Can blind people play the guitar?

Being blind does not prevent anyone from playing a musical instrument. As for the guitar, it's the same, you can play it despite being blind, that's what you'll see below as we discuss the topic.

Blind Musicians and Singers

To start by talking about showbiz personalities with a visual disability is somewhat reasonable. It is indeed quite an achievement to play the piano, guitar or any other instrument when one is blind.

We won't mention them all, but we would like to salute all blind musicians from all over the world. No need to be a star, these people are all exceptional. In fact, it is often said that blind people play better than sighted people!

The most famous blind guitarist is probably Jeff Healey, singer, songwriter who died in 2008 of retinal cancer. He played guitar from a very young age by putting his instrument on his lap.

Among the most famous blind singers, there is of course Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and in France, Gilbert Montagné, talented singer and pianist.

Other blind guitarists were able to make a career, the South American José Feliciano who won a Grammy Avard in 1969 or Lemon Henry Jefferson nicknamed Blind Lemon, who died in 1929. He was a blues singer.

Playing guitar when you have blindness

It may be your case, you have lost your sight due to glaucoma or in an accident. Music is a way for you to escape. You are absolutely right! You can play guitar in the dark, so a blind person can too. There is software for the blind and sheet music in Braille. So yes, your wish to play a stringed instrument can come true. The effort required may be to memorize a Braille tablature. However, one might think that it is easier to learn the guitar than the piano when you are blind.

There is no reason not to make your wish come true, especially since there are even applications for that. For every problem, there is a solution, as we explain in another article on how to play the guitar if you are left-handed. Far be it from us to say that this is a disability, in no way are we making a comparison with blind people. In addition, some musicians will learn without sheet music. A time of adaptation and learning is necessary, but it won't take that long.

If you are using a TAB (tablature), note that it is read from left to right. On a Braille TAB, there are numbers for the squares and lines that serve as markers for the guitar strings.

Last clarification about a question you may have: yes, there are guitar tuners for the blind, tuning forks with whistles and applications that use a voice system, note also that there are guitars with motors in the mechanics, which tune the guitar automatically!