> ORIGINAL INQUIRY:
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Richard,
I am a professor of music at ------------- College in Pennsylvania. We
have a junior music education major who is completely blind (since birth).
He is quite talented both as a vocalist and as a pianist but does not read
music. While he does have perfect pitch and is able to learn music aurally
quite quickly, we feel that is not the most effective and/or appropriate
methodology. One hurdle is his reticence to learn braille. My impression is
that he can read braille, but prefers readers... And, unfortunately he uses
the ADA (I feel) to avoid developing his reading skills. I understand that
MENVI is quite involved in music education advocacy for the blind. Can you
offer advice?

Many thanks for your time and kind consideration.


RESPONSE:
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Hello Prof. ________

Thank you so much for writing to me. Yes, MENVI is clearly a place where
many hundreds of braille music readers and students of music who are blind
communicate and share ideas.

There is no end to the examples that I could site for you and for your
student. Suffice it to say, however, that he should enjoy the independence
that music literacy provides. His needs and his access to those needs are no
different than with any music student. I could put you in touch with blind
college students that could not have completed music history, composition,
theory and harmonic analysis classes, etc. without the same view of written
music that their peers enjoy. The only difference is that the language is
braille and not print. The communication of concepts is the same. By "ear
only" leaves the young man severely deficit. it does seem that you are
clearly concerned about this as a problem.

If you have to jar him a bit, perhaps convey the idea that graduating from
college musically illiterate is simply not acceptable! Especially now, when
there are blind music majors all over the country that do in fact sight
read, some of them more efficiently than sighted students! Many of them will
become educators.

I have attached some information for the MENVI network for you. You can also
send your student to the MENVI Website, which is reader friendly. it is:
www.superior-software.com/menvi.