Today my eyes were following my fingers?

[1piano4joe]

This has never happened to me before. It was very strange indeed.

Up to now, I have always read the score (which is the recipe or directions) and through eye hand coordination I play the piece.

I have listened to pieces on CD or Youtube and followed the score with my eyes before where someone else was performing the piece.

Today the same thing happened except "I" was playing the piece, "Study in A Minor Op. 108, No. 5 by Ludwig Schytte".  I was struggling to get this piece up to tempo. I could not read fast enough and needed to keep looking at my hands. I ended up practicing this piece about six different ways trying everything I could think of.

I finally decide that's it. I will learn to play this and keep my eyes glued to the score. I made some progress in this area but some bars still need more work.

Next, I practiced each troublesome spot over and over till they were no longer troublesome.

I do not have this piece memorized. At least I don't think I do as I still need the score.

I know there is short term memory and long term memory. This must be another type of muscle memory I am not familiar with.

So, what does everyone here think? Is it possible there are different kinds of muscle memory?

If so, how many are there and could you describe them briefly?

I dialed up the metronome again and again as it too, tried in desperation, to keep up with  my "flying fingers".

What the heck is going on? I said to myself, "Hey eyeballs, move it!" This is so backwards. Isn't it?

Good sight readers (I am told) can read one or two measures ahead of where their hands are playing. Supposedly, they can recognize the pattern, finger and memorize the bar while simultaneously looking ahead.

This felt like my fingers had their own eyeballs and certainly couldn't be inconvenienced waiting around all day for the two slow pokes in my head!

The eyeballs in my head were following behind "checking" the fingers. Yep, they played that right. Yes, that's the correct fingering. Yes, the right musicality.

It was through sheer determination and probably a combination of frustration and anger that must have led me down this path.

Finally, I discovered that to keep the "actual reading" in sync with the fingers meant "skimming" along not really paying so much attention to detail. What a strange practice session, Joe.

[nystul]

As a result of the repeated practice you start to get muscle memory for certain figures in the music.  You need to follow the score to avoid getting lost because you don't have it fully memorized... just bits and pieces.