TH E AR T O F

T E A C H IN G P IAN O F O R T E P L A Y IN G .
 P R E F AT O R Y E X P L AN AT IO N OF

THE SCO P E OF TH E WO R K .

A N Y pianists who ad d to concert p lay ing

M the labours o f a teacher ; many young
students a b o u t to ente r upon the duties o f
’
the teaching pro fes sion as their li fe s l abour ; and
indeed not a few o f those who have spent years at
,

the work o f giving le ssons in piano forte p lay ing ,

fai l to achieve the success their abilities deserve ,

simp ly for the l ack o f some cl ear sy stematic p ra c

, ,

tica l know ledge o f the art o f teaching My i nten

.

tion then i s t o set down in some orderly an d luci d

, ,

form such in formation as may prove help fu l to a l l

,

teachers in the practice o f their art .

A serious stu dy o f the subj ects o f piano for te

pl aying and piano forte teaching f o r m a ny years ;
long an d wi de experience as a teacher throughou t,

which earnest attention was given to metho d and

effectiveness in teaching ; and no t a little practice a s
a writer upon subj ects connected with piano forte
study m ay perhaps be regarded a s a suitab le equip
,

ment f o r this under taking .

A lthough a thorough know ledge o f piano forte

pl ay ing—a know le d ge both practica l and theoretical
vi Pre f ato ry Exp lanatio n

—is fi rst es sentia l in the qua lifi cations o f a suc

th e
cess f u l te acher o f piano forte p lay ing it i s far from ,

being the only essentia l qua lific ation C on stant .

disappointments and failures are occ asione d by

the mistake o f suppo sing that the practic a l ski l l o f
the pianist is any guaran tee o f his eff i ciency a s a
teacher A lthough there are bri l liant except i ons
. ,

such a s H ans von B u l ow it may sa fely be sai d that ,

famou s pianists are as a ru le no t the mo st com

, ,

petent teachers T h e dry analysis o f what they d o

. ,

an d how exactl y they d o it so necessary for the ,

skil fu l teacher seems to them no t al one irksome

, , ,

but also like ly to check that rapt outpouring o f the

emotion s which i s the very essence o f their artistic
creed The mor e th ese pianists practise the art o f
.

pl aying the less usua lly do they stu dy the art o f

, , ,

teaching They have genera l ly but one method o f

.

teaching and that is to offer the pupil practica l

, ,

examples o f pl aying for his imitation B y s low .

degrees i f a pupi l have a t a lent that way he m a y

, ,

become a fair ly success fu l mimic ; an d i f in a ddi ,

tion he i s an earnest in q uiring an d ambitious stu

, ,
’
dent he may supplement his teacher s ex amp les by
,

discovering for himsel f something o f the princip les

o f his art But upon the who le this method o f
.
, ,

le a rning by mimicry a lone is apt to stunt rather

than to develop the f a cu lties o f the student an d to ,

leave him more o r le ss hel pless so soon as he mu st

depend upon himsel f in h i s interpretative work An d .

i f the pupil fail in his mimicry what resource re ,

mains to him o r to hi s virtuoso teacher

Ski l l as a piano for te pl ayer i s wel l ; practical ex
amples j udiciously given are goo d ; but no one c an
be a real ly success ful teacher w h o does no t ad d to
h i s ski l l as a p l ayer at least these four things o f
equa l importance : f i rst a minute an d accurate know
,

ledge o f how what he propo ses to teach shou l d

 o f the Sco p e o f the Wo rk . vii
be done ; second ly the ability to recognise on the
, ,

o ne h a nd what ex act ly are the mistakes o f each

,

pupil and o n the other h an d what ex act ly he must

, ,

do to c o rrect the se mistakes ; third ly the power to ,

express himsel f with such c learne ss that the pupi l

wi l l u nderstan d ex actly what to d o h o w to d o it , ,

an d what is to be avoided ; an d fourthly some , ,

order ly adequate methods in teach ing so that the

, ,

needs o f th e pupi l m ay be eff ectively met at the

less o n and his studies wisely directed I n short
,
.
,

the teacher must make a carefu l ana lysis o f h i s sub

j ect o f ’the gener al principl es o f his art an d o f
, ,

h i s pupil s fau lts ; he must formu late c lear method s

o f impart ing the re sult o f this ana lysis to h i s pupil ;

h e must cu ltivate the art o f lucid and accurate ex

pression ; he mu st en sure an eff ective resu lt by the
ap p lication o f some or der ly system to his who le
teaching ; an d h e must have the persua sive power o r
the force o f wi l l need fu l to in duce fruit fu l accept
ance o f his instruction s .

I n the maj ority o f these es sentia ls th famous vir e

.

t u o so too o ften fail s He doe s no t de v ote himsel f

.
,

as a ru le either to analy sis or to sy stematic prin

,

ci p l es in h i s teaching ; he d o es not practi se th e art

o f expres sing in clear and accurate language o r

, ,

in lucid ly defined princip les what i s to be taught ,

.

P iano forte tones are his natura l me dium o f ex p res

sion but in the l anguage o f the accomp lished teacher
he is o ften inarticul a te o r obscure .

Sti l l it i s by n o means the concert p layer al one

,

who l acks these essentia l qua lifications o f the a cco m

p li sh ed teacher A l l those young students too
.
, ,

whose know le dge o f piano forte pl ay ing h as been

gaine d chiefl y by the common metho d o f mimicry ,

and very l itt le by the imparting o f principles an d

ru les must fee l somewhat puzz led as to how best to
,

proceed when they start on the ir careers as teachers

,
.
viii Pre f ato ry E xp a na l tio n
In the lessons contai ne d in this book metho ds are ,

sug g ested hints are offered princip les an d ru les are

, ,

formu lated courses o f stu dy are sketched o u t ; and

,

al l these are suff i cient ly genera l and varied to fur

nish a usefu l gui de for the teacher without circum ~

scribing his individual genius or running any r i sk

o f stunting his development .

The first chapter contains a genera l out line both ,

o f the essentia l practica l divisions o f the subj ect ,

an d o f those co l latera l stu dies wi thout which no ,

musical education can be other than very super ficial .

And it must be remembered that a s this work i s i n

tended chiefly for the u se o f the average stu dent
and teacher the m inimum rather than the m ax imum
,

o f re quirements need fu l for a liberal education is

kept in view E ach teacher wil l select those divi
.

sions specia lly suited to his needs shou l d he con

sider this minimum bur densome ly l arge A fter the .

genera l out line o f subj ects i s sketched each subj ect ,

is taken separately for special treatment ; an d sug

’
gestions are made f o r a right direction o f the pupi l s
stu dies in each d ivision Some o f the subj ects
.

are treated in cons iderab le detail ; an d occasiona l ly ,

where subj ects over lap in separate chapters sug ,

gestions are repeated so that the guid ance for senior

,

and j unior pupi l s may be the more definite an d em

phatic The two m ain practica l divisions o f the
subj ect— T echnique an d I nterpretation— are dis
.

cus sed a t greatest length .

I n l ater chapters suggestions are o f fered f o r ef f ec

tive instruction s at the lessons ; for a w ise a p p o r
t i o ni ng o f the les so n to the needs o f the pupil ;
an d for the most e f fective metho ds o f directing
the stu dent in his hours o f practice F in al ly .
,

some hints are given upon the choice o f suitab le

mu sic .
 o f the Sco p e o f the W rk
o . ix

T hus , an order ly , sugge stive and fairly compre

h ensi v e survey o f the se lected m inimum o f require
ments f o r the serious stu dy o f piano forte p laying
i s mapped out , as a lucid , effective an d sy stematic
guide f o r the inexperience d , the un learned and the
inarticu late or obscure teacher .

I ALF RED
. JO H N ST ONE .
 CON T E N T S .

PAG E

PRE FATO R Y E X PLA N ATI ON OF TH E S C OPE O F THE

.

WOR K v

C HAP T ER I .

Y G ENER AL O U TLINE OF THE M INI M U M

IN TR OD U CTOR .

S UBJE CTS D IRE CT A ND C OLL A TER AL I N CL UDED

, ,

IN A L I B ER AL MU S I CAL E DU C ATI ON .

S EC T I O N I .

T echnique : w hat it Me ans

9
E Th e N eces sity f o r T ech niqu e
Best System o f Technique
Various Branches o f Technique
“ ”
Protest again st Studies
A dvoc acy o f P u re ly Technical E xercis es
N F ant as tic Theories o f Touch

S EC T I O N II .

Interpretation 10
xi
x ii Co ntents .

S EC T I O N I II .

PAG R

I4
Theoretica l Subj ect s
( ) A . The E lements o f Music IS
16
( B) . H armony
( C) . F orm and Ana ly sis 1 7
1 8
(D) . C onc lusion

CHAPT ER II .

G ENER AL SUGGE S TI ON S F OR TE A C H ING TE C H N IQUE .

SE CT I O N I —T E C H N I C AL E XE R C IS E S .

1 . F inger — Technique 1 9
2 . Mental C oncentration an d C o or dination o f -

Brain and Musc le 20

3 . Position o f H and and Striking F inger 22

4 . Rel at i ve Merits o f Striking an d Pushing

the Keys 27

5 . D etails o f P o sition 31
6 D etai l s o f Striking
‘
.

31
7 . A F irm Touch or F u l l Key D epress ion 33
8 . T w o F inger E xercises an d F inger G ym
-

na st i cs

9 Three F inger E xercises

.
-

10 F ive F inger E xercises

.
-

I I Scale Work
.

The Metronome and Scale Rhythms

1 3—4 B ro ken C hord s
.
-

I 5 E xtended Arpeggios
.

16 Wrist and Arm Tech ni q ue

.

17 D ai ly Schoo l s o f Technica l E xercises

.

1 8 Some U se fu l Works on Technique

.
 C onte nts . x iii
S E C T IO N I I .
—P I A N OF O R T E S T U D IE S .

Intro ductory Suggestions 82

Progres sive S choo l s o f Studies 85
L ists o f G ra de d S tu dies with Author s and
O pus N umbers 87
;
i
O ctave Studies 89

C HAPT ER III .

G ENERA L SUGGE S TI ON S F OR TE A CH ING

I N TER PRE TA TI ON .

"
E Intro ductory R emarks 90
Q
E Time an d Tempo 94
W H ow to Teach Strict Time
’ 96
F Metrica l Accentuation 98
W E xpressive Time Freedom ; Q uas i Temp o
-

R ubato I OO

Parenthetica l N ote on S lurring III

C onventiona l Tempo R ubato 1 1 3

H ow to T each Accent E mphasis and ,

Rhythm 1 1 8

9
‘ Rhythm o f D ivided Beat s 1 22

I O How . to T each E xpressive Freedom in

Accentuation I 24

II C rescen do D im inuendo an d the Various

D egrees o f Tone —
,
.

Shading
12 G enera l Suggestions f o r T eaching Phrasing
.

13 Monophonic and Po lyphonic Music

.

1 4 P o lyphonic Music
.

H ow to T each the U se o f the Peda l

1 6 C haracter and Sty l e in Interpretation
.

17 Some U sefu l B ooks o n Interpretation

.
 i
x v C o nte nts
.

C H AP T ER IV .

SUGGE S TI ON S FOR T E A CH ING F INGER ING R E A DING , ,

A CCOM PA N Y ING ME M ORI S ING A ND E AR

,

TR A INING .

PAG E

I . F ingering
2 . U ses an d Abuses o f Read ing and Memo ri sm g
3 . Specia l Suggestions for Teaching Reading
4 C oncise Hints f o r R eading
N ote o n E ar —
.

5 . T raining
6 . Accompanying
7 . Memorising

C HAP T ER V

G ENERAL SUGGE S TI ON S F OR TE ACH ING E LE M ENTS

OF MU S I C H A R M ON Y A ND F OR M
, .

1 . E lements I8 7
2 . H armony 1 91

3 . F orm 19 3
4 . S ome U sefu l V
VO I RS ‘
on the Subj ect s
Treated in this C hapter 1 96

C H A PT ER VI .

G ENER AL S UGGE S TI ON S F OR E FF E CTI V E W OR K AT

THE L E S SON ; A ND F OR TH E WI S E D IRE CTION OF
TH E PU P I L S PR A CTI CE
’
.

I . The L esson 1 98
2 . Reiterated Insi stence 2 00

3 . Menta l A lertness an d C oncentration 20 1

4 . O r der o f Subj ects at L essons 20 2

5 . Apportioning the L esson H ours 205

6 . The Pr actice H ours 2 08
 C o ntents . xv

PAG E

7 . for E f fective Practice

D irections 20 9
S l ow Practice
8 . 2 10

9 D iff i cu lt P assages
. 21 1
10 Hours o f Pr actice
. 21 3
1 1 Suggestions o f E minent T eachers for D ivi
sion o f Practice 2 14

D etailed G raded Time Tab les -

22 1

C H AP T ER V II .

G ENER AL G UID A N CE ON TH E C H OI CE OF MU S I C WI TH ,

S OM E H IN TS U PON E DU C ATI ON AL E DI TI ON S OF
P I A N OF OR TE C LA S S I C S .

1 . G raded G uides now Pub lished 2 24

2 . C oncise C lassified an d G ra de d L ists O f
E ducationa l Music H 2 26

3 . d
Popul ar or L ight Pi a no f o rte Pi eces G rad e 22 9
4 . G eneral Sug g estions upon the C hoice o f
Teaching E ditions o f C l assica l Music 23 5

C HAP T ER V III .

C ON CL UDING SU MMAR Y OF E S S EN TI A L P OINTS OF

VIE W REQ U IRING S PE C I AL EM PHA S I S .

I . A G enuine L ove for Music 2 44

2 . H igh Standar ds o f Musica l Interpretation
in the Min d o f the T eacher 2 45

3 . The Aim in P laying shou l d be to P l a y

Beauti fu l ly 2 46
L earn to P lay S i m p le Piece s Wel l
i

4 . 2 48
xv i C o nte nts .

PAG E

5 . The N ecessity f o r T hinking and L istening

6 . What E f fective Prr a cti si n g R eal ly Mean s
7 . How to Avoid the D reary D ul lness o f C o m
m o np la ce in P l ay ing
8 . Summarised C onclusion o f G enera l C oun
se ls for the Teacher
2 The Art o f T e aching .

2 THE N ECE S S I TY F OR TE C H NIQUE .

T echnique is necessary Whether the ambition o f

.

the teacher or the student be sma l l or great i f there ,

i s to be any success there mu st be technica l training .

And the l abour o f attaining excel lence even in very

modest provinces o f piano forte—
,

pl ay ing is greatly ,

lightened by the regul ar u se o f some wel l ordered -

and effective sy stem o f technica l training There .

are parents w h o during a preliminary interview tel l

, ,

the teacher that they wish the pupil to be taught

“
to p l ay a few pieces but woul d rather that he
,
”

was n ot troub led with exercises ; and there are pupil s

p lenty o f them who dabb le a long at these pieces
,

an d avoid exercises .

B ut there is surel y no case o f the kin d y et re

corded where the resu lt was not to annoy the zeal ou s
teacher an d to m ake a l aughing stock o f the pupi l -

D oes the parent w h o desires h i s chil d to learn car

“
p entry say to the instructor : I on ly want my boy
to m ake a few cabinets and ornamenta l furnishings
for the drawing room but I wou l d r ather you d id
-

not bother him with the troub le O f learning how

rightly t o use the saw the pl ane or the chisel ? N o
, ,
”

parent wou l d be so foo lish O r in sending the .

,

child to schoo l does he say : Be good enough to

,

skip the dru dgery o f the a lphabet spel ling gram , ,

mar composition el ocution ; I simp ly wish the chi ld

, ,

to rea d a little poetry and a few novels for his

C ertain ly not
”
p leasure. Sensibl e peopl e know .
 The N e cessi ty f o r T e chnique . 3

that by such means neither p leasure no r profit i s at

ta i na b l
e Whether a pupil be young o r o ld amateur
.
,

or pro fessiona l ; whether his aim be profit or

p leasure he must learn to u se h i s tool s i f he is to
,
.

succeed He must stu dy some e f fective p lan o f ac

.

quiring goo d technique ; he must practise some tech

ni ca l exercises o f various kind s every day If the .

parent insist upon the fo l ly o f the no technique pl an -

an d i s wi l ling to pay for it no doubt the teacher ,

whose hours are not ful l wi l l take the money pro f ,

f ere d for the annoying work o f listening to u np ro

fita b le stumb ling B ut no conscientious te a cher to
.
,

whom is fu l ly entrusted the m usica l education o f a

pupil can p o ssi b ly w i th o u t doing great wrong leave
, , ,

aught undone to make the technical foundation good

and sure .

“
There are other parents again w h o say Y es no , , ,

doubt technique and goo d p laying are very usefu l

, ,

but any teacher wil l d o for the first few years ; later
on I S ha l l emp loy a first— rate master Such cases .
”

are common D oes such a parent say in other edu

.

ca ti o na l matter s : F or the first few years bad writ

“
,

ing bad grammar ba d spel ling ba d s awing ba d

, , , ,

p laning ba d chisel l ing do not m atter ; l ater o n I

, , ,

shal l have the fau lt s put right by a first rate -

master ? N o parent is so fool ish

”
And i f there is .

any study Which f o r u ltimate success requires the

, ,

foun dation to be the very best that stud y i s music ,

.

T h e workmanship is o f the s ame del icate qual ity as

that required for the chisel ling o f a statue o r the
carving o f a cameo T h ere fore the W ise parent and
.

the conscientious an d learne d teacher wil l from the , ,

very start ensure the best method o f technica l

,

stu d y.
4 The Art o f T e aching .

3 . BE S T S Y S TE M OF T EC H NI Q U E .

is a fashion nowa days among some o f those

It
persons w h o desire the reputation o f l ibera l ity i n -

O pinion to deprecate the notion that there i s any

,

such thing a s a b es t sy stem o f technique And there .

are a few eminent teachers who seem d isposed to

support this theory O ne o f their arguments is that
.
,

they have seen on the one han d excel lent resu lt s

, ,
“
obt ained by p lans utter ly condemned from the
”
stan dpoint o f pedagogic science ; and o n the other ,
“
han d very ba d resu lts from very beauti fu l
,

sy stems T h e expo sure o f this fal lacy is worthy

”
.

’
o f a moment s attention lest the inexperienced ,

teacher fa l l into the error o f wan dering from system

to sy stem at the suggestion o f e ach pl ausib le coun
sello r w h o happen s to prop oun d some novel scheme .

The best system o f techni q ue i s sure ly t h e m o s t

e ff e cti v e m eth o d o f g a i ni ng th e p o w er t o eli ci t t/z e
req u i red t o n es f m tk e p i a n o f o rt e w i tk th e g rea t es t
ro

ea s e, a ccu ra cy a nd rz ea t ness H ere then is the ques

.

tion for the teacher : I s there any o ne sy stem which

tends to produce better results in a given time than
any other ? If so the principles o f that system are
,

the right principles In the doing o f any thing there

.

must be one metho d m ore e f fective than another ;

an d to discover the ele ments o f this best way shou l d
be the aim o f every earnest teacher o f technique .

T hat there has been an d stil l is great diversity in, ,

the m etho ds o f goo d teachers is no argument against

o ne most effective method ; f o r i s not progress alwa s
y
 Best Sy stem o Te chnique f . 5

the issue o f diversity ? This best sy stem cu l led in ,

part from my own experience an d in part from the

experiences o f al l the most eminent teachers o f tech
nique throughout the wor l d I formul ate and a d ,

vocate no t a lone here but also in a work upon this

, ,

subj ect entit led H o w to S trike the Keys o f the

,
“

Piano forte ( second e dition ) pub lished by H am

”

mond an d C o as N o 2 0 7 o f their Academic E di

.
, .

“
tion ; an d in Piano T echnique published by ,
”

V Vee k es and C o O n the genera l principles there

.

l aid down there is an immense con sen su s o f eminent

opinion in agreement that these are the most cff ect i v e
principles .

And fina l ly it may be said that i f any sy stem o f

, ,

teaching in the wor ld were to be a dvocate d or con

dem med upon individua l resu lts at one moment it ,

wou l d be extol led a s per fect a n d at the next ,

moment con demned as worthless T h e right .

criterion is what syste m in the opinion o f a l arge

, ,

consensus o f le arned an d experienced j udges pro ,

duces the highest average exce l lence with the sma l l

cst average expen diture o f labour ? While those
who l ove ex p eriment may expound the curio u s
systems o f iso lated pedagogues young teachers wil l ,

be wise in adhering c losely to some fixed s y stem

which h a s been we l l tried and ha s been prol ific o f
excel lent resu lts .

4 . V ARI OU S BR A NC H E S OF TE C H NI QUE .

Technique f o r greater convenience in teaching is

, ,

divi d e d into various br anches There are finger

technique wr i st —
.

,
techn i que a n d arm techn i que there ‘
-
6 The A rt o f T e achi ng .

isthe technique o f melody pl ay ing o f acco mp a ni ,

ment leg a t o sta cca t o passage pl ay i ng octave an d

, , ,
-

chord work .

5 . PR OTE S T A G A IN S T “
S TUDIE S .
”

F or the cultivation o f these different branches o f

technique variou s courses are a dopted There are .
,

first the purely technica l exercises which are i n

,

ten ded to promote genera l power flexibi lity and ,

rapidity o f movement for the attainment o f ease , ,

accuracy and fluency in those successions o f notes ,

and chords most common ly recurring throughout

music Such exercises inc lu de sca les arpeggios
.
, ,

octaves and finger passages O f various kinds There .

are secondly progressive technica l schoo ls which

, , ,

are intended to educate the fingers not a lone in ,

l arge genera l divis ions o f technique but a lso in ,

varie d examples o f less genera l but sti l l typical , ,

difficu lty The thir d course i s to make a compara

.

t i v ely smal l use o f purely technica l exercises ; and

“
to depend l argely upon studies T hese composi .
”

tions dea l with al l the varied branches o f technica l

re quirements ; they are a diluted form o f exercise to
which some musica l entertainment is added in the ,

hope O f making practice a litt l e less unpa latab le .

B y m any teachers this the least important branch

o f technical study —
, ,

nay in deed the one branch o f

doubt fu l value—i s the on ly branch which is se l dom
, ,

neglected .

I f the teacher feel h i mse l f bound to fol low con

v enti o na l cu stom in t h i s m atter let h i m choose some ,
 A gainst
"

Pro te st Stud ie s . 7

course o f the best stand ard stu dies suitab ly gra ded ,

to meet the needs o f stu dents at al l stages o f their .

a dvancement And let h i s point o f view be not

.
,

h o w m any stu dies can be crow ded into the curri

cu lu m but what is the sma llest number which wil l
, ,

effectively develop the technica l powers o f the

stu dent F o r these compositions are t o be tolerated
.
,
’
no t as an essential part o f a p ianist s e ducation n o t ,

as works o f art but on ly in so far as they make the ,

classic l iterature o f the piano forte easier o f access to

our students It wil l o f course be understoo d that
.
, ,

such beauti fu l works as those o f C hopin for ex am ,

p le stu dies in name but music in reality are not

, , ,

intended to be incl uded in this category .

Many courses o f equa l va lue might easil y be

mapped o u t from among the thousan ds o f studies
written by C zerny C lementi C r amer C hopin B er , , , ,

tini B erens B uhl M o sch e les M ayer W o lf a h rt

, , , , , ,

Hel ler Alkan K ohler He nselt C o nco ne Kirchner

, , , , , ,

Kess ler L iszt D Ori ng L Osch o rn B ergm u ller R ubin

, , , , ,

stein D uvernoy R osentha l Tha lberg an d many

, , ,

others F or the purpo ses o f this book the large

.
,

selection given in C hapter I I an d the expl icit hints ,

upon their use ought to serve a l l desirab le en ds

, .

6 . AD V OCA CY OF PURELY TE C H N ICAL E X ER CI S E S .

Of
primary importance however in technic al , ,

training i s the systematic an d dai ly use o f those

,

purely technica l exercises which contain undiluted , ,

the essence o f technique I t i s encouraging to fin d .

.

that many o f the ablest teachers in the worl d are at

8 f
The Art o T ea chi ng .

length coming to regard these exercises not al one a s ,

the first essential s for right training but as an ef f ec ,

“ ”
tive an d concise substitute for studies at a l l ,

’
stages o f the pupi l s progress .

T w o f i nger exerc i ses constitute the first step in any

-

wel l ordered course ; next an d in combination with

-

these three and fiv e fing er exercises wil l fol low

,
-
.

A fter and in combination w ith thes e wi l l come

, ,

sca les broken chor ds arpeggios octaves an d C hor d

, , ,

T h e R oy al Method
“
work . Piano T echnique
“
,
”

f o r Sca les and Arpeggios and T h e R oy a l Metho d

“

f o r Wrist and O ctave Technique

”
by the author , ,

contain the chie f part o f that minimum o f technic a l

exercises which cannot sa fely be neglecte d or ,

wisely superseded by any student o f mo dest ambi

,

tions who does not desire to q ua li fy himsel f f o r the

position o f concert — pianist F or the u se o f student s
.

of such mo dest aims convenient an d progressively

,

arranged compen diums o f technical exercises have

been pub lished O f the se one o r two may be men
‘

,
.

“
t i o ned a s ex amp les : the C otta L ebert Piano forte -

’ “ ’
Schoo l L Osch o rn s T echnical S tudies M ason s
,
”
,
”

’
T ouch and T echnique and G ermer s Technique
“ ” “ ”
.

’
B ut i f the stu d ent s a mbitions shoot out bey on d
these modest bounds he m a y stil l find satis faction
,

in som e o f those elaborate an d comp licate d exercises

charted f o r his guidance by great pianists and
teachers O f these may be named O scar B eri nger s
.
’
,
“
D ai ly Technica l S tudies a s a preparation for the
”
,

T a u s i g E hr lich D aily Stu dies

“
-
in three books o r ,
”
,

the Advanced E xercises o f R aphael J o sef f y The

“ ”
.

stu dent who cannot attain a very high degree o f

technica l skil l by the right u se o f the various ex er
cises named here may sa fely con fess to fai lure and
,

betake himse l f as speed ily a s possib le to some other

walk in l i fe .
10 The Art o f T eaching .

Many y oung teachers must surely o ften won der

how they are to understa n d to reconci le o r to teach , , ,

o ne hal f o f these confl icting schemes and theor i es

about which they rea d If they love simpl i c i ty . ,

clearness and soun d sense they wi l l find sure l i g h t ,

by alway s defining for themselves in as terse a s , ,

simp le and as lucid wor ds as they can ex act ly what

, ,

can be done what ought to be done an d h o w it i s

, ,

most easily an d e f fectively to be done ; an d then ,

abiding mo dest ly content with this luminou s know

ledge leave mysterious su p erfl u i ti es to those who
,

invented them .

A fter thorough study o f the history o f piano forte

pl ay ing we find that the most magnificent resu lts
,

were attained by the most simple metho ds ; that th e

main princip les by which an effective technique i s to
be attaine d are very easy to un derstand ; an d that
the di f ficu lt thing i s the patient pers istent atten , , ,

tive carefu l work necessary to ca rry th ese princip les

'

into practice C omp licated theories are to o o ften

.

the subter fuge o f those who pre fer words to work .

The main principles o f touch and technique are

set forth concisely in the form o f practica l d i rec
tions both f o r the te a cher and the stu dent in th e
, ,
’
author s manual s H o w t o Strike the Keys o f the ,
“

“ “
Piano forte Piano Technique
,
”
and Touch ”
,

Phrasing and Interpretation ( R eeves ) ”

.

S EC T I O N 11 .
—I N T E R P R E T AT IO N .

The theory that musical interpretation cannot be

taught is a s fa l lacious as it is common It is a d
, .

m i tte d that the interpretation o f one player may be

 Inte rp retatio n . ll
“
imitated by another ; and that a person natura l ly
”
gi fted m ay rightly interpret music for himsel f ;
but it is denied that it i s possible to formu l ate prin
ci p les ,so detai led adequate an d sy stematic a s to
, ,

make the teaching o f interpretation an effective art .

Whether this theory i s true o r fa lse I think it

gains i t s currency l argely because o f the failure o f
incompetent teaching Teachers who are not cu lti
.

v ate d enough to interpret music adequately them

sel ves fail ; an d teachers w h o are ignorant both o f
, ,

the princip les o f interpretative art and how to teach

them fai l a lso ; and this theoretica l scapegoat
,

carries away the bur den o f their failure and thus ,

leaves their reputation untouched .

