Seeing the notes and the fingerings?

Ok.

The short answer is, sometimes. The longer answer is that it is dependent on what instrument I'm playing and how comfortable I am with the music. But the one thing I don't see is trumpet fingering - that's unconscious. Since I was 13 or so I've been able to play anything I could think (so I spend more time thinking).

Early on, I started learning other instruments. After I retired I set the goal to master a new one each year. These fingerings, like flute and sax, are not unconscious; I struggle with them. But again, it's not trumpet fingerings. In fact, a few aspects of trumpet fingerings interfere with woodwind fingering, so I concentrate on woodwind fingering.

I play vibes. What fingering is that?

Then there is transposition. I know without playing a note what a certain pitch will sound like when I pick up a trumpet. But I play horns pitched in A, Bb, C, Eb, F, and G. If I thought just in terms of trumpet fingerings, I'd be sunk.

And rather than any instrument fingering, I often see and think in terms of the staff. It is especially true when performing something I composed or arranged. The less famous the song, the more I "see" the score.

When I have to sing (which sounds dreadful, but I've sung in operas because I can read the music and they put me in between people with good voices that I can cue), I do mentally play an instrument (often trumpet) to 'lock in' the pitches.

So I'm sorry I can't answer the question easily; I think in whatever of many ways is needed at the moment.


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