[Smt-talk] Unsighted musician query

[Jeff Perry]

    A student of mine just asked about composing resources for blind
musicians. Her father is a guitarist, blind since birth, who finds musical
braille cumbersome for compositional and educational purposes. He has
evolved his own MIDI-like coding system for composing music: it consists of
a string of  octave/pitch designations, each coupled with a shorthand for
note duration.
    I seem to recall a lengthy discussion or two on this list about
resources for unsighted musicians a while back, but can't remember the
specifics. Any advice for this musician? Please reply on- or off-list, as
you think best.
Many thanks,
jp
Jeff Perry
Professor of Music Theory
275 Music and Dramatic Arts
School of Music, College of Music & Dramatic Arts
Louisiana State University
jperry at lsu.edu / (225) 578-3556 (voice) / (225) 578-2562 (fax)