C a n interpretation be t aught ? P art o f the true

answer may be arrived at by asking whether taste ,

appreciation sympathy love o f beauty may be cul

, , ,

ti v a ted B ut the root o f the m atter i s this : eithe r

.

our musical not ation with al l the signs elabora t ed

,

t o make i t s rhythm structure an d expressive sig mi

,

fica ti o n cle ar i s an intel ligent symbo lism f o r the

,

conceptions intended to be expres sed ; or it is a hazy ,

in definite symbo lism expressing nothing c lear ly at

,

a l l and use fu l only in so far as it furnishes an

,

elastic m edium through which per formers can give

an expo sition o f their own notions and fee lings I f .

the l atter be the true V iew then in deed musica l i n ,

terp ret a ti o n cannot be taught f o r the very good ,

reason that there is nothing definite or t a ngib le to

analyse o r to teach N ay more there wou l d be no
.
, ,

great musical compositions le ft t o us at a l l but on ly ,

skel eton suggestions capab le o f being mou l ded into

a myria d fantastic forms according to the caprice
‘
o f each in dividua l fancy Is such a V iew credibl e ?.

Is it credib le that men o f the intel lectual cal ibre o f

B eethoven an d C hopin did not accurately ap p reci
ate the significance o f the symbo lism they selecte d ,
12 The Art o f T eaching .

did not thoroughly understand what they wished to

express did not know how definitely to convey the i r
,

meaning ? Surely the very statement o f so p rep o s

tero u s a view o f musical art i s its o w n S u f fiC I ent
re futation The symbo lism is fairly defin i te and
.

exp licit : and though the province o f music pert a i n s

rather to emotions than t o i deas ; stil l its methods ,

o f expression may to a very large extent be ana

, ,

lysed an d ma de c lear to the stu dent The inter .

re t a t i o n o f music m ay be taught j ust as the d eclam

p
ation o f fine poetry may be taught Appreciation is .

commonly meant when the wor d interpretation is

used ; but even so appreciation o f beauti ful m u sic
,

i s to be taught j u st as the appreci a tion o f fine

literature fine painting o r any other fine expression
, ,

o f the human mind i s taught T here are persons ,

.

w h o never devel op an appreciation for what i s beau

tifu l : their l ack O f appreciation for fine music

shou l d no t there fore be set down to i ts u ni ntelligi
bi lit y . Appreciation an d insight with reg ard to ,

art depen d largely upon training T here are few

,
.

persons whol ly de stitute o f taste o r appreciation ,

however l atent these may be ; and unti l many e f forts

have been m ade to arouse the dormant powers no ,

teacher need despair .

From a priori reasoning then we have a f firmed , ,

that musica l interpretation can be taught ; an d we

may sa fely s a y that it can be taught more thor
oughly by the knowledge and appl ication o f prin
ci p l es and rules than by imitation al one
, .

E xperience moreover shows the correctness o f

, ,

the conc lusions pointed to by reason Students have .

been sent to me with the reputation o f being hope

less ly unmusica l—students too who were i ntelli , ,

gent tastefu l appreciative o f much that w a s beauti

, ,

ful in l ife an d art B ut a sing le lesson showed that

.

they had no t been in structed in the very A B C o f

 lnterp retatio n . l3
’
musica l interpretation A fter a few years training .
,

both by princip les a nd ex amp les they becam e su c ,

cess f u l artists An d besides they learned to rely

.
, ,

o n their o w n re sources in the interpretation O f fresh

works ; whi le clever mimics their rival s who scorne d , ,

them an d their systematic training were l eft help ,

less when attempting to master a new work since ,

their a rtistic equipment was con f i ned chiefly to u n

intel l igent e f forts a t accurate imitation .

I f then music is a s l ucid a s orderly an d as i n

, , ,

te lli gib le as any other usefu l branch o f l earning ; i f

a stu dent may be so traine d that he can at length ,

unaided discern its significance f o r himsel f ; how is

,

this education to be given ? There i s no exceptional

my stery to be so lved by an exceptiona l key The .

training must be upon much the same paths a s those

trod in teaching a stu dent the beauty both in sense ,

an d soun d o f poetic l anguage What wou l d be .

thought o f the teacher who hope d to train stu dents

to be e loquent an d intel l igib le readers o f L atin
poetry be fore they understoo d the meaning o f a
,

S ingle wor d o f L atin or the structure o r rhy thm or

,

metre o f a singl e line O f verse ; o f the teacher w h o

'

pro n ounced these pupi l s incapab le o f appreciating

any poetry bec ause their attempts to mimic his
,
‘
rea d i n g w ere rather crude and because they went ,

hopel ess ly astray when le ft to their o w n resources ?

You wou l d say that this man was ignorant o f the
element s o f the art o f intel ligent teaching .

In music then the pupil must be sy stem atica l ly

,

trained in rhythm in tone gra dation in a knowledge

, ,

o f the structure o f music so that he may recognise ,

at once the proportionate importance o f each part

o f a composition an d must un derstan d how to m ake
,

c lear the p roper significance o f the parts and the ,

u nity o f the who l e by j ust phrasing Pitch time

,
.
, ,

rh y thm em p hasis tone gra dation structural form

, , ,
14 The Art o f Te aching .

these are some o f the important elements o f his

s u bj ect which must be ma de entirely familiar to the
,

intel ligence and the ear o f the student be fore he c an

see the ful l significance o f the music The b u sm ess .

o f the teacher is to analy se the music into i t s co m

,

ponent el ements to show the structura l sign ifica nce

,

o f each part and its rel ation to the who le ; to cu lti

vate the ear o f the student so tha t he may d iscern
the most delicate variations o f time a nd tone ; an d
to instruct him in al l the general l aws which govern
musica l expression S ome d ay precept an d ex ampl e
.

wi l l bear fruit S ud den ly the pupi l wil l become

'

unconscious o f analytica l principles ; the composi

tion wi l l seem to him a beauti fu l and in divisib l e
who le ; a spirit wi l l seem to him to l ive in the notes ;
he wi ll hear a fami liar voice in the music .

Many practica l directions upon the principles o f

’
musica l interpretation are give n in the author s text
book entit led The Art o f E xpression in Piano
,
“

”
forte P layin g pub lished by Weekes and C o ; while
-

, .

in C hapter III o f thi s work the genera l principles

o f interpretation are discussed at some length .

S EC T I O N II I .
—T H EO R ET I C A L SU BJ E C T S .

In a d dition to the purely practica l part o f piano

forte pl aying an d the stu dies which bear directl y
-

o n i ts tw o main divisions—technique a nd interpreta

tion—there are other co l latera l stu dies which cannot

be ignored by any teacher o r stu dent who de sire s to
become in any sense an educated o r intel ligent artist .

Indee d to rise above the stan ding o f an ignor a mus

, ,
 Theo retica lSubje cts . 15

a modicum o f know led ge on three co ll ateral su b

j ects i s essentia l The se three subj ects are :
. E le
ments o f Music H armony and F orm , .

( A) . THE E LE M EN TS OF M U S IC?t

Instr u ction in the E lements o f Music shou l d be

given regu larly an d system atic al ly from the very
first lesson Its province in musica l education is
.

much the s a me as the province o f th e a lphabet ,

spel ling and elementary rea ding in the chil d s ordin

'

ary education A very l ittle progress at each lesson

.

wi l l cover th e who le ground in a year o r t w o and ,

wil l thus lay a foundation not easily forgotten T o .

the impatient rep ly o f many a teacher that re ference ,

to this subj ect i s har dly necessary it may wel l be ,

retorte d that whi le ignorance is yet so comm on no ,

help towards its removal i s superfluous H o w f re .

quent ly does o ne find even senior pupi ls so u n

famil iar with this a lphabet o f music that they ,

stumble piti ful ly over their notation their key ,

signatures their time their e lementary mu si ca lterm s

, , .

This i s j ust a s i f y o u were to find the senior pupi l

o f a grammar schoo l b lundering a long through cl as

sic poetry blocke d at every step by ignorance o f

,

spel ling punctuation grammar and every element

, ,

ary step o f know ledge that wou l d help to make the

poetry legib le o r intel l igib le N O teacher S hou l d .

to lerate any neglect o f this very A B C o f musica l

know ledge .

S ee “
T h e R o y a l R o a d to th e R u d i ment s of Mu si c,
"

( W k
ee es b y th e auth o r .
16 The Art o f T e aching .

(B ) . H AR M ON Y .

not necessary that the very young pupi l j ust

It i s
beginning to learn piano forte pl ay ing shou l d take-

up this subj ect A s the child begins h i s education

.

with the al phabet spel l ing an d easy rea ding and

, ,

l ater o n proceed s to grammar etymo logy and the ,

structure o f sentences ; so may the student gra d u a l l y

progress in mu sic B ut the fo l ly o r ignorance o f stop
.

ping with the a lphabet an d s imp l e spel ling and

, ,

then forthwith expecting cu lture d reading i s no ,

greater than when in the case o f m u sic the th eo reti

, ,

ca l education o i the chi l d ceases with a cursor y

gl ance at his E lements ; an d cu ltured pl a y ing is
looke d for on this inadequate foun d ation .

H armony which teaches the f ormation a nd gr am

,

m ati ca l progression o f chords help s the pupi l to .

rec o gnise h i s notes to read intel l igently to punctu

, ,

ate a nd to ana ly se ; it fami liarises him with ca d ences ,

w ith many cho rds fre q uent ly used a nd their natural

progressions which otherw ise must nee d s be spel le d

,

o u t as iso l ated and disj ointed wor d s each time the y

are met ; it s knowledge helps to give to h i s p la y ing

that i nd efinab le characteristic o f schol arly acquaint
a ncesh i
p which distinguishes it from the pl aying
o f one who is ignorant ; and such know ledge is as
evident to the musica l expert w h o hears as are ,

the secret signs o f masonry to a master in the

cra f t .
IS The Art o f T e aching .

view o f each composition as a beauti fu l design the ,

symmetry o f whose parts may be c learly presented

to the b earer .

There is no more distinguishing badge o f the musi

cal dunce than ignorance o f musical form wh i ch , ,

whatever he does the player cannot hide T here i s

,
.

nothing which makes mus i c sound so l u dicrous S O ,

nonsensical so con fused as ignorant disregard o f

, ,

the formal structure O f the composition ren dered .

Therefore every conscientious teacher an d every

serious student will insist upon a l itt le more l ight
o n this subj ect a s the educational course advance s .

( D) . C ON CL U S I ON .

E quipped with some fair knowledge o f this mini

mum o f theoretica l subj ects, the stu dent be he , ama
teu r or concert p layer need not be ashamed o f h i s
,

per form ances E ven though the pl aying o f the

.

drawing room musician be obj ected to by unmusical

-

friends as to o high c lass or be cavil led at by super

-

fici a l critics as too simple an d natural to be impres

sive ; stil l he wil l a lways have the approva l o f his
,

own cu ltivated j u d gm ent a s we l l a s o f a l l those

,

whose appreciation i s that o f the schol ar an d the

art i st.
 C HAPT ER II .

G eneral Su ggesti o ns f o rTeaching Tech ni q u e .

S EC T I O N I .
—
T E C H N IC A L EX E R C ISE S .

I . F INGER TE CH NIQ U E
-
.

PR A CTI CA L in struction at the piano forte shoul d

a lway s begin with finger techni q ue N o one can -
.

p lay wel l except he learn first to use his fingers wel l .

T h e obj ects o f right f i nger training are to gain the -

greatest possib le power independence de licacy , , ,

rapidity an d accuracy o f finger movement In short -

.
,

th e musc les an d j oints o f the fingers an d hand re

quire the nicest and most e f fective training an d con
tlO I And the fingers require besides to be accus
'

.
, ,

t o me d to m any typ i ca l pass ages o f notes which are

,

o f a kind foun d to occur common ly throughout the

literature o f the piano T hese are roughly the

.
, ,

things that require to be done What is the most .

e f fective w ay o f doing them ?

There are tw o great essential s o ften ignored by
the teacher The first o f the se i s training the min d
.

to attend care fu l ly and to watch that no finger

,

movement i s made except in so far as it carries o u t

a definite intention o f the brain ; the other i s train
19
20 The A rt o f T eaching .

ing the ear to attend careful ly to the intensity and

duration o f every sound so as to discern readily a ll
,

those nice gra dations o f force an d length which are

the foun dation o f rhythm time temp o lega to , , , ,

s t a cca t o and the thousan d minuti ae o f artistic inter

,

p reta ti o n .

2 . MEN TA L C ON C EN TR A TI ON AND C O ORDIN ATI ON -

0F BR A IN A ND MU S CLE .

The teacher who succeeds in convinci ng his pupil

that no finger movement un directed by the i nte lli
gence h a s any improving efficacy ; that no note
struck unheeded in its force an d length by the ear
has any improving efficacy is the teacher whose i n
,

stru cti o ns wil l bear goo d fruit and that rapid ly , .

We hear much in these days o f changeful fashions ,

about the Macdonal d Smith system the Virgil

-

C lavier system about this system that sy stem and

, , ,

the other sy stem ; but i f there be e f ficacy in a ny one

o f them ,it is briefly comprehen ded in this that th e ,

necessity o f exercising the intel ligence with regard

to every m ovement i s recognised and is e f fectively
en force d—that the work done is the resu lt o f u n
ceasing co or dination between brain and muscle
-
.

Their virtue may be al l summed up in these words

F ind out ex act ly what is to be done and how it ,

may best be done ; then set y our mind fixedly upon

that thing req uired an d insist that every movement
,

of every finger is in per fect obedience to some a c

curate direction o f your min d T hat is the secret .

’
o f compressing three years average work into a
’
t ree months course
h .
 MentalCo ncentratio n o f Br ain and M u scle . 21

Right finger movement is a very simp le not a ,

very com p lex affair ; an d yet the number o f theorists

i s stil l increasing who co n sciou sly or unconsciou sly
, , ,

develop aroun d the simpl e actions invol ve d in tech

nique doctrines el aborated and comp licated til l they
,

re ach the amazing a nd mysterious proportions o f

’
such a work as Tobias M a tth a y s Act o f T ouch in “

al l i ts D iversity M ason o f America L eschetizky

.
”
, , ,

o f Vienna an d other eminent teachers are suppose d

, ,

to be the inventors o f magical schemes f o r per fect

ing technique by high ly complic a ted an d new
metho ds ; but i f al l the comp lications be whittled
away the use fu l movements wi l l be foun d to be few
,

and simple in kin d and in fair agreement through,

o u t m ost systems : while the secret o f the start lin g

success o f these eminent teachers consists in en f o rc

’
ing the student s attention on each movement to b e
made ; in directing each movement with a s much
accuracy and menta l force as po ssib le ; in rapid ly
deve loping menta l concentration an d mental rapid ,

ity in contro l ling muscle movement an d thus acco m .

p li sh i ng the most speedy and excel lent resu lts No .

new system however provides any escape from h a r d

, ,

work upon the part o f either teacher or pupi l The .

true wis dom i s to suspect to examine an d to lop off

, , ,

new fang led com p l ications ; an d to rely on the use

-

of the goo d Old max im : Whatever y our finger

find eth to d o d o with a l l your mind an d wil l and
, , ,

strength .

It is becau se the p lan here sugge ste d i s so S imple

and se l f evident that I dwel l on it with so m uch
-

emphasis ; f o r its very simplicity and truth are

part ly the cause o f its ne g lect That the secret o f .

so much careless un fruit fu l work is failure to en

, ,

force brain concentration an d wil l power at every

movement ha s been ma de clear enough to me again
,

an d again throughout m y experience as a teacher .

22 The Art o f T e aching .

O ften when explained to a new pupil the right way

I
to strike a note an d d irected him not to make a
single movement o f a sing le finger w ithout definitely
and accurately thinking o f what was to be done and ,

how it shou l d be done an d then doing it W ith al l

,

his might ; I receive d a stare o f amazement in reply ,

an d w a s in fo rmed that it was not necessary to think

when practising exercises T h e ide a w a s that ex er
.
,
-

cises were inten de d f o r the fingers not f o r the brain, .

I f you can reverse this process and convince th e ,

pupi l that a l l practice is prim ari ly brain work and -

secondarily finger work you have sowed the seed o f

-

success .

I f there fore you desire success let your first ,

lesson your second lesson an d many lessons al l

, ,

dep end o n this direction N ev er m o v e a fing er w i th

ou t h no w i ng ex a ctly h o w i t s h o u ld b e m o v ed , w i t h
ou t h a vin
g a d efini t e i nt enti o n i n y o u r m i nd , o r
w i t h o u t d o i ng y o u r u t m os t t o d i r ect th a t m o v em ent

s o a s t o g a i n f ro m i t t h e m a x i m u m res u lt f o ss i ble .

I t is surprising how soon even young children wil l

recognise the success o f this method ; and how it
gives interest to the practice which formerly bored
them by i t s idle routine .

3 . P O S I TI ON OF H A ND AN D S TRI K ING F INGER .

Th e next points to be m ade C lear are : what posi

tion o f the han d is the best for acquiring good
finger techni q ue ; what are the pri ncipa l movements
-

to be studied a nd practised by the pupil a n d what

 Po sitio n o f Hand an d Stri ingk Fing r
e . 23

finger exercise s are mos t l ikely to d evel op those

movement s most rapid ly a nd effectively ?
The position o f the han d and striking finger are
o f the utmost importance and to cu ltivate the habit
,

o f u sing the best position requires the most vigi lant

attention on the part o f the teacher from the very
first It is use less simp ly to expl ain and show the
.

right position to the pupi l an d then pass o n to

further instruction At each lesson fresh watch ful
.

nes s is needed unti l the pupi l remembers th a t right

position is the first m atter deman ding h i s thought
f u l attention when he sits down to the piano .

T hose who consu lt a variety o f curious systems o f

technique may fin d some difficu lty in arriving at a
decision o n this subj ect o f position .

Some advise a high wrist ; others a lo w wrist ;

some direct that th e knuck le j oints next the han d
( the third j oints ) be pressed down so that the back
o f the hand wil l form a ho l low others that these ,

knuck les be humped up ; some insist that e ach finger

be raised high so as to be abl e t o strike w ith the
,

more power ; other s decry this p l an an d counse l that ,

the required tones be prod uced by l aying the fingers

o n the keys an d then depressing them without strik

ing Where does the truth lie in such a conflict o f

.

opinion ? The on ly way to gain a ful l assurance o f

faith f o r oursel ves an d to protect our p ath against
,

every fresh win d o f doctrine i s to determine first , ,

exact ly what it is we want the hand an d fingers to

d o and second ly how varied tones can be produced
, ,

by manipu lati ng the notes o f a piano forte .

O ur main obj ect is to gain indepen dence o f

,

finger an d power delicacy an d r apidity o f finger

, ,

movement : an d second ly we must remember that ,

no matter how we m an i pu late a piano forte key ,

whether we strike it or push it we can onl y a lter the

,
24 The Art o f Te aching .

tones by making them l onger or shorter and so fter

or lou der ( T hi s m atter is treated at some length i n
paragraph 4 o f this chapter as wel l as i n Touch
.

“
, ,
”
Phrasing an d Interpretation
The easiest and most rapid metho d o f accomp l i sh
ing o u r obj ect is probab ly the best N ow th e q u e s .
,

tions are whether power independence rap i d i t y of

, , ,

movement are more easi ly o r e f fectively to be ga i ned

,

by l owering the wrist and depressing the knuck le

j oints or by keeping o u r wrists high ; o r aga i n
,
,

whether by li fti ng our fingers high to str i ke the notes

or by resting them o n the keys in or der to push
’
them down ? I f one s min d were q uite c leare d o f
the variou s theories in vogue upon t h e subj ect a nd ,

it was a q uestion to be decided upon a commo nsens e

view o f the matter woul d not one say th a t the posi
,

tion which seemed to give the most freedom an d

power to the fingers was the best position ? A
simple commonsense view suggested by a lay mind
, , ,

o ften com es nearer to the truth than the most com

plicated pro fessio n a l doctrine .

Try thi s experiment S it at a tab le an d put your

.
,

h an d opened flat on it Then by drawing in your.

finger tips curve the j oints next the tips s lightly

-

, ,

and the second j oints a goo d dea l ; then l i ft the

hand at the wrist j oint o f f the tab le an inch or tw o
an d ho l d the hand an d arm so that they wil l form
an even and slight slope from the elbow to the
second j oints o f the fingers O n ly the finger tip s .
-

an d the side o f the thumb must touch the table .

N ow with the other hand l i ft the middle finger

, , ,

from the third j oint keeping the first an d second

,

j oints stil l curved as they were ; then when the finger

th u s li fted is at its height let it go and at the same ,

time u se a l l the downward force you can in hitti n g

the tab le with the upl i fted finger tip R e p eat this -

operation ha lf a dozen times and note the force ,

26 The Art o f Te aching .

ing the notes the fingers be gent ly l i ft ed up a nd

,

down This pl an is no doubt exceedingly simple

.

an d exceedingly easy ; but by its fruits it must

be condemned Is this not the very sty le and
.

metho d o f every unregenerate son o f A dam when

he comes to his first lesson with a bunch o f feeb le
fingers al l mov ing together i f o ne is moved ? What
earnest teacher h a s no t had m any a hard fight
against the feeb leness o f this primitive d ev i ta lisa
tio n ? And does it not seem h a r d to have it pro
m u lga ted as a new doctrine ful l o f virtue ?
S impl icit y is useless i f it is ine f fective Whether are .

power contro l and in dependence to be gained by

,

a l lowing a l l our hand muscles to remain in their

normal con dition o f we akness fl a b b i ness an d inter
,

depen dence and by feeb ly raising an d droppin g

,

each finger ; or by practising a strong high u p li ft , ,

-

o f each finger an d a forcible down stroke ; at the -

same time ho lding the other fingers m o tionless so as , ,

to iso late each an d detach it from the influence o f

the others as much a s possib le ? The very state
ment o f the conflicting views is a su f ficient an swer
to th e whole question .

B ut it is o ften asserted in these days that the ,

practice o f li fting each finger high and drawing it

up forcib ly by a strong e f fort o f the wi l l is l ikely
’

to bring about a stiffened condition o f the muscles

which does some mysterious an d dead ly inj ury to
the tone Its opponents assert that it produces what
.

the y cal l a thumping touch What do natura l i h

.

te lligence and experience a nswer to this char g e ?

N atural intel l igence s ay s that the pl ay er who has
cultivate d the greatest inde p en dence o f each finger .

the greatest power with each finger the freest and ,

most rapid movement o f each fin ger is the p layer ,

'

who has the various gradations o f tone m ost easily

within h i s reach An d experience sa y s th at ma ny
.

,
 Po sitio n o f Hand an d Stri king Finge r
. 27

o f those unhappy pu pil s whose technica l training

‘

was con d ucted in accord with some cramped u h ,

com fortab le han d position o r with the fingers feeb ly

,
“ ”
li fte d an d dropped by flabby devital ised mus
c les b ewai l their inabi l ity to pl ay any rapi d
,

passage even clearly not to say bri l liant ly Inde

, ,
.

p end ence and power are sacrificed to this fl abb y

devital isation B ut so far from the method com
.

mended here pro ducing any permanent o r inj urious

cramping o f the mu sc les every experienced pupi l ,

can lear n in a v ery few minutes to relax a l l the

, ,

musc les o f h i s han d to a ll ow his fingers to drop

, ,

and by m o ving so ft ly stil l to move with gre a t c lear

,

ness an d rapidity over the notes It is th e in de .

p en d ence power , elasticity an d flexibility that

, ,

req u ire labour in the cul tivation ; the fl abby flopping

i s within easy reach An d whi le the wel l trained
.
-

fingers have both methods at comm an d the il l ,

trained are le ft lamenting at those passages which

de mand bri ll iancy and force .

4 .
R ELA TI V E MERI TS . OF S TRI K ING
’

AND PU S H I NG
THE KE Y S .

So much i s written nowadays upon the inj ury

done both to the mu scles o f the han d an d to the
,

quality o f tone pro duced from the piano forte by ,

striking instea d o f pushing down the key s that it ,

seems on ly right to make a short digression for the

purpose o f c learing away the difficu lties from the
path o f young teachers an d showing them soli d ,

reas o ns for adhering to the princip les an d practice

o f the great te achers and pianists o f the past .
28 The Art o f Teaching .

”
Mr Townsen d in his B al ance o f Arm and Mr
.
,
“
,
.

M a tth a y in his Act o f T ouch the one with many

“ ”
, ,

witty sal l ies the other in ponderous dialectics attack

, ,

unmercifu l ly the estab lished cus t om o f s trih i ng the

key s ; and claim every p o ssible Virtue for the new
system o f p u s h i ng which they a dvocate .

In order t o deci de upon a right choice let us ,

define once more what i s required for the purposes

o f goo d technique We require for our finger .
s

force indepen dence and flex ibil ity ; we require the

,

ability to skip nimb ly from position to position up

an d down the keyboar d we require the abil ity to ,

depress with cert ainty and ease as wel l to release

, , ,

with speed and accuracy the required keys ,

.

As regards f o rce who coul d question the ,

’
superiority o f a b low over a push ? A moment s
experiment at the pianoforte wou l d be su f ficient to
convince even th e most in fatuated theorist on this
point T hen a s to flexibi lity and in dependence
.
, ,

the superior e fficacy o f a strong muscu lar upli f t o f

the finger to the feeb le moti o n invo lved in merely
,

pressing down a n d releasing a key h a s already been ,

’
discussed Again i f one s fingers lie o n the key s
.
, ,

h o w can they skip nimb ly from position to position ,

how can they execute with ea se accuracy or force , ,

rapi d skipping passages or di f ficul t chord and

octave passages o f any kind ?
C ontinuous contact o f the fingers with the keys
wil l be found upon a short trial to be a serious
, ,

hamper to the free movement o f the han ds up and

down the keyboard a s wel l a s to the forcible action
,

of the fingers upon the key s Then l astly with

regar d to accuracy in releasing the keys —a matter
.
, ,

so important both in the leg a t o and sta cca t o touches

~
is not one o f the great di f ficu lties in the training
o f the young pupi l this very difficul ty o f persuading
,
 R elative M erits o f Stri king and Pushing the Key s . 29

him to l i ft h i s finger clear ly and we l l from the keys ?

By the new method o f pushing we shal l ma d e pretty
sure o f perpetuating the original fau lt o f m aking
the successive tones over lap by the continuous d e~
pression o f tw o o r more key s at once .

But it is s aid b y the a dv o cates o f the new theory

that the piano forte key i s a l ever j ust a s i s a spade ,

o r a crowbar ; a n d that a push is the correct method

of operating a lever They as sert moreover that

.
, ,

the qua lity o f tone to be el icite d from a piano forte

“
key by striking ( o r beating as Mr Townsend ,
”
.

cal l s it ) is no t comparab le with that to be obtained

’
by pushing .A f ew moment s experiment at the
piano forte wi l l be su f ficient to d estroy the fa l l acy
that there i s any d i f ference in quality o f tone in th e
case o f a note pushed and a note struck Strike .

an d push the same note alternate ly se ver a l times in

succession taking care that in every case the tones
,

are equal in force and l ength ; thus y ou wil l pr o ve

c lear l y to y ourse l f by the mere u se o f your ears
, ,

that the tones are a l l exactly the same in qua lity o r

timbre no matter h o w they are pro duced
, .

B ut Mr Townsen d an d Mr M a tth a y say that we

. .

“ ”
push the S pa de“
,
”
o ar pump hand le and crow
,
”
-

bar ; that we d o no t dream o f striking them Is

”
.

it no t utter ly absur d there fore o f u s to strike o r

be at a piano forte k ey which i s a l so a lever ? In the
case o f the spade and o ther imp lements mentione d ,

o u r obj ect i s t o move gradual ly an d steadily a mass

at the other end o f the lever In these c ases more

.
,

over we have no t to skip ab o ut nimb ly in order

,

to manipu late fi fty o r sixty such levers rapi d ly in

succession What we want to d o when we depress
.

a piano forte k ey _i s quite a d i f ferent m atter We .

wish to m ake the hammer at the other end o f the

30 The Art o f T e aching .

l ever strike against the strings with a smart tap and

then instantaneously reboun d .

There i s nothing so l ikely to con fuse the issue ,

an d to throw dust in the eyes o f the ignorant as ,

the u se o f an utterly erroneous simi le A wel l .

chosen simi le wil l prove j ust a s valuab le in clearing

the issue The levers o f a typewriter correspond
.

in t heir action to the levers o f a piano forte key

board A n instantaneous tap and an instantaneous
.

reboun d comprise the requisite movements To .

become an efficient typist rapid skipping from key

,

to key and accuracy in striking the required keys ,

are regar ded a s two o f the chief essentia ls Who .

ever sa w a typist pushing instead o f striking the

key s o f h i s machine ? Such a metho d wou ld so
impede h i s action as to destroy the possibil ity of
rapid work I f this be the case with so smal l a
.

keyboard as that o f a typewriter h o w much more ,

must it be the case where the keyboar d is so ex

tended a s that o f the piano forte ?
An d apart from theories i s not the experience o f
, ,

al l great piano forte pl ayers o n o u r side in this con

tention ? O ur one pianistic opponent is the piano la .

