Eyeglasses for Reading Sheet Music

[Sherry Cadenhead]

My teacher says I need a pair of music reader eyeglasses, as I tend to lean forward during my lessons so I can see the sheet music on her music stand. Who has experience with these glasses and has suggestions as to how to go about finding the right pair? My teacher says she even took her music stand and violin to her optometrist once so he could see the distance she needed. I'm near sighted and normally wear trifocals if it's helpful to know that.

[Bill McCall]

How close is your stand at home? I'd have the teacher move it that close for you. Your teacher should accommodate you a bit as I suspect you read just fine at home where you are regulating the distance. Do you notice yourself leaning at home? If not, it would seem you've placed the music at the correct distance.

When I had the problem on my desk, I moved my iPad closer. I wear progressive bifocals to correct the same problem.

On the other hand, when was the last time you had your prescription checked?

[poul hansen]

I just got some "music glasses" I can't see very close up, a problem especially when playing my classical guitar but I have placed the musicstand where I can see it. And I bought some +2.50 halfglasses so I can see the strings 15 cm away a bit downwards and the music straight ahead over the halfglasses. I did it like this, to avoid multifocals and having to move the head up and down all the time.

I took my travel guitar with me for the eye test in the shop.

[Ken]

I wear bifocals but when I know that I’ll be looking at stuff at a consistent distance ( computer screen, in the shop, or reading music) I just use drug store reading glasses so I don’t have to tilt my head back to look through the lower lens. The focal length of the glasses will vary with the strength of the lens (2.25, 2.50 etc) so determine how far away you need to focus and try different strengths to get to that point. I prefer full lenses but half lenses would be the same principle.

[Jim Garber]

I have worn progressives for years and the mid-range works well for computer screens and sheet music. I also print out my sheet music for the tunes I work on as large possible. One of my main tune books has relatively small type so I scan the tune and print it sideways for optimum size. Then I just memorize and I don't have to read.

[Richard500]

Drug store readers, unfortunately only come in positive diopters, that is convex lenses. Since you’re nearsighted, you need negative ones which would allow easy experimentation. Trifocals hints at not much accommodation (ability to focus) but each zone isn’t likely wide enough for this job, as you are finding, so you probably either need a specially dimensioned multifocal, or more easily a single focus optimized for one specific distance, and your music stand needs to be accurately angled and placed every time.
Of course, more light helps out by giving you more depth of focus, so add a good bright lamp.
If money is an issue, these days you can order your own recipes from online stores at a small fraction of even chain optics store price.

[Louise NM]

Sherry, the glasses thing was making me absolutely crazy. I had a pair of glasses made that were supposed to work for music. They didn't. (They are perfect for computer use, though, so they live at work and I wear them all day in the office.)

For a second attempt, I stopped by an optical shop on the way home from a rehearsal, totally peeved about being unable to see the music. The optician working there turned out to be very experienced and helped me figure it out. Progressives, the part for midrange wider than usual and centered over my pupils. It took two tries on the lenses, but they're now perfect. The top part is corrected for distance, so I can see a conductor and/or the people I'm playing with—or drive home safely. The bottom is good for closer work: changing strings, adding notes to a part, etc. And the wide, glorious middle works for reading music, whether I'm sharing a stand on the right or left, crowded in and closer to the stand than I like, or by myself with all the room I want to stretch out. Well worth the time and money, just make sure you find an optician who will pay attention to what you want.

With age, an excellent stand light is another necessity.

[Sue Rieter]

Sherry, the glasses thing was making me absolutely crazy. I had a pair of glasses made that were supposed to work for music. They didn't. (They are perfect for computer use, though, so they live at work and I wear them all day in the office.)

For a second attempt, I stopped by an optical shop on the way home from a rehearsal, totally peeved about being unable to see the music. The optician working there turned out to be very experienced and helped me figure it out. Progressives, the part for midrange wider than usual and centered over my pupils. It took two tries on the lenses, but they're now perfect. The top part is corrected for distance, so I can see a conductor and/or the people I'm playing with—or drive home safely. The bottom is good for closer work: changing strings, adding notes to a part, etc. And the wide, glorious middle works for reading music, whether I'm sharing a stand on the right or left, crowded in and closer to the stand than I like, or by myself with all the room I want to stretch out. Well worth the time and money, just make sure you find an optician who will pay attention to what you want.

