[Cheri A. Wales]

Hello. I’m a high school transcriber. We have ordered braille copies of our students’ piano book but I’m not trained in braille music and I need to braille the pages the teacher is using until we get them. I got a copy of the Braille Music 101 publication.  I can read music and I understand how to braille the notes on a staff. But how would I braille this with both the printed numbers and the notes and no staff? The way I brailled the previous song that had the numbers and words but not notes won’t work for this.   Thank you.

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[Patrick Janson]

Hi Cheri,

I have transcribed books with non-traditional examples like these, so I told Kathleen I’d reply.

Honestly, I just treat it as music braille. To try to represent it as in print with no staff lines I feel would be unhelpful because it is done that way in print for the sighted. So here’s what I do:

I put any text/lyrics in cell 1-5. You can even add the “(3-4)” in the text line.

You’ll treat the music as a single-line parallel. Start the music in cell 3 with the RH sign. Runovers to cell 5 if needed. The music in the RH can be treated in 4th octave and fingering can be included. If this is early in the book, you should put a flat on each note until the book teaches that the flat is dropped after the first one within one measure of music.

When the melody switches from RH to LH you can use the braille hand signs to represent the change of hands. You’d also want to use octave 3 for the LF music notes.

Let me know if you need more clarity!

Patrick Janson

 

 

[Cheri A. Wales]

Hello.  Thank you, that helps a lot.  I definitely appreciate the help.

I have a couple questions:

By fingering do you mean the numbers and if so how do you include it?

In switching hands in the first four notes/ same measure (I’m looking at this as 4/4 time) as shown in the first line of that image, do I need to put the octave indicator after each hand sign when switching between hands? I know if the hand signs were not there I wouldn’t need to as Db and Bb are not a sixth or more apart.

 

Thank you.

[Patrick Janson]

Hi Cheri,

Assuming you have access to the Music Braille Code (you can download from BANA, if not), you’ll find the symbols for fingering on Table 15, page 11. These symbols immediately follow the music pitch.

Yes, place an octave indicator after each hand sign.

Patrick

[Cheri A. Wales]

Thank you.  I do have the Code. I really appreciate the help.

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