<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 14px; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><div>Hi all,</div><div><br></div><div>I taught a blind student in my Lied course and learned a lot about how to teach differently. She had scores in braille but the text wasn't in braille. She was smart and attentive and had a great ear, so she probably heard better than most of the other students. I had to describe things I wrote on the board and identify where we were in the music and, of course, she couldn't look at the poetry as I read it aloud. And we had to meet privately from time to time.</div><div><br></div><div>While it might seem unrealistic to teach Schenkerian analysis to someone who cannot see, it is possible to teach the concepts without having to rely on the graph. Many of the concepts can be understood without seeing a graph: structural levels, primary tone, linear progressions, etc. And while the student might not be able to do a sketch, he or she might be able to describe what a sketch might do. It is amazing how a blind person imagines things.</div><div><br></div><div>One problem might be getting the music into braille, if the student knows braille. It takes time for this, so if the student signs up for the course, you'll need to get the music ready asap. There are lots of scores already available in braille!</div><div><br></div><div>Good luck!</div><div><br></div><div>Deborah</div><div><br></div><div><div><div>Deborah Stein</div><div>Music Theory Department</div><div>New England Conservatory</div><div>290 Huntington Avenue</div><div>Boston, MA 02115</div><div><br></div><div>(617) 469-2490 </div><div><br></div></div></div><div><br></div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"><div style="font-family:Calibri; font-size:11pt; text-align:left; color:black; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt"><span style="font-weight:bold">From: </span> "Forrest, David" <<a href="mailto:david.forrest@ttu.edu">david.forrest@ttu.edu</a>><br><span style="font-weight:bold">Date: </span> Tue, 6 Nov 2012 14:58:54 +0000<br><span style="font-weight:bold">To: </span> Nicolas Meeůs <<a href="mailto:nicolas.meeus@paris-sorbonne.fr">nicolas.meeus@paris-sorbonne.fr</a>><br><span style="font-weight:bold">Cc: </span> SMT Talk <<a href="mailto:smt-talk@societymusictheory.org">smt-talk@societymusictheory.org</a>><br><span style="font-weight:bold">Subject: </span> Re: [Smt-talk] Schenkerian analysis - visual impaired student<br></div><div><br></div><div><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">
I agree that it is worth the struggle to overcome this challenge. I have been teaching theory and aural skills to a blind student for three semesters now and it has been extremely rewarding. We do have to meet one-on-one and it does take extra work to convert
materials into appropriate formats. However I have learned a lot about my own teaching in the process. Many of the materials I have developed for her have been very useful in the "regular" classroom. I have begun to realize how much I rely on visual aids,
rather than aural aids, to teach theory concepts. She doesn't read braille but she has a computer program that will read text aloud. So I can still have her chart large forms of pieces, we have simply developed a text-based chart that works via email. The
basics (and advanced concepts) of Schenkerian theory can be taught aurally, and might actually be more effective if you can't hide behind notation. At least, that has been my experience.
<div><br></div><div>I'd be happy to share resources if you are interested.</div><div><br></div><div>Best,</div><div>David</div><div><br><div><br></div><div> <br><div apple-content-edited="true"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="font-size: 16px; ">David Forrest, PhD</div><div>Assistant Professor of Music Theory</div><div>Graduate Theory Coordinator</div><div>Texas Tech University</div><div>(806) 742-2270, 265</div><div><a href="mailto:david.forrest@ttu.edu">david.forrest@ttu.edu</a></div><div><br></div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div><br><div><div>On Nov 5, 2012, at 12:02 PM, Nicolas Meeůs wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div>Dear collective wisdom,<br><br>
The University Paris-Sorbonne, under the pressure of Luciane Beduschi (now of Skidmore College), organized compulsory classes in Schenkerian analysis for our third-year students. One of them, visual impaired, asked to be freed from these classes and, indeed,
we saw no other solution than to exempt her from this course.<br><br>
I would be most interested to know if anyone has experience of such a situation.<br><br>
Nicolas Meeůs<br>
Université Paris-Sorbonne<br><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Smt-talk mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Smt-talk@lists.societymusictheory.org">Smt-talk@lists.societymusictheory.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.societymusictheory.org/listinfo.cgi/smt-talk-societymusictheory.org">http://lists.societymusictheory.org/listinfo.cgi/smt-talk-societymusictheory.org</a><br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></div></div>
_______________________________________________
Smt-talk mailing list
<a href="mailto:Smt-talk@lists.societymusictheory.org">Smt-talk@lists.societymusictheory.org</a>
<a href="http://lists.societymusictheory.org/listinfo.cgi/smt-talk-societymusictheory.org">http://lists.societymusictheory.org/listinfo.cgi/smt-talk-societymusictheory.org</a>
</span></body></html>