Are you a multi-tasker? You certainly are when reading music while playing the piano. Let’s take a look <insert knee slap> at what your eyes are doing. Are you supposed to watch the music? Or your hands? Or some of each? Are you getting dizzy from nodding your head back and forth between the keyboard and the printed music?
If that isn’t enough, add the challenge of learning to read a bit ahead of what the hands are actually playing. My students are probably tired of me using this example, but here it is, one more time: Let’s say you are going somewhere, oh how about to a piano lesson 🙂 and your lesson is scheduled to begin at 4:00. What happens if you leave your house at 4:00? You will be late, of course. You must leave the house before 4:00 to arrive at your destination in time. In order to play a note in rhythm (in time) you must read that note and get your hand in the correct position before it is time for that note to be played. Sound complicated? It is, really. But I promise, the more you do it, the easier — and more automatic — it gets until the day finally comes when it just happens. One of the reasons we sight-read every single song we learn here at my studio is to practice the skills of reading and reading ahead.
Check out the link below. It’s an interesting video focusing (oh, somebody stop me) on the eye movement of a professional pianist compared to that of his student.