As a piano
player, I can testify that coping with a new musical work is one of the best
ways to encounter your cognitive limitations.
When I play a new piece, I can feel how my working memory is making a maximal effort. It seems to me, that the playing speed of a
new piece of music (which is quite slow in my case) is highly correlated with
working memory capacity.
After hours of
practice, when you finally begin to play fluently, you encounter your long
term memory limitations. While
playing, I can feel my brain "uploading" the rest of the piece from
long term memory into short term memory.
Sometimes the "uploading" speed is slower than the playing speed…
Score reading, and specifically piano score reading, is
different than text reading. First,
there are no words (although deep theoretical knowledge makes it possible to
notice certain patterns and that facilitates score reading). The "letters" form completely new
"words" and "sentences", which you've never seen
before. Second, you have to read two score
systems simultaneously – one for the right hand, in G
clef ("first language") and another for the left hand, in F clef ("second
language"). Third – usually score
reading is "oral reading".
That's because you perform the piece while reading it – making, simultaneously, a different performance in each
hand. Of course, reading comprehension
is very important, because it determines the intonation and dynamics of your
playing.
Playing a musical instrument requires. discipline, since it requires hours upon hours of
drill. Despite it being an inherently
satisfying occupation, playing an instrument drills your ability to delay gratification.
Playing in a musical ensemble requires listening to others, being coordinated with them,
letting others make their voice heard and being able to make your own voice
heard.
Playing to an audience (with no improvisation)
is not like public speaking. When giving
a lecture, you focus on getting your messages through. You can phrase your messages in many
different ways. Playing a musical work
does not allow for variations in the text itself (although you can make your
own interpretation of the text). Hours
of practice are not enough in order to reach precision in text
performance. Good executive functioning is
required in order to block inner and outer distractions and to be maximally
focused and have free attentional resources for the performance of the piece.
All this makes me think that it's important to teach
instrument playing in schools. It might
be interesting to find studies that confirm (or deny) the arguments made
here. Meanwhile here is a short film
from Dr. McGrew's blog:
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