Independence of timing and force control during finger-tapping sequences by pianists

To examine the relation between timing and force control during finger-tapp ing sequences by both the 10 pianists and the 13 nonpianists, participants tapped a force plate connected to strain gauges. A series of finger-tapping tasks consisted of 16 combinations of pace and peak force. Analysis showed that pianists had smaller correlation between intertap interval and peak f orce than nonpianists. Thus, force control was more independent of timing f or pianists than for nonpianists.