THE PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES OF MUSIC SCORE ACCESS FOR BLIND PIANISTS: A QUALITATIVE ACCOUNT
DEWALD LOUWRENS VAN DEVENTER
THIS RESEARCH ESSAY IS SUBMITTEDIN PARTIAL REQUIREMENT
FOR THE DEGREE BACCALAUREUS MUSICAE HONORESIN THE FACULTY OF THE HUMANITIES,
DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC,AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE
NOVEMBER 2009
SUPERVISOR: PROF M. VILJOEN
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincerest thanks and appreciation to the following people:
My supervisor, Prof Martina Viljoen. Without her help and instruction, I would not have been able to finish this essay;
Mr Dana Cilliers, my piano lecturer, for commencing work on this essay, and for helping me overcome all obstacles regarding the learning of the piano repertoire required to obtain my degree;
Prof Nicol Viljoen, with whom I conducted an interview documented in the essay;
My respondents and the two MENVI users who answered all my long and difficult questions;
Last, but not least, my family and friends for supporting me, and carrying me through everything.
Dewald van Deventer,Bloemfontein: November 2009
SUMMARY
The aim of this essay is to determine how blind pianists around the world manage to learn music in their daily situations, and how they overcome the specific problems posed by their disability. This data was obtained by way of qualitative methodology which included a structured survey and an interview.
As an overall outcome of this study, it was found that the use of braille music scores is still predominant among blind users, but that they pose both challenges and problems. New and existing computer software programs stretch the boundaries for blind and visually impaired musicians to hitherto unexplored possibilities, but the cost factors involved are a serious impediment. This means that, despite the remarkable progress being made, blind pianists are still faced with considerable problems regarding the learning of musical scores that prevent them from achieving self-reliance.
OPSOMMING
Die doel van hierdie essay is om te bepaal hoe blinde pianiste wêreldwyd musiek binne hul daaglikse omstandighede aanleer, en hoe hulle spesifieke problem wat met hul gestremdheid in verband staan, oorkom. Hierdie data is aan die hand van kwalitatiewe metodologie bekom, wat ‘n gestruktureerde vraelys en ‘n onderhoud ingesluit het.As ‘n oorkoepelende uitkoms is daar bevind dat Braille-musiek partiture steeds grotendeels deur blinde gebruikers benut word, maar dat dit uitdagings en probleme meebring. Nuwe en bestaande rekenaarsagteware-programme brei die grense vir blinde en gesigsgestremde gebruikers bykans onbeperk uit, maar die kostefaktore is ‘n ernstige belemmering. Dit beteken dat, tenspyte van merkwaardige vordering wat gemaak word, blinde pianiste steeds met aansienlike probleme gekonfronteer word wat betref die aanleer van musiekpartiture, en hierdeur verhoed word om onafhanklikheid te bereik.
KEY TERMS:
BLIND PIANISTS/LEARNING MUSIC/BRAILLE/COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY/DANCING DOTS/WEASEL
SLEUTELTERME:
BLINDE PIANISTE/AANLEER VAN MUSIEK/BRAILLE/REKENAARTEGNOLOGIE/DANCING DOTS/WEASEL
THE PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES OF MUSIC SCORE ACCESS FOR BLIND PIANISTS: A QUALITATIVE ACCOUNT
1. Introduction
What is it like to be blind?
This question is posed by William Rowland (1985) in his well-known book that offers a phenomenological analysis of blindness and a formulation of new objectives in the rehabilitation of the blind. Although now dated, this publication by Rowland, the director of the South African National Council for the Blind, is still the only one of its kind that provides a theorization and analysis of blindness relevant to the South African situation. It provides an in-depth study of the blind experience that reveals how the nature of perception determines the blind person’s relationship with the physical environment, other people, and the welfare system. Rowland (1985:iv) shows how limitations arise in each of these spheres, which may be overcome by specific responses and appropriate techniques.
Rowland (1985:iv) stresses the importance of “individualization, self-reliance, assertiveness, versatility, and a personal interpretation of blindness” as being among the basic principles of rehabilitation:
The term rehabilitation, when applied to the blind, has been defined in many ways, some of them unnecessarily complicated. In our view it is to restore the blind person to independent living. Independent living presupposes the possession of a variety of practical skills and the inculcation of these attitudes which is the purpose of training and therapy (Rowland, 1985:81).
Rowland (1985:81) continues to state that rehabilitation “has to be adapted to the needs and capabilities of the individual”. He emphasises that these needs and capabilities are closely tied to the cultural background and level of education of the blind person, as well as his or her home circumstances
and status and role within the family and society (Rowland 1985:82). He also points out that what he describes as “the level of tension in the individual” should be taken into account (Rowland 1985:82).
Following Rowland’s (1985) broader tenets cited above, in this essay I would like to investigate the question “What does it mean to be a blind pianist?” My analysis does not concern the general life-circumstances of the blind pianist, but rather focuses on the specific question of music literacy and the accessibility of musical scores.
Around the world blind people learn music for different purposes. These may include purposes such as music education for young children, learning music to apply it in music therapy, or, geared towards professional training, studying music at a conservatory, university or college department of music. Whatever the context may be, the blind person needs to be instructed in music in such a way that musical information can be communicated and processed effectively. In the case of the blind pianist, who is oriented towards professional training, he or she should have effectual and operational access to music scores in order to study more advanced pieces.
