Do pianists look at the keys ever?

[jimmymus]

I'm curious. When I reach my pinky to do 6th, 7th, and octave intervals I'm needing to look at the keys slightly. I'm wondering if I'll get over that or if people tend to look at the keys slightly?

[zircon]

It's a matter of practice, and the difficulty of the material you are playing. As you get better, you generally do not need to look at the keys. Hence why there have been numerous, highly successful blind pianists. If there are a lot of weird chords and intervals, or runs that are so technically challenging that you need to really break them down and make sure your fingering is PERFECT, then yes, you'll need to look at the keys... at least at first. Personally, the main time that I find myself having to look is when there are rapid, massive jumps from the low octaves to the middle ones, typical in Romantic-era music (eg. Liszt.)

[jimmymus]

Wow Just knowing that there are successful blind pianists has answered my questions. And yeah, I can see how long octave jumps would require looking.

Thanks!

[ughnonumus]

I'm curious. When I reach my pinky to do 6th, 7th, and octave intervals I'm needing to look at the keys slightly. I'm wondering if I'll get over that or if people tend to look at the keys slightly?

Yeah, slightly. It depends on the playing mode. I initially learned to sight read. So, if I'm running through a fake book, the natural inclination is to follow the music and make intermittent glances at the board. However, the longer reaches might prompt a glance, pending on how well I trust that reach. Interestingly, if my body is not aligned properly to the instrument, there's a tendency to be that much off when reaching. In fact, this can be true for other instruments, as well.

IMO, it's more about body positioning and feel. After all, a good performer cannot just be constantly looking down at the keyboard. The reaches that you point to relate more to the trained muscle coordination aspect that comes from practice. So, acquiring a feel is essential.