Onkyo Braille Essay Contest 2006 -- Japanese Section ¡Special Award "Braille Scores and Me" Ms. Tomoyo Takaki (15) 3rd Year Junior High School Student Yanagawa School for the Visually Impaired, Fukuoka Prefecture |
I started learning Braille when I was at kindergarten. In my first and second years of elementary school, though, I used to read regular printed materials. I could read only one word at a time, as I was using a special magnifying aid. Hence, I was a very slow reader. Also, I was too focused on reading to understand the content, meaning the teacher would sometimes have to read it again for me. Consequently, from the time of my third year of elementary school, I began to use Braille most of the time. With practice, I increased my reading speed. I found myself absorbed in Harry Potter, a book Ifd discovered in the summer of my fourth school year. There were eight volumes, each of which had over 100 pages of Braille characters. Therefs no way I could have read the book back when I was reading the regular printed word. Since that time, I hadnft read many books. But, thanks to Harry Potter, I learned how to read books very quickly. I also discovered the joy of reading. I realized I could read books very fast with Braille, and was delighted. Thatfs why I think itfs wonderful that there is such a thing as Braille, the alphabet that can be read by blind people. As much as I cherish the fact that there are books in Braille, I also cherish the fact that there are musical scores in Braille. I like music. Ifve been learning the piano since I was six years old. When I was in my second year of elementary school, I started learning the Japanese harp as well. Before my fifth year of school, when I learned how to read scores, I used to play music by searching for the sound that Ifd heard. This meant I sometimes played the wrong note or mistimed a note. When you read a score, however, the correct note is right there. If you read it properly, you wonft play the wrong note. I knew there were scores in Braille, but I didnft know how to read them. Eventually, the penny dropped and I managed to learn how to read them. I was pleased to find that, on my own, I could play music that Ifd never heard before, just by reading the score. However, because Braille is read with the fingers, you canft read a score and play an instrument with both hands at the same time, unlike with a normal score printed in ink. So, when you want to play something, you canft read and perform simultaneously. In the case of the piano, you have to remember the right handfs movements first and then the left handfs. Itfs the same with the other instruments. Hence, itfs not easy to remember everything straight away. But itfs also true that once you remember a tune, you wonft forget it soon. If youfve played a tune before, you can play it again with a little practice. This is a unique aspect of Braille that is both an annoyance and a boon. There is another good side to learning to read Braille scores. Because scores printed the traditional way are done in staff notation, if the gap between scales is large, you sometimes need to count the spaces between the notes Do, Re, Mi, and Fa. However, on a Braille score, the upper six points describe the pitch, so you can recognize the scale at a glance. After I learned to read Braille scores, I came to like music more than ever. Around the time I started learning the piano, I would listen to a note the teacher played and was then taught the location of that note on the keyboard. Thatfs why I was so thrilled the first time I could play a tune just by reading it off a score. gYes! I can play music from a score all by myself!h Now I can play the music I learn in my piano lessons along with the songs I learn in music class. I only have one regret : I donft know how to read Braille scores for the Japanese harp. In fact, I donft even know if there are any Braille scores for the Japanese harp. At the moment, my Japanese harp teacher is very enthusiastic, so it doesnft bother me. However, I might need to be able to read such scores one day. If there are no proper scores, I hope theyfll be created in the future. I like the Japanese harp as much as the piano, so I want to continue learning it. As far as I know, Braille scores are still not very widespread. Not many people can read them. For all their respective good points and drawbacks, I am really pleased that Braille, and Braille scores, exist. Also, I hope that more and more Braille scores are published, and that we can enjoy playing music with fully sighted people whenever we like. Ifm thankful to Louis Braille, the man who invented Braille, and to the teachers who taught me Braille. I hope to share the joy of music with more people in the future. |
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