Sight-reading of violinists: eye movements anticipate the musical flow

Wurtz, Pascal; Mueri, René M; Wiesendanger, Mario (2009). Sight-reading of violinists: eye movements anticipate the musical flow. Experimental brain research, 194(3), pp. 445-50. Berlin: Springer 10.1007/s00221-009-1719-3

Preview

Text Wurtz_2009_ExpBrainRes_Violinists.pdf - Published Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (281kB) | Preview

When sight-reading a piece of music the eyes constantly scan the score slightly ahead of music execution. This separation between reading and acting is commonly termed eye-hand span and can be expressed in two ways: as anticipation in notes or in time. Previous research, predominantly in piano players, found skill-dependent differences of eye-hand span. To date no study has explored visual anticipation in violinists. The present study investigated how structural properties of a piece of music affect the eye-hand span in a group of violinists. To this end eye movements and bow reversals were recorded synchronously while musicians sight-read a piece of music. The results suggest that structural differences of the score are reflected in the eye-hand span in a way similar to skill level. Specifically, the piece with higher complexity was associated with lower anticipation in notes, longer fixation duration and a tendency for more regressive fixations. Anticipation in time, however, remained the same (approximately 1 s) independently of the score played but was correlated with playing tempo. We conclude that the eye-hand span is not only influenced by the experience of the musician, but also by the structure of the score to be played.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

140 since deposited on 04 Oct 2013
38 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item