Eye on Music Reading: A Methodological Review of Studies from 1994 to 2017

Abstract

In this review, we focus on the methodological aspects of eye-tracking research in the domain of music, published and/or available between 1994 and 2017, and we identify potentially fruitful next steps to increase coherence and systematicity within this emerging field. We review and discuss choices of musical stimuli, the conditions under which these were performed (i.e. control of performance tempo and music-reading protocols), performer’s level of musical expertise, and handling of performance errors and eye-movement data. We propose that despite a lack of methodological coherence in research to date, careful reflection on earlier methodological choices can help in formulating future research questions and in positioning new work. These steps would represent progress towards a cumulative research tradition, where joint understanding is built by systematic and consistent use of stimuli, research settings and methods of analysis.

Gazing at the partner in musical trios: a mobile eye-tracking study

“…Still, there are some limitations. First, we note that eye-tracking is not entirely new within the musical domain, as there is a growing body of research on music reading (see Madell & Hébert, 2008;Puurtinen, 2018) in which various forms of video-based eye-tracking are used. In these studies, however, regardless of any methodological and technical varieties, the stimulus (in this case the musical score) is always presented as a stationary object (usually on a screen).…”

“…We add that studying bodily communication multimodally would be a useful (and sought-after) way to advance the study of gaze patterning between partners. For instance, investigations into the mechanisms of interpersonal synchronisation could benefit from studying cueing gestures in relation to gaze (see for instance Bishop & Goebl, 2017;2018).…”

The application of eye-tracking in music research

“…Sight-reading -a special case of music reading that involves performing from a musical score at first sight -is the focus of the first two articles in this section. Puurtinen (2018) provides a methodological review of sight-reading studies incorporating eye-tracking, from 1994 to 2017. She discusses critical discrepancies in the extant literature, namely, the choice of stimuli used in sight-reading studies, the protocol under which stimuli are sight-read, and the techniques employed in cleaning and statistically analyzing both the performance and the ocular data.…”

Perfiles de aprendizaje musical formal e informal en educación superior

“…Los programas de formación musical a nivel profesional en México, al igual que en otros países latinoamericanos como Chile, Argentina y Colombia, se encuentran fuertemente influenciados por la tradición eurocentrista y el modelo de enseñanza de conservatorio (Alessandroni, 2013;Bermúdez y Duque, 2000;Burcet, 2017;González-Moreno, 2015;Green, 2002;Holguín-Tovar y Martínez, 2017;Poblete Lagos, 2019;Shifres y Gonnet, 2015;Shifres y Holguín-Tovar, 2015), el cual se enfoca en la enseñanza de habilidades de ejecución vocal o instrumental y en la formalización de la alfabetización musical mediante la enseñanza de la notación convencional occidental. Este modelo privilegia la enseñanza de la música clásica y ciertas prácticas asociadas a ella, tales como un enfoque predominante en la lectura (Burcet, 2017;Lehmann, Sloboda, y Woody, 2007;Puurtinen, 2018;Shifres, 2018;Woody, 2007Woody, , 2012, el uso de repertorio de compositores clásicos (Burnard, 2012;Sarath, Myers y Campbell, 2016;Woody, 2007), y en la mera interpretación de dicho material (Sarath et al, 2016).…”