wrist, but their wrist is nevertheless not so inactive as it seems to
have appeared to you. They have probably distributed the work over the
wrist, the elbow, and the shoulder in such a way that each had to do
only a part of it. Light octaves can come only from the wrist, while
heavier ones put the elbow and shoulder into action. To make this
distribution consciously is hardly possible. A striving for economy of
force and the least possible fatigue will produce this "division of
labour" unconsciously.
[Sidenote: _Wrist Stroke in Long Octave Passages_]
When playing extended octave passages, such as the Liszt arrangement of
"The Erlking," should the endeavour be to play all from the pure wrist
stroke; or is it well to relieve the strain by an occasional impulse (a
sort of vibration) from the forearm? Is there any advantage in varying
the height of the wrist?
In extended octave playing it is well to vary the position of the wrist,
now high and then low. The low position brings the forearm into action,
while the whole arm cooperates when the wrist is held high. From the
wrist alone such pieces as "The Erlking" cannot be played, because the
wrist alone gives us neither the power nor the speed that such pieces
require. Besides, the octaves, when all played from the wrist, would
sound "cottony." The wrist alone is to be used only in light, graceful
places.
[Sidenote: _Stiff Wrists in Playing Octaves_]
In playing octaves or other double notes my wrist seems to stiffen. How
can I remedy this?
Stiffness in the wrist results from an unmindful use of it. When
practising octaves or double notes think always of holding the arm and
its joints in a loose, limber condition, and when you feel fatigued do
not fail to stop until the muscular contraction is relieved. In a little
while you will see your conscientious practising rewarded by acquiring
an elasticity commensurate with your general physical status.
[Sidenote: _Premature Fatigue in the Arms_]
Why does it tire my arms when I play octaves and a continuation of
little runs? How can I avoid it, so that they will feel free and easy?
Premature fatigue is usually caused by undue muscular contraction. Keep
your arms and wrists loose and you will find that the fatigue
disappears. For your sensation of fatigue may be due, not to exhaustion
of muscular power, but to a stoppage of circulation caused by an
unconscious stiffening of the wrist. Change the position of the wrist
from high to low and _vice versa_ whenever you feel the "fatigue"
coming on.
[Sidenote: _Kullak's "Method of Octaves" Still Good_]
Is Kullak's "Method of Octaves" still one of the best in its line? or
can you recommend something better?
Since the days when Kullak's "School of Octaves" was printed, experience
has taught us some things which might be added to it, but nothing that
would contradict it. Nor, so far as I know, has anything better appeared
in print than the first volume of that work especially.
18. REPETITION TECHNIQUE
[Sidenote: _The Difficulty of Playing Repetition Notes_]
Please help me about my repetition notes. When I wish to play them
rapidly it seems that the key does not always produce a sound? Is it
because of my touch?
First, examine the action of your piano. It occurs not infrequently that
the fingers do their work well, but fail in the results because of an
inert or lazy piano action. If, however, the fault does not lie in the
instrument, it must lie in a certain stiffness of the fingers. To
eliminate this you need, first of all, a loose wrist. Furthermore, you
should not, in repetition technique, let the fingers fall
perpendicularly upon the keys, but with a motion as if you were wiping
the keys with the finger-tips and then pull them quickly toward the palm
of the hand, bending every joint of them rapidly.
19. DOUBLE NOTES
[Sidenote: _The Playing of Double Thirds_]
Please tell me something about the general practice of thirds, both
diatonic and chromatic; also, about those in the first movement of the
Grieg Concerto.
As the playing of passages in single notes requires a close single
legato, to do double thirds requires an equally close double legato. As
to the exact details of legato playing I may refer you to my book,
"Piano Playing," where you will find the matter discussed at length in
the chapter on "Touch and Technic."
THE INSTRUMENT
[Sidenote: _The Kind of Piano Upon Which to Practise_]
Is it irrelevant whether I practise upon a good or a bad piano?
For practice you should never use any but the very best available
instrument. Far, rather, may the piano be bad when you play for people.
