title: Sight-reading of violinists: eye movements anticipate the musical flow.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Perception and Eye Movement Laboratory, Department of Clinical Research, Inselspital, University of Bern, 3010, Bern, Switzerland. pascal.wurtz@dkf.unibe.ch
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wurtz
authors.forename: René M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Mueri
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wiesendanger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention; D003071:Cognition; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011932:Reading; D055815:Young Adult