Notational Systems and Conceptualizing Music: A Case Study of Print and Braille Notation

[1] To be honest, I never gave much thought to Braille music notation until a few years ago when I was told to expect a blind student in my theory class. But before we could make arrangements, we got word that his funding fell through and he wouldn't be attending after all. You might imagine my surprise when Matt appeared on our doorstep in September, having solved his funding problems. What ensued was a mad scramble for materials and strategies to best meet his needs. I tried to read up on what I could find about college theory classroom techniques for blind students, including an article by Anne-Marie de Zeeuw from the 70s in College Music Symposium (de Zeeuw 1977), which, while not reflecting the latest technology, was quite helpful nonetheless. Our disability support office assured me that Matt would have everything he needed in the form of his transcribed textbook, a portable note-taker, and funds for a tutor for 10 hours per week. What I was least prepared for, though, was the differences I began to notice between Braille notation and print. I had naively assumed that Matt's version of our textbook and other scores, which had been quickly committed to Braille, would be somehow a direct translation of my print ones. But as the result of long office-hours in which he and I worked through his lessons, we realized that our two versions of notation were markedly different, and I determined that I would need to learn more about how Braille music works in order to better meet his needs.[2] My concern here is to acknowledge some of the differences between print and Braille music, and to take a deeper look at how the two notational systems represent music, especially with regard to the lessons undertaken in a music theory classroom. Before I do so, I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to privilege either system. I have corresponded with a number of tactile readers and transcribers as well as sighted musicians working with blind students while doing this research over the last few years, and I've found that perceptions of the two systems vary widely. Consider the following quotes, the first three of which are from personal email correspondence:"From the standpoint of someone who does not read Braille but has had to work with someone who does, Braille notation seems an impoverished method for transmitting visual musical scores.""Braille is digital, and as such, is far more logical to a blind reader .. print is graphic, and not consistently coded.""[Braille] is a code that has been designed to represent the same information as print."And from a leaflet published jointly by The National Library for the Blind (UK) and The Canadian National Institute for the Blind:"The music code uses Braille symbols to represent the music, and everything contained within the print version is shown in the Braille." (Baker and Murray)[3] The first two quotes express a range of opinions about the two systems, one with a print bias and the other, a Braille bias. The last two quotes reflect a perception of equivalence shared by many of the people with whom I corresponded, and who were understandably hesitant to acknowledge any differences between print and Braille at all, perhaps so as not to risk further marginalization of Braille notation. Due in part to mainstreaming, Braille music literacy has plummeted in recent decades. My student, for example, had no more than a cursory experience with Braille music when he arrived on campus. Efforts to make Braille scores and training available to students have been renewed in recent years, although much of this activity is directed toward younger children.[4] So, why is this an issue in a music theory class? Unlike courses with language-based content in which blind students are rarely asked to contemplate how the printed word looks on the page, music theory is at many levels a study that centers on notation. Much of the first semester of theory familiarizes students with the fundamentals of music literacy: key and meter signatures, unfamiliar clefs and the like. …