Top of page

Category: Braille

Close-up of the fingers of two hands as the touch a paged filled with raised dots

What’s New on BARD?

Posted by: Juliette Appold

We’re happy to learn that our patrons are increasingly using BARD to download music materials. Let’s take a look at some new additions to BARD:   Audio Materials Classic Harmonica Blues by Smithsonian Folkways (DBM03629) Cowboy Songs by Smithsonian Folkways. (DBM03627) Flirting with Disaster. For guitar. Performed and taught by Bill Brown. (DBM03887) The Hammer …

Close-up of the fingers of two hands as the touch a paged filled with raised dots

Carnegie Hall of the South: Nashville’s Musical Legacy, Part 2

Posted by: Lindsay Conway

This is the second half of a two-part post on Nashville’s musical history and related books in the NLS Music Collection. Read the first part here: Athens of the South: Nashville’s Musical Legacy, Part 1. Nashville’s most famous music venue, the Ryman Auditorium, was completed in 1892 and was originally a church called the Union …

Close-up of the fingers of two hands as the touch a paged filled with raised dots

Athens of the South: Nashville’s Musical Legacy, Part 1

Posted by: Lindsay Conway

Here in the Music Section of the National Library Service we are counting down the days until the National Conference of Librarians Serving Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals begins next month in Music City, Nashville, Tennessee! As I mentioned in my last article, I’ve been taking the opportunity to learn about the musical history of …

Close-up of the fingers of two hands as the touch a paged filled with raised dots

Digitizing Braille Music 2018

Posted by: Donna Koh

This is our fourth blog on the digitization of braille music. So, what is new with this project? First, we are boosting our production by outsourcing the proofreading of scores scanned using Optical Braille Recognition (OBR). Our braille music specialist Gilbert Busch continues to review all the scans completed on DotScan so we can provide …

Close-up of the fingers of two hands as the touch a paged filled with raised dots

Bernstein at 100

Posted by: Gilbert Busch

When I was in grade school, our chorus teacher let us hear a record called What Is Jazz (DBM00704), where tone color, blue notes, syncopation, and other aspects of jazz were described by a man named Leonard Bernstein (I assumed that he was a jazz piano player). By sixth grade I was listening to classical music …

Close-up of the fingers of two hands as the touch a paged filled with raised dots

American Composers and Musicians from A to Z: D (Part 2 – Davis, “Blind” John and Dranes, Arizona)

Posted by: Katie Rodda

Blind John Davis Blind John Davis was born in Mississippi in 1913, but moved to Chicago with his family at a young age.  He lost his sight shortly thereafter at age 9. He began to learn the piano as a teen, and later became a regular session musician for famous blues record producer Lester Melrose …

Close-up of the fingers of two hands as the touch a paged filled with raised dots

New BARD Additions: March 2018

Posted by: Juliette Appold

Here are the latest music material additions to BARD. If you have any questions on how to use BARD or to obtain a BARD account, please get in touch with the Music Section or your local Regional Library.   Digital Talking Books The hammer dulcimer. Homespun Tapes. Read by John McCutcheon. (DBM03919) Classic harmonica blues. …

Close-up of the fingers of two hands as the touch a paged filled with raised dots

American Composers and Musicians from A to Z: D (Part 1 – Dello Joio, Norman)

Posted by: Katie Rodda

Norman Dello Joio (born Nicodemo DeGioio) was born in New York City in January 1913. His father and grandfather had been church musicians, and Norman was set to follow their footsteps, as he became the organist and choir director at age 14. When he was 26, he received a scholarship to attend Julliard, where he …

Close-up of the fingers of two hands as the touch a paged filled with raised dots

Immortal Swing: The Music of Glenn Miller

Posted by: Katie Rodda

While thinking about a topic for this week’s blog post, I made a happy discovery: American bandleader and musician Glenn Miller shares a birthday with Frédéric Chopin! Although these two musicians come from very different places and eras, they do share another thing in common besides a birthday: memorable music. We’ll talk about Glenn Miller …