As a blind pianist I have investigated the following methods over the years: braille, Sibelius, enhanced scores (braille with sound recordings), and audio scores (a sighted person playing the notes and chords on CD or MP3). As I will argue in this essay, all of these methods have advantages as well as disadvantages. Braille scores, for instance, usually contain a considerable number of mistakes. These may include wrong notes as notated in braille, a reliance on dated editions, the use of different systems of braille music writing, and a lack of musical expressions in the score.
In my experience, the commercially marketed Dancing Dots programs can be used effectively, but, as I shall argue at a later point in this article, in certain respects their use is limited. It should also be noted that their
products are very expensive, and to be able to operate them optimally requires highly developed IT skills.
The software program Sibelius Speaking that makes Sibelius software accessible via the use of so-called screen readers, can also be used by blind pianists to learn notes, but these lack the tactile element that makes braille notation so popular. For this reason Dancing Dots created a program called Lime Aloud that can be used in conjunction with their Goodfeel program, which is designed to convert a “sighted” score to braille. I provide more information on these programs below.
I have found that in general audio scores work excellently, but the problem remains that someone capable and willing needs to record the pieces. Such individuals have to be paid for their time and effort, and this method denies the blind pianist self-reliance.
In trying to overcome the various problems that have been sketched above, and in considering the fact that, on the whole, blind people prefer to be as independent as possible, I was motivated to do the research for this essay in order to determine how blind pianists around the world manage to learn music in their daily situations, and how they overcome the specific problems posed by their disability.
2. Method
In order to gather data relevant to the objective stated above, a method suitable for the study context had to be identified. The qualitative method seemed to offer the most productive option in terms of documenting the authentic experiences of blind musicians, taking into account their corresponding or contradictory ideas, beliefs, opinions, and even emotions – getting “under the skin” of each participant (Duff 1992, 87), as it were.
Neuman (2000, 16) contends that among the strongest points of qualitative research are the following: it focuses on interactive processes; it is situationally constructed and constrained; it allows for researcher involvement; values are explicit; and last but not least, “authenticity is key”. These considerations were of the utmost importance in the context of the present study, and it was found that the qualitative method provided a flexible, iterative style of eliciting responses. Information was acquired through semi-structured data collection by means of a survey comprising a questionnaire, as well as by an interview with a visually impaired professional practitioner.
The target group under investigation consisted of blind musicians who need access to music scores. It proved difficult to find participants in South Africa, and for that reason I registered online with the mailing list of the Music Education Network For The Visually Impaired (MENVI). I then posted my questionnaire to the list, and nine people responded. Rather than filling in my questionnaire, some individuals responded to offer assistance with the study, while more pessimistic respondents indicated that I was not the first blind researcher trying to find an optimal medium for learning notes, and that many before me had failed.
2.1 The questionnaire
I formulated semi-structured questions for the questionnaire, which concerned aspects such as the participants’ level of musicianship, as well as the nature of their involvement with music. Participants were questioned on their use of braille scores and alternative methods of learning notes. The effectiveness of the braille music system featured in the questionnaire, while an open question was added concerning more effective solutions that might be applied.
Participants had to indicate their level of IT skills, and they were asked to indicate the degree to which they made use of commercially available technology such as the Dancing Dots software. While the affordability of these products was taken into account, participants were also asked to indicate how much they needed to rely on sighted assistance and whether they communicated on these matters with other blind musicians, and how often such communication took place.
2.2 Interview with a professional practitioner
A semi-structured interview was conducted with Professor Nicol Viljoen, a visually handicapped music theorist and pianist who is also the Chair of the Department of Music at the University of the Free State. This interview, which was audio-taped for later transcription, concerned not only the problems that he had experienced with braille, but highlighted, in particular, the question which is the main focus of this essay, namely, how can a blind musician learn music independently, easily, and effectively?
3. Braille music notation
It is well-known that braille notation has been named after Louis Braille, born in the French village Coupvray near Paris in 1809 (Botes & Taljaard 2003: 6), who was blind from the age of four. He held a professorship at the Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris from 1828 until his death in 1852, and in 1829 devised a tactile system of expressing music notation, numerical notation and literary text by means of dots embossed into thick, stiff paper, to be deciphered by touch (Watson et al 2001: 227). In 1868 the British and Foreign Blind Association (now the Royal National Institute for the Blind) was founded by Dr T Armitage, himself blind, who advocated braille music
notation and who published its first explanation in any language (Watson et al 2001: 228).
Whereas printed music is graphical (‘pictorial’), braille music notation is linear, with both the note and its value presented by dots (Botes & Taljaard 2003: 6). As Watson et al., (2001: 228) explain:
Pitch is indicated by seven ‘octave signs’, which represent the particular octave in which a note appears. All notes from c1 to b1, for instance, are said to belong to the fourth octave, and so on […]. Thus a crotchet c would be represented as the third octave sign followed by the pattern of dots for crotchet C. Pitch signs precede the notes; however, in general, in order to reduce the signs to a minimum, it is necessary to restate the pitch for melodic steps of a 2nd or 3rd; for 4ths and 5ths only when the melodic leaps are into adjacent octaves; while skips of 6ths and wider leaps always necessitate fresh pitch signs.
Watson et al., (2001: 228) point out that accidentals are formed by adding dot no. 6 to the ordinary alphabetical characters for A, B, and C. At this point, however, it needs to be remarked that this statement is incorrect: accidentals have their own signs which are placed before the note in question. Watson et al., (2001: 228) are, however, correct in stating that key signatures are shown “by quoting simply the number of flats or sharps. C major and A minor are implied by the absence of any statement as to the key”.
