Introduction to Braille music symbols and syntax Braille music

1 introduction braille music symbols , syntax

1.1 pitch , rhythm
1.2 octave marks
1.3 musical markings
1.4 repetition symbols
1.5 contrapuntal lines , chords within staff

1.5.1 in-accords
1.5.2 interval notation


1.6 dealing different staves

introduction braille music symbols , syntax

some of common braille music symbols , combinations summarized in chart below:

pitch , rhythm

as notes section of music braille chart above indicates, single symbol shows both pitch , rhythmic length of note. instance, dots 1,4,5 indicate eighth note (or 128th note) c. every rhythm symbol in braille music double duty—8th notes , 128th notes use same symbols, quarter notes , 64th notes, half notes , 32nd notes, , whole notes , 16th notes. beginners first learn common rhythmic value (8th, quarter, half, , whole notes). advanced users there never rhythmic ambiguity because context, including time signature , bar lines, makes intended rhythmic value clear. instance, in measure of 4/4 time includes symbol dots 1,3,4 (whole or 16th rest), context says symbol must indicate whole rest.

octave marks

an octave mark included before note symbol specify octave of note. instance, 4th octave octave starting middle c , going b above middle c. octaves specified when needed. instance, melody proceeding upward first octave can, if moving step, proceed second, third, , fourth octaves without requiring additional octave signs. rule that, in absence of octave mark specifying otherwise, notes move unison, 2nd, or 3rd rather 6th, 7th, or octave. instance, following moves upward continuously, ending in octave 5:

octave 2 c c d e f g b c d e f g b c d e f g b b c c

the rule 4ths , 5ths different, however: in absence of octave sign specifying otherwise, melodic leap of 4th or 5th stay within same octave previous note. instance, following stays within octave 2:

octave 2 c g d e b f c g d e

because of use of octave marks, clef symbols not required in braille music. on occasion, clef symbols (bass clef, treble clef, or other) indicated visually impaired musician aware of every detail of print score.

musical markings

musical indications dim , cresc , or rit inserted inline note , rhythm notation and, differentiate them note, octave, , other musical signs, preceded word sign (dots 3,4,5).

slurs may indicated slur sign between 2 notes or bracket slur surrounding group of notes slurred.

musical signs such staccato or tenuto placed before note or chord affect. musical signs shown on chart shown modifying quarter note c (dots 1,4,5,6).

music hyphen used indicate measure continued on following line (this happens more in braille music in print music).

a word apostrophe indicates word continued on following line.

repetition symbols

braille music tends rather bulky. because of this, system of repetition symbols—much more extensive in print music—is employed reduce page turns, size of scores, , expense of printing.

the repetition symbol (dots 2,3,5,6) used musical repetition symbol indicate beat, half measure, or full measure repeated.

in addition, braille music includes instructions such repeat measure 2 here or repeat measures 5-7 here . such indications in addition commonly used repeat marks , first , second endings.

contrapuntal lines , chords within staff

unlike print music notation, braille music linear format. therefore, conventions must used indicate contrapuntal lines , chords, situations more 1 note played simultaneously within staff.

in-accords

independent contrapuntal lines within staff indicated via whole- or part-measure in-accords. first of contrapuntal lines given, second, enclosed in-accord symbols. in-accord symbols indicate 2 lines played simultaneously.

interval notation

homophonic chordal sections written using interval notation. instance, notation quarter-note-c, 3rd, 5th indicate playing c along notes 3rd , 5th higher c, making chord c-e-g quarter note in length. reading interval notation complicated fact staves use bottom-up notation (the bottom note of each chord specified , intervals read upwards given note) , use top-down notation (the top note of each chord specified , intervals read downwards given note). modern convention specify main note (either bass line or melody line) , let intervals go or down there appropriate. instance, in piano music left hand specifies bottom note , intervals go bottom-up while right hand specifies top note , intervals go top-down. many older scores have staves reading bottom-up or reading top-down. scores have note indicating direction of interval notation. however, in older scores direction must established context. convention, in-accords given in same direction interval notation. thus, examining in-accords 1 way establish whether interval notation on particular staff bottom-up or top-down.

dealing different staves

printed music written on several different staves. instance, piano music typically written on 2 different staves combined grand staff: 1 treble clef , 1 bass clef, while choral music has 4 different staves (one each soprano, alto, tenor, , bass). notes in different staves play simultaneously aligned vertically. because of linear nature of braille music , fact blind musician can typically read 1 staff @ time, multiple staves handled in several ways depending on complexity of music , other considerations. bar on bar format similar print music. simple piano music in bar on bar format quite similar print music, right-hand notation on top line , left-hand notation on bottom line. degree of vertical alignment between right , left hands maintained. other ways of dealing multiple-staff music line on line format, section section format, paragraph style, , bar bar format. rule these formats take less space on page require more of musician in working out how fit staves together. instance, in piano score notated in section section format, right-hand part may written out first 8 measures, followed left-hand part. no attempt made align parts. same procedure followed measures 9-16, , on, section section, throughout score. blind musician learns , memorizes 1 section right hand alone, left hand alone, works out hands memory , referencing various spots in braille score work out how sections fit together. note transcriber clarifies format used. however, many older , more complex scores format must determined examination of music , context.