Braille Music Education Resources

Dr. Toby Rush
Associate Professor of Music Theory and Technology
University of Dayton

This site serves as a clearinghouse for resources I've created or come across pertaining to working with visually impaired students in music education.

If you know of a resource that can be included here, please let me know. Thank you!

Information about Braille Music

• BANA Braille Music Code: The official document which specifies the braille music notation system in complete detail.
• MusicXML: A file format for interchanging notation files between programs like Finale, Sibelius, Lime, and other scorewriting software.
• NLS Music Services: Free resources from the National Library Service, a division of the United States Library of Congress.

Hardware

• Humanware: Manufacturer of braille embossers and other hardware designed for people with visual impairments.
• HIMS: Manufacturer of notetakers like the Braille Sense.

Software

• BrailleMUSE: An online utility for translating simple MusicXML files (which can be exported from programs like Finale or MuseScore) into braille music notation. (Note: this utility, maintained by Yokohama National University in Japan, appears complicated, but allows for a great deal of customization and works well for short musical passages.)
• Braille Music Notator: This is a system, currently in development, designed to help sighted people create more effective braille scores. Rather than translating traditional music notation into braille music, Braille Music Notator makes it simple to create a score in braille "from scratch," resulting in much more efficient and elegant scores. A knowledge of braille or braille music not required to begin using the system, but the program will assist and encourage you to learn braille music as you use it.
• MuseScore: One of the most popular notation editors available, the most recent versions of free and open source utility have broad support for screen reader software, and even include some braille music capabilities.
• Sao Mai Braille: A free print to braille translator for Windows that supports music, text and even mathematics .
• Braille Translation Utility: An online utility for translating text into Grade I or Grade II braille.
• Duxbury Braille Translator: Proprietary software for translating text into braille.
• Freedom Scientific: Developer of JAWS Screen Reading Software for Windows.
• GOODFEEL: Braille Music Translator designed by Dancing Dots software.
• Lime: Music notation software which works well with screen reading software.
• VoiceOver: Screen reading utility built into Mac OS X.

Online Communities and Resources

• MUSIC TALK Mailing List: online music community hosted by the National Federation of the Blind.
• DAISY Consortium: Music Braille: a project within the international DAISY consortium dedicated to the advancement, standardization and facilitation of braille music notation.
• BrailleOrch: an online library containing nearly a thousand solo, chamber, and orchestral scores in braille format.
• The Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg Music School Digital Music Library: an online library containing thousands of musical scores and recordings in various accessible formats including large print, spoken word and braille notation.

This page was last updated on December 21, 2023.