It does no t need to skip for it has a finger for every

,

key and on each key one o f these accurate fingers

,

i s l aid to do its work by pressure Al l other factor s .

“
there fore except qual ity o f tone are o utside the
, ,
”

issue in this c ase O ne won ders whether even Mr

. .

T ownsend o r Mr M a tth ay wou l d venture to assert

.

“
that the qua lity o f tone pro duce d by the pianola
”

machine with its sto li d finger pressure i s superior

to that produced by P aderewski w h o l ifts no t on ly , ,

fingers but al so hands and arms when it seems

, ,

good to him in order the more forcib ly the more

, , ,
“
rapid ly and the more e f fectively to strike o r beat ,
”

the key s .
 De tail
s o f Po siti o n . 31

5 . D ET A IL S OF P O S I TI ON .

The teacher wi l l there fore require that the pupi l

si t opposite to midd l e C o n a seat high enough to
,

a l low his elb ow s when lying near his side to be so

, ,

raised above the keyboar d that his arm wil l form a

gent le s l o pe to the secon d knuck les o f his fingers ;
and that his hand be kept high above the keys so
that the fingers may have p lenty o f room f o r
moving up and down when striking an d l i fting .

O ne point that requires con stant an d special care ,

is the side next the fi fth or litt le finger Its ten .

d ency is to drop an d a s the weaker fingers

,

lie on that S ide they need the more freedom in or der

t o develop in them greater power The hand in .
,

the best position wil l then S lope slightly from the

,

l ittle finger side towar ds the thumb side so that ,

i f a marb le were l ai d o n the back o f a han d held

in correct position it wou l d immediately ro l l off at
,

the thumb side .

Some thirty o r forty photographs o f the hand

rightly hel d an d o f the fingers in right positio n are ,

contained in T h e R oy al Piano forte Method by

“
,
”

the author o f this work .

6 . A
D E T IL S OF S TRI K ING .

The points requiring the cl osest attention in the

position and m ovements o f the fingers are these :
( A) The striking finger shou l d be raise d rapid ly
.
32 The Art o f Teaching .

and with great force from the j o int next the han d ,

the third j oint .

( B ) It shou l d remain motion less while pu lled

.

up with a s great force as possible The first and .

secon d j oints shou l d be curved but this curve must ,

no t be altere d with the upward movement o f the

finger .

( C) It shou l d strike down with the utmost force

.

and rapidity depressing the key firmly to the very

,

bottom ; an d at the same moment the next finger

S houl d rise with equal force to an equal height
above the key s .

( D ) The finger tips must never be al lowed to

.

move in and o u t ; there must be no invol untary

’
motion ; no finger shoul d drop one hair s breadth ,

before it makes i ts sud den swi ft rush down upon

the key from i t s height o f tw o inches .

( E ) The curves o f the first and second j oints of

.

the finger S hould be so s light that the so ft pad o f

the finger not the nail wil l strike the key ; and al l
, ,

the fin gers shou l d be hel d in an even curved ro w , ,

bowed out towards the mid d le finger from the ,

thumb o n one side an d the little finger on the other ;

and no finger shou l d be j erked in o r o u t o f i ts neat
p l ace in the curved ro w .

( F ) The thumb must lie com fortab ly at the edge

.

o f the hand with i ts first j oint s lightly bent so that

, ,

it may move freely up and down .

( G ) C on stant keen and patient watch fu lness on

.
,

the par t o f the teacher wil l be neede d for some co n ,

s i d era b le time and at every lesson to prevent the

, ,

pupil dropping a finger towar ds the note be fore the

su d den down stroke o r moving the finger tips i h
-

,
-

vo luntarily i n and o u t from the back towards the

front o f the keyboard o r rubbing the key s o r neg , ,

lecti ng to se e that each note sounded i s very loud ,

34 The A rt o f Te aching .

’
tainty f o r the rest o f the pupil s career ; while the
so ft touch acquired more laborious ly through full
,

key depression has the advantage o f sureness and ,

accuracy These things being so the wise teacher

.
,

wi l l spare no pains to ensure from the very first , ,

the habit o f fu l l key depression .

8 . Tw o -
F INGER E XER C I S ES AN D F INGER
GYM N A S TI C S .

F i nger gy mna st i cs o f
a
an intel ligent k ind p ra c ,

ti se d f o r a few minutes daily even for five minutes ,

daily wil l be found most useful in developing i h

,

dependence el asticity strength and musc le control

, ,
-
.

B ut their e f fectiveness again depends l argely upon , ,

the menta l concentration and wi ll power thrown into -

their practice The exercises in R idley Prentice s

.
’

“
F inger and Wrist G ymnastics pub lished by ,
”

N ovel lo w i ll prove su f fi cient for a ll ordinary re

,

qu i reme nt s Mechanical instruments such a s the

.
,

T echnicon S hou l d be used with caution lest the

, ,

musc les and j oints be strained T h e mind and the .

wil l are the best m uscle stretchers -

.

Tw o -

F INGER E XER CI S E S
Th e more intel ligently w o er exercises are t —fing
practised the fewer o f them wi l l suffice to develop
a hi gh standard o f finger power T hese simp le ex .
 Tw o -
Fing er .
Ex e rcises . 35

erci ses are so necessary a nd so e f fective ; and t h ey

’
are so admirably a dapted to the pupil s needs
throughout the who le o f h i s pianistic career from ,

start to finish that n o apo logy is nee ded for d i s

,

cussing the m a t some length .

( A) T hey shoul d be practised w ith separate

.

han d s Few elementary pupils have the abil ity and

.

concentration necessary to al low o f their getting the

best resul t from purely technica l exercises when
u sing both hands together Besides these exercises .
, ,
’
i f practised with al l one s ene rgy are so tiring to ,

the muscles that no time is lost when resting o ne

hand whi le the other i s working .

( B ) A S the le ft han d is usua l ly the weaker an d

.

less capable o f the two it requires the more attention

,

and practice a lthough as a rule it gets the less

, , , .

By training th e p u p i l from the beginning to observe

'

the fo l lowi ng order o f practice the natura l inequa l ,

ity o f the two hands may be minimised : le ft hand ,

first ; right hand secondly ; le ft han d third ly ;

, ,

and later o n when the elements o f techni q ue are

,

mastered an d both han ds are u sed together a s in ,

scales and arpeggios then fourthly both hand s

, , .

together .

F IR S T TWO F I N G ER -
E XER C I S E S .

The simp lest form o f the tw o finger exercises con -

sist s o f a s low tril l in the key o f C repeated thirty ,

o r forty times with each pair o f fingers at a metro

nome rate o f forty to sixty o ne note to each beat ,

.

A lthou gh some d etaile d and concise d irections f o r

36 The Art o f T eaching .

i ts right practice are given in paragraph 4 o f this

“ ”
chapter a s we l l as in H ow to Strike stil l it may
, , ,

be wise here to emphasise more important points .

( A) F irst look to the hand position ; then see

.
,

that the motion o f the striking finger f rom its root ,

j oint i s rapid and power fu l ; that the finger is pul led

,

up hard an d that it depresses i ts key firmly

, .

( B ) Insist that the practice be slow a s to the su c

.
~

ces sion o f the notes It i s an exce l lent p lan during

.
,

the first few months to re quire the pupil to wait for ,

a b ea t o r two between the successive strokes hold

'

ing al l h i s finger tips motionless and keeping al l ,

the fingers except the one which has struck a note ,

pu l led up as hard as possib le T his exercise o f .

waiting in itsel f develops con siderab le muscular

, ,

contro l i f done exactly as here suggested But .

though the succession o f notes is to be s low the ,

action o f the striking finger must be as rapid a s

pos sib le I f the finger fa l l slow ly the practice i s
.
,

waste o f time S low succession in order to have

.
,

amp le time to guard against al l fau lts an d rapid ,

finger motion in order to gain speed and power

, ,

are the combination most likely to bear fruit .

( C) See that the fing er tips keep to their even

.
-

curved ro w ; that no finger drops before it moves

rapid ly downward to strike ; that every tone is loud ,

and a l l equa l ly l ou d ; that the thumb does no t stick

out at its root j oint ; that there i s no invo luntary
moving in and out o f the finger tips ; and that the -

fingers unaided by weight o f hand produce the

, ,

tone .

( D ) The fi fth o r l ittle finger re q uires special

.

care an d S pecia l treatment O ne o f the earliest .

,

commonest an d m ost di f ficul t fau lts to treat su c

,

cess f u ll
y is the moving o f the hand downwards in
sympath wit h the l itt le finger at each o f i ts st rokes .

U n less t i s finger be m ade to move freely at i ts r oo t

 Fi rst Tw o -
F inge r Exercises . 37

j oint and in dependently o f any hand movement

, ,

the finger technique wi l l never be clear bri l liant o r ,

accurate An excel lent special exercise f o r training

.

the little finger is to depre ss four white keys firmly

,
.

with the other fingers and whi le keeping them de ,

presse d to strike sl ow ly and lou dly the litt le finger

,

note fi fty times in succession watching c are fu l ly to ,

work from the root j oint an d in depen dent ly o f han d

movemen t .

( E) Impress upon the pupi l that tw o great o b

.

j ects in the power fu l upli ft o f the f i nger are to ,

strengthen the muscles and to isol ate each striking

finger from a l l the other fingers as much as possible ,

in order to control each separate ly as the br a in de

sires Sympathetic movement o f finge rs other than
.

the striking finger i s one o f the most nat u ra l and

o ne o f the m ost fata l fau lts o f the untraine d pupi l ,

an d it is a fau lt very difficult to overcome O ne .

very hel pfu l device is to think special ly o f pu l ling

up hard the finger on each S ide o f the striking finger
at every note struck .

When al l the details o f hand po sition an d a l l the

det a i ls o f this exercise have been thoroughly ma s
tered the pupil may gra dua l ly go on through the
,

fo l l owing tw o fing er exercises in the order a n d the

~

manner specified .

The first exercise which has j ust been minutely ,

described is as fo l lows ( F oreign fi ngering is used

, .

throughou t ) .

No . 1
: 4 s o a s a s : 2 1 2 1

C
0 °
c a g a v i o 0 4 4 6

E ach measure o f the preceding exercise is to be

repeated at least thirty times without stopping Set .
38 The Art o f Te aching .

the metronome at 40 and strike one note to each

beat at fir st ; then gradual ly increase the pace til l
96 is reached .

E xercise N o 2 is simil ar to N o I Instead o f

. . .

using the key o f C play the exercise in a new key

,

every day or every week u nti l every m aj or and minor

,

key has been practised for so me m onths .

Set the me tronome at 60 a n d u s e th e fol l owi ng

a lternations o f speed ; first four notes at the rate , ,

o f o ne note to a beat ; an d then eight notes at the , ,

rate o f two notes to a beat .

etc.

No 4. .

E xercises N os an d 4 a f ford varieties o f speed

.
3
and rhythm which may be used f o r E xercises N os 1 .

and 2 a s the pupi l becomes more e f ficient The sec .

tion for each pair o f fingers as j ust il lustrate d for ,

a sing le pair o f fin g ers m a y be repeated ten time s

,

without stopping The metronome shoul d a lways be

.

u sed ; and the duple or triple rhy thm shou ld always

be care fu l ly marked .

C aution . In every o ne o f these exerc ises the ,

 Fi rst Tw o -
Fing er Exe rcises . 39

resu lt attained depends Upon the correctness o f the

movem ents the menta l conc entration and wi l l power
,
-

exerted an d the continuance o f the exercise at ever y

—
pra ctice until some improvement i s fe lt in the points
desired in depen dence power rapidity o f move , ,

ment And it is a lso ess ential i f the maximum o f

.
,

ef ficaC
y is d esired to practise al l the exercises as
,

directed in every key both maj or and minor ; for

, ,

the fingers th u s ear ly become accu stomed to al l com .

b i na ti o ns o f adj acent b l ack and white keys .

No .
5 .

I 2 1 2 2

z e tc~
5 5 1 z
4 6 4 6 4 6

6 4
i 3 4 3 i 3
‘
3 1 2 l 1

__j_ etc.
_ _
d

R hy th mi ca l il l u strati o ns f o r th e p ractise of No 5. .

(J ) .
( b)

When the former exercises have been e f fectively

practised for a period o f from six to twelve months ,

they may be set aside an d N o 5 may be substituted .

,

and may be practised for a few minutes daily

’
throughout the rest o f the student s career T h is .

exercise is to be p layed throughout a chromatic

octave ascending a nd d escen ding eac h hand separ
, ,
40 The Art o f T eaching .

ately withou t stopping an d without any ch ange

, ,

o f fingering When forcibly pl ayed it wi l l be . ,

foun d so fatiguing that it may be advisab le to p r a c

tise it with one p a i r o f fi ngers o f each han d alter -
-

natel y. The notes o f each measure o f the exerc i se

must be repeated in accord ance with the rhy thmical
i ll ustration s given When practisi ng in duple .

rhythm in accord ance with i l lustration ( a ) ; when

,

practising in trip le rhythm in accordance w ith i llus ,

t ra t i o n ( b ) A s the progress o f the student a d

.

vances the pace may gradual ly be increase d For

,
.

the first year M M L 60 may be suggested ; second . .

:

ye ar th i s m a y gr adu a l ly be increase d to
_ _ 96 ;
third y ear to 1 2 0 ; fourth year to I 44 ; fi fth year to
1 76
.

No A fter working a year or two the pupil

. 6 . ,

S houl d practise E xercise N o 2 in doub le not es _

.

( thirds ) in ad d ition to his

,
single note ex or

cises .

No .
7 .

1 2
2 3
a s
4 .

4
4
3 2
2 1

No 8 . .

1 2
2 3
3 4:
42 The Art o f Te aching .

foun d fu lly ade quate to the re quirements o f al l

tho se whose ambition is to be a b le to use their fingers
with ease power an d rapidity
, .

9 T H REE F INGER
.
-
E X ER C I S E S .

There are three finger s rather handicapped in the

race o f technique— the littl e finger and its two
neighbours Some a dditiona l attention bestowed o n
.

the m wil l fu l ly repay th e l abour B ut while the .

first three or four o f the tw o finger exercises given -

in the preceding paragraph may be regarded as an

essentia l part o f the education o f al l p upils three ,

f i nger exercises may be reserved for those more

serious stu dents who desire to succeed .

E very direction given f o r the e f fective practice o f

two finger exercises refers equally to the three
-

fing er exercises In ad dition specia l energy and

.
,

force mu st be devoted to the stroke o f the fourth

finger .

The fo l l owing figures provide examp les o f such

simp le exercises a s wi ll be found use ful E ach o f .

them is to be conti nued throughout a comp a ss o f

three octaves ascending and descendi ng and is to
, ,

be repeated three times without stopping The .

e f fici ent teacher wi l l not f a il to insist on familiarity

with every key maj or an d minor in the practice o f
, ,

al l these techni cal exe rcises since the common h abit

,

o f using the key o f C maj or exclusively is hope

less ly inade q uate for the passage work a fterwards
met with throughout pi a no forte literature .
 T hree -
Fing er Exercise s
. 43

The first note o f each group o f three or four

S hou l d invariably be accented The metronome rate .

may begin with , l 60 a nd m ay increase to 1 44

:
,
.

No . I .

|
:
6 :

fi 3
;
I c It : a . : 0
:
g

No 4 . .

3 4 6 8 4 6 3 4 5 3 4 5

"
T
‘
44 The Art o f T e aching .

E xercise N o is designed chiefly for the pur

.
5
poses o f stretching the fingers an d o f exercising ,

them when in a stretched po sition It is made up o f .

the notes o f the chord o f the d ominant seve nth with

the oct a ve a d ded T h e notes o f the octave are to
.

be hel d firm ly down al l the time whil e the inter ,

mediate notes o f the chord are to be str u ck with al l

possib le f o rce an d to be accented a s marked in ,

groups o f four The three inversions o f the chord

. ,

as we l l as the original position mu st be used in the,

practice o f this exercise ; and there shou l d be from

ten to twenty repetitions o f the exercise for each
position o f the chord The speed may begin at
.

= 60 an d m ay gradual ly be increased until 1 44 is

J ,

reached when a lternate speeds o f two and four notes

,

to each beat m ay be used for successive repetitions .

T hi s exercise is o f course not suitabl e for very

, ,

sma l l hands ; but it is admirab ly a dapted for i h

creasing the stretch o f any han d that can at first , ,

even with considerable di f ficu lty cover the re quired ,

notes The fingers must always be neatly curved

.
,

an d each one be kept over its appointed key .

Th e exercises j ust given may be reg arded as the

min i mum o f their kind which wel l used wi l l guard
, ,

the stu dent agai n st the possibil ity o f technical

fai lure .
 Fiv Fing r E
e -

e i
xerc ses . 45

IO . F I V E F INGER -

E XERC I S E S .

It is a common practice with teachers who are no t ,

rightly trained to begin the technica l work o f the

,

pupil with fiv e finger exercises S ome popul ar

-

pi ano forte tutors furnish a few mo de l s o f these

exercises which are accepted as the orthodox foun
dation o f finger technique A S has a lready been .

pointed o u t much more rapid and thorough results

,

are gained by beginning with the simp lest form o f

two finger exercise and by it s u se training the men
-

, ,

tal powers to attention and the hand an d fingers ,

to correct position and motion There are so ma ny .

nice points which require a l l the alertness and con

centration a chil d can comm an d that i f the com ,

plications o f five fingers and varied figures are i h

tro d u ced to o soon the mind becomes con fuse d a n d
,

careless habits are sure to be contracted B ut when .

right position an d right movements are assured then ,

fiv e h u ger exercises are inva luab le f o r deve loping

-

ease independence and rapidity in executing co m

, ,

plicated figured pa ssages .

O f the many co l lections o f h y e finger exercises -

pub lished there i s o ne very wel l known set which

,
-

wil l stil l ful ly serve al l ordinary requirements .

Schmidt s D ai ly F inger E xercises shou l d f o rm

’ “ ”

’
part o f the student s daily round o f practice so long
as he desires to u se h i s fingers effectively B ut .

there i s little virtue in the co mm o n u se o f these

va luabl e exercises N o t by p laying over a few o f
.
46 The Art o f T eaching .

them every day thought lessly an d aim less ly ; not by

confining the practice o f them to the key o f C ; not
by putting them aside a fter this cursory reading as ,

matter so elementary in character as to be suitable

’
f o r chi ldren s fingers only may their real value be ,

discovered D uring my own teaching experience I

.

have never yet had a pupil who had passed beyond

the reach o f bene fit from this book and benefit not ,

so easily attainab le by any other means But I .

have had many utter bung lers who bitterly resented

“
what they cal led being put back to the beginning ,
”

when I t o l d the m that their only hope o f success

l ay in learning to p lay these exercises effectively .

L earning h o w to d o rightly a thing which hereto

fore has been a lways wrong ly done is not retro gres
sion but advancement .

The fol lowing suggestions are given a s a practical .

guide to progressive metho ds o f practice for these

exercises .

( I ) U se first and chiefly the exercises numbering

.

3 to 3 3 Repe at each one at least ten times without

.
,

stopping or better stil l repeat it a s you S houl d

, , ,

repeat every technica l exercise until y ou feel that ,

y o u have gaine d something in power ease or fl ex i ,

b i lity Begin with a metronomic speed o f 60 to 7 2

.

an d p lay the exercise a lternately twice tw o not es , ,

to each beat and then twice four notes to each beat

, ,
.

E ach ’
movement must be ma de a s i f o n i ts e f ficacy
one s who le success depended When the exercises .

can be p layed at the rate o f 96 four notes to each ,

beat in exactly even tim e with a high up li ft o f the

, ,

fingers and with every tone so loud that it seems as

,

i f there were no longer any weak finger then the ,

pupi l may with benefit pr oceed to the next mode

, ,

prescribed .
 F iv Fing e -
er Ex er cises . 47
’
Take four exercises for each day s practice .

P lay them in three m aj or an d three minor keys every

day — for ex ample in C C sharp and D maj or and
, ,

minor on Monday ; in E fl at E an d F maj or an d

, ,

minor o n Tuesday ; and so o n til l a l l the keys are

,

practised Then o n the remaining tw o days take

.
,

s i x keys each day f o r revision R epeat each exercise .

five times in each key at 96 al ternating two and ,

f o ur to each beat C ontinue this mode o f practice

.

til l the fir st hun dred exercises are wel l done an d

then proceed to the next mode prescribed .

C aution Whatever metho d o f practice be chosen

.
,

the teacher must never ce ase to take care that in al l

the s low practice errors o f han d position an d finger
movement are vigi lantly guarde d against that the ,

utmost force is use d with every finger stroke and

that the up and down movements o f the fingers are
a s rapid a s possib l e .

The metho d o f practice next suggested wi l l

probab ly be found the mo st use fu l for a permanent
p lac e in th e daily practice o f the student O ne o r .

’
tw o exercises wil l su f fice for each day s work P lay .

each one o f these in al l the twenty four maj or and -

minor keys successively without a sing le break .

Repeat the exercise three times in each key pl ay ing , ,

first two notes to each beat secon d ly three and

, , , ,

thirdly four notes to each beat This practice may

,
.

begin at a sp eed o f M M 96 an d may be continued . .

patiently month a fter month unti l a spee d o f 1 8 4

, ,

can be com fortab ly maintained N o break is to be .

made in passing from o ne key to the next P l aying .

in groups o f three notes usua l ly grouped in fours

, ,

wil l be foun d a litt le troub lesome but the difficulty ,

m ay best be overcome by accenting the first note o f

each group o f three unti l this mo de o f pl ay ing
48 The Art o f T eaching .

becomes familiar This introduction o f triple

.

rhythm helps to equa lise the power o f the fingers by

C onstantly shifting the accent to different notes .

In a l l cases the first note o f each group should be

,

accente d F o r this mo de o f practice the exercises

.
,

numbering 3 to 3 3 and those in double notes from

,

1 1 9 onwards wi l l be found most use fu l

, .

D uring th e practice o f fiv e finger exercises the -

best resu lts are to be gained by separate hand p ra c

tice during the greater part o f the course ; but if it
seem desirable f o r some reason to u se both hands
together it wou ld be we l l to accustom the pupil to
,

the or der o f practice alre ady suggested : L eft hand

first right hand secon d le f t hand third and then
, , ,

both hands together .

The course o f h y e finger exercises here sketched

-

o u t wil l provi de abundant materia l for five or s i x

’
years care ful work ; and there is no student w h o
S hou ld ever omit from his daily practice some suc h

exercises a s those prescribed .

F urther m inute and exp licit directions on this

“
branch o f the subj ect wil l be foun d in How to
Strike the Key s an d Piano Technique ( Weekes )
” “ ”
.

ADDI TI ON AL E X ER C I S E S .

F or the sake o f those stu dents who desire to pur

sue further the stu dy o f finger exercises it will ,

su f fice to name some usefu l co llections o f these

exercises :
50 The Art o f T e aching .

II . S CA LE W OR K
-
.

O pinions di f fer as to the proper time to begin the

stu dy o f scales Some teachers u se them a lmost at
.

’
the beginning o f the pupi l s career ; others spend a
consi derable time first at finger exercises and easy -

pieces A sa fe rule woul d be to del ay their intro

.

duction unti l correct position o f hand and e f fective

methods o f striking were assured .

U ntrained heads an d untrained fingers require so

m any repetition s o f a new lesson be fore it is fruit
fu l ly as simil ated that i t m a y be we l l to devote a
,

month to the practice o f the first scale learnt .

Th e additiona l prob lems in scale pl aying to o o f -

, ,

varied fingering and o f crossing the thumb under

the fingers make sure advance the S lower
, .

H A ND P OS I TI ON IN S CA L E P LAY ING -

The hand shoul d be he l d i f pos sib le a littl e

, ,

higher above the key s than in the former exercises .

It is very necessary to insist that it be especial ly so

raised at the litt le finger s i de for otherwise feeble
,

per formance wil l be induced by the common habit

o f dropping this side o f the hand whi le p laying an

ascending scal e with the ri g ht hand or a descending

sca le with the l eft han d P lenty o f room is needed
.

f o r ease in the side movement o f the thumb and

p lenty o f height to ensure a power fu l stroke from
the weak fingers .
 The T humb M o veme nt . SI

T HE T H U M B M OV E M EN T .

I n order to avoid unevenness o f time and tone ,

the utmost care is needed in the management o f the

thumb If evenness is to be attained it must be by
.
,

devising some means f o r enab ling the thumb to be

in as conven ient a position for striking it s notes as
any other finger That is it must be directly over
.
,

i t s note j ust when its turn comes to strike The .

t h umb is an awkward member an d its duty o f skip ,

ping from interva l to interva l o f varying size i s an ,

awkward duty There i s only one way o f eff ectively

.

minimising its di f ficulties and that i s training it to

, ,

move ca ref u lly and g ra d u a lly from note to note ,

inste a d o f moving by a series o f il l time d j erks If -

.
,

as the fingers move up the sca le the thumb be left ,

in its origina l pl ace to skip at first a fourth and

, ,

then a fi fth it i s no t rationa l to expect that it can d o

,

its work with the same evenness as tho se fingers

which have only to move vertica l ly to reach their
notes And yet this p l an o f al lowing the thumb to
.

wait an d then make a frantic skip to i ts note i s not ,

on ly practised by careless pupils but i s actua l ly ,

taught by some teachers !

A l l di f ficu lties connected with the use o f the
thumb in scale p lay ing may be minimised nay
-

, ,

indee d may be overcome by training the pupil with

, , ,

the utmost watch fu lness from the beginning o f his

,

practice to observe the fol lowing points :

,

( A) Keep the hands very high above the keys

. .

( B ) In stead o f ho lding the han ds at right an g les

.
52 The Art o f T eaching .

to the keys let them be bowed a little outwards so

,

that the finger tips o f both hands wil l slope towards

-

each other ; and keep them at the same angle with

the keyboard throughout the whol e sca le This .

may be accomp lished by continuous ly moving the

wrist j oints on the right wrist to the right and the
,

le ft wrist to the le ft In thi s way the thumb wil l .

the more easily reach its key ( See the detailed dia .

grams i n T h e R oya l Method for Scales and

“

Arpeggios by the author )

”
.

( C) T h e first j oint o f the thumb S hou l d be bent

.

j ust so much as wi l l al low it upon striking its note , ,

to lie straight al ong the centre o f its key The .

common fault i s to bend the first j oint out o f strik

,

ing position al together when moving it under the

hand When once th e correct position is secure d
.

f o r the fir st j oint every care must be taken to keep

,

the angle o f the first j oint constant ly fixed and to ,

accom plish al l the sidewise movement from the root

j oi nt only F urther the si d ew i se m o ti o n o f the thumb
.
,

shou ld be made instant ly a fter it strikes it s note ;

and it shou ld be gradua l —that is no t by sudden ,

long skips but note by note T aking the key o f C

, .

m aj or and the right hand f o r the purpose o f il lu s ,

tra t i o n
, the procedure is as fol l ows B end the .

thumb correctly an d strike C ; the moment D is

struck by the s econ d finger move the thumb ,

instantly under the hand from the root j oint until , ,

it is in correct po sition over E ; at the same time

move the wrist a litt le onwar d to the right ; then the
moment the thir d finger strikes E again move the ,

thumb instant ly on a lways at the root j o int til l it

, ,

is over F at the same time repeating the onward

,

movement o f the wrist T hu s the thumb wi l l al ways .

be in position for striking when the time for i ts note

arr i ves.
 The T hu mb M o ve ment . 53

( D ) The next common faul t occurs j ust a fter the

thumb strikes F \
.

t en the fingers then pass .

onward over the thumb they are twi sted roun d out ,

o f their correct ang le with the keys by a su dden j erk

to the right the thumb being used a s a pivot o n
,

w hich t o execute this twisting movement The correct .

action i s to move the who le han d o n keeping it a l l

, ,

the time at the same angle wi th the key s and while

moving it o n to l i ft it up again high above the keys
,

to its origina l position .

When correcting the fau lt al ready men

t i o ned o f bending the thumb a t i ts first j o i nt
, , ,

near ly to a right ang le s o as to j ump to i t s note in

time it wou l d be wel l to urge this genera l princi
,

ple : that any movement even the s lightest o f any , ,

f i nger which puts the finger o u t o f i t s correct posi

,

tion for striking with accuracy and straight down

upon i ts n o te is a wrong movement When for ,
.
,

example the first j oint o f the thumb h a s been bent

,

to a right angle be fore it strikes it must prompt ly ,

be unbent again or e lse it cannot help striking two

notes at once T here fore this un due ben ding i s
.

waste movement increasing the di f ficulty o f habitu al

,

accuracy in aim S o o f every finger ; e ach time a .

finger j erks o u t at the tip o r cur ls in so as to be in , ,

the least degree o u t o f the right position for e f fective

striking the wrong m ovement must be put right
,

be fore there can be an e f fective stroke An d every .

such movement is not only waste energy but it m i li ,

tates against habits o f accuracy an d power .

