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Visual processing of musical syntax and its relationship to sight-reading ability.
Yeoeun Lim1, Andrew Goldman1,2
1Cognitive Science Program, College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States of America.
Plos One
|March 11, 2026
Summary
Sight-reading proficiency in musicians may depend more on visual processing efficiency than harmonic syntax knowledge. Faster visual processing, not sensitivity to musical harmony, distinguished skilled sight-readers in this study.
Area of Science:
- Music Cognition
- Auditory Perception
- Visual Processing
Background:
- Sight-reading, a fundamental musical skill, shows significant individual variability not fully explained by technical proficiency.
- Cognitive mechanisms, particularly harmonic syntax prediction, are hypothesized to underlie differences in sight-reading expertise.
- Previous research suggests harmonic syntax processing occurs visually without sound, but its role during symbolic music notation reading (akin to sight-reading) is unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between individual differences in harmonic syntax sensitivity and sight-reading proficiency.
- To determine if sensitivity to harmonic predictability emerges during the visual processing of symbolic musical notation.
Main Methods:
- Twenty skilled pianists performed sight-reading, self-paced chord progression reading, and an audiation test.
- Computational modeling quantified harmonic predictability in musical stimuli.
- Reading times for chords with varying harmonic predictability were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Harmonically less predictable chords required longer reading times, indicating visual processing of notation is sensitive to harmonic predictability.
- Sensitivity to harmonic predictability did not correlate significantly with sight-reading proficiency or audiation ability.
- Proficient sight-readers exhibited faster chord reading times irrespective of harmonic predictability, suggesting superior visual processing efficiency.
Conclusions:
- Visual processing of symbolic music notation demonstrates sensitivity to harmonic predictability, even without auditory input.
- Sight-reading expertise may be more influenced by general visual processing efficiency than by sophisticated harmonic syntax knowledge.
- Developing visual processing efficiency could be crucial for enhancing sight-reading skills.
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