Korean Journal of Research in Music Education

Article

Analysis of Eye Movements during Perusal Time According to Musical Structure and Sight-Reading Ability of Pre-Service Elementary School Teachers

Author
Su-Young Bae, Sumi Kwon
Information
pp. 75~93 / 2022 Vol.51 No.3
e-ISSN2713-3788
p-ISSN1229-4179
Received2022-05-31
Revised2022-07-10
Accepted2022-07-21
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.30775/KMES.51.3.75
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Abstract

The study aims to analyze the differences in eye movements during perusal time prior to sight-reading according to musical structure and sight-reading ability. To this end, 19 pre-service elementary school teachers read a single-line melody, a melody in parallel motion, and a melody with harmonic accompaniment through a Tobii Pro X2-60 eye tracker installed at the bottom of the computer monitor and played the electronic piano with a 10-second perusal time. Then, their eye movements during the perusal time were analyzed. The results showed that eye movements during the perusal time differed according to musical structure and sight-reading ability. The more complex the music, the more and longer the total fixation number and total fixation duration are in skilled sight-readers, whereas the less and shorter they are in less skilled sight-readers. Second, skilled sight-readers skim all the measures although concentrating on the first measure, whereas less skilled sight-readers mostly read the first and second measures. Third, when reading melodies, skilled sight-readers read the relationship between notes, whereas less skilled sight-readers read focusing on notes. Fourth, when reading music with a two-hand structure, skilled sight-readers gaze more and longer on the right-hand area than on the left-hand area, whereas less skilled sight-readers gaze more on the left-hand area than on the right-hand area.

Keywords

eye movement sight-reading perusal time piano education music education