This will not hurt you nearly so much as will the constant and habitual
use of a piano with a mechanism in which every key demands a different
kind of touch, and which is possibly out of tune. Such conditions impair
the development of your musical ear as well as of your fingers. It
cannot be otherwise. As I said once before, learning means the acquiring
of habits: habits of thinking and of doing. With a bad instrument you
cannot develop any good qualities, even if you should possess them by
nature; much less can you acquire them. Hence, I recommend a good piano,
clean keyboard--for your aesthetic perceptions should be developed all
around--a correct seat and concentration of mind. But these
recommendations presuppose on the part of the student some talent and a
good teacher.
[Sidenote: _Do Not Use a Piano Extreme in "Action"_]
Is it not better for a student in the advanced stage of study, who is
preparing for concert work, to practise on a piano with a heavy action
in order to develop the finger and hand muscles, and to use an
instrument with a light action for obtaining an artistic finish to the
lighter passages occurring so often, for instance, in Chopin's music?
All extremes are harmful in their effects upon study and practice. A too
heavy action stiffens and overtires the fingers, while too light an
action tends to impair your control. Try to obtain for your practice a
piano the action of which approximates as nearly as possible that of the
piano on which you have to play in the concert, in order to avoid
unpleasant surprises, such as premature fatigue or a running away of the
fingers.
[Sidenote: _How Tight to Keep the Piano's Action_]
Should I keep the action of my piano tight?
Keep it tight enough to preserve the "feeling" of the keys under the
fingers, but to make it more so would endanger your finger action and it
may injure your hand.
[Sidenote: _The Action of a Beginner's Piano_]
Do you think it wise for a beginner to practise on a piano that has a
heavy action?
That depends upon the age and physical development of the beginner.
"Heavy" and "light" action are not absolute but relative terms, which
comprise in their meaning the power of resistance in the player's hand.
The action should be so adjusted that the player can--even in the
softest touch--always feel the key under his finger. A too heavy action
leads necessarily to an employment of the shoulder muscles (which should
be reserved for brief, special uses) and may permanently injure the
hand.
[Sidenote: _Playing On a Dumb Piano_]
Are mechanical appliances, such as a dumb keyboard, of advantage to
the student of the piano? Should its use be restricted to a particular
stage in the course of study?
Music is a language. Schumann said: "From the dumb we cannot learn to
talk!" The totally dumb or mute piano should, therefore, not be used, or
very little, if we aim at a "musical" technique--that is, a live,
multicoloured technique qualified to express musical thought and
feeling. Personally I have never used a dumb piano.
THE PEDALS
[Sidenote: _A General Rule About the Pedal_]
Should I use the pedal with each melody note? Should like a general
rule.
The treading upon the pedal should always follow immediately after the
striking of the note for which it is intended, or else there will be
discords arising from the mingling of that note with the one preceding
it. This is the general rule. Exceptions there are, of course, but they
occur only in certain moments when a mingling of tones is purposed for
some special effect.
[Sidenote: _The Use of the Pedal for Colouring_]
What is the use of the damper pedal?
Primarily it serves to prolong such tones as we cannot hold with the
fingers. But it is also one of the greatest means for colouring. The
employment of it should always be governed by the ear.
[Sidenote: _How to Use the Pedal_]
Please tell me how to use the pedal. I find that in some pieces there is
no mark under the measures to show me when it should be used. Is there
any rule which you can give me?
Assuming that you have in mind the artistic use of the pedal, I regret
to say that there is no more a rule for this than for the mixing of
colours upon the palette of a painter who strives for some particular
shade or tint. He knows that blue and yellow make green, that red and
blue make purple; but those are ground colours which he can rarely use.
For the finer shades he has to experiment, to consult his eye and his
judgment. The relation between the pedal and the player's ear is exactly
similar to that of the palette and the painter's eye. Generally speaking
(from sad experience) it is far more important to know when _not_ to use
the pedal than when to use it. We must refrain from its use whenever
there is the slightest danger of unintentional mingling of tones. This
is best avoided by taking the pedal _after_ striking the tone upon which
it is to act, and to release it promptly and simultaneously with the
striking of the next tone. It may be at once taken again, and this
alternation must be kept up where there is either a change of harmony or
a succession of "passing notes." This is the only positive rule I can
give, but even this is often violated. Let your ear be the guardian of
your right foot. Accustom your ear to harmonic and melodic clarity,
and--listen closely. To teach the use of the pedal independent of the
action of your own ear is impossible.
