Keeping eyes fixated on the page

[soundofsilence]

Thanks for the reply

Reading isn't the issue. It's more to do with what I would assume is NEVER having to look down. And by that I mean AT ALL.

There are times when I might not have to what so ever, usually easier sections or when I've fully committed a piece to memory. But otherwise I've developed a compulsion to watch my hands. Even if its just a short glance. And it's always been my impression that the best of players will look straight at the page and never what so ever look down.

Grade 1 pieces are much to simple. I've played and memorized much more difficult songs with relative ease. What I'm hoping to get to the bottom of is whether 'practicing' tenaciously and diligently is as 'instinctive' as it is partially mechanical.

[nystul]

All of this technical stuff is helpful for when those things are needed in music.  But it sounds like what is missing from your studies is reading and quickly working up a lot of simple pieces.  Because right now you are memorizing a few pieces for performance level and playing technical stuff that is really easy to memorize, so there is not much in the way of learning how to read music.  Just getting some grade 1 book or something and work through a piece each week or so would probably help.  Also it would expose you to more variety and styles of pieces which I think is important.

[soundofsilence]

I think what we have to consider as well is the act of teaching oneself the process of note recognition in an instantaneous fashion. The ability of which has to be honed repeatedly.

I was reading an article that described how a top of the mark virtuoso pianist can take multiple full segments of information on the page, can grasp this flow of information in mere seconds, and correlate that without hesitation and without delay, straight to the hands and ready for execution. With nothing more than a minor glance at the page.

Now, I can only surmise that having such ability would be at the stake of repetitively having to train yourself, memorize, watch the hands, feel the notes before they happen, know where on the keyboard you navigate to geographically and how this all coincides with your mental comprehension of the instrument while playing. I'm assuming all fluent and gifted artists of the trait can relate to all the senses required for play being able to feel coordination both physically and auditory. Being able to hear a certain pitch and coordinate the hands without thought to the appropriate place for a quick execution. It's like speaking a foreign language. You have to 'think' in that particular language per say to be able to speak it.

So I would hold the belief that going after every piece with  meticulous diligence would in the end aid with the training of each and every sense that coincides with playing and how a person comes to understand how all the senses intertwine together. Even though this may be looked at as 'mechanical' I think that ultimately if a person is 'musical' then your musical. And you will make fit what it is you are trying to learn. Extremely slow practice at first sight will never be out right musical, because it's too slow. You can't sight read what you can't play. You have to know how it's played and envision it as its coming. As you initially see a piece for the first time, your basically collaborating this quote on quote 'new information' with what you have taught yourself so far.

Ideally when one is familiar enough with the piece, the expression and articulation start to arise. Like a musical epiphany stemming from areas of the piece becoming engraved in the mind, and then that's when the 'music' starts to happen. I would think that after having committed the time to have conquered this task on multiple occasions, across various rhythms, and enduring painstakingly slow but constant attempts, the process of recognition, of foresight and familiarity become second nature. And the main concentration is on the 'music' itself.

I may have potentially just answered my own questions. But I'm interested to hear what other people think. I've been playing now for about a year. Memorized a few pieces (can name if needed), all scales 2 octaves, working on arpeggios/contrary motion/similar motion for now. Although, I've only managed to memorize 4 Hannon exercises because Hannon makes me cringe with fear.

[theodore]

Hello Soundofsilence:

How can one get familiar with the spatial distances one has to reach with both hands together ??   This happens in waltzes especially in he left hand.  It also happens in polyphonic music when both hands may be going (or leaping) in different directions.

With your eyes on the page, the piano white keys all have a distinct spatial difference (they are usually 3/4 of an inch apart).  The keyboard is also about six feet from one end to the other.   Does one get the accuracy of blind spatial reaches by a certain kind of drill ?? 

[perpetual_dan]

Most of the time there isn't much I need to see happening on the keys so I don't look. I will tend to look at the keys in two situations:
One, when there are hand movements where I want to reassure myself of where I am. As I learn a piece these go into a mechanical memory / better spatial awareness.
Second, where I'm unhappy about what I've heard. Again, this is usually when learning - either I've got it wrong and it helps see what happened as well as hear it or there is a dissonance and I'm checking that I've played what was written not made a mistake. As I become more familiar with a piece I know which dissonances are right and don't worry about those. With simpler pieces I can read what I expect to hear, but as the harmony gets more complex my ability to hear it in my head in advance of playing, at playing speed, isn't up to scratch.

In the end I wouldn't worry too much about where you are "supposed" to look, unless it is distracting you from reading the music and so affecting your playing. The best players might not look down so much, but they've learnt what you're still learning.