With age, an excellent stand light is another necessity.

So what is different between computer and music glasses? Is the difference in the distance between your eyes and computer vs. eyes and music stand so significant that you need a different middle range prescription? This is what it seems like what people are saying here.

I've been nearsighted all my life. For about two glorious years right around the age of 60 , my eyes changed and I didn't need glasses anymore. Then they continued to change and now I can't hardly see a dang thing.

[Pittsburgh Bill]

I have two pair of different strength reading glasses in eye glass cases attached to my home music stand. They were purchased at DOLLAR TREE for the whopping cost of $1.00 each. This works well for me as I never use a music stand outside of my home excepting one season with the Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra. As per bifocals I typically wear do not work any better for me following sheet music than they do following a ball when playing tennis.

[Steve Mead]

Sherry, I had a similar problem and blended bifocal or maybe even trifocal did not agree with me. While perusing the "reader" aisle at the drug store I saw a pair of "Foster Grant Multifocal" glasses and thought I would give them a try. For me, they work much better than the prescription glasses I have. Super happy with them for reading music and even computer work. Check them out, if they do not work you do not loose much. Steve

[GeeBee]

I buy my progressive glasses online from Zenni. For working at my computer, I get their "Near range progressives." It sounds like for your music lessons, you might want to try their "Mid-range progressives." https://www.zennioptical.com/workspace-progressives

[EdHanrahan]

... Of course, more light helps out by giving you more depth of focus, so add a good bright lamp.

... With age, an excellent stand light is another necessity.

I'm often surprised at how many don't understand "why".

Our aging lenses have various types of distortion, much of it "distributed" around the lens somewhat randomly.
- In low light, the iris opens up to let in as much light (use as much of the lens) as possible, thus including all distorted areas in the field of vision. Great for seeing at all, not so great -for some of us- for seeing clearly.
- In bright light, the iris closes down to protect the eye, using only a small part of the available opening, and thus bypassing much of the lens' distortions. The benefit of bright light, often, is improved vision.

Two unrelated but on-point examples:
- For photographing very small objects (think models of trains, cars, landscapes, etc.) with a "life-size" perspective, some folks replace a camera's lens with a pinhole: a tiny hole in a small piece of metal. With a long enough exposure & small enough hole, a perfectly focused image is formed -without- using a lens at all.
- Some car enthusiasts have bemoaned the fact that fog lights automatically turn off when the high beams are turned on, thinking that "more light must be better". BUT fog lights are for close-in vision, while high beams are, obviously, for long range vision. If the fog lights remained on, brightening the close-in area, the pupil would close down (to at least some degree), thus limiting the light available for long-range vision, the purpose of high beams at all!

While these may seem like the opposite effect of brightening sheet music, they should help explain the eye's operative mechanics.

Sorry about the diversion...!

(No, I'm not a doctor, or even play one on television. My wife, on the otherhand ...)

[Marcus CA]

I'm near sighted and normally wear trifocals if it's helpful to know that.

The problem might be coming from the height of the music stand, rather than its distance from you. With nearsighted trifocals, the strongest part of the prescription will be in the top part of the lenses. If you have your music stand set low, so you’re looking down at it, you may be reading the sheet music through the bottom part of the lenses.

[Louise NM]

So what is different between computer and music glasses? Is the difference in the distance between your eyes and computer vs. eyes and music stand so significant that you need a different middle range prescription? This is what it seems like what people are saying here.

Yes, it's a question of how far away. My computer glasses are fine for reading, but the difference in distance between a computer screen and music stand is outside what they'll do. I probably sit farther back from the stand than a lot of people. I'm used to sharing a stand with another violist in orchestras where you need some distance to stay out of each other's way. If I'm not sharing, I still like to have the music occupy less of my field of vision.

