Guitar Music in Braille

Braille Chord Diagrams, Mini-Dictionary & Happy Fingers Book 2

2011-10-09T10:02:00.003-04:00

I hope you have been checking my website lately, because I have forgotten to post new items on this blog! Sorry about that. Here is a list of things that have been added and will be useful for guitarist:

Basic CHORD CHART for guitarists: BRF format for embossing, PDF print file for sighted readers, including the braille codes and pictures of the chords, or PDF print of just the chord pictures.

A mini-dictionary of braille music codes used for guitar music. Includes braille signs for right and left hand fingering, string signs, positions, slides/glides, glissandos, full and partial bar signs, etc. This is just a brief list of the codes needed to get started on learning the music codes. BRF file for embossing. PDF print file showing the music signs in braille but the text in normal print for the sighted readers.

Happy Fingers Book 2 – Book 2 introduces sharps and flats, repeats, first and second endings and melodies that will challenge your braille reading skills. A new section entitled"Notes to Students and Teachers" has been added to summarize the music termsand concepts presented in each song.Songs include: America the Beautiful, Yankee Doodle, Dona Nobis Pacem, Hush Little Baby,Are You Sleeping, America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee), Skip to My Lou, Home on the Range, Jingle Bells and This Old Man (Theme & Variations) BRF format (24 braille pages) PDF print format (426K)

All of these files can be found on my RESOURCES page on my website.

Happy Fingers: Easy Songs for Braille Music Readers

2010-10-27T18:03:00.004-04:00

HAPPY FINGERS-BOOK 1 by Christina Davidson (me!) & Karen Gearreald is now available on my website for FREE downloading.

The book is a collection of 10 easy, Public Domain songs for beginners. It was created to encourage students to practice their new braille music reading skills by singing a few familiar songs. The songs include: Go Tell Aunt Rhody, When the Saints Go Marching In, On Top of Old Smoky, the Alphabet Song and others.

The book is available in BRF format for embossing and PDF print format for sighted teachers, parents or friends.

Please visit my website: http://www.ctdcreations.com and read all about it.

New Transcriptions: Carulli

2009-12-01T14:17:00.002-05:00

I've added four new guitar solos to my website. They are easy pieces by CARULLI and might be good ones to try if you are new to reading braille music for the guitar. Two are arrangements by Jean-Francois Delcamp and two are The Guitar School - Iceland, arranged by Eythor Thorlaksson. Both of these websites are great sources for classical guitar music.

I would love to hear from you if you have visited my website and downloaded the braille music transcriptions.

Have fun playing guitar!

Chord names

2009-05-18T10:57:00.017-04:00

This posting is about transcribing the names of chords. From this point on, I will always put a reminder at the beginning of each post to check the sidebar for other topics that might interest you. The dates of the posts don’t mean a thing – comments and questions can be added at anytime. The BRF file of this post is at the end of the text.

Chord names are transcribed using a combination of literary and music braille signs. All chord names begin with a cap sign (dot 6). No letter signs are used -- an A-chord would be shown as a capital A, a D-chord as a capital D, etc.

The BANA rules state that chord names are transcribed in “facsimile” but they are assuming that all publishers follow some standard of naming the chords, and as you probably already know -- they don’t.

There is no reason to follow print when chord names are cumbersome and goofy. Transcribed music is nonfacsimile unless specifically requested. We don’t include clef signs, or long words like “crescendo” (we use “cr.”) or “diminuendo” (we use “dim.”). Saving space is important in braille transcriptions and chord names are no exception. As a guitar teacher, you should translate odd chord names into simple, standard symbols for your students. As a transcriber, I would also recommend using standard chord names. If the print shows “Aminor7” or “Amin7” – use “Am7.” The letters “maj” should be used for “maj7” or “maj9.” The abbreviations “dim,” “aug,” and “sus” are also standard fare.

Chord names include a combination of letters, numbers, flat and sharp signs, pluses, minuses, and parentheses. The signs following the capitalized chord name are brailled in order of appearance, horizontally, and un-spaced -- without caps or periods or contractions. Music signs are used for accidentals, the number sign precedes all numbers, and literary signs are used for all letters and parentheses.

Advanced guitarists should refer to Table 24 (BANA 1997) for methods of transcribing more complex chord names. The placement of these chord names in the music -- is a topic for another time. <BRF file for 051809>

Classic Guitar solo format

2009-05-05T11:40:00.006-04:00

All print music and braille music for the guitar is written in the treble clef. The most interesting (and complicated) thing about guitar music is that it can appear as a single melody line, two voices (top strings & bass strings), three voices (top note melody, middle voice accompaniment and bass notes) or as chords. The braille is transcribed in a single line format with in-accords and intervals read from the top down.

This first example is a single note melody. The centered heading includes the Tempo (if there is one), the key signature and the meter. Measure numbers begin each segment at cell one, next line begins in cell three. (click on the images for larger size)

This example has two polyphonic voices and is transcribed using in-accords.

And here's a three voice arrangement with three in-accords.

And last but not least, a few measures of just chords.

The chords above could also be transcribed with the bass notes as an in-accord: Feedback on which chord format is easier to read would be helpful. This is just an introduction to classic guitar music in braille but something to start a discussion. The first two music examples are from Bach's "Minuet in G" and a full transcription, print image and midi file is available on my website on the transcriptions page. Have fun! <BRF file of this post>

Welcome!

2009-04-30T10:21:00.020-04:00

This blog is all about braille music for guitarists. I hope the information posted will be helpful to transcribers, educators and blind musicians. You will need to know the basics of braille music in order to figure out what I am posting, but all examples will be made as simple as possible to encourage new braille music readers.

Sighted musicians will see print music examples and braille as an image/picture within the text; blind musicians can download a BRF file of each post which will include the text and music. I am especially interested in hearing comments from blind guitarist about the Braille format and suggestions on what helps with memorization and clarity. The braille music code will follow the 1997 BANA codes.

Topics will include: classic guitar solos, chord diagrams, strums & picking styles, music for voice & guitar, jazz lead sheets, and anything else you wish to discuss. Archives of past posts will be labeled by catagory and available for reference.

Where do we begin? I'll think of something...