Determinants of Finger Choice in Piano Sight-Reading

Sixteen pianists sight-read the unfingered right-hand score of 7 studies by Czerny. The pianists were of 3 levels of expertise. Each study was performed twice. Fingerings were transcribed from video recordings. Measures were taken of performance accuracy and fingering consistency. The choices made were compared to the predictions of a model based primarily on motor-anatomical considerations. Performance accuracy and fingering consistency were both correlated positively with expertise and negatively with the calculated difficulty of fingerings according to the model. These data are consistent with the notion that expertise in piano fingering depends on the availability of overlearned, rule-governed response sequences triggered by familiar visual patterns within the notation.