( F ) E ver y direction given here regar ding the

.

gradual movement o f the le ft wrist towards the le ft

in descending sca les and o f the right wrist toward s
the right in ascen ding sca les a s we l l as regarding ,

the constant immediate and even motion o f the

,

thu mb app lies yet more strongly to arpeggio pl ay

,
-
54 The A rt o f T eaching .

ing F or in arpeggio play ing the t humb skips are

.
-
-

wider and the tendency to un due bending and

,

j erky movements are more pronounced O ne sl i gh t .

caution in this matter however may be given I f , ,

.

the onwar d movement o f the wrist be to o rapi d o r

to o vio lent its ten dency wi ll be to drag the fingers
,

sidewise o ff their respective keys .

( G ) N ever a l low the pupil to drop h i s wrist

.

when striking a note with h i s thumb The best .

remedy for this faul t is to teach him from the very , ,

first less o n to lift his hand sl ight ly at the moment

,

o f striking the thumb note .

( H) Many pupi l s need to be care fu l ly warned

.

against the fo l l o w i ng fau lts : dropping a finger to

grope a s it were f o r its n ote be fore its moment f o r
, , ,

striking ; al lowing the seco nd finger to linger o n ,

instea d o f promptly re leasing its note ; and making ,

the thumb notes to o lou d as wel l a s the fourth finger

notes to o weak .

( I) In the case o f scale practice again and a fter

.
, ,

w ards i n arpeggio p ra cti ce a s w ell as in al l technica l

,
“ “
exercises stu dies an d pieces the teacher w h o
,
”

,
”

desires success an d that in the S ho rtest time wi l l

, ,

insist upon the abso lute necessity f o r s low practice

—a s low succession o f notes pl ayed with the most ,

rapid finger action possib le Such sl ow practice .

sh ou l d be the invariable ru le not al one with the ,

beginner when learning a new stu dy but throughout ,

the who le career o f the student it shou l d ever a lter

nate e q ua l ly with rapid practice C on stant rapid .

practice destroys a l l chance o f attaining i n d ep end

ence c learness accuracy neatness o r bril liancy
, , , .

N ote Any appearance o f reiteratio n which the

.

teacher may seem to notice as he passes from o ne

section to another o f this work may serve to rem ind ,

him that witho u t constant re iteration o f his i nstru c

 The Thumb M o ve me nt . 55

tion s he cannot reasonably hope f o r success .

T hroughout this work it h a s seemed wise for the ,

sake o f greater comp leteness in the variou s sections ,

to repeat some o f the more important suggestions

a lready m a de .

’
A year s di ligent study shoul d su f fice to
fami liarise the young pupi l with the maj or sca les ;
but however long the time required m ay be no pupi l ,

shou l d be al lowe d to proceed further unti l he i s

abso lute ly sure no t on ly o f the right method o f
,

pl aying sca les but a ls o the right fingering o f each

,

scale I f ru les f o r the fingering o f sca les be desired

.
,

they may be foun d in The R oya l Metho d for Sca les

and Arpeggios in which specia l attention is cal led
,
”

“ ”
to the note taken by the third foreign
sty le ) fin ger o f each han d in each sca le I f this .

finger be rightly u se d the other s wil l usua l ly take

their correct pl aces without much troubl e F urther .

hints on fingering are given in the section o f this

work devoted to that subj ect .

A fter le arning the maj or sca les S i x months more ,

wil l probab ly be foun d sufficient f o r mastering the

harmonic minors and another si x months f o r th e
,

me lo dic minors .

( K ) E ach sca le ’shou l d espec ia l ly in the ea rl ier

.
,

stages o f the pupi l s progress be repeated some ten ,

to twenty times uninterrupted ly and throughout a

compass o f four o r five octaves The commo n p lan .

o f stopping a fter two o r three feeb le repetitions o f

a scale throughout a compass o f tw o octaves cannot ,

be to o strong ly condemned F o r the first six months

.

a l l the sca le practice shou l d be done with separate

hands left hand first right h an d secondly and le ft
, ,

h an d again thir dly A fter this per i o d both hands

,
.
,

may be used together during part o f the practice .

56 The A rt o f T ea chi ng .

1 7
H o T HE M ETR ON OM E AN D S CA L E RHY THM S .

E very pupi l S hou l d have a metronome By i ts .

j udicious u se a l l hopeless fl oundering in the mazes

o f t ime may pleasant ly be avoided ; an d by tech ni
~

cal exercises a sense o f steady rhythm may gra du

a l ly be developed i n the pupi l L ack o f any strong .

sense o f rhythm and lack o f the power to teach even

time are noticeab le characteristics o f many teachers
, .

’
F rom a very ear ly stage then in the pupil s career , ,

the metronome S hou l d be used And i ts u se shoul d .

be continued throughout e lementary finger exercises ,

“ ”
scales studies and pieces
, At first it may be
“
.
”

used for the greater part o f the lesson and the p ra c

tice A fterwar ds a s the sense o f even time develops
.
,

in the pupi l the amount o f its u se may gradua l ly

,

be lessened B ut there are few pupi ls who can

.

wisely dispense with it s fairly constant u se until

a fter a number o f years And in ninety nine cases .
-

ou t of a hun dred the te achers who do not use a

,

met ronome at their lessons may at once be detected

by the unevenness o f the time kept by their pupil s .

S ince near ly a l l sca le arpeggio an d other running ,

p as sages o f notes throughout musical literature are

, ,

written in rhy thmical figu res vary ing in time and ,

accent it appears to be contrary to a l l musica l sense

,

to adopt the usua l habit o f making sca le and

arpeggio practice con sist o f a succession o f notes
ex act ly e q ua l in time and tone T hat such an u h .

musical method o f practice shou ld ever h a ve been

formu lated o r continued shows how l acking were
58 The A rt o f T eaching
.

" '

Ir1 th ree

f ou r

' ’
0 a 0 f ou r

th ree

a 8
C n n fi’u r H

0
” ii a f ou r
>

I
o a o o th ree

[ ou r

M any an amateur whose ambitions are no t v erv

great wi l l be content with a scale course which i h
clu d es the maj or m inor and chromatic scales in the
, ,
’
octave position on ly T hree o r four years stea d y
.

work shoul d make a pupil so familiar with this

l imite d course that d aily regu l ar practice even f o r
, ,

but a short time ought perceptib ly to improve h i s

,

finger technique But no serious stu dent cou ld

.

venture to l i mit h i s scale study to this minim um

-
 The M etrono me an d S ca le R hy thms . 59

equipment A fter he h a s mastered a l l the sca les in

.

the octave position he wi l l proceed to sc ales in

,

thir d s sixth s an d tenths in both contrary and simi

, ,

l ar motion .

Al l pupi ls shou ld invariab ly practise every sca le

quite a s much beginning from the highest a s from
the lowest note .

When a l l these sca les are fami liar to the student ,

it may be found ef fective to appoint three scal es each

week for special practice at first ; then a few months
later six sc a les a week ; and a fter that perhaps tw o
scales a day in order to revise the who le scale —
, ,

, roun d
each week This method o f proce d ure i s equa l ly
.

applicable to arpeggio practice Another excel lent .

metho d f o r d ai ly practice at this a dvanced stage ,

’
of the pupil s progre ss i s to go care fu l ly through
,
’
one or tw o pages o f D r H arding s . Sca l e and
” “
Arpeggio Tests o r the irregu lar exerci ses in The
R oy a l Metho d f o r Sca les an d Arpeggio s each d ay ”
.

Here may be found l ists o f sc ales an d arpeggios set

down in varied and irregu lar or der so that by their ,

use the student may be ab le to p lay prompt ly any

required form o f any scal e or arpeggio .

Wh atever metho d o f practice be a dopte d the ,

varied scale rhythms a lrea dy sugge sted shou ld be

used A s the stu d ent gain s power an d ease he may
.

gradual ly increase the speed o f his sca les and

arpeggios til l he can pl ay them as rapid ly a s eight
n otes to eac h beat with the metronome set at ninety
six ; never forgetting o f course to a lternate sl ow
, ,

with this rapi d practice .

60 The Art o f T ea ching .

T ONE V ARIETY IN S CAL E A ND AR PEGG IO PR A CTIC E .

Of equa l importance with the cu ltivation o f

rhythmical e f fects in technica l stu dy i s the cu ltiva
tion o f varieties in tone shading Th e common habit .

i s to rest content with a feeb le an d monotonous

,

mez z o f o rt e ; the occasional exception is the p ra c

-

tice o f a continual f o rt iss i mo ; the p lan as de sirab le ,

as it is rare which shoul d be adopted so s o on as the

,

student h a s attained a fair degree o f in depen d ence ,

power and flexibility o f fingers is the cu ltivation o f

,

every variety o f tone from the so ftest soun d to a

,

vigorous f o rti ss i mo .

Very so ft rapid and even scales wil l probab ly be

,

best attaine d by relaxing al l the hand musc le s

entirely and hard ly raising the fingers from the
keys at a ll B ut no such practice S hou l d be a l lowed
.

until the pupil h a s l ong learnt h o w rightly to li ft

his fingers and to pro duce a power fu l tone .

An exceedingly rapid f o rt i s s i m o scal e is a mark

of great technica l acquirement ; and i f there be
ad ded to this the abi lity to pl ay scales f f pp cres , ,

cend o d i mi nu end o either leg a t o o r sta cca t o both

, , ,

s lowly and rapid ly the foun dation i s laid f o r tech

,

ni ca l succes s with the fingers .

F o r the purpose o f cu ltivating technica l endur

“
ance it is a dvisab le to practise a sca le o f scales .
”

Such an arrangement o f the whol e o f the sca les so ,

fingered that they may be played successivel y with

o u t a break can be foun d in
, The G roun dwork o f
the L eschetizky Method by Ma lwin Bree pub
,
”

lish ed by Schirmer .

F urther d irections f o r acquiring speed and power

 T o ne Variety in Scale an d A rp eggio Practice . 61
’
in scale pl ay ing may be found in P art II o f Mason s
-

“
Touch an d Technique as wel l a s in H o w to ” “

”
S trike .

Ambitious students a fter they have mastered a l l ,

forms an d varieties o f sca les with single notes in

each hand w il l proceed to lear n sc ales in doub le
,

third s an d doub le sixths T o these they wil l apply .

the rhy thms an d varieties o f tone which they have

now learned to app ly to the sing le no te sca les -
.

In conc lu ding this section o f the subj ect o f tech

nique it may be we l l to state that sca le and arpeggio
,

practice i s o ne o f the abso lute necessities in techn ica l

education The pupi l w h o neglects them is a tech
.

ni ca l dunce and do what else he wi ll mu st ever ,

remain a dunce T h e daily amo u nt o f time to be

.

devote d to s cale practice wi l l o f course depen d , ,

’
upon the to ta l length o f each day s practice as we l l ,
’
a s upon the stage o f the stu dent s progress and the

scope o f h i s ambition ; but it may sa fely be sai d

that less than fi fteen minute s is we l lnigh use less ;
and that sixty minutes m ay very profitab ly be , ,

spent f o r so me y ea r s at this fruit fu l labour .

I3 . B R OK EN C HOR D S .
a
t

Special prominence is here given to this secti o n o f

technica l study not on ly o n account o f its great
,

importance but because o f the very general neglect

,

o f teachers and stu dents to give it the attention it

“
deserves Fra nk lin Tay lor writes : I regret that
.

one i mportant branch o f technique is very general ly

C o ns u lt th e a th o r u ’
s te x t b o o k: “
G r ad ed M a nu a l o f
B ro k W k
-

e n C h o d E x e ci ses r r "
( ee es ) .
62 The Art o f T eaching .

neglected —namely broken chord passages as d i s

,

t i ng u i s h e d from continuo u s arpeggios And again

”
.
,

he is most emphatic in his advice that extended

arpeggios shoul d never be attempted unti l the
“

fingers have acquired su f ficient strength an d free

dom o f movement by the u se o f broken chord pas
”

sages In addition to the e f ficacy o f these exercises

.

for developing finger power and flex ibi lity are not ,

such passages much more fre q uent ly met with

throughout the who le range o f the c lassic literature
o f music tha n extended arpeggio passages ? And
yet h o w preva lent is the c u stom o f going on straight
to extended arpeggios without any attention what
soever to this prel iminary stu dy It wou ld be quite
.

a s sensible to omit al l other finger exercises and go

straight to the stu dy o f sca les .

T h e stu dy an d practice o f broken chord exercises

may begin simultaneous ly with sca l e work o r be -

taken up very short ly a fter ; and it sh o u ld be assidu

o u sl y cu ltivated by every stu dent for some years .

The se exercises may be classed into four grades

an d each grade S hou l d be studied f o r si x o r twe lve
months according to its difficu lty and the ability o f
the pupi l.

G rade I might contain exercises consisting o f

broken common chords in various figures and d i f fer
ent positions for a fixe d position o f the hand .

G rade II exe rcises consisting o f broken common

,

chords i n var i ous figures ascen d i ng and descending ,

requ i r i ng mo v m g pos i t i ons o f the han ds .

G ra de III exercises consisting o f broken chords

,

o f the dominant and diminished seventh in variou s ,

figures and positions f o r a fixe d position o f the

,

han d s
G ra de IV exercises consi sting o f broken chords
,

o f the dom i nant an d diminished seventh in variou s

,
 Bro k e n Ch or ds . 63

fi g ures ascending a n d descen d ing requiring moving ,

po sitions o f the hand s .

j ust as ha s been recommen ded in th e case o f

S chmidt s finger—
’
exercises each o f these exercise s ,

shou l d be practised in every key maj or and minor , .

5 0 likewi se each exercise shou ld be repeate d ten or

twenty times without st opping an d t o the beat o f
the metronome At first they shou ld be practised
.

slowly and with separate hands ; l ater o n the S peed

may be doubled and quadrup led .

In those gra des which require a fixed po sition o f

hand great care must be taken to keep the thumb as
,

nearly as p o ssib l e over o ne note o f the octave an d

the little finger over the other an d the remaining
fingers over their respective notes .

The exercises shou ld b e practised in the fo l lowing

key group s o f which the fingering a re th e same first
-

C G F m aj or ; second ly E fl at minor an d F sharp

, , ,

maj or ; third ly D A E maj or and C G and F

, , , ,

minor ; fourthly E fl at A fl at D fl at m aj or an d A
, , ,

flat D fl at and F sharp minor ; and la stly in the

, ,

o d d key s B a nd B minor B flat a n d B fl at minor

, , .

A very few examp les o f such exercises in o ne o r ,

two o f the gr ades suggeste d are given here a s a ,

guide to the teacher who wil l devise other figures

,

and exercises f o r his pupi ls as this study proceeds .

G R A DE 1
i
.

Pract se in ev ery key .

II ) ( 1 b) .
64 The Art o f Te aching .

(2 7 )
3
T
1 2
—Z OI

2 4
0

( ah) .
"

3 4 I)

-
1
a:

fi r
2 1 H
6 3

(3 ) (3 (3 0)
1 n a n n 4 2 4
3 1 2 4 ‘
2

6 4 2 4 H 1 2
'
v 2
'

fi ' 1 2 4
1 4
‘
. n 4 l 4 ‘
2 4

( 4l ( 4a ) .

8 5 4
>
4

—1
i 2 2 s P' IH
—" —o >o — 7

1
a

_j
' _ d *'
: OL j i d
2 l 4 2 2 1 b id
6
5 i

(4 b ) .

3 2 2 1
5 3

(5 a )
1 3 2 5
-

o -
o -

o
T t
i
I:
66 The Art o f Te aching .

( 4)

M any other figures both in the tw o gra des already

,

i l lustrated a s wel l a s for chord s o f the dominant

,

seventh may rea dily be devised and copie d o u t by

,

the teacher ; o r i f there be some w h o d o not car e to

work out such broken chor d prob lems f o r them
sel ves they may fin d much excell ent guidance b o th
,
’
as to form and fingering in Frankl in Tay lor s l ittle
Primer o f Piano forte P laying pp 2 6 to 4 2 ; in ,
”
.

’
G ermer s T echnics o f Piano forte P laying
“
in the ,
”

“
C otta L ebert Piano forte School B ook III ; o r in ”
-

,
’ “
M a son s Touch an d T echnique Part III ,
”
.

N ote A comp lete gra ded manual o f broken

.

chord exercise s by the author i s now published by ,

Weekes and C o .

I5 . E X TENDED AR PEGGI OS .

’
A fter a year s di ligent c o urse o f study at some
typica l broken chord exercises in the various grades
mentioned in the previous section the teacher may ,

safely procee d to the usua l course o f extended

arpeggios .

These arpeggios may best be studied in sections ,

 E t d d Arp eggio s
x en e . 67

in the fo l lowing or der : first arpe gios o f maj or

common chords separate hands in the first position
,

, ,

on ly ; secon d ly arpeggios o f minor common chords

,

simil ar ly ; thir d ly these arpeggios with both hand s

,

toge ther a lso ; fourthly the secon d and third po si

,

tion s o f the se chords in a d d ition first separate , ,

hands and then both hands together ; fif th ly ,

arpeggios o f the d iminished seventh a nd d ominant

seventh with separate han d s in al l positions ;
,

sixthly the same chords han d s together ; seventhly

, ,

al l the C hords already name d in similar motion , ,

both in sixths and tenths .

F INGER ING OF AR PEG G IOS .

Accuracy o f fingering i s o f the utmost impor tance

there fore the teacher must patiently persist unti l
a ccuracy o f fingering i s attaine d The task o f .

learning the right fing ering o f commo n chord

'

arpeggios wi ll be found so much easier i f these

arpeggios are learnt in the group s o f which the
fingering is the same that it is we l l w o rth whi le t o
,

make a careful stu d y o f the fo l lowing cl assification

an d to teach these arpeggios in the groups named .

G roup I C G F and F sharp maj ors ; D A E

.
, , , ,

and E fl at minor s .

G roup 2 D A E maj ors : C G F minors

.
, , , , .

The fingering f o r these groups is easil y

remembered :
L e ft han d first position ; 5 4 2 I ; 4 2 I etc
, , , , , , , .

L eft han d thir d position ; 5 3 2 I 3 2 1 etc

, , , , , , , .

L eft h a n d second po sition ; 5 4 2 I 4 2 1 etc ;

, , , , , , , .

except where the first key i s b l ack and then 4 2 I , , , , .

68 The Art o f Te aching .

R ight hand first position ; I 2 3 ; I 2 3 etc

, , , , , ,
.

R ight hand third position ; 1 2 4 ; I 2 4 etc

, , , , , , .

R ight hand second position ; 1 2 4 ; I 2 4 etc

, , , , , , ,

except where the first key i s b lack and then 2 I 4 ;

.
, , , ,

2 1 4 etc
, , , .

G roup 3 E fl at A fl at C sharp maj or s ; F

.
, ,

sharp C S harp A fl at minors

, ,
.

F ingering :
L e ft hand first position ; 3 1 ; 3 2 1 etc
, , , , , .

L e ft hand second po sition ; 5 4 2 1 4 2 1 etc

, , , , , , ,
.

L e ft han d thir d position ; 4 2 I ; 4 2 1 etc

, , , , , ,
.

R ight han d first position ; 2 I 4 ; 2 I 4 etc

, , , , , , .

R ight hand third position ; 2 I 4 ; 2 I 4 etc

, , , , , , .

R ight hand secon d position ; I 2 4 ; I 2 4 etc

, , , , , ,
.

G roup 4 The isol ated chords o f B and B flat

.

maj or an d minor .

F ingering :
B m aj or right hand ; f i rs t position ; I 2 3 I ;
, , , ,

second position ; 2 3 I 2 ; third position ; 2 I 2 3 , , , , , ,

.

B maj or le ft hand ; first position ; 5 3 2 I ;

, , , ,

second position ; 3 2 1 ; third position ; 3 I 3 2 I , , , , , , .

B minor right han d ; first position ; I 2 3 I ;

, , , ,

secon d pos ition ; 1 2 4 1 ; third position ; 2 I 2 3 , , , , , ,

-

B minor le ft hand ; first position ; 5 4 2 I ;

, , , ,

second position ; 5 4 2 1 ; thir d position ; 4 2 1 4 , , , , , ,

.

B fl at maj or right hand ; first position ; 3 I 2 4 ;

, , , ,

secon d position ; I 2 4 I third position ; I 2 4 1 , , , , , ,

.

B fl at maj o r le ft hand ; first position ; 3 2 1 3 ;

, , , ,

second position ; 5 4 2 1 third position ; 5 3 2 I , , , , , ,

.

B fl at minor right hand ; first position ; 2 3 I 2 ;

, , , ,

second po sition ; 2 I 2 3 ; third position ; I 2 3 1 , , , , , ,

.

B fl at min o r left hand ; first position ; 3 2 1 3 ;

, , , ,

second position ; 3 I 3 2 ; third position 5 3 2 1 , , , , , , ,

.

C omp lete rules c lassifications an d variations in ,

’
regar d to fin g erin g may be found in the author s ,

T h e R o yal Metho d f o r Scales and

“
textbook ,

Arpeggios ( Al l an and C o )
”
.
 Sp e cial Faults in Arp eggio Play ing . 69

S PE C I A L F A U L TS IN AR PEGGI O P L AY I N G .

The teacher wi l l probab ly soon discover that a l l

fau lts made in sca le— p l ay ing are l ikely to be a ccen
tu a te d in arpeggio p lay ing He wi ll there fore .

watch the fo l lowing point s vigilantly : the instant ,

and even onw ar d movement o f the thumb ; the out

,

ward bend o f the wrists ; the high position o f the

han ds at the little finger side ; the high raising o f
the who le hand the moment it pas ses the thumb ; the
avoidance o f a l l twisting o f the han d and fingers
round the thumb instead o f an even onward move
ment o f the hand p o sted at one constant ang le to
,

the keyboard .

O ne ad ditional an d very common faul t i s break

ing the lega t o N o w a s the su rest w a y o f elim
.
,
'

i na t i ng a fau lt i s to concentrate the attention o n the

right thing to be done ex act ly at the point where the
fau lt appears ; so the best way to remedy thi s fau lt
i s to ensure attention t o the fo l lowing directions In .

the right h an d ascen ding an d in the le ft hand ,

descen ding watch ca ref u lly ‘to ho ld down the note

,

preceding that taken by the thumb until the thumb

note i s struck Again in the right han d descending
.
, , ,

an d in the le ft a scending watch care ful ly to ho l d

, ,

down the thumb note unti l the fo l lowin g note is

'

struck .

NB . Many pupil s find it d ifficu lt to attai n a c

curacy o r certainty in arpeggio p laying A very -

help fu l mo de o f practice f o r a l l S u ch pupi ls is this :

Repeat each arpeggio until you have pl ayed it th ree
ti m g e mi s tah e with
es i n su cces s i o n w i th o u t a s i n l ,
70 The Art o f Te achi ng .

the metronome set to any convenient speed fro m ,

ninety six to 1 6 8 ; first three times tw o notes to each

-

, ,

beat then three times three notes to each beat and

, , ,

then three times four notes to each beat If a single

,
.

mistake or even a stumble be m ade during any repe

tition stop at once and begin the prescribed arpeggio
, ,

three times over again T here are few pupi ls w h o .

wil l no t soon develop certainty i f this mo de o f p ra c

tice be conscientious ly C arried out daily .

The scale rhythms a lready given shoul d be used

regul arly for arpeggio s ; varieties o f t one must be
assiduous ly cu ltivated ; an d the s ta cca t o touch
shoul d never be neglected .

While it may be wel l during the first six months ,

o f arpeggio practice to limit the c o mpass to two

,

octaves in order that the fingers may become accus

,

to m ed to their new positions this compass shou ld be ,

enlarged to three four and five octaves as soon a s

, ,

possible T h e memorising O f the arpeggios must

.

no t be forgotten ; or the order o f practice a lready

suggested f o r separate hands ; o r the a lternation s o f
slow with rapid practice .

L ess than fi fteen m inutes daily for the beg i nner ;

thirty minutes a day for the unambitious pupil ;
and forty to sixty minutes a day for the student
w h o hopes to attain a brill iant success may sa fely ,

be regarded as the minimums for some five o r S i x

ye ars o f the educationa l course .

Many pupil s from the long habit o f practising

,

sca les first an d arpeggios afterwar ds each day find

, , ,

it rather discon certing to play an arpeggio and a

scale in immediate succession This disability ma y .

be overc o me by a little practice every day o f scales

and arpeggios in a lternation .

I f specia l exercises be desired for the cu ltivation

o f endurance much satis faction may be found in the
,
’
u se o f Mason s Touch and Technique B ook II I ”
, ,
 Sp e ci al F ults in A rp e ggio Pl aying
a . 71
“ ” “
as wel l as in the S ca le o f Arpeggios a nd Suite
”
o f Arpeggi o s contained in the appendix o f M alwin
,

Bree s G r o un d work o f the L eschetizk y Met h o d

’ ”
.

16 . WR I S T A ND AR M TECH N IQUE .

It i s a l l uncommon to meet with p lay ers

no t a t
whose technica l acquirements are quite o ne si d ed -
.

Some p u il s w h o attai n considerabl e fluency in

finger tec nique fail utter ly in chor d and octave
p laying ; while others again w h o have consi d erab le
, ,

facil ity in chor d and octave work appear to have ,

very little faci lity in finger pas sage work S uch -

one side d ness is no t due to limited ta lent o n the part

-

o f the pupi l but may general ly be trace d to i na d e

,

q uate training given by the teacher B oth o f the

great divisions o f technica l w o rk—finger technique
.

~
,

and wrist and arm technique shou l d be cu ltivate d

,

from a very ear ly stage in the education o f ever y

pupil : both shoul d receive equal a nd d i l igent atten
tion throughout the w hol e e ducation al career I f .

the cultivatio n o f wrist flexibility a nd power be

’
neglecte d in the early year s o f the chil d s practice ,

the probability is that the lost groun d may never be

recovered One c au se o f this ear ly neglect ma y be
.

found in the notion that octaves a nd large chords

are no t within the reach o f a smal l han d B ut then .
,

these str etches are no t necessar y Wrist training .

may be b egu n with singl e note s, a nd may be co n

tin ne d with thirds and common chor d s o f three
notes until th e hand h a s grown l arge en o ugh f o r
,

m o re exten d e d stretches .

The fir st points to be aimed at are much the s ame

72 The Art o f T ea ch ng
i .

as th o se required f o r finger technique : su p p leness o f

j oint power accuracy o f aim an d rapidity o f move
, , ,

ment The best wrist exerci ses for the beginner

.

correspond somewhat to the e lementary tw o finger -

exercises A single note repeate d wil l su f fice

. .

The points to be carefu l ly observed are these :

( A) R aise the han d rapid ly ti l l it i s as nearly as
.

possib le at right an g les with the arm at the same ,

time taking care that the correct curve o f the fingers

is not altered ; hol d it f o r a moment so up li fted ;
then strike down with a movement a s r apid as possi
b le Let the succession o f notes be s low but the up
.
,

and down m otion o f the hand as extensive and rapid

as possibl e .

( )
B H ol d the
. wrist rather low — near ly o n a level
with the keyboard .

( C) Keep the forearm steady ; relax the muscles

.

o f the arm and keep them re laxed a l l the time ; let

,

the striking movement be as i f the intention were to

whip the notes al lowing the elbow to move sli ghtly ,

with the motion o f the hand while the wrist is the ,

fixed centra l pivot from which a l l the m o vement is

governed .

( D) Keep the fin g ers neatly curved ; and d o not

.

let the han d drop be fore its moment f o r striking .

This exercise may be played at first with repet i

tion s o f a sing le note u sin g the midd le fin g er to ,

be g in with an d fo l lowing with the other fingers ;

,

next with repetitions o f thirds ; next with repeti

, ,

tions o f sixths ; then with repetitions o f common ,

chords maj or and minor three notes to each chord ;

, ,

and then with chor ds o f th e dominant and dimin

i sh e d seventh four notes to each chord , .

The speed t a ken at first wil l be very sl o w ; say

M M 60 o n e note or chord to each beat
. .
, .