It is clear from these simplified explanations that braille music notation is a highly complex system. What makes it particularly difficult for the blind musician to use is that, while much work has been done to ensure an internationally recognized uniformity of signs, a wide range of formats is used for the layout of scores. Sylvia Clark (2009) traces both the history of the system and the formats of braille notation. Her study demonstrates that, in order to derive maximum benefit, the user has to be conversant with as many of these as possible (see also Watson et al., 2001: 228). This is but one of the serious obstacles that complicates the use of braille scores. As Watson et al., (2001: 229) indicate, recent research concerning the use of advanced
computer technology strives to reach high-quality production, which is effected in an automated manner. It takes into account standardized computer codes, which may solve some of the existing difficulties mentioned here. Attention is specifically drawn to the discussion of the Weasel program in the section below.
4. A brief description of the various software options currently used by blind musicians
Before the above-mentioned question can be analyzed further, an overview will first be provided of commercially available software products currently available in the market, and used by blind musicians.
4.1 The various options
SIBELIUS SPEAKING (DANCING DOTS)
It has already been stated above that Sibelius Speaking lacks tactile dimension, and an additional problem is that, as of April 2009, the Dancing Dots programs no longer support Sibelius Speaking
(http://www.dancingdots.com/prodesc/limealoud.htm).
Their web page indicates that David Pinto, independent developer of Sibelius Speaking 3, decided late in 2008, that this program would no longer be updated to later versions of Sibelius. Thus, while the program is still being used by blind musicians, Dancing Dots will not be able to supply customers with Sibelius 3 in future.
LIME ALOUD (DANCING DOTS)
For the reasons described above, the Dancing Dots company now recommends that customers acquire their product Lime Aloud, which they describe as “a powerful and accessible music notation editor”
(http://www.dancingdots.com/prodesc/limealoud.htm). This software program provides verbal and musical cues as the blind musician navigates through an existing score, or creates a new one. What is particularly useful about this program is that those who are able to read braille notation can also read the equivalent braille score on their braille display. This feature is enabled by the use of the above-mentioned Goodfeel Braille Music Translator, which is also marketed by Dancing Dots, and which includes the Lime Aloud feature.
The Lime Aloud program works together with the JAWS for Windows screen reader software. The Dancing Dots web page states that two mainstream software titles are included in the Lime Aloud package, namely the Lime Notation Editor and the SharpEye Music Reader (http://www.dancingdots.com/prodesc/limealoud.htm). These software tools allow scores either to be created and printed, or studied and interpreted. New material can be created using the Lime editor, imported from NIFF files made with SharpEye or via Lime’s MusicXML import function. MusicXML files can also be exported from a growing number of music notation programs including Finale and Sibelius.
With the use of Lime Aloud, the blind musician is able to navigate through a musical score using standard cursor keys. While the computer plays each note or chord, it also verbally describes related annotations such as accents, staccato marks, lyrics and ties via the JAWS screen reader software (http://www.dancingdots.com/prodesc/limealoud.htm).
Lime Aloud can thus be used effectively to learn new pieces. Selected sections of any Lime notation file can be played at a practice tempo to facilitate memorization. Lime Aloud can also be instructed to play a single note, all notes in a particular part, or even all notes in all parts at any given point in the piece. Lime Aloud can also report any current part, voice and staff,
current bar and beat, name of current part and more on demand
(http://www.dancingdots.com/prodesc/limealoud.htm).
GOODFEEL BRAILLE MUSIC TRANSCRIPTION SOFTWARE
The program Goodfeel automatically converts several kinds of music files to braille - the same files used to print the score for sighted players. To prepare and transcribe these files with Goodfeel, the blind musician does not need to know how to read braille music. However, it is necessary to know how to read printed music notation, and how to use Windows-based software (http://www.dancingdots.com/main/goodfeel.htm).
The features of Goodfeel include:
Quick transcription to braille from Finale, Sibelius and other popular music notation software used by band, orchestra and choir directors via MusicXML notation interchange format;
Synchronized scrolling of print and braille notation for current musical measure;
It is included in Lime 9, which simplifies entering text annotations and it has an improved MusicXML import/export feature;
Blind musicians can read and write musical scores with the Lime Notation Editor that is included in Goodfeel via the improved Lime Aloud JAWS-based access features. Note, however, that JAWS 6.x through 10 is required to run the program. But it is available only in English, Spanish, and German.
It allows blind musicians to easily create print and equivalent braille transcriptions for collaboration with sighted or blind teachers, colleagues or students;
It offers a user-friendly interface to permit customization of braille music output;
It allows for optional integration with the Duxbury (literary) Braille Translator to facilitate transcription of theory or method books that have large blocks of expository text;
As stated on the website, Goodfeel is fast and flexible. It features integrated literary braille translation for most western languages allowing both words and music to be brailled;
Goodfeel is also marketed in a ‘lite’ version. According to the web page materials, Goodfeel Lite provides all the features of the full product, but limits the user to just one of the above-mentioned braille music formats: instrumental music, vocal parts or keyboard (http://www.dancingdots.com/main/goodfeel.htm).
CAKEWALK SONAR
According to the Dancing Dots web page (http://www.dancingdots.com/prodesc/cw-ad.htm), Cakewalk SONAR converts the user’s computer into a “multi-track, digital audio recording studio”. Through the application of this software, the blind musician can record synthetic instrument sounds from an electronic, MIDI keyboard attached to the computer, and can set SONAR's track source to audio and blend in acoustic sounds using a microphone connected to a sound card. These can then be mixed down to two-track stereo in various popular audio formats such as MP3, .wav or Windows Media. Consequently it can be burned to a CD, e-mailed to a friend, or uploaded to a personal website.
