Vision And Music Making by Frank Kowalsky

Paul Harris, an optometrist and well trained musician sent me the article Vision and Music Making. A real gift.
In this article, Kowalsky writes about how he has learned that improving vision skills helps music learning, comprehension and reading speed.
He mentions two trainable skills, I have mentioned earlier, the tachistoscopic ability and the peripheral vision.
The tachistoschopic exercises I worked on with PTS II program (see post 02-07-2010)were the ones I needed more sections to finish. There is no way to train this skill as traditionally done by musicians (at their instruments).
My performance doing the parafoveal exercises, however, was very good. Which leads me to conclude that I have a good peripheral vision. The fact that I have a good peripheral vision does not imply that I am using it correctly or using it at all.
Kowalsky states: "Peripheral vision (sometimes referred to as
peripheral awareness) is another important concept that I had to redefine for myself. It implies more than merely seeing off to the sides; rather, it is an awareness of the entire background – the space to the sides, the top, the bottom, and the depth of field. Peripheral vision is a consciousness of everything that is not the object specifically being attended to".
After reading this, I went for for a car ride and I decided to check my "peripheral awareness". There was none! I was appalled. I then, started being aware of it, which by the way is very easy to do and I could not wait to try the same thing on the piano. Although I and other musicians know the usual rules: count, look ahead, don't correct, bla, bla, bla... It was not enough. I was using the "tunnel vision" Kowalsky describes while driving and while playing.
I went home, put two objects on both sides of my piano and I started sight-reading while aware of those objects left and right and also aware of a closet right in front of me.
How easy! I can hardly describe to you my surprise. As I became aware of my sides and top, my whole score was available to me. My perceptual span tripled and so did my tempo. This is the "tip" I was looking for. I knew my difficulties sight-reading had do be related to my eyes since I am a well trained musician and I do not lack practice.
OVERNIGHT MY SIGHT-READING IMPROVED A LOT. I have been misusing my visual abilities all my life.
I am impressed how sensitive Kowalsky is to be able to put this "perceptual puzzle" into meaningful words and how he was aware of it when millions of good sight-readers can't describe how they do it.
I will keep researching vision and music with Dr J. I am open to more ideas that will make me even better and help other musicians. Who knows, I might have other bad habits that I can fix.
I might be like these obsessive people that collect things compulsively and are never satisfied.