A s the wri st j oint and arm muscles soon grow

weary it wil l be we l l to practise the se exercises a
,
74 The Art o f Te ac hing .

to spend a few minutes dai ly at the p ractice o f the

first exercises raising the hand as high and a s
,

rapid ly as possible during a s low succession o f

,

notes An d for the first twelve months it may be

.

wel l to en force separate hand p ractice exclusive ly .

( C) Repeat each note o f a scale eight times

.

through o ut a compass o f tw o octaves at sixty four , ,

notes to each beat G o through a l l the sca les in this

.

wa y And vary the u se o f the midd le finger by

.
‘

practice w ith each o f the other fingers N ext u se .

,

four repetitions o f each note thr ou g hout a compass

o f three octaves ; then tw o repetitions for a compass
o f four octaves ; and then single note s ta cca t o sca les , ,

at first with each o f the fin gers separate ly and

, ,

a f terwar ds with the usual sca le fingerin g but in a ll

, ,

cases with exaggerated wrist action

, .

‘
( D) A fter a few months training with singl e
.

notes a sim ilar course may be gone through u sing

, ,

maj or and minor thirds at first and a fterwards , ,

maj or and minor sixths .

( E) The maj or c o mmon chords may next be

.

taken three notes to each chord ; and they m ay be

,

pl ayed throughout a chromatic octave ascending and ,

descendin g eight repetitions o f each chord at sixty

,

to eighty four two n o tes to each beat at first ; then

-

four repetitions o f each chor d then tw o repetitions , ,

and then up and down the chromatic octave s strik ,

i ng each note but once This exercise may be i n

.

creased i n speed til l it can be p layed at M M .l 8 4 . .

,

either in q uavers semiquaver s o r demisemiquavers

,
-
.

N ote F or variety an d ef fective resu lts it is

.
,

a dvisab le to g et the pupil to practise al l wrist ex er

cises in the rhythmica l figures suggested f o r scales
and arp eggios .

( F ) A fter the maj or the minor common chords

.
,

shou l d be adde d ; then chords o f the d o minant and

 Wi t
r s an d Arm T e chnique . 75

diminished seventh f our note s to each chord ; and

,

a fter that the inversions o f al l these chords The

, .

same manner as that suggeste d f o r the practice o f

common chor ds may be adopted here The course .

sketched now may very we ll occupy the ear lier years

’
o f the pupi l s e ducation in wrist technique unti l h i s
hand develops su f ficient ly to take u p octave work .

As the interva ls u sed in wrist practice increase in

width great care must be taken to avoid contracting
the stretch between the thumb an d the l itt le finger
when raising the hand N eglect o f this precaution
.

o ften leads to stumb l ing incorrect notes and u ncer

,

tainty when pl aying oc tave pass ag es .

The various metho ds recommended f o r the cu lti

vation o f wrist technique while using single notes
,

and interval s requiring but a sm a l l stretch may ,

a g ai n be applied no w to the practice o f octaves :

first ei g ht repetitions o f each note o f a maj or sca le
, ,

for an octave ascending and descen ding ; then four

repetitions for tw o octaves ; then tw o repetiti o ns f o r
a compass o f three octaves ; an d at l ast octave ,

scales striking each note once The metronome may

, .

be set at eighty four at first an d the speed m ay

-

gr a dual ly be increased by p laying tw o then three , ,

then four notes to each beat The various rhy thmi.

cal figures sugge st e shou ld be u sed at a ll stages o f

progress ; an d the m etronome speed may be increased
til l al l the sca les can be p layed at 1 2 6 four notes to ,

a beat .

Minor an d chromatic sca les wil l l ater on be , ,

fol lowed by octave arpeggios o f al l the chord s

formerly practised as jsi ng le note arpeggio s Then -
.

a l l the sca le s an d ar peggio s may be practised in

thir ds and sixths both in simi lar an d contrary
,

motion The student who spends some years at the

.

care fu l p r actice o f al l the exercises here suggested

76 The Art o f Te ac hing .

wi l l have laid the foundation o f a ver y neat and

effective wrist technique .

F o r the purpose o f devel oping his powers further

in the same direction and f o r cultivating ease in
,

executin g chor d passages o f various kinds he may ,

proceed t o the f o llo w i ng f o u r exercises : '

( I ) Strike fu l l common chords four not es to each

.
,

chord both maj or and minor successively and co n

, ,

t i nu o u s ly on every note o f a chrom atic scale f o r the ,

compa ss o f an octave ascending and descendin g ,

fir st with eight repetitions o f each chord ; next with

, ,

four repetition s ; next with two repetitions ; and at

,

l ast but o ne chord for each note Set the metronome

at seventy —
.

two an d g radual ly increase the pace til l

,

the exercises can be played at 1 2 6 four notes to each ,

beat for examp le :

,

1
O
:
7 2 to 1 26 .

(a ) .
(a) .

d l .

etc.

Adopt the same system f o r chord s o f the

dominant seventh p laying five note s to each chord
, .

The greater part o f a l l this practice shou ld b e with

separate hands .

A fter this p ractise in the same manner f ul l

, . ,
 \
Vi tr s an d A rm Te chniqu e . 77

comm o n chords and their inversions at first four , ,

and then tw o repetitions o f each chord til l a

, ,

chromatic oct ave o f chords ha s been c ompleted ,

thus

(a ) .

T
l
e Q
et c
.

( b) .

( c) .

E z flz
“

w
a -
a 0 .

etc etc.

Chords o f the dominant seventh with their ,

inversions five notes to each chord practised simi

, ,

la rly may complete this series o f exercises

, This .

fina l exercise i s a di f ficu lt o ne an d is suitab le on ly ,

for hands with a large stretch .

F o r the purpose o f a vigorous f o rti ssz m o a l l these

'

exercises may be al so practise d with the fu l l f o rce

o f the arm At the moment o f striking the chor d
.
,

raise the wrist sl ightly and at the same instant throw

,

the force o f a for w ard and downward movement o f

the arm upon the fingers I n this w ay a very forc i .

ble o r ma rtella lo tone may most easily be p roduce d .

78 The Art o f Te ac hing .

O TH ER U S E F U L O C T AVE E X ERC I S E S .

A s the technica l powers develop the pupi l may ,

be directed to supp lement the foregoin g exercises by

a systematic use o f the author s R oy a l R oad to
’ “

O ctave and Wrist Technique ( Ashdown ) J unior ”

.

pupil s wil l fin d both pleasurable and profitab le

variety in the use o f L ey b a ch s L a D iabo lique i f
’ “
,
”

it be mem orised an d pl ayed every day in accordance

,

with the directions o f its author four times continu

’
o u sl y at a metronome rate o f I 52
’
Six months .

re g u lar practice a fter a few years pre liminary

,

wrist exercises ou g ht to enable the pupi l to a cco m

,

p li sh this fatiguing ta sk F urthe r use fu l exercises

.

in octave s may be foun d in B ook I V o f Mason s ’

“
Touch an d Technique and K u lla k s O ctave ’ ”

School .
”

N ote The R oy a l Ro ad to O ctave an d Wrist

.
“

Technique contains no t only minute and expl icit

directions upon the most eff ective metho d o f p ra c
t i s i ng chords and octaves but al so provi des such a
,

pro g ressive course o f technica l exercises and studies

as shou ld su ffice f o r the needs o f the student
throughout the whole course o f his training .

N EED LE S S MU L T I P L I CA T I O N or TE C H NI CAL
E X ERC I S E S .

a ll the various branches o f technique which

In
have been discu ssed here the exerci se s now pub ,
 N ee d l e ss M u l tip l icatio n o f T echnical Ex ercises . 79

li sh e d are practical ly innumerab le The stu dent .

w h o p lo ds patiently through book a fter book o f

these exercises mi g ht be excused for asking him
,

sel f where i t w a s a l l to end The varieties o f .

figures more o r less complicated into which pas

, ,

sages f o r finger an d wrist exercises cou ld be

wrought are infinite in number B ut it is hard ly
, .

profitable to S pend one s time upon more than such

’

a S pecial ly selected and skil ful ly arran ge d minimum

as wil l most speedily and most effective ly develop
the technical powers When by a right u se o f thi s
.
,

ef fective minimum o f exercises a high degree o f i n ,

dependence power an d rapidity o f movement is a t

, ,
’
t a i ned ; when one s finger s become fam il iar with a
number o f the principa l typical figure d passages
which are found to occur o ften throughout piano
forte literature ; when a lso the wrist training h a s ,

reached a correspon ding stage o f advancement ; then

it i s far better to devote the time appointed f o r tech
ni ca l practice to the dai l y repetition o f fami liar and
e f fective exercises an d to l earn fresh passages for
,

fingers and wrists a s they are met with in the piece s

under stu dy than to attempt a tithe o f th e new ex
,
~

erci ses to which o u r attention may from time t o ti m e ,

be cal led .

I7 . D A I LY S C H OO LS or TEC H NI CAL E X ER C I S E S .

So soon as the pupil has gone through such a

f oundation course o f technica l stu dy as h a s been
sketched so far the next busine s s o f the teacher is
,

to provide some concise and efficient method not ,

a l one to p revent retro gression but to ensure sti ll ,

80 The A rt o f T ea c hing .

further advance Many eminent teachers have a p

.

pl ied themselves to this problem and have devised ,

f o r i ts so lutio n school s o f daily technical study .

These wo rks are intended to p romote advanced tech

ni ca l bri l liancy They are usual ly o f a co mp reh en
.

sive kin d and inc lude varieties o f complicated

,

figures for two three four and five fingers whether

, , ,

f o r the hands in fixed positions o r moving up and

down the piano forte as wel l a s for the ma stery o f ,

contractions and exten sions ; scale an d arpeggio

studies ; repe ated note exercises ; skipping passa ges ;
chord an d octave work I t i s intended that these .

exercises be pl ayed with force and bril liancy ; and

that they be practised not a lone slowly but also , ,

at a very rapid rate E ach work or section o f the .

work is arranged to provide sufficient materia l for

’
one day s technical practice An d the whole work .

or section o f it appointe d f o r practice shou ld be ,

p layed through continuously .

Amongst such technical schools the fo l lowing m ay

be mentioned The order adopte d is that o f p ro
.

g ress i v e di fficu lty .

I Pla i d y s D aily S tu dies ( Au gener)

.
’ “ ”
.

“ ”
2
. L osch o rn Technica l Studies ( Pres se r )
,
.

3
. L ey b a ch La D iabol ique ( a single wrist
,
“ ”

stu dy ) .

4
. K ohler Technische Materia len
,
.

5
. G ermer Tech ni cs o f the P iano ( Bosworth )
,
”
.

6
. C z erny Forty D aily E xercises O p 3 3 7
,
“
,
”
. .

“ ”

7
. H anon The Pianiste Virtuose
,
.

8
.
Moore The Mechanism o f Piano forte P lay
,
“ -

g ( B osworth )
”
In .

9 Mason Touch and Techn ique ( four books)

“ ”
.
.
,

10 K u lla k
.
O ctave Schoo l B ooks 1 1 III ( octave
,
“
,
”
,

stu dies only ) .

1 1 O scar Beringer D aily Studies ( B osworth )

.
,
“ ”
.
82 The Art o f T e ac hing .

7 .M alwin Bree G roundwork o f the Lescheti z ky ,

Metho d ( Schirmer )”
.

8 .H arding Scale and Arpeggio Tests ,

( Weekes ) .

9 J ohnstone Piano Technique ( Weekes )

“ ”
. .
,

I O J ohnstone Royal Method f o r Wrist and Oc “

,
.

”
tave Technique ( A shdown ) .

U S EF U L P I A N OFOR T E TU TOR S .

“
The R oya l Piano forte Metho d by Al f red ,
”

J ohnstone ( B oosey ) .

The Cotta Lebert Piano forte School Part I

-
“
,
”
.

“
L K Oh ler Practica l Piano Method ( Peters)
.
,
-
”
.

D amm ’s Tutor ( S tei ngrab er)

’ “

“
”
.

”
G u rli tt s Technics and Melo dy O p 2 2 8 three , .
,

book s
’ “
Franklin Tay lor s Piano forte Tutor .
”

“
Ho lmes and Karn Technical Trainin g , .
”

S ECTI O N 11 .
—P I A N O F O RT E ST U D I E S .

1 . I N T RO DU C TORY SU G G E S T I O N S .

It may very pertinently be asked what o n earth ,

is the necessity for a ddin g to the very el aborate

scheme o f technical work already out lined ? I s any
thin g further real ly required beyond the labour eh
tai led by occasion al passages o f exce p tio nal d i ffi
 y
i ntro ducto r Suggestio ns . 83

cu lty in the p ieces under stu dy ? I s technical work

o f va lue and beauty in itsel f o r is it o f val ue on ly ,

in so far a s it hel p s the more rapidl y to bring the

beauty o f rea l music within eaS y reach ? These
questions are worth the asking Were I to give my .

o w n opinion frankly and strongl y I shou l d not ,

hesitate t o a dvise that al l these inventions c al led

studies shou l d b e entirely put aside ; and that the
time appointed f o r them be divided between the
technica l exercise s a lread y su g gested and the finest ,

music obtainab le .

The subj ect however deserves con si d eration i f

, , ,

on ly in de f erence to those ab le and earnest teachers

w h o advocate the u se o f these comp ositions B e .

sides i t may be contended that such a host o f emin

, ,

ent pianists an d teachers wou l d no t have written or

ur g ed the u se o f these legions o f studies i f the y
may wisely be set asi de This contention may how
.
,

ever be satis f actorily met Be fore the subj ect o f

,
.

technique had been ex amined analysed system , ,

a ti sed reduced to a sort o f practica l scientific

,

method when the means o f acq uiring technique were

le ft to the j udgment o f the in dividua l teacher when
there were no com p rehensive e f fective an d system ,

a t i sed schemes o f technica l exercises pub lished then

these studies came to be re g arded as the ortho dox
stepping stone to technica l e f ficiency S o l ong have
-
.

such views obtained that it seemed the right and

,

natural thing to walk in the paths tro dden by so

many eminent guides .

B ut there is another way o f l o oking at the matter ,

to o in o rder to account f o r the p o p ul arity o f this

,

species o f com p osition Succes s f u l teachers m a y

.

regar d studies a s a s o rt o f sugar c o ated p i l l o f tech -

nique U nderneath a p leasant ap p earance o f music

.

there i s c o ncea le d the technica l matter which consti

84 The Art o f T e ac hing .

tu tes their e fficacy And no doubt there are many

.

p u p il s w h o derive technical benefit from the u se o f

these di luted musico technical stud i es w h o woul d
-

re f use the more strenuous p ath o f purely technica l

labour I t may be wel l there fore to sketch briefly
.
, ,

a graded course o f some o f those studies which are

hel d in high repute I f used at al l they shou ld be
.
,

used we ll Phrasin g rhythm an d expression must

.
,

be added to the purely technical p art o f the

work ; an d the compositions mu st be d il igently .

practised unti l they can be p layed with accuracy

and certainty at the speeds required by their varied
character .

F ashions in stu dies change O ne teacher o r o ne .

,

schoo l o f music wil l prescribe o ne course another

, ,

some course entirely different And indeed this is .

,

n atural where there is so little syst em and so vast a

choice O ne p lan adopted is to select a few books
.
,

o f stu dies o f p rogres sive degrees o f d i f ficu lty and ,

to t ake the stu dent l ab o riously an d persistently

through the m a l l to the end A f avourite selection .

was Bertini O pus 1 00 2 0 and 3 2 ; Cramer ; hal f a

, ,
-

’ ’
d o z en books from C z erny s vast stock ; C lementi s
“
G ra dus ; M o sch eles O pu s 7 0 and 95 ; H enselt
”
, ,

O p us 2 and 1 0 ; and Chopin O pus 1 0 an d 2 5 B ut ,

.

such a course w a s decried by others a s too narrow in

i ts range o f authors and unnece ssarily severe These .

critics there f ore prescribed a much more numerou s

course o f works and authors ; an d f rom each o f the
o p us numbers they a dvised that a smal l se lecti o n
be made .

The l atest devel opment o f thi s schoo l i s to utilise

o ne o r other o f those varied pro g ressive and co m ,

prehensive lists o f stu dies n o w issued by many p u b

lish ers .I t wil l suffice here to name at first a f ew
o f these graded lists o f stu dies ; and a f terwar d s to
86 The Art o f Te ac hing .

series in nine books under the editorshi p o f Ho lmes ,

and Karn .

“
Y ear s ago Lebert and Stark in their Piano f orte ,
”
School compiled an excel lent progre ssive course o f
,

exercises and studies interspersed which was pub ,

li sh ed by Cotta f o r the use o f students o f the Stutt

gart C onservatorium .

Bosworth again pub lishes an a dmirable co llec

, ,

tion o f I o o E lement ary Studies pro g ressively ,

”

arranged by that ab le scho lar G ermer The fore , .

most Ame r i can pub lications o f this kind are : The “

Stan dard G raded Course o f Studies in ten bo o ks ,

”
,

by W S B M athews issued by Presser o f Phila

. . .
, ,

del phia ; and The N ational G raded Course in “

,
”

seven books issued by the H atch C o o f the same

, .
,

city al l at one do l lar per bo o k

, .

Then a g ain the re are many individual wri ters o f

, ,

pro g re ssive courses o f stu dies ; and these composi

tions are varied within the limits o f the indivi du
al ity o f each writer D i f ferent teachers have d i f .

f erent pre ferences Some are l o ya l to prol ific o ld .

C z erny The most popu lar o f h i s opus numbers are :

.

29 9 3 3 7 3 3 5 36 5 7 40
, , 400 S ome pre fer B erens
, , , .
,

some K Oh ler some M a rmo ntel an d others the more

'

, ,

modern scho o l o f L Osch o rn o f whose stu dies over ,

o ne h un dred are arranged in progressive or der and ,

publ ished by A u gener .

The need s an d desires o f the more a dvanced stu

dents are specia l ly regarded in the one hundred
stu dies contained in Pa u er s N ew G radu s ad Par
’ “

n a s su m publ ished by A u gener I n these there are

,
”
.

sectional courses for Scales and Velocity Thir ds an d ,

Sixths the Shake Arpeggios O ctaves Chords E x

, , , , ,

tensions i n Arpe g g io Chords Staccato Le ft H and etc , , , .

 Lists o f G rad e d Stud ie s . 87

3 . LI S T S OF G R ADED S T UDIE S W I T H , AU TH OR S AN D
OP U S N U MBER S .

The studies mentioned in the f ol lowing lists co n

sti tu te but an infinitesima l selection f rom among

the m any thousands i ssued by the great p ublishing

houses o f E ngl and and E urope The selecti o n .

given here is grouped into five grades o f p ro gres

sive di f ficu lty an d provides com p osition s very varied
,

in character starting o n the o ne side at such purely

, , ,

technical works as those o f K ohler Berens C z erny ;

'

, ,

an d l ea ding o n through the musico technica l matter -

of Cramer C lementi L Osch o rn Mo sch eles to the

, , , ,

more mu sical sty les o f B ergmii ller Hel ler C o nco ne , , ,

H enselt Thalberg an d Chopin

,
.

Many oth er lists thus varied and graded m ight

very wel l be chosen ; but the fol lowing l ists c o nt ai n
s o me o f the stu dies most general ly he ld in esteem
throughout the wor ld by the a dvocates o f this p o r
’
tion o f a stu dent s curricu l um .

G R A DE 1 .

Very E asy S tu d i es f or E lementa ry Pu p i ls .

B erens, Op p 7 o , 6 1 73 79 v
D u erno , O p 1 7 6 y
uv y
. . .
.
, ,

D erno , O p 1 1 0

D i
.

L e C o u p p ey , Op 1 7 ar ng, O p p 3 8 , 8 6
i
. . . .

K6 h ler, Op p 1 5 1 ,. 1 90 , 205 L e m o ne, O p 3 7 . .

Wo h lf a h rt , Op . L as ch o rn, Op p 1 5 9 , 1 92 . .
88 The Art o f Te a ching .

G R A DE 11 .

E a s y S t u d i es f or Y ou ngr Pu p ils .

C z ern y
Op 1 3 9 G u rlitt, O p p 5 0 , 5 1 , 5 2 , 5 3
Ki K
. . .
,

r ch n e r , O p 71 . . unz , O p 1 4 .

K 6 h ler , O p p 1 8 2 2 1 6 , 2 3 4 D Ori ng, O p 8

v i i
. .
.
,

D u erno y , O p 1 7 6 B er t n , O p 1 0 0
B
. . . .

B e rgm i ller , O p 1 0 0 . . e re n s, O p 73 . .

L é s ch o rn , O p p 65 , 1 90 , 1 93 L e C o u p p ey , O p 7 9
G El y B S ll P l d
.
. .

er m er , I OO e m entar a ch , ma re u es

St di
.

u es ( B o sw o rth ) .

G R A DE III .

M o d era t ely D if f
i cu lt S t u d i es f or q i or a nd [ u ter

med i a te Pu p ils .

B ti i O p p 9 d 3
er n 2 an 2 B erens ,Op 7 3
H ll Op p 4 7 4 5 4 6
. . .
, .

e e r, Co nco ne , O p p
K u Op p 9 B P I nv e ntio ns
. .
, , .

ra se , 2, a ch , T w o art
H i ll O p 4 6 B S i
-
. . .

er , a ch u te s
l
. . .

Lb h O p 66
s c o rn , . W o f f , Op p 2 61 , 1 9 .

C m
ra S tud i E d b y
er s
’
es, . C o cci u s, B ii lo w , T a u si g, R u th a r d t
or D r W e e k es
. .

G R ADE I V .

S t u d i es f or S eni o r Pu p i ls .

Cl me nti
e G ra du s M o sch eles , O p p 7 0 a nd 95
G M B
, .

ra h a m o o re , Op 24 ere ns , O p p 6 1 , 64
C y B
. . .

z er n Op p 355 740, 8 1 8 , e rger , O p p 1 2, 22

i
, . . .

D 6 r ng, O p p 8
M ay K l
.

er 3 05 oh er , O p p 1 2 8 , 1 3 8 , 1 1 2
K l
.
. .

L6 h sc o rn, O p p 67 , 1 36 es s e r , O p 20
H ll
. . . .

e er, Op 1 6 . .
J ensen, O p p 3 2 , 3 3 . .
 CH APT ER III .

G eneralSu ggesti o ns f o r the Teachi ng

of lnte rp re ta tio n .

I . I N T RO DU CTORY R E M AR K S .

W H E T H ER mu sical interpretation c an be e ff ectively

taught at al l is a question upon which opinions dif
fer There are many persons w h o bel ieve that it
.

is not possib le to formu late o r to express up o n this

subj ect such guiding principles as w il l enab le a stu
dent to discover f o r himsel f the right sp irit and
interp retation o f musical works These teachers
.
,

unconsciously an d by implicati o n deny the virtue ,

o f their art o f teaching . They vaguely believe that

there is in music some sort o f esoteric mystery which
is to be un derstood only by those who have a n atura l
geniu s that way .

The best method o f so lving the quest i on o f the

j ustice o f such o p inio ns is to discover the rea l r eas o n
90
 Sugge stio ns f o r the Te ac hing o f I nterp re tatio n . 91
of th e
denia l o f this p ower o f communicating the
interpretation o f mu sic by teaching the principles
of musica l expression This inquiry wil l at once .

differentiate teachers into tw o great c l asses : those

who ana lys e an d formu late o n the o ne hand ; an d ,

those w h o work chiefly by imitation and without the .

help o f definite principles o n the other , .

The mature artist w h o has never S pent any time

,

o r study upon the analy sis o f what he does or h o w

he does it when he i s a p preciatively pl aying a musi

,

ca l composition i f ca l led upon to expl ain his method

,

o f attaining this resu lt wou l d probab ly make some ,

“
such statement a s this : Music speaks to me a s in
the l anguage o f a fami liar friend Its voice I know .
,

its s entiments I appreciate i ts spir i t I feel simp ly , ,

because there is a natural a ffinity between u s I ts .

ap p ea l to me as ever must be the case with the true

,

musician is instantane o us an d clear I have no t to

,
.

inquire whether there are any theoretic princi p les

upon which i ts expressive message i s based nor do
cut and drie d formu laries o f expressive interpreta
- -

tion concern any true initiate in the least N ow .

”
,

such a person through utter neglect o f the hab i t o f

,

ana ly sis has quite o verlooked an d quite forgotten

, , ,

the years o f instruction by which his nature w a s

familiarised with such cut an d dried principles o f - -

expressive interpretation as rhythm phrasing varie , ,

ties o f touch and tone and a l l those component ele

,

ments o u t o f which that complex resu lt which we

cal l music i s mad e up Al l these element s have at .

length beco me so incorporated and wel ded together

into what no w seems a natural and indivisib le who le ,

that their very ex istence is over looked Su ch a non .

ana lytica l musician when he pl ays a piece o f music

, ,

i s no t consci o us that h e sees a com p l icated succ es

92 The Art o f Te a ching
.

sion o f notes in combination varying in leng th in , ,

p itch in f orce and arranged so a s to make up a

, ,

structure properly p roportioned an d wel l organised

in al l its parts ; he is not conscious that he had ever
to learn the expres sive significatio n o f a l l these ele
mental factor s ; the composition is to him simply
an or g anic living who le instinct with beauty a s
, ,

evident to him a s i f it had never needed exp lanation .

I s it any wonder then that he decides f o r natural

, ,

musical obtuseness in the pupil w h o cannot see the

beauty that he sees o r that he decides against any
such co l d and formal metho d as a cut —
,

and dried -

theory o f interpretin g the significance o f music by

teaching an alytica l principles ?
Widely di f ferent are the views hel d by him who
subj ects the who le matter to the keenest analysis .

H e watches his own methods o f stu dy o b serves the ,

development o f his own insight by fu ller knowledge ,

and never forgets th at a p er fect whole is but the

artistic combination o f a multitude o f e lementa l fac
tors and that the appreciation o f the who le is to
,

be helped largely by a right un derstan ding o f the

parts He knows fro m reflecting o n his own ex
.
,

p eri ences that a stu dent may and probab ly wil l go

, , ,

through many musical compositions stu dying them ,

in their component elements bef o re these e lements ,

become fused into one organic whole ; be f ore their

sep a ra te p a rts vanish from h i s conscious experience

in the l ig ht o f the living beauty o f an indivisible

who le And s o me there are w h o never pass beyond
.

this stage o f seeing in part s J ust as there are men .

of science keenly ana lytical who never co ordinate

, ,
-

the elements o f their research so a s to see the l ight ,

of the beauty o f the O rganic U nity from whence

9
4 The Art o f Te hing
ac .

2 . TI M E A ND TE MP O .

It hard ly overstating the case to sa y that a

Is

large part o f the fai lure o f many pupil s to p lay

t o lerab ly wel l i s due to the lack o f abi lity to keep
time And y et how few teachers there are who
.

wou l d no t decl are that whatever else they neglected ,

right time and right notes received the utmost atten

tion The teaching then however a ssiduous can
.
, , ,

not be e f fective This i nefii ci ency i s due pa r t ly to

.

the carelessness o f the pupil ; partly to the l ack o f

right method o f the teacher ; and partly to the spre ad
o f the erroneous idea that accurate time keeping is -

inconsistent with what i s regarded a s an ex p ress i v e

rendering o f music This l a st source o f uneven
.

time i s deservin g o f examination f o r a mo me nt be fore

e f fective metho ds are suggested f o r teaching accurate
time .

S o me o f o u r virtuoso pianists are partial ly

responsib le f o r the notion that the more varied is the
time within the limits o f a bar a phra se a perio d , , ,

a movement the g reater are the opportunities for

,

displ ayin g em o tiona l effects B ut we have sa fer

.

guides than bra v u ra p layers in the ex amples and,

precepts o f the great comp o sers whose music i s so

o ften distorted B ach was a per fect timist ; Mo z art
.

re g arded accurate time a s one o f the most d i f ficult

y et most essential parts o f good pl aying ; Beet
hoven insisted upon accurate time in h i s teaching ,

and exemplified it in h i s pl aying i f Fer dinan d R ies ,

i s to be credited ; Schumann s direct i o n i s to p lay

’
,

in time and eschew the metho d o f those virtuosos

 Time d
an T emp o . 95
whose p l aying resemb le s the walk o f a drunken m an ;
an d Chopin whose romantic mu sic i s genera l ly re
,

garded a s a fair fiel d for the time anarchist was so -

rigid a teacher o f correct time that h e genera lly kept '

a m etr o nome o n the piano f o r the greater insistence

o n accuracy .

