Changing the World of Music for the Blind Musician

Stevie Wonder. Ray Charles. Andrea Bocelli. These three men are all amazing and talented musicians. But they also have something else in common: they all went blind during childhood. Playing music is always an option for the blind, however the added challenges are obvious. Blind musicians are inspiration for all of us, but especially for young blind aspiring musicians.

Although there is a braille notation system for reading music, it is extremely complicated, especially for children to learn. For example, for a blind piano player, this braille system means reading and memorizing the part for the right hand, then the part for the left hand, then putting them together mentally, and all before playing an already complicated piece. 

From: http://blindmusicianuwmadison.wordpress.com/home/full-story/

A Sample of Kim's Braille Music

University of Wisconsin-Madison student, Yeaji Kim knows these challenges all too well. Mostly blind by childhood, music was what most connected Kim to those around her. But when she had difficulty capturing the inner melody of a song, she knew something needed to change. The braille system was not conveying the music in the same way that seeing the notes does. So Kim came up with an idea: a new method that gives sheet music a 3-D quality by elevating the notes. This allows the visually impaired student to learn in the same room, and with the same exact music as everyone else. It also allows teachers to teach the student from the sheet music, without the teacher needing to be able to read the braille system.

"Music literacy should be regarded as important as general literacy. Although none of us must be denied personal access to information and the freedom of choice, unfortunately, not all students have the opportunity to access the musical medium." -Yaeji Kim

Kim's idea is still in its early stages, with a provisional patent filed. But the future of her invention, and the opportunities it could create for visually impaired students and musicians around the world are endless.

From: http://blindmusicianuwmadison.wordpress.com/home/full-story/

Kim and her Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Resource:
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_25961134/blind-musician-at-uw-madison-develops-3d-sheet
http://blindmusicianuwmadison.wordpress.com/home/full-story/



Check back next week to see our next blog post, which is about some cool instruments being made from a very unlikely source!


Heather (iCA President)

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