Admittedly, Music Week is already a while behind us. But such a clear commitment to music notation deserves a place at Braille 200 at any time!
A big thank you to Michael Kuhlmann, who impressively shows us how fundamentally this system, developed by Louis Braille, has changed the lives and opportunities of many blind people.
The original article appeared in May in Sichtweisen, the magazine of the German Federaion of the Blind and the Partially Sighted at this link
Michael Kuhlmann has kindly allowed us to translate his article and publish it here at Braille 200. We would like to express our sincere thanks to him and, of course, to the Sichtweisen team as well!
Without Braille music notation, there is no orientation
I have been blind since birth and therefore learned Braille during my schooling at the Soest School for the Blind. Fortunately, I received piano lessons at a young age and had a blind piano teacher. In addition to my musical training, he also taught me Braille music notation, at least to a basic level. Today, in my profession as a church musician and music teacher, Braille music notation is indispensable for me.
I learn all the organ and piano works I need for my everyday professional life with the help of Braille music notation, because in my opinion, pieces of music, especially more complex ones, cannot be learned by ear.
Just as I understand a text through words and symbols, I want to learn music in bars and notes and interpret it faithfully. This would be impossible to do adequately by ear. In the worst case, you learn the mistakes and slip-ups of the performers you use as a learning resource.
When working with choirs and teaching instruments, you need a basis for communication with sighted students. All musical arrangements are made while playing together based on bars, for example: “Please play again from bar 25!” Without sheet music, I would have no orientation in the piece of music, and consequently it would be difficult to communicate purely by ear when working together musically. For sighted people, learning music notation is a natural part of their education, just as children learn to read and write in elementary school.
How and to what extent one uses music notation in the course of one’s life as a musician is a personal, individual decision. What is certain, however, is that Braille music notation provides us with a fully-fledged notation system that can be used to represent almost everything one needs in everyday musical life. In addition, thanks to digital advances, it is now very easy and inexpensive to transcribe sheet music into Braille that is not available for purchase from the relevant publishers.
In summary, Braille music notation makes an indispensable contribution to inclusion for me. I can access a wide range of music, transcribe pieces of music myself if necessary, and even make personal adjustments to the musical text in the form of notes. In short, thanks to Braille music notation, I am musically independent.
Louis Braille also developed the musical notation named after him from his system of dot writing. He was himself an organist.
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