Y e t thou g h al l this i s so it must no t be thou g ht

,

that th e per fect rendering o f beauti ful music i s to

be attained by a dhering s l avish ly to the mechanica l
regu l arity o f metronomic time The point to be em .

p h a si sed is this that nothin g S hort o f a regul ar and

,

care ful training in the accurate know led g e and

practice o f the ru les and laws o f any art wil l ever
enabl e anyone to kno w when an d how rightly to
rel ax the stiffness o f rigid ru le ; how right ly to u se
that restrained free dom o f in dividua l personal ity ,

which stamps upon the work the impress o f hum an

li fe I t was thus—through rigid rule— that th e
.

master musicians o f the wor ld educated themselves

or were e ducated in their art They studie d th e .

ru les an d princip les o f composition as formul ated

b y eminent teachers from the w o rks o f their il lus
tri o u s predecessors ; an d it was thu s that they d i s
covered the path which led not to anarchy or chaos
, ,

b u t to disciplined and orderly freedom The busi .

nes s then o f the effective teacher i s to train the

, ,

pupil in the most rigid ru les o f time and to insist ,

that no departure be ma de therefrom unti l lo ng

p ractice has assured their p er fect ma stery The su g .

gestions o n this subj ect which fo l low are intended

to make c lear in the first p lace some o f the m o st
, ,

e f fective means for training pupil s to kee p accurat e

time ; and in the secon d place what practical hints
, ,

may be given to th e a dvanced pupil to S how him

h o w wisely to pursue some individua l freedom an d ,

thu s esca p e from the tyranny o f mech anIca l

m o notony .
9
6 The Art o f T eac hing .

3 . Ho w To TE A C H S TRICT TI M E .

There are no t a few teachers and p upils w h o are

unable to keep accurate time without the ai d o f some
mechanical device f o r the purpose F ortunately f o r .

the security o f us a l l in this m atter the metronome , ,

an unerring test and guide has been invented ,

.

I t is o f no avai l for any teacher to insist that his

sense o f time at least is accurate ; it i s o f no avail
, ,

that he count alou d with his pupil s during their

lessons unless he h a s first submitted himse l f to some
,

certain test in the m atter And even then counting

.
,

al oud at the lesson supposing it were correct woul d

, ,

not guar d the pupi l from error during his practice ;

an d a habit o f irregu larity in the len g ths o f notes
grows upon the young pl ayer unti l by an d by it ,

is no easy matter to develop a sense o f even time

at al l The best thin g therefore that the teacher
.
, ,

can do i s to submit himse l f an d a l l his pupil s to

metronomic discipline .

THE M ET R ONOM E .

F rom a very early stage in the e ducation o f the

pup i l the metronome S hou ld be used I t i s not at .

a l l necessary or wise to wait until difficul t composi

ti o ns are attempte d By using the metronome from
.
9
8 The Art o f Te hing
ac .

rep etiti o ns f o r each beat I f at first the p u p il can

.

no t keep with the metronome from the sound let h Im ,

loo k at the swing o f the pendu lum ; an d a f ter a t

taining exactitu de by th e hel p o f h i s eyes he may ,

try again to j udge from the sound al one I n a ll .

cases it is essential to success that the pu p il b e ma de

to strike the first o f every g roup o f notes into which
a beat is divided ex actly with the tick o f the
,

metr o nome .

4 . ME T R I CAL A CCEN T U A T I ON .

But a lth o ugh the even stroke o f the metr o nome

wil l do much yet o f itsel f it i s insufficient to sa f e
,

guard the pupil abso lutely from irregul arities in

time Or to develop in h im the sense o f metrica l or
,

rhy thmic pul sation S uch a rhythmic sense is i f

.
,

p os sib le a more important element in musica l work

,

than the per f ectly even time o f the notes and beats .

The sen se o f metre or rhythm shoul d there f ore be

cu ltivated a long with the study o f even time f rom
, ,

the very beginnin g A s h as already bee n suggested

.
,

the conventiona l pl an o f practisin g technica l ex er

cises in a non rhythmical manner S houl d be entirely
-

p u t aside ; becau se it is only reasonable to exp ect that

unmu sical unrhythmic a l practice wil l destro y rather
,

than deve lo p a musical or rhythmical sen se in the

young pu p i l .

B ut even metronome and a sense o f metrical ac

centu a ti o n invaluabl e as they are wil l hardly quite
, ,

meet the necessities o f the case These wi l l not .

entirely sa f eguar d the student f rom error s in time

 M etrical A cce ntuatio n . 9
9
un les s he makes himsel f famil iar with the number
an d va lue o f the beats in e ach mea sure ; un less he
examines the broken beats and knows exactly where
e ach beat begins ; un less he m akes sure that each
mea sure h as its right number o f beats r i ghtly divided
f o r the purpose o f countin g the time correct ly What .

is nee ded i s first care fu l exam ination o f the ,

measures and a pencil note on the music to S how

,

the exact point which marks the commencem ent o f

e ach beat ; and next careful counting a lou d in order
, , ,

to m a ke sure that each measure h a s its right num

ber o f beats and that the beginnin g o f each beat
,

synchroni ses ex a ctly with a stroke o f the metro

nome I f in addition to al l these precautions the
.
, ,

accentuation be stron g ly marked the education o f ,

the pupil in thi s m atter wi l l advance securely an d

r apidly M any teachers m ake the mistake o f ana
.

lysin g the time o f each measure f o r the pupil when ,

with a l ittle care he c o u l d easil y d o this for him

,

sel f Such a method destroys instead o f develop

.
,

i ng sel f rel iance thought fulnes s

.
-

alertnes s The
, , .

ri g ht p rincip le is se l dom or never to d o for a pupil

,

what he can or ou g ht to do for himsel f I nsist o n .

thou g ht fu lness an d sel f rel iance however troub le -

some this may be .

When teaching the meaning o f the various s p ecies

of time S ignatures never let the exp lanation end
-

with the statement that these si g n atures show the

number an d kin d o f h ea t in a measure A lways .

make the accentuati o n o f each measure at le a st as

clear and emphatic a part o f the instruction as the
number an d value o f i ts beats But i f a fter this .

clear exp lanation the teacher d o the countin g for

his pupil o r i f the pupil be permitted to count aloud
,

in a monotonous an d rhythmless fashion the ef f ec ,

ti v eness o f the theoretica l instruction wil l soon be

nul lified I f o n the contrary rhythmica l counting
.
, ,
100 The Art o f Te ac hing .

be no t only t a ught but regu l ar ly a dopted the pl ay ,

ing cannot fail to be characterised by e f f ective

rhythm Let the count which bel ongs to the a c
.

cented beat be enunciated with a stron g emphasis ,

and let the unaccented beat s be counted so ft ly :

thus in 6 8 t i me 1 2 3 ; 4 5 6 I n the first i h
,
-

, , , , .

stances i t m ay be found a dvisab le to teach youn g

pupil s to count rhythmica l ly apart from the piano ,

forte .

Shou l d the metho ds su g gested here be a dopted ,

time and accentuation may each be learned with o ne

hal f the l abour by the help o f the other .

Whe re a metron o me is not avail able beating time ,

fo rcibly with the foot is a substitute o f some value .

The pupi l w h o mark s the be ats o f the measure em

phatica l ly with his foot and a l so counts aloud ,

rh y thmica lly in a firm deci ded voice may hope

, ,

eventua l l y to approximate to fairl y even time B ut .

it shoul d always be remembere d that feeble beating

or feeble counting or sin g—
,

son g countin g is almost

, ,

invariably g overned by instea d o f gove rning the

pla y in g .

That part o f this subj ect which pertains more

especial ly to accent and rhythm i s treated in Section
8 o f this chapter .

5 . E XP RE S S I VE TI M E FREED O M ; QU AS I TE MPO
R UB A TO .

So soon a s the pupil h a s mastered the art o f keep

ing accurate time ; so soon a s al l the variou s metr es
in music have become so fami liar and so sharp ly
marked in h i s min d that they are instant l y recog
102 The A rt o f T eac hing
.

va lues suppose a semibreve were to l ast for sixteen

,

sec o nds then a minim shoul d last for eigh t a

, ,

crotchet for four a quaver for two an d a semi

, ,

quaver for one second N everthe less it is on ly by

.
,

training the ears o f y oun g pupil s to appreciate the s e

proportion a te len g th s exact ly that they wi l l a fter
wards be enab led to preserve the steady movement
o f the rhythm unaltere d when for some expressive
, ,

purpose certain notes are p r ol on g ed by a f r actio n

,

o f a second an d o ther note s w hich fo l low are simi

,

la r ly shortened B ut j ust as the l ivin g b ea uty o f the

.

mu sic is the more r ea di ly el icited by a nice practical

appreciation o f the true re lative le ngths o f the notes ,

that i s by ad din g a fraction to the len g th o f some

,

an d subtractin g f rom the len g th o f others at appro ,

p r i a te times and in the ri ght m anner ; j u st as surely

wil l the re su lt o f so doin g l ie in the direction o f .

caricature i f there be lack o f well directed know -

ledge O r i f there be any exa ggeration Thi s length

,
.

eni ng and shortenin g o f the written notes must be

so very sli ght that it cou l d not rea dily be noticed

by a stran ger to the device a lthou gh when he was ,

let into the secret it shoul d be per fect ly clear to

,

him I f the uninitiated hea r er perceives anythin g

.

further than the mere genera l fact that the music

sounds more expressive than the pl ay ing to which
he is common ly accustomed then there is pal pab le ,

and unpl easa nt ex ag geration .

The expressive device j ust expl ained i s o ne o f the

most va luab le in the who le ran g e o f musica l inter
p ret a ti o n and it is used consci o usly or u nco n’
, ,

sci o u s ly in large measure by some o f the worl d s

, ,

most beauti ful p layers .

W ith re g ard to the use by the stu dent o f this

unwritten law o f musical expres sion—as in deed
, ,

with regard to accent and other interpretative fac

t 0rs i t sh o ul d a lways be remembere d t h at tho u gh
-

,
 R e l ative Time Value s o f N o t es . lo3

f or a l ong time it must be a dopte d simp ly in obedi

,

ence to the direction o f the teacher o r to ensure ,

the app lication o f sOme interpretative princip le ;

and though f o r so lon g a s this i s the case accent
, ,

an d the minute g ive and take in the proportionate

- -

len g ths o f the note s already enj o ined wil l sound ,

somew hat mech anical exag gerated unmusica l to , , ,

the ear o f the cu ltivated musician ; stil l a fter a wide ,

course o f stud y a nd a z ea lous app l i cation o f expres

sive princip les the day wi l l come in the d eve lop
,

ment o f every pupil who has in him the seeds o f

m usical discernment when these thin g s wil l no more
,

be done simply by r ote or in obedience to rule but ,

wil l a l l o f themse lves fal l into their natu r a l pl ace

, ,

in the musica l ren d ering ; w il l al l be felt to belong

o f necessity to the genera l effect ; an d wil l at
len g th cease to be consciou sly reco gnised unless ,

by an intentional renew a l o f the analytical p rocess ,

as separate elements in the interpretation o f an

artistic who le The same p r inciple ho l d s equa l l y in
.

the case o f phi lo sophic study W hile the stu dent .

i s busying himsel f with some ana lytical d igest o f

the l aws o f thou g ht an d the principles o f the human
mind the e lements o f h i s study seem to him
,

to have precious l itt le practica l bearing upon h i s

li fe or upon the cul tivation o f his mind B ut when .

various thoughtfu l principles are incorporated into

the very bein g an d t ake their place as an integra l
,

part o f the life ; when the student feel s in him se l f

that these are no lon ger merely ana lytica l l aws o f
thought but essential realities o f li fe ; when at length
,

the wh o l e being moves unconsciously in harmony

with those laws and principle s ; then and not ti ll ,

then does the phi l osophy whether it be po l itical

, , ,

moral menta l or reli g ious take its proper p lace in

, ,

the l i fe as a vivi f y ing infl uence .

I n the a p p licatio n o f vari o u s ex p ressive rules th e ,

104 The Art o f Te a ching .

thought f ul teacher wil l there f ore ex p ect crudity an d

ex aggerati o n from h i s pupi l at first an d wil l _b e ,
-

content to wait patient ly for th e artistic fru i t wh i ch

grows o f long experience The practica l considera .

tions a re no w an d w h en it is wise to indu lge those

,

ex p ressive l iberties which are not indicated in the

notation G uidance on this qu a s i t emp o ru ba t o or
. ,

g ive and take in note len g ths may be given by a

- -

few general ru les an d an examp le treatin g o f the

m atter in some detail .

The best g uide to the ri g ht use o f anything i s an

exact knowledge o f i ts purpose And the purpose .

o f this a l most imperceptible len g thening o f certain

n o tes i s to g ive them that expressive prominence
,

compatib le with artistic smoothness which by the , ,

u se o f accent a lone wou l d be impos sib le

, From this .

expl anation one principle o f applicat i on is evident

at once Wherever expres sive prominen ce is desir
.

ab le especial ly in melo d i c passages when accent

,

a l o ne mi g ht inter fere with the smoothne s s o f the

e f fect the note for which this prominence is required
,

shou l d be a lmost imperceptib ly lengthened Such .

cases are o f frequent occurrence Again in the case .

,

o f accompaniments where the r hythm requires very

,

c lear but no t obtrusive or noisy ma rking the re

, ,

q uired end is attained by a dopting this metho d in

the p lace o f a dditiona l accentu ation .

Variety o f tone shading and the pedal are hardly , ,

o f more fre q uent use in the per formances o f many

cul tured p layers th an thi s del icate means o f inte r

p reti ng note values Modern editors are coming to
.

recognise it as one o f the imp o rtant principles o f

expressive interpretation Tw o o f these editors .
,

more especial ly are very care fu l to il lustrate it in

,

their editorial work F o r this reason alone no te acher

.

sh o ul d be without the schol arly editions o f these

two learned men R iemann and G ermer
, .
106 The Art o f T e ac hing
.

3 i

P oco ru ll
.

:t
P ed . 6
'
'

9 '

Ped ‘
P
erl .

P ed . P ed . Ped .

( I I) .

1 nd bars 7 1 12 r o ll 0
, . .
1

Here the first three bar s and a hal f are a kin d o f

introduction to the air in the form o f a simp le pro ,

gre ssi o n o f reiterate d chords i l lustrating the ch a rac

ter o f the accompaniment about to fol low But .

simp le a s this i ntroduction is it i s no t without co n ,

si d era b le exp ressive i n terest Y et wh e n the chords .

are struck as they so o ften are in exactly even t i me

, , ,

and with exactly even accentuation the e f fect pro ,

d u ce d is nea r ly as unl ike the real mu sic inten ded a s

the monotonous outflow o f a pianol a or a ba rrel
o rgan is un like the p la y i ng o f an artist The very ‘
.
 R el ative Time Values o f N ote s . [ 07

li f e o f this passage consists in a delicate give an d -

take in the proportionate len g ths o f the notes ; a

variety o f touch ; an d a constant ris e and fa l l o f
tone The first points for detailed consideration
.

are the appropriate give an d take in the len g th o f

,
- -

the notes an d the t emp o variations o f the passa g e

,
.

The opening octave i n the bass shou ld not be f o l

l owed at the exact interval o f a quaver by the ope n
ing cho r d in the treb le There shoul d be an almost
.

imperceptib le lengthenin g o f the q uaver rest This .

bre a k i s a kind o f caesural pause making it clear

that the continuous motive begins with the first
quaver cho rd in the treb le This chord must be .

shortene d by as much as the quaver rest w a s len gth

ened so that thus not on ly wi l l the tim e o f the
, ,

w hole beat remain unal tered but the sho rt quaver ,

wil l the more readi ly appe ar to lead up to the fo l

lowin g beat A g ain the first chord o f the second
.
,

gr ou p o f q uavers in the same mea sure shoul d be

simi larly len g thened ; and a stil l greater prolonga
tion i s required for the thir d chor d o f the same group
in order to give expressive prominence to the mel odic
note B without that interruption o f the smoothness
,

o f the pa ss age which wou ld be occasioned by

trying to gain me lo dic prominence through the force
o f accent a lone I n the secon d mea sure th e
.
,

same pr o portionate variations o f length shoul d

be ob served as in the fir st measure except that , .

there is no melodic note which require s to be speci

al ly pro longed W here the notes are len g thened
.

very s li g htly it is simply as an expressive su b sti

,

tute for the rougher e ff ect o f metrical accent .

Throu g hout thi s secon d measure there shou l d be a

very sli ght quickenin g o f the t emp o and an a ecom
p anyin g cres cend o in or der to prevent the chance
,

o f monotony and to give li fe to a phrase which ,

f rom i t s extr eme S im p l icity and l ack o f to na l

108 The Art o f Te ac hing
.

variety might otherwise app ear uninterestin g The

,
.

third measure with the first note o f the fo u rth

,

measure lead up to an d form the c a dentia l endin g

,

o f the phrase These concl u di ng motives shoul d

.

therefore be so pl ayed a s to cal l the attention o f the

l istener to the facts that he re the S hort sentence o f
int roduction ends and that a new passage i s about
to begin And besides they shou l d receive such ex
.
,

pressive treatment a s w i l l best e luci date their own

musica l impo rtance A ra llenta nd o fairly wel l
.
,

marked to w ards the cl ose o f the me a sure together ,

with a sl ig ht cres cend o cu lminatin g at the seventh

,

quaver o f the measure an d a sl i ght pau se on the

important mel o dy note A fol l owed by a prompt ,

return to the o r i g ina l t emp o and a r apid d i mi nu end o

from the l ast quaver in the measure wil l right ly i h ,

terp ret the si g nificance o f the p hrase and e m phasise

the point o f rest The notes which shoul d be s li g htly
.

len g thened are the third fi fth an d seventh quavers ;

,

in this case each o f these a S ha de m o re th an the pre

v io u s one unti l the expressive e f fect reaches its
,

c limax at the seventh quaver The next point in the .

expressive rendering o f this pa ssa g e which dema n ds

examination is the va r ieties o f touch req uired The .

upper notes o f the chords a s i s usual ly the case , ,

re quire the g reatest prominence inasmuch as they are ,

o f some melo dic si gnificance ; the octaves in the b a ss

shoul d be so ft and lega t o ; an d then a lthou gh sto c ,

ca t o f o r the chord s be in dicated by dots this s ta c ,

ca t o must not only consist in the very g ent lest re lease

o f the ke y s but even this shortenin g o f the not es
,

must be lessened practical ly to a n o n leg a t o in ea Ch -

case w he re the len gthening o f any note for the sake

o f mel odic si gnificance was req uired I n like m an .

ner to o must the s ta cca t o be increased where the

,

unimportant notes do not demand any emphasis

,

The third p oint requirin g att ention i s variation Of

1 10 The Art o f Te ac hing .

ing o f those quavers where accentuation is indicated ,

and proportioning that len g thening to the var i o us

accents natura l to the metre o f the measure o r
motive The notes o f minor importance wil l be ren
.

dered very so ft ly an d s ta cca t o ; the first ba ss n o te

of each hal f measure requires len g th prominence ,

and sustenance by the use o f the p edal The tone .

o f the whole accompaniment must be a sub dued

p za nz ssz m o .
I

Then i f we re g ar d the melo dy we shal l find

, ,

cres cend o and d i m i nu end o again required for the

purp o se o f elucidating the beauty o f the various

rising and fal lin g phra se s and fi g ures however lon g ,

or short those fi g ures may be Specia l prominence .

must be g iven to the opening mel ody note so a s to

arrest the attention at once ; and in S pite o f any
p i a n o indications a l l melody note s must be sounded
,

with a fu l l rich tone so that they may ring o u t

, ,

wel l above the accompaniment I t is fatal to the .

beauty o f a mel ody to pass over o ne S in g le note in

a care less sl ipshod or weak st y le as i f it did not
, ,

require thou g ht ful consi deration care fu l expression ,

and clear distinct enunciation I n the examp le

,
.

given the note s marked thus

,
must be s lightly
len g thened M o ti v a l caesuras are marke d by a
.

punctuating comma .

Measure 7 requires special treatment A s o ften .

happens in gr o u p s o f short notes o f considerab le

importance so here an almost imperceptib le s l acken
, ,

ing o f the t emp o and a very sl i ght emphasis o n each

note i s deman ded for the group o f semiquavers in
thi s measure Then as here we are approaching a
.
,

ca dentia l resting point a marked ra llenta nd o is de ,

ma nd ed to draw attention to this clo sing o f the

,

phrase E ach dotted quaver too must be percep

.
, ,
 R e l ative Time Value s o f N o tes . lll
ti b lypro longed and each succeeding se miquaver
proportionately shortene d ; an d the tone at the fa l l
o f the phrase must again drop to a very subdued

p i a no .

6 . P AR E NT H E T I CAL N OT E ON S L URRIN G .

O ne further p oint in this pa ssage requirin g care fu l

consideration is the s lurrin g I n mo st ed i tions o f .

the m usic a slur wil l be foun d covering the last three

notes o f measure six an d en ding at the l ast note o f
the measure Th i s i s a typica l example o f the con
.

fusion regarding S lurrin g which un f o rtunately

obtains throughout the whole range o f musica l litera
ture S uch con fusion a s h as been pointed o u t o nce
.
,

and again by variou s writers arises from the u se o f ,

exactly the s ame S ign for tw o total ly di f ferent pur

poses by both composers and editors I nstead o f .

usin g the bracket a s suggested by Sterndale

,

Bennett to indicate the separation o f the music into

,

i t s different phrases and the curved l ine as a specia l

,

leg a t o mark this curve d l ine o r s lur i s used indis

,

cri m i na tel
y f o r both purposes And where it i s .

abso lutel y unneces sary to make any specia l indica

tion o f lega t o this s lur o r curved l ine i s constantly
,

in serted o n th e music a s i f f o r the expre ss purpose

of con fusing the inexperienced The practica l .

q uestion then s ince pendin g re form We must make

, , , ,

the best o f things a s they are i s how are pupil s and , ,

teachers to decide whether a S lur is merely a lega t o

indication or a si gn to S how the extent o f a phrase ?
There i s but o ne ab so lutely certain guide and that i s , ,
1 12 The Art o f Te ac hing .

a very care ful an d detaile d ana lysis o f the forma l

construction o f th e mu sic Such an analysis to be
.
,

e ff ective must go far beyon d a g eneral out line o f

,

the form ; it must make clear the development o f the

mu sic from i ts sma l lest mo t i v a l elements Such a .

mo ti v a l analysis as i s re q uired i s suppl ied by R ie

mann in h i s excel lent edition s o f many o f o u r musi
cal cl assics B ut i f such g uidance be o u t o f reach
.
,

there i s a fa irly g ener al and simp le ru le which wil l

sa fe g uard the teacher and pupi l from much con
fusion an d error : W here s lur s cover who le measure s
o r w hole beats that i s where they corresp o nd with
, ,

measures or beats or where they end at the end o f a

,

measure they may u sual l y be regarded a s lega t o

,

direction s simply But where they be g in or en d at

.

an
y division o f a broken beat o r o f a g roup o f notes
,

equa l to a beat ; and where they end at some a c

cente d divi s i o n o f a measure they may usual ly be ,

regarded a s punctuating or articul atin g slurs .

There are very few editions o f the c lassics whose

S lurrin g can be rel ied upon E ven the C otta edition
.
,

a dmirab le though it be o n many points i s con stantly ,

in error o n thi s important subj ect And stra nge to .

,

rel ate a prej udice again st inter fering w ith the o ri

,

g i na l erroneous notation o f the composer has i n ,

d u ced even such l ate editors o f B eethoven sonatas as

’
Charles D A lb ert and Buonamici to reprint the mi s
leadin g phrasing o f the past R iemann and G ermer .

are the courageous pioneers and the sa fe guides to a

better metho d o f e d I ti ng .

The thought fu l teacher w h o h a s made him se l f

master o f the p rincipl es a lready enunciated here o n
the subj ect o f give — and —t ake in the pro p ortionate
lengths o f notes for the purpose o f securing expres
sive time free dom wil l careful ly elaborate observe
'

, ,

and apply these princip les in h i s own pl aying ; wil l

ll4 The A rt o f Te hing
ac .

the works o f s o me the u ltra romantic schoo l o f

-
co m~

po sers such as Chop in and Schumann the purpose

, ,

appears to be to express strongly a number o f vary

ing mood s o r tempers or emot i o ns ; an d i f I nte lle c
tua l devel opm ent o r unity an d finish in design are
,

in an y way opposed to this outpourin g O f the em o

ti o ns they are to some extent sacrificed The central
,
.

aim ha s moved entirel y since the days o f B ach .

W ith h i s school beauty o f desi g n w a s the g oa l ; i f

emotion w a s co incident with the design we l l and
.
,

g oo d. B ut now thin g s are reversed E motion is .

the g oa l ; and i f beauty o f design occur in addition ,

there is no great harm C apric i ousness then is a

.
, ,

character istic o f this m o dern emotiona l sty le ; moods

vary capricious ly and constant variation s in the
,

t emp o is o ne o f the means adopted to interpret the se

capriciou s moods I S it any wonder then that fixed
.
, , ,

unerring princip les cannot be l aid down to se rve as

trustworthy g ui des in these spheres o f changing
’
moo ds ? S o metimes a cl ue to the composer s i nten
tion i s given by the u se o f such terms a s str ett o ,

s tri ng end o or a g i t a t o ; but usually there i s l ittle

g uidance further than the character o f the music
-itsel f o r the tra dition s which perco l ate from the
,

composers themselves through an unbroken line o f

great p layer s .

Perhaps there is one S in g le rule general enough in

i ts appl ication to deserve special mention Towards .

the close o f many o f the l arger works o f Chopin and

Schumann there is intended to be a gra dual w o rking
up to a c l imax o f some emotiona l intensity ; and an
increa se o f speed i s desired as one o f the means o f
interpretin g the increa sin g stress o f emotion Many
wel l —
.

kno w n examples might be given such as the ,

’
first an d l ast m o vements o f S chuma nn s F a ssch i ng
” ’
schwank o r Chopin s scher z os an d bal lades
But the f act is that the current o f varia b l e m o ods
.

, ,
 C o nv e ntio nal T e mp o R u bato . l 15
especial ly when impul sively an d romantical ly ex
pre sse d i s to o capriciou s an d to o intangib le to be
,

accurately defined an d m ap p ed o u t in c learly

marked rule s and princ iples At o ne time the pace .

o f these semi discip lined compositions increases

-
at ,

another t ime it s lackens and without these variation s

,

the rendering sounds ab sur d ; but exactly where for ,

h o w long o r at what rate these alterations shoul d

,

take pl ace must be exp l ained in each piece by its

, ,

edit o r teacher traditiona l pl ayer o r instinctive i n

, ,

An d this seems l ikely to be the on ly

'

terp reter .

avai lable p la n until a day arrives whe n the variabl e

currents o f human emotio n may be accurately
mea sured o u t in ter m s o f musica l t i me for practica l
u se and c lear interpretation .

There i s o ne caution however to which th e atten

, ,

tion o f the teacher may wel l be cal led Al though .

there i s little doubt that increase o f emotional a g ita

tion may be partia l ly expressed by a t emp o gradu
al ly increasing stil l no intel l igent compo ser ever
, ,

inten ded that the p layer shou l d rush al on g mo re and

more furi o us ly until the pace reached a frantic
,

ga l lop And yet no t a few o f o u r virtuoso pianists

.

in du l ge in this parade o f acrobatic leg erd ema i n ,

until the speed destr o ys a l l emotion al and musical

significance whatsoever .

RAL LEN T A ND O A ND ACCE L ER A ND O .

But a lthough the expre ssive device o f the temp o

‘
ru b a t o expl ained in the previous section be to o i n

de finite f o r the a p pl ication o f hard an d fast ru les - -

there are certain other orderly and genera l ly re cog

1 16 The Art o f Te ac hing .

ni se d time variations which the teacher m a y sa fely

enj oin upon his pupil .

T w o points o f view re g arding interpretation which

must ever be kept steadily before the min d are : the
neces sity for making the structura l form o f the music
quite c lear to the l istener ; and the neces s it y for
us i n g eve ry avai lab le device for enhancing its ex
pressive significance F o r both these purposes the
.

ra l lenta nd o i s o f great value B y it the attention i s

.

arrested an d d irected to a coming chan g e o f form or

moo d or to s o me resting point C z erny though it is
, .
,

somewhat the mode at present to decry his work h a s ,

given some excel lent su g gestions in his O p 5 00 Vo l .

, .

III upon the emp l oyment o f the ri ta rd a nd o and

,

a ccelera nd o from which the f o ll owin g extracts m a y

,

prove usefu l to those not famil ia r with this work :

“
The ri ta rd a nd o ( inc ludin g ra llenta nd o ri tenu t o , ,

s m o rz a nd o ca l
,
a nd o , acc o rdin g to the genera l ly
establ ishe d rule is much more frequently employed
,

than the a ccelera nd o because the former is les s likely

,

to d i s fig u re the char a cter o f the piece than the to o ,

frequent hurrying on in the speed o f movement We .

ma y retard the time most advantageous ly :

I I n those pass ages which contain the return to
.

th e principa l subj ect .