The marketing materials (http://www.dancingdots.com/prodesc/cw-ad.htm) state that SONAR 8 provides everything needed for recording, editing, mixing, and mastering — “from exclusive features to ignite creativity to groundbreaking technologies that keep you in control. With unlimited tracks, creative tools, and the most complete delivery capability between other DAWs, SONAR is the best choice in a digital audio workstation”.
New features for SONAR 8 Producer include:
Workflow and performance enhancements; Editing enhancements; Recording enhancements; Mixing enhancements; Control surface enhancements; Beatscape 16-part looping instrument; TruePianos Amber VSTi; Dimension Pro 1.2 w/ Digital Sound Factory Vol. 2 Classic Keys Pack
and the Hollywood Edge Sound FX Pack; Channel Tools; TS-64 Transient Shaper; TL-64 Tube Leveler; Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 LE.
Another tool that can be used in conjunction with the above software is CakeTalking for SONAR (http://www.dancingdots.com/prodesc/CakeTalkingForSONAR.htm).
CakeTalking customizes the JAWS for Windows screen reader to enable blind users to access the SONAR software that many sighted people use to convert their personal computers into recording studios. CakeTalking offers a set of detailed tutorials in the form of electronic documents of hundreds of pages providing the JAWS user with all the information necessary for using the program.
4.2 Critical observations
In this subsection of the essay, the software products introduced above need to be evaluated in order to ascertain how effective, obtainable and practical they are. Since some of these programs are sold with manuals that contain more than a hundred pages of instructions, the question can be posed as to
whether these products are really accessible to blind users. The observations provided below are based mainly on my own experiences, as well as those of members of the MENVI mailing list who responded to my call for comments. As such, these observations must not be generalized; however, they can be viewed as being applicable to the experiences of other blind or visually impaired musicians.
First, it needs to be taken into account that the prices of the products range from $200 to $1500. This means that they are beyond the financial reach of many blind or visually impaired individuals. Even if the products are affordable, they require advanced IT skills to operate, and users will need to be well acquainted with their complicated instruction manuals. In practice, the programs display so many functions and/or hotkeys which the user has to be familiar with and remember, that half-way through the manual many of them are already forgotten. I can attest to the fact that this was my personal experience with the Sibelius Speaking software I had bought.
It should also be borne in mind that, in order to operate the above-discussed programs, one must have JAWS 6 up to 10, while any particular version of JAWS takes up considerable hard-disk space. In addition, any personal computer on which the products will be used needs to be configured beforehand in order to adjust the settings for colour depth, to disable the screen saver, as well as to effect other advanced settings, which takes about an hour to complete correctly. Once the system settings are configured according to the prescribed requirements, the program itself needs to be set up, which takes another hour.
Although the manual of Sibelius Speaking is presented in a very accessible, even humorous writing style, all the functions it describes need to be practised, and all the jargon of the electronic devices and programs used need to be understood. My personal opinion is that these programs are so complicated that if all their functions are not used all the time, it is virtually
impossible to remember how to use them. The training programs available for using the software are also very expensive.
A member of MENVI, who works as a teacher, commented online that were it not for the financial support offered by the school where she teaches, she would not be able to afford the Dancing Dots programs. Although she pointed out that she understood that the programs are so expensive because considerable amounts of time and money go into developing the products and the company, she offered the following comment:
“I understand that adaptive software is always more expensive partly because it is aimed at a small market and music products belong to an even smaller subset of the visually impaired community. Add to that the 70% or so of unemployed blind adults and a shortage of teachers for blind children and nobody can afford anything”. She added that companies who want to benefit the blind by offering more affordable products to the visually impaired community “are being swallowed by the bigger and richer companies for the blind, and that is why everything gets so expensive”.
Another member of the MENVI mailing list confirmed the above-mentioned statements in remarking that “there are so many products and software out there that can enrich and make a blind person and/or musician’s life much easier”, but that “making a huge profit, and money, stand in the way of obtaining suchlike products”.
4.3 Innovations for the future: the Weasel system
Considering the various problems discussed above, the Weasel system should be mentioned here. It is a computer-based approach designed for the delivery of music notation for blind people. The point of departure for researching the program was the fact that existing non-visual systems present musical information in a serial fashion, which places a high cognitive demand upon the reader who, in effect, must read all the information
regardless of its significance to any particular learning task (Challis & Edwards, notes&hl=n). The Weasel notation system has been designed to address this problem by using interactive high-level tactile representations, synthetic speech and audio playback.
The design of the tactile interface for the Weasel system is based on three preliminary design principles:
A consistency of mapping between the visual and non-visual representation should be maintained to enable blind and sighted users to use common terms of reference;
The tactile representation should focus on data that is static. Only static display technology can achieve the levels of granularity required to create fine textures and tactile patterns;
Height should be used to provide a method of filtering information.
According to these points of departure, the Weasel system incorporates the principles of easily identifiable line widths, line heights, line types, parallel lines, line tracing, point symbols, and areal symbols (Challis & Edwards, notes&hl+en). A Weasel ‘score’ consists of an overlay with two areas; an interactive structural overview and a control section below it. A horizontal guideline is positioned at the bottom of each line of music with vertical bar lines meeting this to define a number of bar areas for that line (Challis & Edwards, notes&hl+en).
