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This chapter focuses on non-improvisatory performance of a score. It reviews cognitive processes in sight-reading, including eye movements, errors in reading, and expressive sight-reading. These all demonstrate the involvement of well-developed mental representations in expert sight-reading. In treating expert prepared performance, it covers memorization, fingering, and synchronization. The relative lack of research into performance, as compared to perception, is noted.

This chapter discusses three skills—sight-reading, playing by ear, and recalling a memorized performance—related to an individual's ability to retain and recall information from memory. These are then related to a musician's performance. The first two are necessary for the effective learning of a musical piece, while the last is vital in retaining and enriching musical performances. Based on research, it is shown that some teachers consider learning music by ear more natural than the use of musical notation. Also, it is posited that expert musicians have developed unique access to their long-term memories which is vital in the skills of sight-reading, ear-playing, and recall. Another theory presented is that musical reading is dependent on prior knowledge and stimulus, and that from this, parallels can be drawn with memorized performance. Lastly, it is shown that sight-reading and memory skills can be developed and enhanced through practice and training.

This chapter discusses the activities of composition and improvisation as they relate musical performance, and focuses on everyday musical creativity rather than the rare incidences of genius. The generative acts of composing and improvising serve to increase the depth of a musician's understanding of musical structure, which in turn positively benefits his musical performance and learning by enhancing the skills of sight-reading, memorization, and creativity. The chapter explains several related points. First, the contemporary division between creating and recreating music rooted in history is found to refute the prevalence of generative musical behavior. This leads to the almost indistinguishable boundaries between the related activities of composition and improvisation. Second, creativity is found to involve trial-and-error, but with some regularities in the method. Lastly, children are determined to first engage in creative processes but are required to obtain an idea of what is aesthetically pleasing through formal training.

From a psychological viewpoint, sight-reading involves perception (decoding note patterns), kinesthetics (executing motor programs), memory (recognizing patterns), and problem-solving skills (improvising and guessing). Sight-reading skills seem to be highly trainable and differences in sight-reading ability can be explained through differences in the amount of relevant experience and the size of the knowledge base (e.g., repertoire). The ability to perform with little or no rehearsal may be regarded as a reconstructive activity that involves higher-level mental processes. These are primarily initiated by visual input but also by conceptual knowledge and specific expectations. This chapter discusses common problems in sight-reading of pitches, rhythm, articulation, and expression, and presents suggestions for their remediation through the use of technical equipment, practice of isolated parameters, and strategic preparations for playing.

This chapter discusses recent studies exploring the relationship between general cognitions and musical skills in musicians and non-musicians. It shows that there are intimate links between musical ability and various cognitions including perception, sight-reading, memory, action planning and organizing, attention, and visuospatial functions. It also discusses whether music might have an impact on the development of intellectual functions.

Numerous accounts suggest that Felix Mendelssohn possessed remarkable sight-reading and memory. In the mid-1830s, the author of a biographical account talked about Mendelssohn's security in sight-reading and the power of his memory. He could play publicly the most difficult pieces of such composers as Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven without music. In addition, he could accompany almost all larger-scale works, such as the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Carl Maria von Weber from memory on the piano with complete security. Mendelssohn had an extraordinary gift for evoking the sounds of various orchestral instruments. Ignaz Moscheles also noted Mendelssohn's sight-reading of demanding piano music, while Julius Benedict provides evidence of the early development of his musical memory.