“
2 . I n those p a ssages which lea d to some separ
ate mem ber o f a mel ody .

“
3 . I n those long an d sustained notes which are
to be struck with particu lar empha sis and a fter ,

which quicker notes are to fol low .

“
4 . At the transition into another species o f time ,

or into ano ther mov ement di f ferent in speed from ,

that which preceded i t .

“
5 . I mmediately before a pause .

“
6 . At the d i mi n u end o o f a prece ding very livel y
passage ; as a lso in bril liant passages when there ,
H8 The Art o f Te ac hing .

of a melo dic m arca to pass age this may be eff ec ,

‘
ti v ely done by the u se o f a ri t en u to .

I n the author s textbook The Art o f E x p res

’
,
“

sion ( Weekes and

”
terse detail ed and c lear ,

direc tions for pupil s and teachers may be f ound

, ,

upon counting time the time o f orn aments irregu lar , ,

rhythm s caden z as the use o f a ccelera nd o the metro

, , ,

nome an d t emp i and kindred subj ects ,

.

The subj ect o f phrasing i s fu l ly treated in the

’ “
author s textbook Phra sing in P iano P laying with
, ,

E xamp les ( Ashdown ) ”

.

8 . H OW To TE A C H A CCEN T , EMPHAS I S AN D
RH YT HM .

The l ack o f a strong sense o f rhythm is a charge

o ften an d j ustly brought against the E ng lish E ven .

in chorus singing where o ne wou l d imagine th at the

, ’

metre o f the wor d s wou l d re en f orce the n atural -

accent o f the music and compe l attention to both ,

they are neverthe less co nstant ly and ludicrous ly

I gnored A f ami liar il lustration
. may be given f rom
’
the first chorus o f H andel s Messiah Wh o h as “
.
”

no t h ear d the common rendering : And a ll flesh

“

t dll see it and h o w few have heard the right ren

”
sl ,
' '
“ ”
dering : An d al l fl es h shal l s ee it ? I f then this ,

trip le metre which makes the strongest appeal o f a l l

,

metres to anyone pos se sse d o f a natural sense o f

rhythm f ai ls hopelessly to arouse any a deq u ate
,

ap p reciation o f the regu l ar recurrence o f musica l

accent and fail s moreover in spite o f the re en f orce
, , ,
-

ment natural ly suggested by an intel l igent del ivery

 Ho w to Te ac h Acce nt , etc . “9
of the words is it any w o nder that the piano forte
,

pl aying commonly hear d lacks the verve the ro l l , ,

the vita lity the measured regu larity o f wel l d efined

, ,
-

rhy thm ? Feeb ly expressed rhy thm i s no l i g ht fau lt

which other exce l lences will hide ; f o r clear rhythm is
one o f the essential e lements o f music .

E very teacher and stude nt shou l d bear in mind

to o that the b ea rer thr o ugh his ear a lone receives
, , ,

but a feeb le impression from rhythmless p laying ,

u na i d ed a s it usual ly is by the in ferences which the

'

eye might g ather from the printed page I t is better .

,

therefore that the p laying shou l d err rather on the

,

side o f to o forcibl e than to o feeb le rhythm .

Accent shoul d be taught fr o m the very outset o f

’
the pupi l s career ; an d its study shou ld be continued
s i de by side with the stu dy o f time Th ese tw o .

shou l d never be put asun der : they ought to be a

twain in o ne o f music U n fortunately the writer on
.
,

mu sic h a s too o ften to record the unha p py fact o f

their divorce .

REGU LAR A ND S TRI CT ACCE NT U AT I ON .

It woul d be superfluous h ere to exp lain in detai l

the various species o f ti m e si g natures simple an d ,

compoun d ; o r to repe a t what every book o f e le

mentary theor y tel ls o f the accentuation o f the vari
o u s beats o f e ach s pecies The point which ca l ls f o r
.

su gg estive advice here is how may the knowl ed g e ,

and pr a ctice o f norma l accen tuation be taught mo s t

e ff ectively I t i s evi dent from the resu lts that the
.
,

usual instruction on this subj ect is no t only i neff ec

tive but actua l ly mislea ding A sk any average .
i zo The Art o f T e ac hing .

pupi l wh at he means by accenting a note and i f he ,

ever heard o f such a thing at al l he w il l prompt ly ,

answer : P l ayin g it l oud ly o f course

“
, I f te achers .
”

are insistent and pupils are attentive a sys tem o f ,

monotonou s thumping is o ften therefore the su b sti

tute for musical rhythm I nstead o f teaching the
.

p upil to strike every accented note l ou d ly let him ,

be directed to pl ay the notes immediatel y preceding

and succeeding the accented no tes so ft ly : thus
accent without thumpin g wi l l be e f fected B ut dir ce .

tion without ex ample i s power les s in this matter ;

’
f o r direction in itsel f wil l never fix in the pupil s ear
an d mind the right d ifferences o f tone E ach pupil .

must be S hown from the reiterate d i l lustrations o f

,

h i s teacher which he must immediate ly imitate that ,

accent is produced b y the soundi ng o f tw o compara

y so ft notes the o ne p receding an d the other
t i v el ,

succee din g a louder note I f for exampl e it was

.
, ,

thu s made c lear to the pupil that trip le rhythm ,

whether it bel onged to a measure o f s i mp le o r to a ,

beat o f compound time meant that tw o so ft beats

,

were to precede and t o fol low o ne louder beat so

that the l ouder note shoul d s tan d out clearly and be ,

readily d ist i nguishe d by every hearer a sense o f ,

vi g orous rhythm wou l d soon be devel oped in his

m ind . The point w hich the pupi l mu st be g o t to
grasp is simp ly this that the accented notes are no t
,

necessari ly loud notes but notes which stand o u t

,

prominently in contrast to th e so fter tone o f the u n

accented notes which surround them The e fficacy .

o f thi s method I have m y se l f tested for many years .

The genera l l ack o f the kn owl ed g e o f how to

teach accentuation effective ly w a s lately cal led to
my attention forcib ly by reading the fo l lowing sen
tence in a work on interpret ation by o ne o f the wel l
known teachers o f America : I n “
time the fir st ,
1 22 The Art o f T hing
ea c .

of the cu ltiv ated mu sician the work accomp lished

,

ma y seem little better than mechanica l monotony .

An d cru de the work wil l continue to be until a ccen

tu a ti o n ceases to be done consciously by direction ,

or according to rule—unti l it takes i ts natural p lace

unconsciously a s o ne o f the component elements o f
an artistic whol e .

9
. RHYT HM OF D I VIDED B E AT S .

When the normal accen tuation o f the various beats

in al l species o f time h a s been fai r l y wel l m astered
by the pupil the teacher shou l d draw h i s attention
,

to tho se finer accents which belong to th e groups o f

notes into which beats are divid e d The common .

neglect o f this finer accentuation i s accountab le for

much o f the mono tony o f tone an d irre g u l arity in
time so frequent ly heard An d one o f the chie f
.

elements o f beauti ful p layin g is th e fine shading o f

tone which individual ises succe ssive note s and ,

marks the even though subdued undercurrent o f

, ,

rhythm which shoul d correspon d in the d ivided

beats with the stronger rhythmical current o f the
who le measure .

E very divided beat shoul d have it s slight accent

on the firs t o f the g roup o f notes into which it i s
divided G roups o f two quavers must have the
.

secon d so fter th an the fir st ( , I group s o f three ,

the se cond and thir d so fter than the first ( r: , ) ; ,

I

groups o f four are accented as a measure o f f our

except that o f course this acce ntua
, ,
 R hythm o f Divid e d Be a ts . 1 23

tion is far less marked than the normal accents o f

beats G roups o f si x must b e carefu l l y marked in
.

t w o s so as to avoid any possibil ity o f their being

,

mistaken
- r
q - i

for tw o tripl ets not

The cases which r equire the most care ful attention
on the part o f the teacher are those in which a group
o f notes makes up part but not the who le o f a beat
, ,
.

I n nine cases out o f ten the pupi l promptly accents

,

the fir st note o f this broken group ; whereas the cor

rect rendering is to increase ver y sl ight ly the fir st
norma l su b accent o f the group
-

E xamples

etc .

f
a
x ; etc .

A large part o f this sub accentuation may be a c

-

com p l ished by the ver y slightest lingering on the

notes which bear the sub accent s The e f fect o f
-

a ccen : may thus be attaine d more expressively an d

"

smoothly .

And simi lar ly in the many c ases o f phrases an d

,

m otives which begin o n a weak beat an d thu s re ,

semb le in structure the cases o f broken beats il lus

’
t ra ted in the fore g oing ex amp les the b es : e f fect may,

very o ften be gained by l ingering sl ightly on the

first normal beat accen t in the motive or phrase .
1 24 The Art o f Te a ching

(a ) . (5 )

( cl

When the pupil h as so fu l ly mas tered not only ,

the norma l accents o f al l species o f time but al so ,

the sub accentuation o f broken beats that he makes

-

the rhythm q ui te c lear in his p l ay ing w ithout any

further directions from his teacher then has the suit ,

abl e period arrived for acqua i nti ng h im with th e

V arious expressive devices for acquirin g artistic
freedom from the ty r anny an d monoton y o f purely
even metrical accentuation .

10 . H ow TO TE A CH E X P RE SS I V E FREED OM IN
A CCEN T U A T I O N .

Al l the varying degrees o f tone shading in a -

piece o f mu sic such as a re indicated by cres cend o

,

and d i mi nu end o for ex amp le ; emphas is impl ied or

, ,

directed appropriate to the me lodic and harmonic

,

structure o f the composi tion o r to i ts emotional ,

character ; phrasin g both as re g ards a r ticu l ation

,

and expressiv e renderin g : these are al l factors

which modi fy in some m easure the m onotony o f
regul ar metrical accentu ation B ut and this reserva
.
,
~
1 26 The Art o f T ea c hing
.

very beginning and i f the me tho d adopted be eff ec

,
.

tive so may the know ledge o f a con siderabl e var i ety

o f tone—
,

shading be taught to anyone who can recog

nise the di f ference in lou dness a n d so ftnes s between
one note and another B u t here again the teach er .

o f ten fail s simply because he over l ook s the fact

,

that verbal directions are usele ss if there is not a

ri g ht stan dar d in the mind and ear o f the pupil .

It i s useles s t o tel l a pupil to p l a y this passage

so ftly or that pa ssa g e lou dly unti l the various gra
dations o f tone are made clear to him an d are fixed ,

as a standar d in his min d an d ear by reiterated ex

ample Lou d tones an d so ft tones shou ld per
.

s i st ent l
y be offered in e x am ple s to the pupi l until
he can prompt ly recognise at l eas t five main shades
of tone : p p p mf f an d 77 E ven then it mus t
, , ,
.
,

be remembered tha t the pupil may fail to imitate

the grada tions he h a s learned to recogni se The .

m aj orit y o f pupil s imagine that they are varying

th e tone considerab ly when it is almost impossib le
for the listene r to distin g uish any variation at a ll .

An d so difficu lt is it to in duce any pupil to mark ,

with fair distinctne ss the d i f f ere nt g radations o f ,

tone that the on ly way to gain even approximate

,

succe s s i s to ur g e u p on the p layer what seems to

him exag geration N ot y et has it b ee n my happy
.

lo t to i n duce o ne single pupil so to exag g erate h i s

di f ferentiation o f tone shading as to leave too great -

a g a p between a fine p i a nissz m o an d a fu l l vigorous

'

f o rt i ssz mo for the intervenin g g rades o f tone

'

, .

When some approximate standar ds o f tone variety

h a ve been fixed in the mind or car o f the pupil an d ,

when he h a s learne d to con form his p l ayi n g to these

stand ards then the part o f the teacher is to ca l l a t
,

tent ion to each direction on the music an d to see ,

that in every case the right shade o f tone is duly

rep roduced This process i s l aborious an d it re
.
,
 Cre sce nd o Diminue nd o
, d
an T e Shad ing
on -
. 1 27

quires unwearying p atience persi stence and care , .

B ut are no t these a part o f th e essentia l character

i s tics o f a successfu l teacher ?
5 0 man y gradations o f tone a s have been enu mer
‘

ated here may not be apprehended b y the learner

f o r some time I ndeed it wi l l be fou n d advi sab le
.
,

t o let the instructions on this ma tter proceed by

ea sy st ages F o r the beginner it wil l suffice to i n
.
,

sist that every so ft passa g e be pl aye d as so ft ly as

possib le and every l o ud passage a s loudly as po s
sible W hen these tw o broad gra des o f tone are
.

a dequatel y rendered it w il l be time enou gh to a t

,

tempt to attune the ear o f the youn g pupi l to more

de licate gradations And for the purpo s e o f de
.

v el o p i ng delicacy o f percept ion in the pupil and

beauty in h i s per form ances there is no device so ,

effective as a n even ly gra ded cres cend o a n d

’
d z mz nnena o .

CRE S C END O A ND D I M INUEND O .

G radua l swel lings and so ftenings o f the tone are

one o f the most characteristic feature s o f al l fine
pia no forte p lay ing The per former w h o is not a c
-
.

comp lishe d in the art o f cres cend o and d i mi nu end o

ha s not attained much skil l in mus ic a l interpreta
t i on
.

A s succes sive tones sh o ul d hard ly ever be ex actly

equal in force so there are few phra ses or figur ed
,

passa ge s whose beaut y may no t be more e f fective ly

e l icited by a rise an d fal l in tone whether these ,

variations be indicated o n the music or no t The .

mo st genera l ru les are a lways the mo st va luab le f o r

1 28 The Art o f Te ac hing .

the learner E ver y pupi l shoul d there fore b e ta u gh t

.

to associate a rise and fal l o f tone with the r i se and

fa l l o f a phrase o r fi g ured portion o f a phr ase ’ ‘
By .

A
r e fe r ence t o t h e examp l e from Men del ssohn s
i n
dante an d R ondo Capriccioso q uote d i n sect i on 5
,
”

of this chapter some idea o f the g enera l u se o f

,

this expressive device m a y be g aine d The fau lts .

which mu st be w atch fu l ly g uar ded against are an

insufficient increase an d decreas e in the tone ; j erki
ness or unevenness in stea d o f an eq ua l ly graduated
swe l l and dim inution ; an d expen din g the cres cend o
an d d i mi nu end o t o o soon ins te a d o f s aving them
,

to last o u t for the whol e passage indicated b y the

signs As to the first fau lt o f monotony no caution
.
,

agains t ex aggeration need be given so long as the

increa se an d decrease o f ton e are even ly distributed
over the p assage requiring the cres cend o and d i mi n
nend o Then as to the secon d an d third fau lts the
.
, ,

pupil m u s t again a n d again be made to take c a re

that each cres cend o pas sage begins so f tly and every ,

d i mi nu end o p a ssa g e l oud ly ; and th a t he graduates

the rise an d fal l s o that it may be distributed evenly
over the who le pas sage which it is inten de d to affect .

Here ag a in a s in th e c ase o f a ccentu ation th e

, ,

crude attempts o f the beg inner wil l mel l ow down

in time an d the a p pro p riate shades o f tone needed
,

in order to make the mu sic sound beauti fu l wil l be

rendered without consci o us ef fort Al l these expres .

sive variations o f tone im ply some m odifications o f

the n o rm al accentuation B ut throu gh al l mo d ifica
.

tions the nor m al rhythm shou l d never for a moment

be l ost sight o f .

I t i s a common though har d ly a wise practice

,

with man y teachers t o confine the attention o f

chi l dren almost exc lus ivel y to the notes o f the music .

de ferrin g nearly al l inst ructions u p on rhythm and

tone shading to a l ater perio d B y this method
-

.
13 0 The Art o f Te ac hing .

12 . G ENER AL SU G G E S T I O N S F OR TE A CH ING
P H R A S ING .

Phras i n g appears to be o ne o f the least under

stoo d an d o ne o f the least efficien tly taught o f al l
,

branches o f the art O f piano forte pl aying And es -

.

p eci a lly is this S O in the case o f many y oung teacher s

w h o d o not find it at a l l easy to acquire clear no tions

o n the subj ect f o r u se in their teaching Then .

again this term i s s o hackneyed by amateur p l ayer s

,

and amateur critics w h o inve st it with an air o f,

mystery an d ha z iness that it seem s desirab le to ,

expl ain ex act ly what phrasing real ly does mean in ,

the b al dest and clearest terms po ssib le .

Phrasing then treats o f two things : first and

, , ,

p rincip al ly it treats o f the structural divi sion o f

,

music into its component parts ; o f the punctuation ,

articul ation or separating O f the mu sic into such

fr a gments as periods sections phrases motive s ; and , , ,

into lar g er genera l divisions Secon dly it treats O f .

,

the expressive renderin g o f these various divisions .

W hen we hear some person reading a poem o r a

beauti fu l passage O f prose effective ly ; when we he ar
him care fu lly Observin g the punctuation making the ,

structure o f the stan z as verses or sentences clear ; ,

when we hear him eliciting the sense and the beauty

o f the pa ssage by markin g the rhy thm o f the verse ,

or the cadence o f the prose by a j udicious u se o f ,

intonation i nfl ex i o n an d emphasis we do no t say

, ,

aff ected ly O h how divinely he phrases ! We

,
“

“
,
”

simply say H ow wel l o r how beauti fu l ly he

, ,
”
reads ! B u t in mu sic w e find it hard to rid o u r
selves O f the i dea that by the u se o f this term
“ ”
phrase we are showing the superiority o f o u r
,

knowle dge to some o f our les s fortunate friend s .

 Gener al Sugge stio ns f o r T e aching P hrasing . |
3l

From the exp lanation j ust given it i s easy to ,

rea lise th e importance o f righ t phrasing and to ,

recognise once an d for a l l that i f we are to play

, ,

with inte l lige nce no t alone mus t our musica l punctu

,

ation be c lear but each fragment o f th e mu sic a s

, ,

reveale d b y the phrasing mu st have it s a deq u ate ,

expre ssive interpretation N O per formance wi l l be

.

that o f a true artist where care fu l study h as not

been devoted to the form a l an d harmonic structure o f
the music to be p layed I magine any per so n i gno r
.
,

ant o f the structure O f Latin verse attempting to ,

read O ff the h exa meter s O f Virgil ! Per h aps by ,

lon g practice an d by l istening to the reading o f a

,

master he might attain to some fluency in h i s read

,

ing ; y et how crude h o w uninspired by the grace o f

,

styl e an d the beauty O f form wou l d his reading ,

s o und in the ears o f a scholar and an artist ! And

j ust so o r rather more so is it i n the case o f mu sic
, ,
“

Know ledge O f structura l desi gn minute analysis O f ,

form and harmony m ake c lear an d br in g to light i n

, ,

numerable del icacies o f expression imitative devices , ,

l o g ical ties an d rel a tionships fragmentary beauties , ,

new views o f the perspective an d symmetry O f the

who le the ignorance an d the ne g lect o f which differ
,

ent i a te the cru de per formances o f the il literate from

the intel li g ent exposition O f the scho lar an d artist .

I f a chil d s m usica l education i s to be thorough

’

and effective it must proceed upon l ines at least as

,

thorou gh and inte l li g ent as those mapped out for

any other branch O f learning W hen we teach young .

chil dren to read do we no t insi st upon their p ay ing

,

f u l l attention to the punctuation so that the stru c ,

ture and meaning o f what th ey rea d may be made

m ani fest ? I n every case at a ll events we S how , ,

them at first the end o f each complete sentence and

, ,

insist upon a pause su f ficient to define i ts l imit .

Thus the habit o f intel l igent and c lear articu l ation

13 2 The Art o f T eac hing .

or separa tion O f the divisions O f a composition i nto

paragraphs s tan z a s sentences fragments o f sen
, , ,

tences become s early develope d by a g ra dually p ro

v e education in punctuation ; an d th i s hab i t I S
,

g re ss i
never a fterward s forgotten or neglected .

AR T I CU LA T IN G P H R A S ING .

In order to understan d phr asing in its primary

sense— a s re ferrin g to the division o f the mu sic into
sentences an d their parts—a mo st care fu l study of
musical form the g rammar o f structure is re quired
, ,
.

N o person w h o i s ignorant O f musica l form and

analy sis is q ua l ified to teach intel ligent ly I ma ~ .

g ine a
“
te acher o f E ng lish reading who had no
”
,

notion o f the meanin g or u se o f punctuation ; who

cou l d not recognise the en d o f a stan z a o f poetry
o r O f a sentence o f prose ; whose pupil s wandered
al on g help lessly from one chance w o rd to any other ,

utterly ignorant o f the necessity for or the appro ,

p ri a te p laces f o r the use o f inte l ligent punctuating

, ,

pau ses ! Y et this m ark y ou is the con dition o f the

, ,

teacher O f music w h o is i g norant o f musica l form .

Apart from the study o f technical exercises on

the subj ect o f form somethin g may be learned from
,

the various care fu l ly phrased editions O f o u r piano

forte cl assics such as th o se b y G ermer and R iem ann ?“
,

These schol arly an alysts took upon themse lves th e

task o f markin g el aborately an d m inutely the ar
, ,

t i cu la ti o n o f the music into phrases and fr a gment s

o f phra ses by S i g ns such a s curved lines or punctu
,

N o te T h e p h ra s i ng i v y cl s er ea r ly i d in ca te d i n th e
S dB to n E d i ti n ( A ll n)
.

ta nf o r -
ar o a .
13 4 The Art o f T eac hing .

not o f a stron g beat leading up to a weak beat The .

antiquated editor as l ikely a s no t drew his slur

, ,

line from the be g innin g to the end O f o ne two o r ,

more measures The scho l ar ly ed ito r o n the con

.
,

tr a r v when he ana l y ses the m o ti v a l phrases which

,

fo rm the texts upon which a compositio n i s de

v el o p ed founds h i s phra sin g upon this anal ysis He
, .

find s that the motive be g ins mo re O ften at the mid d le

or en d th an at the be g i nnin g o f a measure and so ,

he make s h i s phrasin g slur end at the correspon ding

div i s i on o f the succeed i ng measure which completes
t
h e ph r ase A thorou g h kno w le d g e o f these p h ra s
.

i ng p r inciple s wil l enab le the teach er to d i scover far -

m o r e easily for h i msel f the limits o f ph r ases ; and

wil l there fore guard him from the error o f con
found in g the beg innin g Or en d O f a m easure with
the beginnin g o r end o f a phrase .

I f in accordance with the suggestion O f fered in

,

section 6 O f this chapter those sl urs which cover ,

who le me a sures or who le beats be re garded a s lega t o

d irections and those which be g in on an unaccented
,

part o f a measure or beat an d en d on an accent be , ,

re g arded a s phrasin g slurs many errors in inte r ,

p ret a t i o n m i g ht be avoided .

E xamples
(“l B th v
ee o en, Op 2. No I
i
. . .

Klind w o rth . R e mann

.

B h v Op
eet o en. 13.

i
.

K lind w o rth . R mann

e .
 A rticul ating P hrasing .
'

l3 5

The se tw o f amil iar il lustrations which might be ,

en d lessly mul tip lied from the works O f B eethoven ,

B ach Mo z art an d Men delssohn wil l show quite

, ,

clear l y the current e ditorial error s in this matter o f

phrasing s lurs K lind w o rth evident ly copied super
.

fl uous lega t o marks and in so doin g tempt s th e

,

ignorant to break the leg a t o between the successive

mea sures and thus make nonsense o f the pass ag es
,
.

The composers themsel ves w ere equa l ly c areles s an d

con fusing in their use o f slur li nes and many edi ,

tors hesitate to amend this con fusion R iemann on .

,

the other hand g o es to the root O f the struc ture

, ,

and u ses his slurs to define the limits o f the phrases .

I t is no t enou gh that the proper punctuation o f

the music be q uite c lear to the teacher theoretica l ly ;
he must be ab le to render it in such a way as wi l l
create a correct stan dard O f punctuation in the ear
a nd mind O f the pupil in accordance with which the
,

pupil may be ab le to c o n fo rm h i s future wo rk .

F ar the most e f f ective device for marking the

punctuation O f music is the device which is used in
,

g oo d rea ding : a pause O f su fficient length to make

c lear the separation o f —the parts Such a pause .

varie s in len g th from the almost imperceptib l e i n

terru p ti o n O f a cze su ra l break to the wel l d efined ,
-

pause markin g the end o f a sentence I n many case s .

the structure o f the music sharply defines the points

Of d ivision Long notes rests reso lutions o f dis
.
, ,

cords c adences O ften em phasise the l arger divisions

, ,

o f the music into periods an d secti o ns B ut these .

n atura l ind ication s o f the articul ation are by no

means S harply defined or easy to discover in a l l, ,

c a ses And y et i f music is to be finely rendere d

.
, ,

the limit o f every phrase and every motive must be

c learly marked The smal ler the division O f the
.

music the shorter must be the pause : but j u st as a

,

fine line Of b l ank verse though it have no p unctu ,

13 6 The Art o f Te ac hing .

ating S ign cannot be e f fective ly rendered witho u t

,

the c aesu r al break which ca l ls attention to i ts stru e

tura l beauty so l ikewise i s it in music The smal lest
, .

mo ti v a l fragment o f a p hrase must h ave its ca su ra l

break to separate it from the phrases which precede
,

an d f o l low even though this break be so s light a s to

,

be almost imperceptib le .

Again in this matter o f articul ation it must be

, ,

borne in m ind tha t the b e arer has to perceive the

,

sep ar ation solel y from the so u nd a s his ear is u su ,

allv no t a ided by the sight o f the printed notes .

E xamp les o f ca su ra l p auses :

B hI
ac , i
nvent o n i n A i
m no r .

i bi °
B th v O p
ee o en, . 28 .

B h ac , i
F u gu e i n G m no r . B h ac , F u gu e i n Bfl at .

I n these examp le s the c aesura l points are indi

cate d , bo th by the p hrasing slurs and by commas ,
.

I n this connecti o n special attention m ay be c al l ed to

o ne o f the most prevalent error s in practica l
p h ras
ing Tho se teachers especial ly who are anxious to
.
, ,

teach care f u l ly and conscientiously are the most ,

f requent O ff en ders This common faul t i s to give a

.
,
138 The A rt o f Te ac hing .

E X PR ES S S I VE P H R AS ING .

The secon d important branch o f phrasing i s that

which treats o f the expressive ren dering o f the frag
ment s whose articul ation is ma de clear by right
punctu ation At the outset it may be wel l to point
.

ou t th a t in this p art o f musica l interpretation there is

room for minor differences O f V iew When we hear .

tw o fine rea ders o f poetry dec laiming the same piece

do we not O ften notice sl ight vari a tions in pace i n ,

tonation emphasis which di ff erentiate the persona li

, ,

ties o f the two readers ? And y et both readers may

be equa l ly scho l ar ly intel l igent appreciative ex, , ,

pressive an d artistic S O may it be in the expressive

.

rendering o f musica l phrases There may be differ .

ing shade s o f tone o f accent O f emphasis o f time ;

, , ,

and the vary ing interp retations may al l a like be

beauti ful The proper an d a dequate punctuating O f
.

the music is however no matter for individual fancy

, ,

or taste ; f o r on it depends in l ar ge measure the , ,

clear an d intel li g ent exposition O f the structural

form o f the music B ut though the expressive inter
.

p reta t i o n o f music may di f fer slight ly under the

hands O f d i f ferent artists stil l there are many broad , ,

principles o f expressive phrasing upon which there i s

g eneral agreement An d the individu al mo d i fica
.

tion s o f ab le p l ayers are o f the del icat e an d fine

kind that belon g to the expression o f in dividual
temperament an d are devel o ped in the artis t u nco n
,

sci o u s l lon g a fter he has been thoroughly schooled

y
in the wel l est ab lished principles o f expressive
-

ph r asin g And it i s thes e broad wel l estab lished

.
,
-

p r incipl es not m inor modifications which are th e

, ,

outcome o f individual tem p erament th at a re the ,

 Exp ressive Phrasing . I3 9

p ro p erconcern o f the teacher an d the stu dent These .

genera l princip les are cursorily treate d un der their

separate headings throughout the var ious section s O f
this chapter Minute practica l directions o n many
.

o f the e lementa l factors O f this comprehensive sub

j cet may l ikewise be foun d arran ge d un der su itab le
titles in Th e Art o f E xpression Chapters I V to
“
,
”

V III Much va luab le in formation wi l l a lso be

.

f oun d in F rankl in Tay l or s Technique an d E xpres

’ “

sio n ; an d in other work s mentioned at the en d o f

”

this chapter Chapter V II o f The Art O f E xpres

.
“

sion treats in detai l o f c adential punctuation the

”
,

na tural separation O f phrases the division o f phrases ,

into motives imitative an d me lo dic phrases primary

, ,

m o tives an d the l ike .

