My eye doctor says I need progressives. Every musician I know who has them (or has had them) have basically told me that "progressives are useless for music". They have either reverted back to single-vision lenses or use a dedicated pair for reading music. I even found some discussion threads dedicated to progressives and musicians. However, my optometrist is convinced that I should be able to handle it - for ALL situations - including music.

What's the big deal, you may ask? Well here, see for yourself:

Photo from Master Eye Associates.

Now, look at the visual range for reading music. Note that this doesn't even include playing in an ensemble.

I am fighting a strong bias, so by documenting my journey, I hope to overcome that, as well as to give others an insight on the "progressives and music" experience.

The sides of on progressive lenses are essentially "dead" space, which does absolutely nothing for musicians who must rely on peripheral vision extensively and shift their focus very quickly.

Without further ado, here's my report on Day 1:

I should preface this by saying that I am extremely near-sighted with astigmatism. I have "dry eye" syndrome and plugged up tear glands, which may factor into this experiment. However, for the past month, I've been taking lubricating eye drops every 2 - 3 hours, being more diligent about removing my eye make-up, using eye lid wipes daily and either doing an eye wash or hot compress two or more times a day. Let's just say that my tear lubrication hasn't been this good in years.

In true science fair form, I will post some "Control" videos, showing how I see with my current (single-vision) glasses.