Introduction to Talking Scores
Talking Scores describe the music bar by bar onto audio cassette, alternating with the soundtrack of the music. This medium is particularly suited to those with little or no sight who cannot use large print music and who do not know the braille music code.
Beethoven's famous piece Für Elise is one of a list of piano music that RNIB has made into a Talking Score.
At the moment, RNIB is not transcribing new Talking Scores. However a small catalogue of pieces is available from:
RNIB Transcription Centre Southwest
2 White Oaks Court
Davids Lane
Ivybridge
Devon PL21 0DW
Telephone: 01752 69 83 29
Fax: 01752690092
You may like to develop your own scores using this method.
Introductory tape
Side one of the tape explains what a Talking Score is and how to make best use of one. Side two explains in detail the rules for the spoken description of notation as used in Talking Scores.
Who is most likely to find talking scores helpful?
Talking Scores are taped versions of print music. They are most likely to be useful to people who used to read print music and who are not able to learn from music in Braille.
What Talking Scores are for
A Talking Score includes a "playing" of the notation and spoken description of musical notation. The information given in a Talking Score is designed to give the listener the clearest possible idea of what is on the printed page of music. This makes Talking Scores best suited to people who need the full range of print information, for example people wanting to learn classical music for playing or teaching purposes.
Talking Scores are not really designed to help people learn by ear, though the musical extracts contained in a Talking Score may help you to do this. Nor are Talking Scores the same as tuition tapes - Talking Scores tell you what is on the printed page, not how to play it. There are other kinds of tapes available which do that.
How Talking Scores work
The detailed rules for this are given on side two of the tape.
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Each tape starts with a complete play-through of the piece.
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The piece is then broken down into smaller units of, on average, two bars at a time, and this is usually at a slightly slower tempo.
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First you hear the right hand part played by a keyboard, followed by a verbal description of the notes you have just heard.
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The left-hand part for the same two bars is then played and followed by a verbal description.
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Both hands together are then played so you can see how they fit together. The Talking Score then moves on to the next two bar chunk.
Learning from Talking Scores
Too much information?
If you have spent your life reading printed music, then learning a piece of music from a tape can seem very strange and hard to adjust to. This is not surprising, since printed music is a diagram and our eyes take in many pieces of information at once - the name of the note, how long it lasts, the way you play it (loudly or softly, legato or staccato) are all recognised in an instant, and often without thinking about it.
On a tape, all this information has to be given to the performer piece by piece, one thing after another. One of the most striking things about listening to a verbal description of music on a Talking Score is how much information you have to work through, even for some simple passages of music. It was for this reason that we decided to put certain bits of information, such as dynamics and phrasing, at the end of a Talking Score, so as not to overload the listener too much.
Spoken word or music - which should I follow?
Because Talking Scores include both musical extracts and spoken descriptions of the notes, some people find it easier to rely on one or the other. For example, some people listen to the music and only use the spoken description to work out the complicated passages. Some people, however, find that working out the notes from just hearing them played is very hard, and they prefer the description.
Can I learn to play by ear?
Whatever your preferred method, it is well worth persevering, even if you find Talking Scores difficult to start with.
There is a common myth that people are either born with the ability to learn by ear, or they will never have it. This is not true. Getting the musical information by ear is rather like the process of learning to read music - it is something you have to get used to doing and it becomes easier the more you practise.
People who have used Talking Scores report that it gets easier with time and practice, and the reward of being able to perform again from a musical score is well worth the effort.
Practical tips
Feedback from users suggests that the best way to use a Talking Score is with the tape in a portable cassette player in your lap, with headphones in your ears, whilst you sit at your piano. This way you can stop, start and rewind the tape without having to get up and switch the tape on and off and you can try out the notes on the piano straight away.
Pieces made into Talking Scores
There are a dozen pieces in RNIB's Talking Score catalogue. The titles include:
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Debussy: Clair de Lune
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Satie: Gymnopédies 1-3
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Chopin: Prelude in C minor
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JS Bach: Prelude and Fugue in D minor
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The Londonderry Air.
All of these can be ordered through RNIB Customer Services.
Talking Score extract from Für Elise Bars 0 - 4
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Bar 0 - 4 RH [play RH]: Treble clef; Bar 0 (upbeat) semiquaver high E 5, D sharp; Bar 1 semiquaver high E, D sharp, E, mid B 2, high D natural 4, C 3; Bar 2 quaver mid A, semi rest, semiquaver mid C, E 2, A 4; Bar 3 quaver B, semi rest, semiquaver mid E 1, G sharp 2, B 4; Bar 4 quaver high C, semi rest, semiquaver mid E, high E, D sharp
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Bar 0 - 4 LH [play LH]: Bass Clef; Bar 0 quaver rest; Bar 1 full bar rest; Bar 2 semiquaver lower A 5, Low E 2, A 1, semi rest, quaver rest; Bar 3 lower E, low E 1, G sharp 2, semi rest, quaver rest; Bar 4 semiquavers lower A, low E, A, semi rest, quaver rest.
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[play bar 0 - 4 HT] End of side one.
"Talking music" has been developed in Holland. Talking music scores (DAISY CD-ROMs) are a new and popular approach to learning music for print impaired people.
Links
Accessible Music - a comprehensive resource for all those interested in the future of accessible music and emerging multimedia technologies.
Dedicon (in Dutch) - this music collection also includes many audio and braille reference books on music, musical styles and composers.