ABSTRACT
This chapter presents seven stories told by four visually impaired men and three visually impaired women who have followed careers in music. They came to their careers by diverse routes. Richard F, Barbara and Les work or have worked as piano tuners and Liz, Matthew, Roger and Denise work as performing musicians. These seven stories provide a rich and diverse account of the working lives of visually impaired musicians. Their job satisfaction is high and although problems of access, mobility and negative attitudes are mentioned, their self-employed status appears to shield them from some of these problems by providing them with more autonomy. New technology and the Access to Work scheme are viewed favourably by those who have used it. Music as a career has always been possible for visually impaired people although it requires considerable talent. Piano tuning, which was one of the traditional work roles for visually impaired people for many years, has now all but disappeared.