The bar areas are ‘active’ so that when a user presses in one the musical content is sounded. Users may explore the music according to four modes of listening activity: ‘bar mode’ allows the user to select a single bar and listen to its contents. ‘Browse mode’ enables the user to add new bars and listen to these by way of a continued playback; ‘skip mode’ allows for instant playback to the beginning of a new bar, and ‘block mode’ allows the user to define any particular section of bars to be rehearsed repeatedly.
Since it is a system which is currently still being developed, the Weasel team trained a group of six volunteers to use the interface and perform a number of tasks within it. Five of these were sighted users who wore blindfolds, and the sixth was a congenitally blind student who would help validate the results obtained in terms of applicability to blind users in general (Challis & Edwards, notes&hl+en).
The test results showed that the users were able to perform the majority of tasks with relative ease and from that perspective the Weasel project seems to be very promising. However, a number of concerns arose, which included the following (Challis & Edwards, notes&hl+en):
The basic visual-to-tactile mapping used in Weasel created an excess of what the researchers called ‘empty space’; a term used with reference to areas within an overlay that do not communicate anything;
Users were frustrated when they had to repeat the clicking action a number of times before being successful;
In some instances, the leftmost and rightmost buttons used for the clicking action had the same function;
Some users found that the audible ‘click’ sometimes interfered with the rhythm of the musical playback.
These results and observations led to a number of design changes currently implemented in Weasel II. But even at this early stage it is clear that the Weasel notation system provides a basic framework within which a blind musician can explore a musical score in a workable and structured way, and in a manner that accommodates user preference.
The costs of this system are not known at present.
5. Interview with a professional practitioner
In the interview below, Prof Nicol Viljoen, currently the chair of the Department of Music at the University of the Free State, sheds light on problems concerning the learning of music, which he has encountered over the years as a partially-sighted professional pianist, as well as the solutions he proposes.
DVD: “What has your experience been with braille?”
NV: “I found it very difficult to use braille as a medium to learn music;
one must learn the music bit by bit, and it takes ages to learn a longer piece”.
DVD: “So how did you approach learning music then?”
NV: “I used a tape machine and listened to the work in question being played on it very slowly. In this respect, it needs to be noted that music theory helps you to evaluate what you hear. If you listen to a piece intensively you will come to know the music in a way that will also help you to know how to play it.
“It will help to get a program that can slow down the music, but it should not reproduce the music too slowly, because then you can’t hear the outline or framework of the piece as a whole. Therefore, I would recommend that one first listens to a piece in its entirety, so that when you learn it section by section, you will know the context. In short: it helps to analyze pieces before you attempt learning them.
“In my own circumstances, I listen to the music more than I rely on sighted scores. However, if I can’t hear the detail of a specific passage or chord, I will look at the score. Sometimes I try using the score only, but if it seems too difficult or complicated, I rather use the recording”.
DVD: “What is your view on stereo recordings where the left hand part is relayed through the left speaker, and the right hand part through the right speaker?”
NV: “Yes, this technique has its usefulness, but is not really necessary, since one can ‘zoom in’ on that part of the music which you want to hear. For instance, if I want to hear what is being played by the left hand at any particular point, I could just intently listen to that part of the music”.
DVD: “Blind people have to memorize music, and they do not have the luxury of reading a score while playing. What are your views on this situation?”
NV: “People who rely too much on the score – even those who are really ‘good readers’ – often have badly developed aural skills”.
DVD: “What are your views on memorization?”
NV: “Everyone can have a memory lapse at some time or other, but it is amazing that sometimes the notes of a particular work can stay stuck, as it were, in one’s head for a long time, or even ‘forever’. It depends on how often you hear the piece, and how frequently you play it. Also, it can it be that one remembers a piece longer because of the way in which it was learned”.
DVD: “How did blind musicians who lived a few hundred years ago learn notes?”
NV: “They probably improvised more than played every note of a certain work. And if they wanted to write down a composition, they had to use an
amanuensis to do so. There were blind musicians who played continuo in the Baroque, and it comes down to the fact of really knowing the music. Times have changed, however, and now there is technology to help the blind”.
6. Data analysis and interpretation
The data analysis and interpretation following below have been structured according to the themes brought to the fore by the questionnaire. A description of the group of respondents is given first.
6.1 Description of the group of respondents
The group includes nine respondents, five female, and four male. All respondents play the piano, and others play, in addition to the piano, also the keyboard (one respondent), the violin (one respondent), or have also received vocal training (one respondent).
Question 1: What is your level of musicianship?(University / college / highest pianistic achievement).
Five of the respondents are music students, two of whom study at South African institutions, while two others study at American institutions, and another at an institution in Malaysia. One respondent has already obtained a Master’s degree in Piano Performance at an American institution, and is now working towards a doctorate in Piano Performance. Among the remaining respondents, one (of American nationality) is an amateur pianist of
intermediate skill; another (of South African nationality) is a pianist/keyboardist/organist working commercially.
Question 2: Are you pressurized to learn new music?(How many works/pages/bars per week)
While two respondents indicated that this question is not applicable to their situation, three others answered that they did not operate according to any specified expectation. The respondent working as an organist gets to choose the hymns, which takes off some pressure, while another respondent indicated that new music was learnt voluntarily on a weekly basis “for the work I do”. However, the three remaining respondents answered that their progress is structured in a quantified manner:
• Expected to learn forty-five minutes of music per semester; progress measured each week
• Depending on the complexity of the material, but 1 work, or 3-5 pages.