[Sidenote: _Let Your Ear Guide Your Pedalling_]
In Weber's "Storm" should the pedal be held down throughout the entire
piece, as directed? It produces quite a discord.
Without knowing this piece, even by name, I may say that the pianos of
Weber's time had a tone of such short duration and volume that the
discords resulting from a continuous use of the pedal were not so
noticeable, as they are now upon the modern piano with its magnificent
volume and duration of tone. Hence, the pedal must now be used with the
utmost caution. Generally speaking, I say--again--that the ear is the
"sole" guide of the foot upon the pedal.
[Sidenote: _Use Pedal With Caution in Playing Bach_]
Is Bach's music ever played with the pedal?
There is no piano-music that forbids in playing the use of the pedal.
Even where the texture of a piece does not require the pedal--which
happens very rarely--the player might employ it as an aid where the
reach of his hand proves insufficient to hold all the parts of a harmony
together. With Bach the pedal is often very important; for, by judicious
use--as, for instance, in the cases of organ-point--it accumulates
harmonic tones, holds the fundamental tone and thus produces effects not
dissimilar to the organ. Qualitatively speaking, the pedal is as
necessary in Bach's music as in any other; quantitatively, I recommend
the utmost caution in its use, so as not to blur the fine texture of his
polyphony.
[Sidenote: _The Student with a Fondness for the Pedal_]
I always want to use the pedal as soon as I take a new piece, but my
teacher insists that I should get a good singing tone first. Is she
right?
You "want" to use the pedal? In the face of your teacher's advice to the
contrary? Then why did you apply for a teacher? People who consider
their own pleasure while engaged in any kind of study need no teacher.
They need discipline. Learn obedience! If by following your teacher's
advice you should fail to progress, even then you have no right to do
anything else than go to another teacher. But he will in all probability
not be very different from the first one in his precepts. Hence, I say
again: You should learn obedience!
[Sidenote: _Using the Two Pedals at Once_]
May the damper pedal and the soft pedal be used simultaneously, or would
this be detrimental to the piano?
Since the mechanisms of the two pedals are entirely separate and
independent of each other you may use them simultaneously, provided that
the character of a particular place in your piece justifies it.
[Sidenote: _To Produce a Softer Tone_]
Should the expression "_p_" be executed by the aid of the soft pedal or
through the fingers?
The soft pedal serves to change the quality of tone, not the quantity.
It should therefore never be used to hide a faulty _piano_ (or soft)
touch. Mere softness of tone should always be produced by a decrease of
finger-force and a lessening of the raising of the fingers. The soft
pedal should be employed only when the softness of tone is coupled with
a change of colouring, such as lies within its range of action.
[Sidenote: _Do Not Over-Use the Soft Pedal_]
Should the Gavotte in A, of Gluck-Brahms, be played without the soft
pedal? Does a liberal use of the soft pedal tend to make the student
lazy in using a light touch?
Your first question is too general, as there is no piece of music that
should be played entirely with or without the soft pedal; it is used
only when a certain change of colouring is proposed. A too frequent use
of the soft pedal does tend to a neglect of the _pianissimo_ touch, and
it should, therefore, be discouraged.
[Sidenote: _Once More the "Soft" Pedal_]
My piano has a rather loud tone to which my people object, and urge me
to play with the soft pedal. I use it most of the time, but am afraid
now to play without it. What would you advise?
If a soft touch and sound are liked, have the mechanism of your piano
changed at the factory. I found myself in the bad condition at one time
that I could not play certain passages independently of the position of
my foot on the soft pedal. Such is the strength of association that
very soon a constant use of the soft pedal produces physical inability
to play unless the foot is pressing the pedal.
PRACTICE
[Sidenote: _The Morning Practice On the Piano_]
In resuming my studies in the morning what should I play first?
