A integração perceptivo-cognitivo-motora na aquisição da expertise pianística

Abstract

Research Question/Problem

Researchers investigating piano practice describe pianistic performance based on technique (Póvoas, 2008), visual and auditory perception (Lahav, Saltzman & Schlaug, 2007, Herholz & Zatorre, 2012, Leipold, Klein & Jäncke, 2021), motor control (Parsons et al., 2005), or amount of practice (Ericsson & Lehman, 1996). The three-dimensional model of expertise proposed by Bilalić (2017) offers a theoretical framework that considers any expertise in three domains: the perceptual, the cognitive, and the motor. Considering that music simultaneously involves visual and auditory perceptual processing and refined motor control (Bilalić, 2017), the question arises as to how understanding these dimensions, in an integrated way, can favor the acquisition of pianistic expertise.

Objectives

The aim of this study is to analyze how the perceptual, cognitive, and motor dimensions described in the model proposed by Bilalić (2017) can favor the acquisition of pianistic expertise, seeking to highlight cognitive processes experienced by expert pianists.

Method

This is a bibliographic research that consisted of reading and summarizing the work The Neuroscience of Expertise (Bilalić, 2017), in addition to the analyzes of empirical studies on musical expertise involving deliberate practice (Ericsson & Lehmann, 1996), pattern recognition, memory and chunking (Gobet & Simon, 1996, Xxxxxxxxx, Xxxx), and auditory-motor interaction (Lahav et al., 2007, Zatorre, Chen & Penhune, 2007). Twenty-three studies were selected through searches in the Capes Periodicals Database, Scopus, and SciELO, using the descriptors: perception, cognition, and motor skills of pianists. Data analysis involved a thematic categorization of the summaries based on Bardin's (2016) content analysis, taking as a structuring axis the perceptual, cognitive, and motor dimensions of expertise. The selected studies were examined considering these categories, allowing us to identify convergences between the evidence found in these studies and Bilalić's model (2017).

Results and/or Main contributions

Research results indicate that pianistic expertise emerges from perceptual-cognitive-motor integration shaped by prolonged practice (Herholz & Zatorre, 2012). On the perceptual level, expert pianists develop a high sensitivity to recognize visual and auditory musical patterns quickly and efficiently (Lahav et al., 2007). On the cognitive level, the literature on expertise suggests that in a musical context, the organization of structured representations in long-term memory allows for anticipation and reduction of working memory overload during performance (Lehmann & Ericsson, 1996, Palmer, 1997). Regarding the motor level, structural and functional changes are observed in the brains of pianists involving the improvement of bimanual coordination and automatization in complex motor control (Parsons et al., 2005, Zatorre et al., 2007).

Conclusions and/or Implications

The results suggest that the three-dimensional model of expertise proposed by Bilalić (2017) offers a consistent theoretical framework for understanding piano performance in an integrated way. The perceptual, cognitive, and motor dimensions elucidate musical mastery as the result of interdependent systems shaped by experience. This perspective offers future implications for the fields of piano pedagogy and musical expertise.