The Leardini system in SynthFont
The Leardini system is a teaching aid designed by a blind Italian by the name of Eliseo Leardini. He also calls the system the "Audiolettura" system.
In short, the system allows speaking out the names of notes in order to learn the notes, by using a special SoundFont. It is therefore suitable for blind people who do not have the ability to read a musical score.
Here is Leardini's description:
"The goal of my method is absolutely not to replace the traditional system of music reading for the blind, but to aid those who wish to learn some music and do not know Braille. The system is both polyphonic and monophonic and it is based on listening to music while the notes are spoken or sang. There is also the opportunity to hear the chords in words, plus other useful information. In order to take advantage of the system the user must have a normal computer with suitable screen reading software (like JAWS) plus SynthFont and special SoundFonts for speaking out the notes.
Some examples of what you can do with this system to facilitate the study of a song.
- Listen only to tracks that interest you, even to a single track.
- Decrease the playback speed to make it easier to study the song.
- Ability to repeat one part of the song.
- The option to hear you play the keyboard at the same time or separately or have it in the background.
- The ability to switch a metronome on or off.
What must you learn in order to use this system? First, learn to use the Leardini System screen and commands in SynthFont. See below for screen shots. You also need to familiarize yourself with the names of the twelve notes as spoken by the special SoundFont (in Italian these are "Do, Da, Re, Ri, Mi, Fa, Fe, So, Sa, La, Le, Si" - note the introduction of the five new names for the elevated notes)."
