Junior High, The Blind Teacher, and Music

Junior High, The Blind Teacher, and Music

Future Reflections Fall 1990, Vol. 9 No. 3
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JUNIOR HIGH, THE BLIND TEACHER,
AND MUSIC
By Pat Munson
The following article is taken from the
Spring!Summer, 1990 issue of The Blind
Educator, a publication of the National Association
of Blind Educators, a Division of the National
Federation of the Blind.
When the bell rang, there were 100 girls and one
teacher~me. The first few days of the semester
were spent in testing voices to make sure the girls
could sing and also in placing them in the correct
section. I had two soprano sections and one alto.
For a seating chart, I used a huge piece of
cardboard which I had divided into 100 sections,
one section for each seat. I used strips of masking
tape to divide the seat sections. Then as a girl was
tested, I had cut the paper into pieces big enough for the name in both Braille and print. I then took a piece of masking tape and affized this name identification over the assigned seat space on my chart. This system worked great, for many times a girl would want to change from soprano to alto, and this simply meant I pulled the name identification off the chart and moved it to the new area. I also seated them as they would sing so if
a tall girl replaced a short one, it was easy to move
students.
I had two students share music, and the music was
kept in big envelopes. These were numbered in
both print and Braille so I could put them away
and whatever by myself. I had a copy of each piece
of music in Braille and had transcribed it all
myself. I taught a reader how to read the print
music so I could then transcribe it.
During rehearsals, I would sit at the piano on a
high stool, play each part with the right hand
while I read the music with my left, and conduct
with my head. I had a student play for performances,
for my playing never won any contests.
Since this was a performing group, singing in long
robes, it was my job to teach them how to get on
and off the risers from which they sang without
tripping.
The robes were stored on a long rack and hung
from the shortest to the longest with a print and
Braille number so each girl could find her own.
This number was also on the seating chart. Many times the group sang off campus in strange environments.
Much time was spent convincing
them that no matter what happened, good or bad,
the show went on. The confidence we teach in
the NFB carried over very effectively to these
sighted students.
I always remember some time before my first
performance the three music teachers, including
me, who were involved in that program, had a
meeting. We each had twenty minutes (not
nineteen or twenty-one, but twenty) on the program,
which for me at that time seemed like an
eternity. It was to be my turn to instruct the art
department as to the decoration for the
auditorium and program cover. I was then very
grateful that I had studied art and knew enough
about design that I could do the job without
worry. The evening of the program the only
things that made me appear different from the
other teachers were my long white cane, which
lay at my feet while conducting, and the Braille
music on my stand.
Can the blind teach in the performing arts? You
bet! I did it for a number of years and so can you.
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