Music

RNIB offers advice on producing and learning music notation in accessible formats, including Modified Stave Notation (large print) and braille music. We also have suggestions for learning to play music by ear or memorising music.

We've recently produced a guide to using software to display music scores in large print. For screen reader users interested in creating or navigating music scores using notation software, there are a number of short tutorials for using MuseScore with a screen reader.

You can read more about Modified Stave Notation, braille music, and other formats in the following overview of accessible formats for music notation.

RNIB Library provides braille music scores free to blind and partially sighted people in the UK. More than 2,000 scores are available for piano, organ, and voice as well as a variety of other instruments. There are also tutor books for beginners in braille music and books on the history and theory of music.

RNIB Bookshare also includes music titles in PDF format, which may be useful for partially sighted people in education. Some titles are also available in Modified Stave Notation (large print).

RNIB's Large Print on Demand service provides books from the RNIB Bookshare collection printed to individual requirements where possible, providing a free book delivery service.

For more information on accessing music scores and books via RNIB, please read our guide to requesting accessible music from RNIB.

If you require music that isn’t available in the collections above, we can support you to get what you need. Please see accessible music transcription, and find further information in our guide to requesting accessible music from RNIB.

You may also wish to create your own accessible music scores. You can find additional information and tutorials for some of the most popular tools at the Sound Without Sight website.

Our music awards and funding page has details of awards and sources of funding for blind and partially sighted children and adults wishing to further their musical career or study.

In collaboration with RNIB’s Employment Team, we support blind and partially sighted musicians working or wishing to work in the music business through advice and information. As well as accessing RNIB’s general employment resources, you may wish to read the following guide to employment support for blind and partially sighted musicians.

Our Music Team’s current priorities are:

1. Equitable access to music scores in accessible formats.
2. Equitable access to Music Education, including the new network of Music Hubs in England (from September 2024).
3. Equitable access to musical instruments and music-making hardware and software.
4. Increasing representation of blind and partially sighted musicians in the music industry, connecting the community of blind and partially sighted musicians, and the raising awareness of the support and solutions available.
5. Providing specialist knowledge and advice to other teams within RNIB to ensure that music-related enquiries are supported efficiently.

Accessible Formats in Music Education project

RNIB’s Music Team recently led a consultation with England’s Music Education sector, funded by Arts Council England, to identify and develop strategies to improve the materials available to learners who require musical scores in alternative formats. We hope to to see the outcomes taken forward as part of the government’s new Plan for Music.

Accessible Music Publishing

We're proud to collaborate with the DAISY Consortium to improve the availability of ‘born accessible’ digital music scores. We're working together with a group of mainstream music publishers to ensure that all musicians can quickly and effectively read their scores in their preferred reading format, whether braille, Modified Stave Notation, or digitally in notation tools and dedicated apps.

For more information, visit the DAISY website.

Sound Without Sight

We're happy to support the development of Sound Without Sight, a cross-sector collaboration that aims to provide a simple and comprehensive way to access information related to music and accessibility.

Sound without Sight collates existing resources and empowers community members to contribute to fill in knowledge gaps.

The project showcases blind and partially sighted musicians, the accessible workflows, and solutions that underpin their work, and the new developments in accessible music technology.

Through regular online webinars and drop-in sessions, the project creates a supportive environment for blind and partially sighted musicians to learn from their peers and develop confidently, whether that be for education, employment, or leisure.

You can keep up to date via the project’s newsletter.

Accessible formats for music notation

• Modified Stave Notation (large print music)
• Braille music
• Talking scores

Music support offered by RNIB

• Accessible music transcription
• Music library at RNIB
• RNIB Library
• Music Central on RNIB Bookshare
• Gardner’s Trust Braille Music Literacy Awards
• RNIB Braille Music Certificate

Other accessible music resources and support

• Braille music tutor books and reference materials
• Music awards and funding
• Guide to requesting accessible music from RNIB
• Articles on memorising music
• Large print manuscript paper templates in A3 and A4 sizes
• RNIB guide to Spotify, a popular music and podcast streaming service
• Community-led music Knowledge Hub at Sound Without Sight