space sitting on the shut piano lid to
lay them out on so they don't move around too much.

You might also be interested to know that lego last year brought out a
special series of bricks that have Braille dots on the top.  E.g. they use
the 6 connector sized brick that would usually have 6 knobs on the top and
have then only put on each the connectors/dots for each alphabet letter.
I'm sure these could be repurposed for music quite easily.  The only problem
is that as far as I understand as yet they have only released them to
schools via blind foundations and it seems individuals can't get their hands
on them.

Jeanie

-----Original Message-----
From: Menvi-discuss On Behalf Of David Goldstein via Menvi-discuss
Sent: Tuesday, 21 February 2023 4:58 AM
To: 'This is for discussing music and braille literacy'
<menvi-discuss at menvi.org>
Cc: David Goldstein <david at dgdomain.com>
Subject: Re: [Menvi-discuss] Young Braille music student/keep those
suggestions coming/question

We liked Lego bricks. The number of bumps don't correspond to the exact
number value, but when you start with the longest, there are at least four
sizes that, when put together, come out to the length of the longest one.
Especially when writing, students who had trouble figuring out what was
needed to make the measure complete could compare their smaller bricks to
the long one representing the whole note. And the board that the bricks go
on make them stay put.
David

-----Original Message-----
From: Menvi-discuss <menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org> On Behalf Of Stephanie
Pieck via Menvi-discuss
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2023 10:02 AM
To: sandragayer7 at gmail.com; '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

Another idea (at least for U.S. teachers/students) is to get a small supply
of silver dollars (for whole notes), fifty-cent pieces (for half notes), and
quarters (for--yup, you guessed it!--quarter notes). The great thing is that
these coins all feel somewhat similar with ridges around the perimeter, but
they are different in size which will help students learn in two dimensions:
the fractional (whole, half, quarter) and the size/length (large, medium,
small). Note: Sorry, but the Susan B. Anthony dollars and other
non-silver-dollar dollar coins that are the same size as quarters won't work
in this setup!

Stephanie Pieck

-----Original Message-----
From: Menvi-discuss [mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org] On Behalf Of
Sandra Gayer via Menvi-discuss
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2023 5:12 AM
To: This is for discussing music and braille literacy
Cc: Sandra Gayer
Subject: Re: [Menvi-discuss] Young Braille music student/keep those
suggestions coming/question

Hello Kimberly,
I'm surprised an 11-year-old doesn't know fractions yet.  I'm sure he'll
understand the concept of dividing, especially pizza or cake.
You may get away with pretend objects you can pull apart but you might like
to resort to real cake/pizza, halves, quarters, eighths etc.
Thinking out loud, squares are probably easier to conceptualise in this way
as your student can, eventually, section them mentally, using the tactile
memory you will build together. If you introduce the notion of halves and
quarters, using shapes cut out of another shape, letting your student feel
each stage of the process, then translating this into music, using a basic
nursery rime and I suggest 4/4 at first, I'm sure it will work out.

HTH,
very best wishes,
Sandra.

On 2/20/23, ruby alphonse via Menvi-discuss <menvi-discuss at menvi.org> wrote:
> Hi Kimberly I generally use the books  Braille music for the beginners 
> for the Piano by Joan Partridge, there are exercises nicely explained
> the time valu, e note value,   articulations,   dynamics,  and
> abriviations,  intervels and so on. another book I use, Read Rember 
> and Play, This book is also very well explained I find everything very 
> well explained.
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> Ruby.
>
> On 2/20/23, Kimberly Morrow via Menvi-discuss 
> <menvi-discuss at menvi.org>
> wrote:
>> 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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--
Sandra Gayer DipABRSM, LRSM.

Soprano Singer
www.sandragayer.com

Broadcast Presenter
www.rnibconnectradio.org.uk/music-box.html

Actor
www.visablepeople.com

Voiceover Artist
www.archangelvoices.co.uk/content/sandra-gayer

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