Begin with your technical work. Scales in all tonalities, each at least
twice well rendered. First slowly, one after another, then somewhat
quicker, but never very quickly as long as you are not absolutely sure
that both hands are perfectly even, and that neither false notes nor
wrong fingerings occur. To play the scales wrong is just as much a
matter of habit as to play them right--only easier. You can get very
firmly settled in the habit of striking a certain note wrong every time
it occurs unless you take the trouble of counteracting the formation of
such a habit. After these scales play them in octaves from the wrist,
slowly and without tiring it by lifting the hand to a needless height.
After this play either Czerny or Cramer, then Bach, and finally Mozart,
Beethoven, Chopin, and so on. If you have the time to do it, play one
hour in the morning on technical studies and use one hour for the
difficult places in the works you are studying. In the afternoon play
another hour, and this hour you devote to interpretation. I mean by this
that you should now apply aesthetically what you have technically gained
in the morning by uniting your mechanical advantages with the ideal
conception which you have formed in your mind of the work you are
studying.
[Sidenote: _Morning Is the Best Time to Practise_]
How much time should I spend on clearly technical study? I am practising
three hours a day; how long should I practise at a time?
Purely technical work--that is, work of the fingers without the
participation of mind and heart--you should do little or none, for it
kills your musical spirit. If, as you say, you practise three hours a
day I should recommend two hours in succession in the morning and one
hour in the afternoon. The morning is always the best time for work.
Make no long pauses in your work, for they would break your contact
with the piano and it would take considerable time to reestablish it. In
the afternoon, after the major portion of your daily task is done, you
may move with greater freedom, though even this freedom should be kept
within proper bounds.
[Sidenote: _Time to Devote to Technical Exercises_]
Should I practise studies in general for my progress or should I confine
myself strictly to my technical exercises?
Your strictly technical exercises should occupy one-quarter of the
entire time you can give to your work. Two quarters you should use for
the technical preparation of the difficult passages you encounter in the
pieces you are studying, and during the last quarter these passages
which have been thus prepared should be ranged into their proper places
in the pieces, in order that you may not lose your view of the totality
of the pieces while studying or practising details.
[Sidenote: _The Only Kind of Practice Worth While_]
In purely technical, _i. e._, mechanical, practice may I have a book or
a magazine on the music-stand and read?
This question will appear grotesque to any one who has not thought of
it, yet it is legitimate; for I know positively that this crime upon
themselves has been committed by many. I cannot warn students too
strongly against this pernicious habit. It is far better to practise
only half as long, but with concentrated attention. Even purely
mechanical matter must be transmitted to the motor-centres of the brain
through the agencies of the ear and eye in order to bring beneficial
technical results. If the brain is otherwise occupied it becomes
insensible to the impression of the work in hand, and practise thus done
is a complete waste of time. Not only should we not read, but also not
think of anything else but the work before us, if we expect results.
Concentration is the first letter in the alphabet of success.
[Sidenote: _Practising Eight Hours Instead of Four_]
Will I advance quicker by practising eight hours instead of four, as I
do now?
Playing too much in one day has often a deteriorating effect upon one's
studies, because work is profitable, after all, only if done with full
mental concentration, which can be sustained only for a certain length
of time. Some exhaust their power of concentration quicker than others;
but, however long it may have lasted, once it is exhausted all further
work is like unrolling a scroll which we have laboriously rolled up.
Practise self-examination, and if you notice that your interest is
waning--stop. Remember that in studying the matter of quantity is of
moment only when coupled with quality. Attention, concentration,
devotion, will make unnecessary any inquiries as to how much you ought
to practise.
[Sidenote: _Playing With Cold Hands_]
Shall I, when my hands are cold and stiff, play at once difficult and
fatiguing things in order to limber them up?
In forcing things with cold hands you always run the danger of
overstraining, while with a gradual limbering you may safely try the
same tasks with impunity. Handle the piano lightly while the hands are
cold, and increase both force and speed only when the hands have gained
their normal temperature and elasticity. This may take half or even
three-quarters of an hour. It may be accelerated by putting the hands
in hot water before playing, but this should not be done too often,
because it is apt to weaken the nerves of the hands.