• Yes, as music student, I must learn any new music as efficiently and as fast as I can. My teacher expects me to improve my music quality, so it doesn’t depend on the number of bars. They expect me to learn a few bars and be able to play them correctly. If I can learn more bars with more perfection and better quality, it will be fine. Eight to sixteen bars per week is the minimum requirement and expectation. More will be better.
Question 3: What do you think is the extent of using braille versus other methods?
Only one respondent indicated that using braille was not applicable, while one other learnt the majority of scores by listening to them “because there isn't a lot of braille music available, and it usually takes a while to get a piece of music brailled”. A third thought that the use of braille “varies from person to person and what is available in braille”. All the other respondents rely on braille to a considerable extent. While two of these respondents indicated that braille scores offer the highest degree of accuracy compared with recordings, learning through a scoring program, etcetera; two other respondents highlighted the fact that the system is time-consuming:
• Braille is the best method but requires additional time for reading and, even more so, for memorizing the music.
• Braille ensures accuracy, although I don’t find it to be the most time- effective.
One respondent, however, emphasized that braille scores are crucial when it comes to the learning of advanced compositions:
• In my opinion, braille, especially braille music, is a very helpful and useful tool for blind musicians to learn music independently. I am a classical pianist, and for classical playing we must get everything very correct as written and intended by the composer. So, hearing/listening through recording is not enough. It won’t help for advanced pieces. Musicians, no matter whether blind or sighted, will need to learn to read music—it is a great skill to understand and learn music and to communicate with other musicians.
Question 4: What are your personal beliefs concerning braille as an effective method for learning notes?
(Can you retrieve all the information that is written in the score, for example: expression marks, etcetera).
While four of the respondents did not answer this question, the remaining five felt strongly about the advantages of braille for the effective “reading” of a score. In this regard, both its tactile qualities and relative comprehensiveness were underlined:
• Reading braille music is definitely an effective way to learn and read music notation. It is good to be able to feel the actual score and have that experience. All the information that is written in printed music can be written and read in braille music.
• As mentioned above, it’s possibly the most accurate way of learning music. The braille music system contains more or less all the articulation signs, dynamics etcetera, hence a reliable method.
Question 5: List your problems or issues concerning learning notes via braille. Try to list at least five.
With the exception of one respondent, who did not answer this question, and another, who responded positively, all respondents experienced problems with learning notes via braille notation. These are summarized most comprehensively by the following two answers:
• Braille music is somewhat different from literary braille, however, once one has gotten used to the fundamentals of the code, it gets much simpler after that. There aren't many certified braille music transcribers, so finding someone to transcribe braille music can be difficult.
Also, braille music can often be expensive to produce. Even when someone reads braille music, he must memorize it in order to play it successfully. Sometimes when there is a lot of information on the page such as finger marks, expression marks, and other music elements other than notes, initially it may take a little extra time to sort through all of it. When sight reading, usually only one line of braille music can be read at a time. Therefore someone who is blind cannot take a piece of music he hasn't seen and immediately play through it.
• One of my problems is that it does take long to learn a piece. A second problem is that you cannot read and play at the same time. A third problem is the fact that not all music pieces you may want to learn are available in braille. Another problem is the fact that some of the books are very old and it becomes difficult to read the braille if a lot of people have used the book. The final problem, for me, is the fact that the music pieces are written in different ways. Some of the pieces are written in braille with the left hand under the right hand, and other pieces are written bar by bar with the left hand first and next to it the right hand. This makes reading it more difficult. But even though there are some problems, I still like using braille for learning my pieces.
Question 6: Are you able to follow braille while listening to music?
Only three respondents answered this question positively, one of which elaborated on the problems and possibilities involved:
• To some extent, though it's difficult to scan a musical score at the pace it is actually played. Listening to the music first, then following the score afterwards (to understand what one has heard), works quite well.
Question 7: Have you ever thought of using, or do you use enhanced scores, in other words, braille accompanied by sound recordings?
Five respondents indicated that they do use sound recordings in addition to braille, one of whom thought that these “have (a) very important role – as important as braille music material itself so that blind musicians can get an idea of how the pieces sound and how to play them – especially the ornaments”.
Question 8: What is your level of computer literacy, including using the Internet?
Except for two respondents who described their computer skills as “beginner-intermediary” or “average”, all respondents are experienced and knowledgeable computer users.
Question 9: Do you have a screen reader on your computer like JAWS or Windows Eyes?
With the exception of one respondent, who did not answer this question, all respondents use screen readers.
Question 10: Do you have any knowledge of Sibelius and Sibelius Speaking (scripts for JAWS), Lime and Lime Aloud (scripts for JAWS), or any products of Dancing Dots?
Two respondents do not use these products at all, although one is aware that they are available, and a third did not respond to the question. The other respondents use Dancing Dots products, Sibelius and Sibelius Speaking,
Goodfeel on a limited basis (including LIME), as well as Lime and Lime Aloud to produce print music scores, and SharpEye to scan pieces.
Question 11: Are you aware of technology becoming outdated, for instance Dancing Dots not manufacturing Sibelius Speaking anymore, because of the rate at which Sibelius's products are being upgraded?
Six of the respondents were unaware of this factor while a sixth expressed sympathy with companies trying to keep up with upgrades in computer software. Two respondents were affected as follows:
• Yes. I still use Sibelius, but now use the Access scripts instead of Sibelius Speaking.
• Yes, sure, since I planned to buy Sibelius and Sibelius Speaking at first, but I couldn’t since it doesn’t work with the latest version of JAWS—it only works with JAWS 6 or 7, if I am not mistaken.
