Achieving mastery on any musical instrument is no small feat, often taking not years, but decades of dedicated practice. Early on, progress comes relatively quickly. However, once musicians reach advanced levels, many encounter a plateau, where even the most disciplined practice sessions yield only minor improvements. This phenomenon, known as the “ceiling effect,” has long been a challenge for many virtuosos.
A groundbreaking study has tackled this issue with an innovative approach. Researchers have developed a custom-built exoskeleton, resembling a fingerless glove, designed to assist pianists by moving their fingers independently. By using this device, they were able to significantly enhance the skills of expert pianists, even after the device was removed.
The exoskeleton, equipped with motors that move the fingers and thumb up to four times per second, helped pianists play faster than before by automating finger movements. Remarkably, once the exoskeleton was removed, the pianists showed improvements in their unaided performance. After just one 30-minute practice session with the device, their speed increased by nearly 30%.
The study, published in Science Robotics, was led by Japanese researcher Shinichi Furuya at Sony Computer Science Laboratories in Tokyo. The experiment involved 118 highly skilled pianists who had been playing since the age of eight and accumulated over 10,000 hours of practice by the time they were 20.
In the two weeks before the experiment, the pianists practiced a challenging chord trill daily, 30 times a day. Despite initial improvements, they eventually hit the dreaded plateau. At this point, they participated in the experiment, where they were divided into different groups for a 30-minute session with the exoskeleton fitted to one hand.
One group acted as a control, with the exoskeleton merely opening and closing their fingers. Another group, however, had the device make them perform the same passage they had been practicing, but at a faster pace than they were able to play unaided.
After the device was removed, the group that used the exoskeleton to perform faster saw a significant improvement in both speed and coordination. Astonishingly, the improvement wasn’t limited to the hand fitted with the exoskeleton; the untrained hand also became faster, thanks to the “intermanual transfer effect,” where learning in one hand transfers to the other.
Furuya, who has a background as a pianist, shared that the idea for the exoskeleton stemmed from his own experience of hand injuries caused by over-practicing. He recalled the dilemma of wanting to improve his skills without straining his hands further. His “aha moment” came when a teacher demonstrated how to play a piece by placing their hands over his on the piano, which led him to wonder if robotic assistance could recreate a similar learning experience.
While the results of this experiment are fascinating, it remains to be seen whether this technology can be developed into a practical tool for pianists to help refine their skills without risking injury or burnout.
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