Sight-Reading

The ability to read and perform music from a written score for the first time, without prior practice or memorization. Sight-reading requires simultaneously decoding musical notation and executing it on an instrument in real time, making it one of the most demanding musical skills. For visually impaired musicians, sight-reading is often the first capability lost as vision deteriorates, since it requires rapid, fluent visual processing of musical symbols while maintaining physical coordination with the instrument. Many visually impaired musicians are forced to abandon sight-reading in favor of memorization-based approaches.