Bill McCall had a good point about Sherry possibly sitting closer to the music stand at home than she does at a lesson. At the lesson, she and the teacher are probably sharing the stand and music. Small distances can make a difference. A pianist I used to play with had one pair of glasses for upright pianos and another for grands, as the lyre on a grand piano is quite a bit further back. The joys of aging.

[Steve Mead]

Not sure why but those drug store multifocal glasses I have work for reading books, reading notation on music stand, working on computer and watching TV. Far better as multi purpose glasses than any prescription ones I have.

[Eric Platt]

Am the opposite. Music stands (and my home computer screen) are just far enough away that neither part of my bifocals works great. My doctor recommended just putting the glasses on my head. Not ideal, but the best option for me.

Am getting new bifocals made with a slightly different transition pattern, that might help but won't know until they are done. (No, I was not aware there are different patterns for bifocals.)

[Sterling]

I am primarily a trumpet player who needs reading glasses. I worked with my optometrist to tweak a set of glasses that focus about a foot past arm’s length, the space between my eyes and my music stand while playing trumpet. Works for me. Also, when my current prescription needs adjusting, I find that my older glasses work for music in a pinch.

[Rob Roy]

I wear expensive progressive lenses and have no difficulty reading music on the stand. However, I use cheap readers for computer work and lenghty book reading sessions so I'm not tipping my head all the time.

The cheapest/easiest solution would be to take a piece of sheet music to a Walmart or such and put the music on the shelf at the distance you read it from and try different strengths of readers until you find the one that gives you the clearest view.

[mandroid]

Presbyopia .. Defined as : the gradual loss of your eyes' ability to focus on nearby objects.
It's a natural, often annoying part of aging.
Presbyopia usually becomes noticeable in your early to mid-40s and continues to worsen until around age 65.



Readers come in many magnifications a lesser magnification should help at a bit longer distance.

I use 1.75 for reading books in my lap , 1.25 is on my face now to see this desk top monitor.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Readers are just magnifying glasses that hook on your ears. They're simple, and they work.

Most any Goodwill has a rack of new readers for $3 a pair. I just try a few on and buy whatever works for me.

The lens quality is inconsistent, so you might try three of the same strength and find that one is better than the others. I usually get two or three at a time. (They break or I lose them, so I end up restocking every year or two.)

I like 2.75 magnification for bright light and 3.0 for weak light. Experiment.

[NDO]

Sherry, not everyone is comfortable wearing them but have you tried contacts at all? Believe it or not they make bifocal contacts… when I discovered them I was able to get another ten years of avoiding the dreaded cheater glasses. I’m severely nearsighted but was having trouble reading then wearing my regular contacts, but when they switched me to the dual focus lenses it was a game changer.
Now that I’m getting even older I have to also wear cheap readers to read up close, but middle and long distances are great with the contacts.
They’re inexpensive daily wear soft lenses and are really comfortable for me.

[Sherry Cadenhead]

I appreciate all the sharing and suggestions and will organize them so I can better study each.

Regarding readers: I've never used them because I see extremely well up close. In fact, I often take off my trifocals to read, crochet, etc. Since several mentioned readers, though, I tried my husband's which have a 2.5 magnification. Wearing those readers both my computer monitor and the music on my stand are a big blur. Based on this new information, are readers still a viable option for me? If not, I won't bother with trying a variety.

[mandroid]

I have older near sighted friends, they take their glasses off to read..

maybe this forum is no substitute for seeing an optician , though the price is right..

they may prescribe a lens ground for your needs.

[Sherry Cadenhead]

I have older near sighted friends, they take their glasses off to read..

maybe this forum is no substitute for seeing an optician , though the price is right..

they may prescribe a lens ground for your needs.

That was my original thought; however, you guys likely have more experience with this particular issue than my ophthalmologist or the optician I'm thinking about seeing. At this point I'm gathering information, with the possibility of saving on the time, expense, and possible frustration from having glasses made.

[DaveGinNJ]

That was my original thought; however, you guys likely have more experience with this particular issue than my ophthalmologist or the optician I'm thinking about seeing. At this point I'm gathering information, with the possibility of saving on the time, expense, and possible frustration from having glasses made.

I would get your optometrists advice. That's what they do. Yes, it may cost more but it's your sight