Question 12: What is your opinion concerning the affordability of the programs mentioned above?
(Don't you think about $500 to $1000 for most programs is a bit inconsiderate to the blind community on the whole?)
Quite varied answers were offered on this matter:
• I do think the programs are very expensive. People who can see don't have to spend nearly as much money on computer software. It would be helpful if the companies that made the software and thecompanies that made the software accessible came together and made oneproduct that was universally accessible to all at a single price.
• I do think it is inconsiderate. It makes these programs very difficult to afford.
• No. They are expensive, but everyone should work to save the money to purchase them.
• No specific response
• The prices are high due to the extremely low number of musicians who
need/use the products. Software developers have high development and marketing costs – an unfortunate but true fact.
• I think prices are high, but it takes a lot to make the product.
• One can assume that specialized software (like the above-mentioned) would be overpriced, since manufacturers have to cater for an extremely limited market. I wouldn’t phrase the problem as “inconsiderate”, since I’m quite sure that there are pretty valid reasons why the cost is so high. As previously mentioned, the market in this regard is rather limited, hence not very profitable. However, I do think that South African visually impaired users are naturally worse off financially, in which case I would rather consider our fate as rather unfortunate.
• I think they are expensive and thorough training isn’t as available as I’d like it to be.
• I can’t say so, since everyone, blind or sighted, has a similar responsibility to earn a living and to be independent. Don’t use blindness as a reason to do or not to do/get everything. Indeed, Sibelius is very good software—it will be great if blind musicians can use it. Anyway, since the upgrade is not there anymore, Lime and Lime Aloud are very helpful substitutes. It helps blind musicians a lot to communicate with sighted musicians through the print music scores written with Lime and Lime Aloud.
Question 13: What are your expectations regarding future technology in the field of music for the blind?
Are you interested in new approaches/methods for learning, for example: Brainport (video camera detecting obstacles), and GPS devices for the blind? Do you expect more mind-boggling things to emerge for blind musicians?
Only two of the respondents did not give a positive answer to this question. It was clear that all of the other respondents are open to new products, and that the accessibility of an online library service is a great need:
• Yes, I am extremely interested in any and all new approaches to learning.Not so many extra programs are needed to perform different tasks. If all the tasks could be performed using one program that would be helpful.
• My best hope is for Web Braille (online catalog through the Library of Congress' National Library Service) to increase accessibility through electronic downloads and to bring holdings up to date.
• Yes, I am always open to new products. The problem would be affordability and truly being able to use them independently.
• The biggest problem I have to contend with at the moment is scores not being readily accessible or available when I need them. Therefore I would like to see the development of something like an online music library, where the subscribers could access sound files or braille music files. Even if minor editing were involved, it would be considerably more convenient, since it would take much less time, and would hopefully result in a wide variety to choose from.
Question 14. What is the extent of personal communication between you and other blind musicians?
Only two of the respondents indicated that they communicate with other blind musicians, such as having interactions on a personal level with other composers and pianists and other artists, local and overseas, and seeking contact with other braille music readers; for the rest, contact was very limited or non-existent.
Question 15: Do you use braille music libraries? Do you experience any problems or shortcomings regarding their service?
From the answers cited below, it was clear that policies pertaining to the country of origin made a considerable difference – in general, however, braille music library users experience serious problems:
• Yes, I use the music section of the Braille and Talking Book Library. They only have a few copies of a book available, and if they are alltaken out by other borrowers, then I have to wait for quite a while to getthe music. Also, whenever I call the library, I always get an answeringmachine and have to leave a message. An actual person never answers the phone.
• Yes. I use the Pioneer School’s music library. Limited numbers of pieces are available in braille in South Africa.
• Yes. I use NLS. They naturally don’t have everything I wish, but their service is invaluable to me.
• Most library collections are largely out of date. I rely on
transcriptionists mainly, since they can produce precisely the scores
and editions I need.
• I did once and wasn't impressed. The music was not correct, and the chords were all backwards.
• Once again, it takes a lot of time, since the material is sent via the postal service. Therefore if I need something very urgently, I have to go to great lengths, both financially and logistically, to obtain the music in the end.
• I use the library of Congress Web Braille and have had no difficulty with that. I also borrow books from the Music Library and that works well, too
• Yes, I am a member of National Braille Service in England. I have difficulties in borrowing and returning their materials—they lent me two books once and I have sent them back but they haven’t received anything yet. Malaysia and Indonesia - my home countries - don’t apply the Free Matter For The Blind service very efficiently yet, so it’s difficult to borrow and return books because of this. I am aware of the NLS Library Service of the US and get much info about the availability of music materials out there.
Question 16: Are you aware of organizations, such as MENVI (USA), or Contrapunctus (Europe)? If you are a member of any of these or other mailing lists, does it hold any benefits for you personally? Can you name other useful mailing lists or any other support you receive on the Internet?
The majority of respondents use the mailing lists as described in their answers below:
• Yes, I am aware of MENVI. It is good to hear about the experiences of other musicians who are blind, but other than that, not much. I will often
use websites that have chord symbols over the words when learning the correct chords to play on the guitar or piano.• The mailing list for users of Sibelius Access scripts is a considerable help.
• The Music Division of the National Federation of the Blind can be a
useful network of amateurs and professionals.
• MENVI is the only one I subscribe to. It has helped me a lot.
• I am a member of MENVI, and find the discussions on the list-serve helpful.
