The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance

466 the cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance
at the top of the list. There may also exist an
upper limit for attainable performance with
regard to the neuroplastic changes (Lim &
Altenmüller, 2003). Focal dystonia, a condition
where, for instance, fingers start to
perform involuntary movements when other
fingers are activated, may be due to an
overlap of expanded cortical representations
(Elbert et al., 1998). The gradual enlargement
of the cortical representations in the
somatosensory cortex during acquisition of
expertise might reach a limit when the
separation between adjacent areas becomes
blurred, resulting in uncontrollable coactivation
of one finger through the use of another.
It is obvious that research about physiological
limits of musical performance and
about interventions to overcome the limits
(or remedy existing problems) is still at its
very beginning. The same can be said about
historical or societal constraints on musical
performance.
It is interesting to study in the history of a
domain how the demands imposed on musicians
have changed over time (Lehmann &
Ericsson, 1998). Everyone is aware of
changed standards in sports, where records
are kept about achievements that have to
be matched and surpassed by following generations
of athletes. (Even if they are not
as obvious as world records in athletics,
musical achievements offer similar trends –
incidentally the young star pianist Yundi Li
is making commercials for sportswear company
Nike.) For example, the constraints
of performance are related to the development
of instruments. When the piano was
invented in 1700, there was no specific way
of playing it, and a standard repertoire did
not yet exist. Later refinements of the instrument
and the instrumental technique led to
more complex compositions. A number of
pieces exist that were deemed unplayable
at the time of their composition, including
examples even from the 20th century (e. g.,
“Etudes” for guitar by Villa-Lobos; “Hammerklavier”
sonata for piano by Beethoven;
“Etudes” for piano by Ligeti; “Caprices” for
violin by Paganini). Nowadays many of these
pieces are standard fare for adolescent performers.
Such historical increases in levels
of performance result from specialization,
improved training and practice methods, and
from the extrinsic rewards a society offers to
those who try to make eminent contributions
to the domain.
Similar to the domain of sports, where
some disciplines are popular in certain countries
but not in others, or where some countries
provide incentives to reach the highest
levels of performance, music is affected
by societal factors. China, for example,
has developed a highly competitive piano
instruction system since the end of the Cultural
Revolution; playing the piano is now
avalued cultural practice. Being proficient
at playing the piano affords girls the opportunity
to marry into better situated families
(similar to the situation in 19 th -century
Germany), and men receive the possibility
to make a career (as piano teachers).
It is estimated that 50 million Chinese are
seriously playing the piano. The large number
of highly qualified foreign students from
Eastern European and Far Eastern countries
entering performance degree programs
in music academies in Western countries
attests to this fact. At the same time, fewer
and fewer families in the West are willing
to surrender their children to a rigorous
training starting in early childhood and to
accept personal and financial disadvantages.
Instead, broad ranges of competing activities
and media use are offered to children. That
indicates that the cultural environment and
its value and reward systems promote the
development or neglect of skills in a certain
culture.
Research reported in this chapter predominantly
deals with the Western art music
tradition. To date, studies in non-European
music genres are rare but would be interesting
for many reasons. For example, Indian
musicians are likely to show interesting
problem-solving strategies because they perform
mainly improvised music – as do
musicians in the Middle East. Or Balinese
musicians, who learn by ear an extensive
repertoire, would offer insights into memory
processes that are not mediated by
music notation – as would to a certain
degree European vernacular musicians in
rock, popular, jazz, and folk music. New subdomains
emerge that constitute touchstones