Art

Ground-breaking new digital resource for teaching music to blind children

On Monday 15 June The Amber Trust, in partnership with the Incorporated Society of Musicians’ sister charity the ISM Trust, will launch a major new online resource for teaching music to blind and partially sighted children: Amber Sound Touch.

Amber Sound Touch is the first comprehensive online teaching resource for music that specifically caters for teachers working with blind and partially sighted children. It comprises 13 videos complemented with an extensive written guide, covering key topics such as learning to play by ear, guidelines for appropriate touch in teaching technique, notation, improvising, practice and performance.

Amber Sound Touch has been two years in production in collaboration with the internationally renowned University of Roehampton’s Applied Music Research Centre. This process has involved several of the families and young people The Amber Trust supports, their music teachers and other professionals who work with them.

This innovative new resource will enhance equality of opportunity for blind and partially sighted children in their pursuit of music across the UK and beyond.

Amber Sound Touch will be launched on 15 June at 11am with a free webinar hosted by the ISM Trust. To attend, register here.

Julia Walport, Amber’s Chair of Trustees said:

‘We are delighted to have had this opportunity to create Amber Sound Touch through the generosity of Julia and Hans Rausing.

We are extremely grateful to them, and to MariaMarina Foundation and the GC Gibson Charitable Trust. We hope the new resource will inspire teachers and give them the confidence they need to enable these children to reach their full musical potential.’

Deborah Annetts, Chief Executive of the ISM, of which the ISM Trust is a sister charity, said:

‘The ISM Trust is delighted to partner with The Amber Trust on this important and innovative resource.

‘Amber Sound Touch embodies the Trust’s mission that every child should have access to music education, and the expertise and skill that has gone into creating these ground-breaking resources makes them a valuable addition to the SEND resources available to teachers.’

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