• Yes, sure.
Yes, of course. They give me much input, help and anything that I need—especially answers to questions and confusions that I have. I am a MENVI member. I am also a member of the Goodfeel list, Dots-l list, Blind Musician list, BrailleM list, and the NFB Music list.
Question 17: What is the level of assistance that you require from sighted people? What is the level of musicianship of the sighted people that support you, for example: piano teachers, parents, students, etc.? What type of assistance do you require?
Though two of the respondents placed a high premium on independence, all respondents need assistance with the learning of music:
• I try to require as little as possible. When I learn music by listening, I don't require any.
• In terms of learning pieces, very little. Maybe some help with notes that aren’t clear. In playing, adding articulation, I need help from my teacher.
Piano teacher. Assistance with some notes but mostly articulation and speed. You also need guidance from the teacher to tell you how they think you should be playing a piece because everyone interprets a piece differently.
• I need the assistance of sighted people for grading papers, and doing the final formatting of the scores I create with Sibelius. Most of my colleagues are at college level.
• Sighted help - non-musicians, so all is done via my own efforts and ears. Sighted help only presses buttons on command and reads screens of recording desks.
• Sighted musicians assist me by finding materials I need brailled.
Sighted transcribers do the wonderful work of turning print scores into
braille ones. God bless the transcribers! I know several life-long musicians (church organists, library workers, music teachers) who assist me as needed.
• It depends on how accessible a web site is. It takes a sighted person to dictate hymns from print to braille. The person must be able to read and play the piano.
• I have an assistant who aids me in tasks that would otherwise require a great deal of time and effort on my part, such as searching for research material, photo copying, sight-reading of music, and transcribing music that is not available in braille. I occasionally also need help with transport. Lecturers, both practical and academic, and also music students.
• There is a sighted music therapist who works with me. She is a good musician and assists on occasion, playing a melody or teaching me a new song to use with our clients.
Question 18: By using programs like Sibelius, Lime and others, one can scan sighted scores and then use Dancing Dots's program Goodfeel to translate the score to braille using a braille display attached to your computer, or send it to a braille embosser, and have the score as a normal braille music score you get from the Music Library. Do you have any knowledge of this? If you have any experience with scanning music, what are the general problemsyou experience in this regard? Which program do you use to scan?
Only one respondent answered this question positively:
• Yes. I use Lime and Lime Aloud to produce print scores and SharpEye to scan my pieces. I still have to find a way to use Goodfeel to transcribe it, since in the transcribing process I need sighted assistance to edit the images that I’ve scanned and correct errors before sending them to Goodfeel to be transcribed. I use SharpEye to scan music, and the most difficult problem is to make sure whether the image is already there and to check for accuracy. I can’t do this since this is fully visual and only sighted musicians can do it.
Question 19: Do you know what MIDI is? One can import MIDI-files into the programs mentioned above and display them in braille in the same ways mentioned above.
The majority of the respondents know MIDI, but one respondent summed up their reservations on this topic as follows:
• I wouldn't trust the musicianship of many to key in MIDI scores.
Give me the score itself, and I will interpret it for myself. There are somany ways an imprecise/sloppy pianist could botch a MIDI file. Thatwould alter the resulting braille score.
7. Conclusion
The findings of the questionnaire highlighted the fact that although six out of the nine respondents prefer braille as their desired medium for learning notes, they experience rather serious problems in this regard. The most important are the following:
obtaining information from the score; typing errors in the printed braille; different systems of the braille music code; availability of a particular score; obtaining the specific edition of the work in question, etcetera.
With the exception of two musicians, all other respondents indicated that they are experienced and knowledgeable computer users. The majority make use of screen readers, work with programs including word processors, read documents, and even engage in programming and scripting tasks.
Two-thirds of the respondents (all of them living in countries other than South Africa) make use of the Dancing Dots products. They all benefit from these products, and found that using them enhances their experience of learning notes. The majority of the respondents were open to acquiring and using any new programs that would enhance their ability to learn music.
With the exception of two respondents, all respondents experience serious problems with braille music libraries. The most obvious of these are the following:
Braille scores rely on editions that are mostly out of date since it is impossible to reprint all the scores on a regular basis – one reason being the high cost of braille paper;
Scores contain many mistakes; Scores are often unclear so that the user has trouble perceiving what is
written; Braille has different systems, and the user cannot possibly be
conversant with all of them; Braille music libraries use postal services to send out their scores to
blind musicians. These services are unreliable and sometimes unpredictable.
An important suggestion was that an online library service, where blind musicians could download a braille edited version of a sighted score that is ready to be printed in braille or other types of score formats, would be of great help.
It was clear that mailing lists on the Internet are an important support structure for the blind and visually impaired community.
Although visually impaired musicians try to manage on their own, they cannot be completely independent. They all need the aid of sighted assistance with the learning of music, especially if they are required to scan music into a program like Lime and Lime Aloud. However, only one respondent is aware of the fact that a score can be scanned into a Dancing Dots program in order to display it in braille.
The majority of the respondents are aware of MIDI, but only some of them use it.
In conclusion, it may be stated that, as an overall outcome of this study, it was found that the use of braille music scores is still predominant among
blind users, but that they pose both challenges and problems. New and existing computer software programs stretch the boundaries for blind and visually impaired musicians to hitherto unexplored possibilities, but the cost factors involved are a serious impediment. This means that, despite the remarkable progress being made, blind pianists are still faced with serious problems regarding the learning of musical scores that prevent them from achieving self-reliance.
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