The Candle Sight-Reading Exercise for Peripheral Vision, Perceptual Span and Court Vision

The Candle Sight-Reading Exercise for Peripheral Vision, Perceptual Span and Court Vision

I have designed this exercise to stimulate musicians awareness of their peripheral vision and perceptual span.
Often times when faced with difficut musical passages, musicians fall into what is called 'tunnel vision mode' *. They loose their awareness of the whole and just focus on the immediate problem. However, as you know, a difficult measure or two move very fast when one is sight-reading.
This exercise is supposed to force you back into 'seeing the whole' and returning to a more broad view of the score.
I discuss peripheral vision, visual span and percetual span in several articles posted on this blog.
You can access the 'search' tool on the top of the blog to find all the definitions you will need.
I also have written about how sports psycologists have been doing a lot of research on this area, more than musicians do.
Today, I will post a link where you can read about  COURT VISION and video game players.
While reading it, you will find information about their preocupation with vision as well as a familiar subject explored on this blog when I describe the exercises on EyeQ Vision Therapy Program: Decision Making
while reading. (You can also search 'decision making' on this blog for more info)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Competitiveoverwatch/comments/4ybpzu/tunnel_vision_is_the_number_one_reason_why_bad/?

Other reading material: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/090329-video-game-vision.html

* Tunnel Vision (Kalnienk Vision) is the loss of peripheral vision even though your central vision is fine.
I use the term tunnel vision here in a very loose way just to clarify this habit some musicians, athlets and video game players fall into.

Candle Sight-Reading Exercise

While practicing your sigh-reading, place two lit candles on each side of the keyboard (a grand piano is ideal for this). Make sure you are always aware of them (seeing them) while reading.

As you get better at this, try to add the awarennes of your hands moving below the score on the keyboard. This will amplify even more your vision field and it is somewhat easier since your hands are constantly moving.

Blow the candle :-)

Sight Reading Suggestion - Alexandre Dossin's edition of Tchaikovsky Album for the Young Ops 39

Schirmer Performance Editions ( Hal Leonard Piano Library) has published a wonderful edition of these beautiful works by Tchaikovsky. Pleasant to play and to read. In my opinion,  this edition is the best example of music printing  (typography)* one can get.  The page turns are well planned and the spacing between notes and staves are made so reading and counting is very easy. 

*Search typography on this blog

Sight-Reading and Rhythm - Intermediate Repertoire

"I have benefited a lot from your suggestions of repertoire. Could you please suggest some SR material (intermediate)that explores diversity in rhythms?"

Upon receiving the e-mail above, the first thing that came to my mind was a rarely performed set of 10 pieces by Villa-Lobos: Francette et Pia. This set was written in 1929 for the piano class of the celebrated Marguerite Long. This suite mixes Brazilian and French songs and tells the story of a little Brazilian Indian boy (Pia)* and a French girl (Francette). I can't help imagining a recital alternating a boy and a girl performing these solo pieces and at the end, the two kids closing the recital with the final piece called "Francette and Pia Play Together Forever" (it is a duet - 4 hands).
Mixed with the Brazilian folk and indigenous melodies, you will recognize the French national anthem (Marseillaise - #8), Au Clair de la Lune (#1), Le Bon Roi Dogobert (#2) and Malbrouk S'en Va-t-en Guerre (#6).
As expected, Villa-Lobos writes challenging rhythms, but the repetitive patterns through the compositions make this set a good source for sight-reading (there are lots of opportunities for self-correction). Each piece is rich in tempo, meter and key signature changes.

1 - Pia Came to France.. (it opens with an Indian theme).
2 - Pia Saw Francette...
3 - Pia Spoke to Francette...
4 - Pia and Francette Play Together...
5 - Francette is Angry... (the edition I have translates this piece as Francette is sorry, however, the right translation is Francette is angry).
6 - Pia Went to War... (the composer writes "to make kids used to syncopation and exaggerated accents").
7 - Francette is Sad... (it opens with a Brazilian March followed by a French theme).
8 - Pia Returns Form the War...
9 - Francette is Happy... (the composer brings back a variation of previous themes).
10- Francette and Pia Play Together Forever... Four-Hand Duet

Villa-Lobos dedicated a lot of time writing pedagogical music exploring Brazilian children's folk tunes. My favorite set is the Cirandinhas (it is extraordinary!). There is also Guia Pratico (11 sets of 6 pieces in each), Carnaval das Criancas Brasileiras, The 3 Marias, Petizada, The Broken Little Music Box, and The Toy Wheel.

* Pia means a little boy of Indian descent. In Tupi-Guarany, it is an expression of affection like "dear boy". Today in Rio Grande do Sul (south Brazil), we call all boys "pia".
Guarany is an indigenous language in South America.

Can I Have Your Divided Attention? Attention and Sight-Reading

According to the book Cognitive Psychology by Sternberg, divided attention is the attempt to handle more than one task at once. Sounds familiar? Sight-reading music requires all musicians to handle several tasks all the time. Pianists suffer even more with the fact that they have to read two different clefs.

Example:


During performance, we attend to more than one automatized task at one time. This is supposed to be easier than attending to more than one controlled task at a time which is the case when sight-reading. While sigh-reading there is a great deal of decision making, problem solving, comprehension and muscle control. The good news is "...with practice, individuals appear to be capable of handling more than one controlled task at a time, even engaging in tasks requiring comprehension and decision making". (Sternberg)
When sight-reading piano, besides reading two distinct clefs, we also have to execute two distinct articulation, phrasing and dynamics. If you are sight-reading a fugue, for example, you can face more than that. Add pedal markings to that, and you might need a drink.

Example:


Marlos Nobre "Caboclinha"


Attention is all the information an individual manipulates. Because our working memory has limited capacity (7 +2/-2 items or chunks), attention allows us to use our cognition resources judiciously to respond fast and accurately to interesting stimuli and to remember salient information. Consciousness, on the other hand, is only the narrow range of information that the individual is aware of manipulating. It allow us to monitor our interactions with the environment to link experiences and expectations while planning future actions.(Sternberg)
One can see how both attention and consciousness play an important role in sight-reading. Attention relates to our first encounter with a musical passage and to how we select salient information to be played. While consciousness, takes this information selected and infers our previous experiences and expectations in order to plan our final output.