[Sidenote: _Counting Out Loud_]
Is counting aloud injurious to a pupil's playing--that is, does not the
sound of the voice confuse the pupil in getting the correct tone of the
note struck?
Loud counting can hardly ever be injurious--especially not while the
pupil is dealing with time and rhythm. This part mastered or fully
understood, the audible counting may be lessened and finally abandoned.
During practice loud counting is of inestimable value, for it develops
and strengthens rhythmic feeling better than anything else will, and,
besides, it is an infallible guide to find the points of stress in a
phrase.
[Sidenote: _The Study of Scales Is very Important_]
Must all study of the piano absolutely begin with the study of scales?
Scales should not be attempted until a good finger-touch has been formed
and the very important action of the thumb in the scale has been fully
prepared. After that, however, I consider the practising of scales
important, not only for the fingers, but also for the discipline of the
ear with regard to the feeling of tonality (key), understanding of
intervals, and the comprehension of the total compass of the piano.
[Sidenote: _The Study of the Scales_]
Do you approve of the study of all the fifteen major scales by piano
students, or is the practice of the enharmonic ones unnecessary?
One should learn everything in that line in order to select from one's
store of learning that which the occasion calls for. Study or practise
all scales as they are written, and later also in thirds, sixths, and
octaves.
[Sidenote: _When Reading Over a New Piece_]
When studying a new composition, which is preferable: to practise first
with separate hands or together?
When first looking over a new composition both hands should be employed,
if possible, for this is necessary to obtain, approximately, at least, a
mental picture of it. If the player's technique is too insufficient for
this the deciphering must, of course, be done for each hand separately.
[Sidenote: _Practising the Two Parts Separately_]
When I am learning a new piece should the hands practise their parts
separately?
Provided you have formed a general idea of the piece, it is well to
practise the hands separately, because you can, in this way, concentrate
your attention upon the work of each hand. As soon, however, as each
hand knows its work the hands should play together in order now to
pursue the musical purpose for which the separate practice was only a
technical preparation.
[Sidenote: _Four Ways to Study a Piano Piece_]
Should a composition be studied away from the piano?
There are four ways to study a composition:
1. On the piano with the music.
2. Away from the piano with the music.
3. On the piano without the music.
4. Away from the piano without the music.
2 and 4 are mentally the most taxing and fatiguing ways, no doubt; but
they also serve best to develop the memory and what we mean by "scope,"
which is a faculty of great importance.
[Sidenote: _The Conditions Which Dictate Speed in Playing_]
How fast or slow should Schubert-Liszt's "_Auf dem Wasser zu singen_" be
played? What modern parlour pieces would you recommend after Bendel's
"Zephyr"?
Even if I did believe in metronomes, as I do not, I could not indicate
speed for you or for anybody, because it will always depend upon the
state of your technique and the quality of your tone. For modern parlour
pieces I suggest the two volumes of Russian piano music published by G.
Schirmer, New York. You will find pieces of various degrees of
difficulty there from which you may select what suits you best.
[Sidenote: _To Work Up a Fast Tempo_]
Which is the best way to work up a fast tempo?
The best help is to hear the piece or part which you have in mind played
quickly by another person, for this aids you in forming the mental
concept of it, which is the principal condition to which all ability is
subject. There are, however, other ways which each one of us must find
for himself: either by a gradual increase of speed until you reach your
individual maximum or by starting at once at full tilt, even though some
notes should drop under the piano and then be picked up in subsequent
repetitions. Which of these two or any other ways is best for you no one
can tell; your musical instinct will guide you if you follow it
cautiously.
[Sidenote: _The Best Way to Work Up a Quick Tempo_]
Is it ever a waste of time to practise a piece over and over again for
months as slowly as a beginner and with utmost concentration? After
having done so and gradually working up a tempo, I then find I cannot
play so fast as I want to. Is it not wise to begin all over again as
slowly as possible? I prefer to work this way, but have been told that
one gets "stale," studying the same music for a long time.
Do you advise practising with or without the pedal?