The The effect of practice and musical structure on pianists’ eye-hand span and visual monitoring
This study examines short-term improvement of music performances and oculomotor behaviour during four successive executions of a brief musical piece composed by Bartók, “Slovak Boys’ Dance”. Pianists (n=22) were allowed to practice for two minutes between each trial. Eye-tracking data were collecte...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Bern Open Publishing
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Eye Movement Research |
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| Online Access: | https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/8588 |
| _version_ | 1797817165601046528 |
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| author | Michel André Cara |
| author_facet | Michel André Cara |
| author_sort | Michel André Cara |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This study examines short-term improvement of music performances and oculomotor behaviour during four successive executions of a brief musical piece composed by Bartók, “Slovak Boys’ Dance”. Pianists (n=22) were allowed to practice for two minutes between each trial. Eye-tracking data were collected as well as MIDI information from pianists’ performances. Cognitive skills were assessed by a spatial memory test and a reading span test. Principal component analysis (PCA) enabled us to distinguish two axes, one associated with anticipation and the other with dependence/independence on written code. The effect of musical structure, determined by the emergence of different sections in the score, was observed in all the dependent variables selected from the PCA; we also observed the effect of practice on the number of fixations, the number of glances at the keyboard (GAK) and the awareness span. Pianist expertise was associated with fewer fixations and GAK, better anticipation capacities and more effective strategies for visual monitoring of motor movements. The significant correlations observed between the reading span test and GAK duration highlight the challenge of working memory involvement during music reading.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:50:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-89d7d421ef3c4ef59bfdc22d2bdfc576 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1995-8692 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:50:17Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Bern Open Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Eye Movement Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-89d7d421ef3c4ef59bfdc22d2bdfc5762023-05-29T16:11:10ZengBern Open PublishingJournal of Eye Movement Research1995-86922023-05-0116210.16910/jemr.16.2.5The The effect of practice and musical structure on pianists’ eye-hand span and visual monitoringMichel André Cara0Music Institute (IMUS), Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, Chile. This study examines short-term improvement of music performances and oculomotor behaviour during four successive executions of a brief musical piece composed by Bartók, “Slovak Boys’ Dance”. Pianists (n=22) were allowed to practice for two minutes between each trial. Eye-tracking data were collected as well as MIDI information from pianists’ performances. Cognitive skills were assessed by a spatial memory test and a reading span test. Principal component analysis (PCA) enabled us to distinguish two axes, one associated with anticipation and the other with dependence/independence on written code. The effect of musical structure, determined by the emergence of different sections in the score, was observed in all the dependent variables selected from the PCA; we also observed the effect of practice on the number of fixations, the number of glances at the keyboard (GAK) and the awareness span. Pianist expertise was associated with fewer fixations and GAK, better anticipation capacities and more effective strategies for visual monitoring of motor movements. The significant correlations observed between the reading span test and GAK duration highlight the challenge of working memory involvement during music reading. https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/8588eye-hand spansight-readingglances at the keyboardworking memorymusical expertiseeye-tracking |
| spellingShingle | Michel André Cara The The effect of practice and musical structure on pianists’ eye-hand span and visual monitoring Journal of Eye Movement Research eye-hand span sight-reading glances at the keyboard working memory musical expertise eye-tracking |
| title | The The effect of practice and musical structure on pianists’ eye-hand span and visual monitoring |
| title_full | The The effect of practice and musical structure on pianists’ eye-hand span and visual monitoring |
| title_fullStr | The The effect of practice and musical structure on pianists’ eye-hand span and visual monitoring |
| title_full_unstemmed | The The effect of practice and musical structure on pianists’ eye-hand span and visual monitoring |
| title_short | The The effect of practice and musical structure on pianists’ eye-hand span and visual monitoring |
| title_sort | the effect of practice and musical structure on pianists eye hand span and visual monitoring |
| topic | eye-hand span sight-reading glances at the keyboard working memory musical expertise eye-tracking |
| url | https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/8588 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michelandrecara thetheeffectofpracticeandmusicalstructureonpianistseyehandspanandvisualmonitoring AT michelandrecara theeffectofpracticeandmusicalstructureonpianistseyehandspanandvisualmonitoring |