E nou gh has now been said to in dic ate the import

ance o f this subj ect ; to show th a t w i th o u t a sch o larly
knowled g e o f the structure O f music an d a practic a l ,

knowl edge O f h o w to make the part s o f that stru c

ture clear to the l istener there can be no intel ligent
,

interpretation or intel ligen t teaching ; to urge the

’
necessity o f beginnin g this part O f the pupil s edu
cation a t a very early sta ge ; and to d irect attention
to right methods O f study .

The student an d te a cher will fin d simple cl ear , ,

practical exposition s o f the whol e subj ect O f p h ra s

i ng with copious ex ample s in the text books named
, ,

in the note on page 1 3 7 .

I3 . M O NOPH O NI C AN D P O LYP H O NI C MU S I C .

S low progress in learning the p iano f orte and bad

p l ay ing are due no t al one t o incorrect a nd i nef f ec
,

tive instructions but l argely t o the fact that pupils

,

d o no t l isten care f u l ly to what they are doing NO .

140 The A rt o f Te ac hing
.

matter h o w c lear ly y ou may instruct a pupil no ,

matter how exactly you may sho w him what he has

to d o the l abour wil l be lost i f he does no t listen
,

attentive ly t o every note h e p l ay s P o ss ib ly the .

pupi l form s a correct gener a l mental conception O f

what is required to be done f rom the printed notes
’
as wel l a s from his teacher s direction s and il lustra
tions b u t where he so o ften fail s is in not l istening ,

keen ly to make sure that the actua l per fo rmance

coincides exact ly with this mental conception .

Again an d again a f t er instructing a p upil clearly ,

and accurate ly u p on so me point o f rhy thm tone ,

sh a din g or phrasing an d making certain that he ,

under stoo d have I hear d him neglecting those very

,

po int s upon which I had been so explicit U pon .

inquiry I learnt moreover from him not on ly that , , ,

h i s errors were due t o no l ack O f under standing but ,

th at he w a s no t aware o f an y neglect B y repeated ,

ex p eriments Of this kind I discovered that a large

p ropo r tion o f the f ault s were due to careless listen
ing Then by gettin g the pupil to repeat the pas
.
,

sage and by tel l ing him to give care f u l attention to

,

the point previously neg lected the error is prompt ly ,

corr ecte d I n no branch o f music is this lack o f

.

attentive listening so destructive o f al l beauty as in

me lo dy p laying N earl y al l m o dern mu sic contains
-

but o ne part o f p rima ry importance to which in the , ,

rendering a l l the other parts shou l d be sub servient

,
.

This mo dern mon o phonic music is usua l ly made up

,

o f chor ds arranged in g rammatic a l succe ssion The .

notes o f these chords are sounded in some ca ses , ,

to g ether in other cases in arpe ggioed succession ;

, ,

and they very O f ten form the accompaniment o f a

mel ody O ne o f the chie f aims in this monophonic
.

music is to discover the o ne part which is O f primary

,

importance to fix the attention upon it a s the chie f

,

matter and to give to it the p rominence an d care

,
142 The Art o f T eac hing .

n o te is sounded T O accomp lish this becomes more

.

an d more di f ficult a s the number o f notes o r ch o rds

o f accompaniment written a g ainst each me lo dy note

increases ; and it wil l no t be success ful ly a ecom

p li sh e d un less the pupi l be pe r suaded to l isten atten
t i v ely to each mel ody not e with h i s physica l not , ,

his imaginative ear s ; an d to Ob serve that the tone o f

the accompaniment is so subdued that no note o f it
i s loud enough to drown the dy ing vibrations o f the
note o f melo dy to which it belongs By so ftening .

the note s O f the accompaniment to the very faintest

whisper a ll thumping out o f mel ody tones may be
,

avoided while the me lo dy itsel f may sti l l stand out

,

prominently an d i ts beauty be elicited by j ust gra

dations o f tone The more intently the player
.

listens to the mel o dy the more he concentrates his

,

attent i on upon it as the important thing the more ,

prominent wil l it become and the more beautiful ,

wil l be its interpretation .

E very pupil shou l d b e m ade to learn his me lody

a lone at first apart from any comp lication O f added
,

accompaniment M an y a time when a pupi l h a s

.

m ad e a fiasco O f some S on g W ithout W or ds for the

piano which he wished to pl ay to me I have bidden ,

him to p lay me the me lo dy al one I n a l ar g e per .

centa g e o f case s he was unab le to decide which was

,

me l ody an d which w a s no t N o accomp an iment

. .

shou l d ever be ad ded by a learner unti l every note

of the mel ody is per fectl y fam iliar or until the ,

who le me lo dy can be played through expressive ly

an d beauti fu l ly Then a g a in it is exceeding ly
.
, ,

common to fin d notes o f the me lody every now and

then pa sse d over we akly and careless l y as i f they
were no t re g arded as o f much importance Although .

no note in any kin d o f music shou l d ever b e p la y ed

without thought an d care doub l y i s this caution ,

necessary in the case o f me lo dy .

 M ono p ho nic and Po lyp ho nic M usic . I43

It is me lo dic p rominence a lone however that

no t , ,

i s neg lected The lega t o o f the m el ody i s even sti l l

.

more neg lected Here again nothing short o f the

.
, ,

mo st attentive watch fulness both w ith eye and ear , ,

wil l guard against this common fau lt I t i s no t .

enough that the pupi l be taught to l i sten to o ne

melo dy note until the next i s sounded ; he sh o u ld
be t aught at the same tim e to watch and fee l that
he is keeping o ne melo dy key depress ed until the
nex t i s depre ssed The usua l f au lt i s to make a
.

wrong lega t o betwee n a melo dy note and its suc

ceeding note o f accompaniment instea d O f between ,

the successive melo dy notes .

B oth the required lega t o and the mel odic promin

ence wi l l be the more easily attained by a j u dicious
u se o f the peda l I t is in fact a lmost essentia l to
.
, ,

use the pedal at least f o r every long note o f

,

a mel o dy Many o f our finest pl ayers enrich

.

near ly al l the melo dy tones in this way taking ,

care at the same time no t to ming le them o ne with

another .

Special point s may perhaps be ma de c learer by

examples .

M end el
sso h Op
n, .
38 N o
, . 0 .

( I ) H ere is an example O f mel o dy notes whose

.

sound must be sust a ined ef f ectively against eigh t o r

nine note s O f accompaniment The m elod y tone A .

fl at must continue so that it may be h eard b y the

au dience unti l G i s sounded To accom p l ish this .
,

it is neces sary that the A fl at shou l d be sounde d

M4 The A rt o f T eac hing .

strongly that it be sustaine d at least partial ly by

,

the p edal an d that the accompanyin g notes shoul d

be ren dered by the ver y faintest p i a niss zmo I f it
'

”
be sa id o nce more everyone knows a l l this it may , ,

h e re p lied that the reason that it i s not done i f it

be known i s part ly becaus e th e pl ayer seeing the
, ,

notes O f the mel ody ima g ines them to be sounding

,

j ust as he i s thinking o f the mel odic p rogression .

W hat is w anted is to hear with the phy sical ears

ex actly what is imagined I t i s in the failure to d o
.

this that the fau lt largely l ies .

Ex 2
. . C h pio n, Op 3 2 , N o 2
. . .

(M .
(b) w ro ng .

Th is examp le may be used as an i llustration

o f one O f the commonest fau lts in the rendering o f

me l o dy an d accompaniment The A fl at dotted .

,

crotchet shoul d here be wel l sustained until the

,

soun ding O f the quaver B flat There shou ld not .

on ly be an abso lute lega t o betwee n these tw o mel o dy

notes but the F fl at in the accompaniment should
,

be sounded so so f t ly that it woul d be impossibl e f o r

the b earer to mistake it f o r a note O f the m elody .

I n nine cases out O f ten however the lega to between

, ,

A fl at an d B fl at i s broken ; a wrong lega t o is i n

stituted between the melody n ote A fl at and the
accompaniment note F flat ; an d the A fl at o n the ,

o ne han d i s sounded so feeb ly and o n the other

, , ,

hand the F fl at i s sounded so strongly tha t the

, ,

real progression o f the melody is comp letely I

obscured .
l46 The Art Of Te aching .

beyond the re lease ofevery one o f its notes or chords

o f accompaniment no matter how m any the y be .

Ex 5
. .

This i s an i ll ustration O f One o f the very

common di f ficu lties which mu st be overcome i f
melod y p lay ing is to be e f fective N o t alone does .

o ne han d have o ften t o take both mel ody and ac

co m p a n im ent but both are O ften contained in a

,

single chord I f the melo dy is to receive i ts due

.

pr o minence the upper note O f every chor d must ring

out while the low er notes must be p layed with sub
,

dued tone By mo st pupil s however al l the notes

.
, ,

of each chord are struck with equal force so t hat ,

a lthough the harmonic prog ression i s c lear there i s ,

ver y little melo dy to be heard .

I n al l the cases il lustrated here much more i s re ,

quired o f the teacher than mere direction He should .

p l ay each examp l e to his pupil giving the melo dy ,

great prominence and subduing the acco mp a ni

,

ment ; he shoul d cal l the attention o f the pupil to

the sustained tone o f each melo dy no te above al l i ts -

notes o f accompaniment ; he shou l d make the lega t o

O f the mel od y unmistakable And then he shou ld .

persistently try to in duce the pupil to imitate his ex

ampl es in or der to make sure that a correct standard
,

i s bein g devel ope d in his min d .

E v ery p u p i l h as th ree ess enti a l th i ng s t o d o i n

o rd er t o w i n su cces s : firs t t o k no w ri h tl
, g y w h a t to
d o ; s eco nd ly , t o th i nh co ns ci o u sly o f h o w i t s h o u ld
b e d o ne b ef o re d o i ng i t ; a nd th i rd ly , t o li s t en i n
o rd er t o h ea r th a t h e h a s d o ne i t I t i s i n th e la st
.

t w o essenti a ls th a t s o ma n
y s t u d ents f a i l .
 Hid d e n M elo d ie s . I47

H IDDEN ME LOD IE S .

In mo dern monophonic music it i s not a lone i n ,

cases where me lo dy an d accomp animent are evi

d ently di stinct and unmi stak ab le that melo dic ,

promin ence is require d N early every mo dern piece

.

o f mu sic h a s s o me mel odic signific ance ; and in much

o f o u r romantic music there are f r a gment s o f melody

'

every now an d then woven into the accompaniment ,

o r de ft ly hid den in a succession o f chords o r in ,

some figur ed pass age T he se mu st be s ought out

.

an d brought into artistic pro m ine nce O ccasion al ly .

o ne finds an editor whose special hobby is hid den

mel odies discovering imaginary snatches o f melody

,

which he thinks a re worth bringing into prominence .

K li nd w o rth f o r example i s inc lined to err thus in

, ,

h i s admir ab le edition o f C hopin An d again there

.
,

are some concer t pianists who do no t hesitate to

destroy the symmetry o f a composition by forcing
into undue prominence some snatch o f melo dy rea l ,

o r imaginary , which they think has been neglected .

C ritics pos se ssed o f more enthusiasm than know

ledge are rather apt to accentu ate this error by
describing th ese disproportionate per formances as
“
new readings .
”

The proper business o f the master is to point out ,

to his pupi l thos e hi dden melodies which were pa lp

ab ly inten ded by the composer to be brough t into
evidence an d to insist upon a rendering which while
, ,
.

it cal ls them to the notice o f th e b ea rer wil l no t ,

inter fere with the unity o f the who le work by giving

them disprop o rtionate prominence .

N early al l succe ssions o f chord s require melo dic

prominence f o r their highest notes And nothing is .
148 The Art o f T eaching .

more common in the ren dering o f such pass ages than

the monotonous an d heavy soun d o f e q ua l tones
throughout a l l the notes o f each chord S aint S a ens
'

has written a u se fu l study to be found in the C otta ,

L ebert Piano forte Schoo l f o r the purpo se o f ,

devel oping facility in striking with emphasis any

particu lar note o f any chord Prominence for the .

upp er not es o f chord s may be produced by leaning

the hand towards the side o n which the notes requi t
ing prominence l ie so that they may b e sounded
,

an a lmost imperceptib l e shade before the other

no tes .

U pon the subj ect o f melodic figures o r unwritten

theme s h a l f hid den in harmonic progres sions in
, ,

fl orid passages o r in accompaniments K lind w o rth ,

wi l l be foun d very help fu l in the interpretation o f

C hopin s works while G ermer L ebert an d B u low
’
, ,

help similar ly t o interpret the works o f Beethoven .

Frankl in T ay lor in his Technique and E xpres

,
“

sion has a most valuable cha p ter on this most i n

,
”

teres ti ng subj ect and so al so has C hristiani in his

,
“
E x p re ssion in Piano forte P lay ing In b o th these
"
.

treatises copious exampl es are given in i llustration

o f the text .

I M I TA TI V E PAS S A GE S .

E verygreat co mposer whose works are i ntelli

gently an d logical l y developed from simple motives
and subj ect s varies modifies and elaborates these
, ,

simpl e motives and subj ects so as to construct a’

consecutive interesting and artistic who le The most

, .

S plendid examples o f constructive ingenuity we

pos
[ 50 The Art o f T e aching .

written above or below each other to be rea d hori ,

z o nt a lly and al l o f equa l importance

,
Thus much .

’
is o f course one o f the A B C s o f al l educated
, ,

musicians ; yet there are nevertheless no t a few , ,

teachers w h o take upon themselves to instruct pupils

’
in B ach s Inventions an d other works o f the kind ,

who have no t the remotest notion o f the di f ference

between monophonic an d polyphonic music I have .

myse l f seen o ne o f the chief piano forte teachers in

an estab lishment numbering some thou sand inmates
in o ne o f the great cities o f the empire w h o ha d not ,

a glimmering suspicion that there were three equa l ly

important o r three distinct melodies in o ne o f
, ,
’
Bach s Three Part Inventions ! There fore it cannot
be deemed superfluou s t o o f fer so me suggestions
upon the subj ect o f how to teach the interpretation
o f polyphonic music .

E ach individual part shoul d a lways be studied

separate ly ; and when each is thu s thoroughly m as
tered then when pl aying al l the parts together each
, , ,

part must receive equal att ention a nd must be made ,

to soun d a s i f it were a distinct and individual

me lo d y p layed by a se parate per former F ine i n .

te llig ence intens e menta l concentrati on per fect

, ,

training o f the fingers in strength and i nd epen d ence ,

,

are indi spensab le qu alific ations o f success in this

d ifficu lt ta sk The art o f indivi d u alising success
.

ful ly an d rendering artistica l ly d iverse a nd com

, ,

p licate d melodies simu ltaneously i s a far greater ,

test o f the inte lligence ski l l an d training o f a per

,

former than the most sensational gymnastic feats o f

,

modern virtuo sity T here is no training in musical

.

interpretation to compare with this training in poly

phony f o r developing intel l igence alertness and
, ,

mastery over th e niceties o f fine pl aying .

Al though comp licated music written in many

parts i s entirely un suitab le for the beginner stil l any , ,
 Po ly p ho nic M usic . l5 l

*
’
quick pupi l o f a year s standing may be initiate d
’
into the virtues o f p olyphonic study B ach s smal l .

pre lu des may be used at first These may be f o l.

lowed successively by the two part Inventions ; -

H an del s suites ; Scar l atti s sonatas ; B ach s E ng li sh

’ ’ ’

and French suites ; and a fter these the three par t ,

-

Inventions wil l lead o n t o that great vo lume mos t ,

’
deep ly treasured by th e most musical minds B ach s ,
“
W o ltem p i ri te s C lavier so aptly and so o ften
,
”

ca lled the O l d Testament o f piano forte l iterature .

In po lyphonic music more than in any other atten

tion to right fingering i s essentia l I nj u dicious .

fingering is sure to bring about hopeless bungl ing

very promptly .

A fter learning each part separa te ly at first then ,

when some l itt le ease h a s been attained i n p laying

the variou s melo dies together it wil l be found m ost
,

h e l pfu l t o an intel ligent ren dering to get the pupi l ,

to concentrate his attention for som e time almo st

exc lusively upon o ne single part while p lay ing al l
tog ether and then upon the next part an d so on
, ,
.

When he has acquired the power o f fixing his atten

tion upon any single part then let him try to li ste n
,

to tw o parts at once then to three parts until he can

, ,

at the same moment regar d the composition both as

a unified who le and a s a combinati o n o f separate
me lo dies Since the r ight hand in mo dern mu sic
.

u sual ly contains th e part requiring especial promin

ence the more attention mu st be given to th e
,

negl ected le ft han d when practising p olyphonic

music An d the pupi l must watch each separate
.

part no t alone to see that the right notes are pl ayed

, ,

but to see that no leg a t o in any individual melo dy

is wrongly broken O ne o f the most common fa u lt s
.

O r R i e ma nn s ‘T e ch ni cal S tu d i e s i n
'

P o ly p h o ni c P l ay
i ng ( S tei ngr ab er E d i ti o n, N o .
l5 2 The Art o f T eaching .

i s,breaking the continuity o f the lega t o in one part

an d substituting an incorrect lega t o with some note
of a neighbouring part R epetitions o f the chief .

subj ect moreover require care fu l and uni form treat

, ,

ment both in phrasing an d nuance so that they may

, ,

easi ly be recognised a s repetitions by their similarity

to their origina l model .

Here again in teaching po ly phonic music much

, ,

hel p may be gained by the use o f rea l ly scho larly

e ditions R iemann G ermer K lin d w o rth and B usoni
.
, , ,

are al l ab le interpretative editors o f B ach And .

where so little in the way o f interpre tative hints w a s

given by th e compo ser himsel f there is the greater ,

need o f good guidance upon the di f ficu l t subj ects o f

ornamentation phrasing especia l ly mo ti v a l ph t as
, ,

ing and genera l expres siv e tre atment

, .

Many explicit directions upon the right interpreta

tion o f monophonic and polyphonic music may be
found in C h a pters V and V I o f The Art o f E x “

”
pression ; and for a ful l exposition o f how to p lay
’
B ach s fugues on the piano study C hapter I II o f ,

( Reeves )
“
T ouch Phrasing and Interpretation
”
, .

1 5 . H ow TO TE A CH TH E U SE OF THE PED A L .

impo ssib le to play even fairly wel l without

It i s
the j udicious use o f the pedal And yet in spite o f .
,

book s upo n the subj ect and in spi t e o f pedal indica

,

tions on th e printed page h o w f ew there are who ,

have any a dequate conception o f its right u se .

B eautifu l pl ayers u se it continu al ly and by its ,

j u dicious an d del icate u se they enhance greatly the

charm o f their playing F o r by i ts right u se the .

tone i s enriched and sust ained .

15 4 The A rt o f T eaching.

the note continues to soun d until the vibrations o f

the strings cease B ut so soo n a s the key i s released
.
,

the damper fa l l s o n the strings and promptly stops

the sound What is effected for one sing le note by
.

the depression o f a singl e key is effected for al l th e

notes at once by the depression o f the pedal When .

the peda l is depres se d al l the dampers are at once

raised from al l the strings quite independently o f
any key action An d al l the notes sounde d during
.

this depression o f the peda l continue to sound and

to mingle their vibrations together unti l the pedal ,

i s released an d the damper s once again fal l on their

strings It is evident then that the effect o f pl ay
.
,

ing a number o f n o tes in succession with the pe d a l

depressed i s very simil ar to the effect pro duced by
striking the same notes simu ltaneously The teacher .

may easily prove to th e pupil that the proper name

“
o f the peda l is the sustaining pedal and that its
, ,
”

e f fect is to sust ain tone s not to pro duce l oud tones

, , ,

by the f o l lowing forcib le il lustration F irst strike .

,

simu ltaneously and lou dly the eight notes forming

o ne octave o f the sc al e o f C m aj o r using mid dle C ,

as the l owest note o f the octave o f notes s truck .

Keep the eight keys depressed together and ask the ,

p upil to listen to the e f fect and j u dge o f its qual ity .

H i s criticism wil l probably take th e form o f a

grim ace and an exc lamation o f disgust N ext re .
,

l ease the eight keys ; depress the peda l and while it ,

i s depressed strike the same eigh t notes in succes

,

sion with the same force a s befo re ; release each key

imme diately a fter its note is soun de d while continu ,

ing to keep the pedal depressed al l the time Again .

invite criticism o f the result from the pupi l He .

wi l l probab ly recog nise that the e f fect o f both ex

p eri m ent s i s almo st identical Thus you may .

demonstrate even to the du l les t pupil that the

, ,

proper obj ect o f the pedal is to su stain tones ; and

 Ho w to Te ach the Use o f the Ped al . 15 5

that discor dant tones p l ayed in succession while the

pedal is depressed are quite as obj ectionab le a s dis
cordant notes struck simu ltaneous ly .

“
Here once more it may be said : Surely a l l this
, ,

writing abou t a matter so wel l known to every

”
teacher is mere waste o f words Yet however .
,

accurate o r wide the know ledge o f the facts m ay be ,

it is pa lpab le from the prevalence o f indiscriminate

,

and wrong peda ll ing that this knowle dge is not

,

e f fectively imparted to the pupil An d the main .

obj ect o f this work i s not on ly to suggest what

,

shou ld be taught but al so to suggest means for

,

making the teaching effective

‘

If after the il lustration j ust suggested the teacher ,

woul d point o u t to th e pupil whose principl e in

using the peda l w a s to g ain an increa se o f tone th at ,

it i s simp ly because he persistently re fuses to l isten

t o the dissonant cl ash o f sounds pro duce d by him
sel f he can to lerate h i s o w n per formance he woul d ,

probab ly ef fectua l ly arouse the attention o f the

pupi l and bring about re form in his metho ds .

A fter the ration a le o f the subj ect h a s thus been

made c lear som e concise and practical directions
,
“
shou l d fo l l ow F or ex amp le ; D o n o t keep the
.

peda l depres se d whil e discordant n o tes or di f ferent

harmonies are soun ded in succession ; an d d o no t
inter f ere with the clear separ ation o f phr a ses by
keeping the pedal depressed whi le pas sing from o ne
”
phrase to the next .

O ne o f the main source s o f the di f ficulties which

the inexperien ed stu dent and teacher encounter in
c

this branch o f his work is the c arelessness or i gno r

, ,

ance o r neglect or mistakes o f composer s and e di

, ,

tors in indicating the u se o f the pedal Pe da l d i rec .

tions printed on the pag es o f the mu sic are usua l ly

either wrong or mislea ding o r insufficient H o w then
, , .

may the i nex p eri ence d fin d sa fe guidance ? It i s a

l5 6 The A rt o f Teaching
.

very common thing for a teacher to say to h i s pupi l :

”
D o no t u se the peda l here for it is not marked ;
“

or use the ped al here for there i s a printed d i rec

“
,

tion to do so and yet the peda l shou l d be used in

,
”

“ ”
numberless cases where it is not marked an d it ,

shoul d not be used in number less cases where i t is

“
marke d .
”

T h e effective use o f the peda l presuppos es some

knowledge o f harmony and musica l form ; an d al so
the k now le dge that the obj ect o f al l goo d pl aying
i s to make the music as p layed soun d beautiful .

F ortifi ed by this knowledge the fol lowing few ,

specific directions wil l prove help fu l F irst then .

, ,

the pe dal shoul d be used wherever its use makes the

music soun d more beauti fu l whether there is a peda l
,

indication on the printed page o r n o t B ut the pupil .

must watch against the liabil ity o f du l ling h i s sense

o f clear soun ds by the b lurring effect o f a t o o con
t i nu o u s o r overwhelming u se o f the pedal E ven i f .

gross faul ts be a voided the effect o f too much pedal

,

is to thicken the tone ; it brings to mind perhaps , ,

the wool iness o f tone o f some G erman pianos as

“ ”

com pared with the c lear tones o f an E rard a Broad ,

woo d or a Steinway .

The legitimate provinces o f the peda l are to ,

enrich an d sustain the tones o f a me lo dy without

mingl ing or blurring them ; to e f fect a lega t o in
m any chord pass ages otherwise un a ttainab le ; to add
bril liancy t o many broken chor d pa ssages and to ,

other florid passages where the trebl e p art l ies near

the to p o f the pian o ; and to aid in producing deli
c acy bri l liancy o r richness o f tone general ly But
, .
,

let i t be repeated n o rul es wil l prove o f any value

,

unless the teacher in sists on care fu l l istening upon

the part o f the pupil to the e f fect o f the pedal in
each case where it is u se d ; unless he thus d evelops
in the pupil j u st as critical a sense o f disco rdant o r
15 8 The Art o f Te aching .

devote d to them i s time wasted Sober sceptics f o r .

,

the humour o f the thing h a ve sometimes printed ,

side by side co lumns o f these detailed interpreta

,

tions o f a single composition by various ae sthetic

writers B ut though thes e col umns furnish quite a
.

bewi ldering wea lth o f entirely antag o nistic views ,

stil l the kal eidoscopic entertainment goe s o n prov

, ,

ing the futi lity o f such a scheme o f interpretation .

Music is not a detai led expression o f ideas o r emo

tions which are capab le o f trans l ation into words .

If it were so it woul d be a useless redun dancy in

,

the spheres o f art It is primarily a tone structure .

o f beauti fu l form an d proportion ; and secondly it ,

is characterised by the persona l impress o f the co m

’
poser s mind and mood The impalpab le spirit o f .

the composer has someho w been in fu se d into the

m usic so as to g ive it the mark o f h i s personality .

It s very worth a s an art consists in the fact that it

al one o f a l l the arts i s entirely non materia l that it -

a lone i s able to catch and to express those finer

shades o f emotion those spiritual aspects o f per ,

so n a li ty which are outside the range o f the gros ser

,

symbo lism o f wor ds So that these interpretative .

a sth et i c sketches are nothing short o f futile

attempts to deprive m usic o f the very rationale o f
i t s existence by trans l ating its spiritual beauty into
,

material term s D oes not the history o f religio ns

.

il lustrate the same ten dency o f mankind to descend

from the less intel ligib le spheres o f the spiritua l to
the more tangib le rea lms o f the m aterial ?
The emotiona l characteristics o f fine music are
vague I f it be said that such an d such music is
.

grand or sorrow fu l o r sa d or bright or j oyous or

, , , , ,

p eace fu l this i s a lm o st as far as it is possible sober ly

,

or wisely to go T o teach sty le in interpretation in

.
,

this sense cannot be accompl ished by the fram ing o f

,

ru les by the issue o f di rections by giving detailed

, ,
 Character and Style in Inte rp retatio n . 15 9

expl anations T hese broad emotiona l ch a ra cteri s

.

tics o f music must b e f elt to be rightly interpreted .

An d the e ducati o n neces s ary f o r their interpretation

is j ust the same e ducation o f the who le nature that
i s required for a right appreciation o f what i s beau
ti fu l in fine po etry or painting The finer the .

genera l education the finer the qual ity o f the whole

,

nature and the greater the fami liarity with the best
,

music the ful ler wil l th e powers o f appreciation and

,

discrimination probab ly be .

The cu ltivated teacher may do much in this matter .

H e may urge the pupil to general menta l education ,

an d he m ay persuade him to hear and to p l ay much

good music He may a lso play to the pupi l various
.

’
preludes and fugues o f B ach s an d point out what ,

appears to him to be the gen eral shade o f emotion

expressed in each He m ay il lustr ate the sub limity
.

’
o f much o f H andel s music by typical transcripts
from hi s finest works In the same way he may cal l
.

attention to the pro foun d sorrow shown in many o f

’
B eeth oven s great compositions the go o d humour o f
,

H aydn the me l ancho ly grace o f C hopin the pure

, , ,

colour less beauty o f Mozart the gent le refinement o f

,

Men del ssohn But bey ond general counsels to libera l

.

cul ture to refinement o f character to im aginative

, ,

development to famil iarity with great works o f art ;

,

beyon d th e habit o f drawing th e attentio n o f the

st u dent to the genera l emoti o na l character o f the
music he is l earning ; beyond wise g uidance through
such a course o f music as wil l fami liarise the stu dent
with the best works o f the great composers there i s ,

l itt le el se to be done F o r the rest we mu st pati

.
,

ent ly await the day when al l the detailed i nstru c

tions o f the p ast wil l be fused as it were together , ,

into o ne harmonious whol e Then what seeme d to

.
,

the student to b e l itt le m o re than a character less

co nc o urse o f n o tes wi l l become transfigu re d by the
,
1 60 The Art o f T eaching .

breath o f the l i fe which is in them Then wi l l the .

hear t be moved by the grace o f the beauty the force ,

of the imagination the power o f the personal ity

, ,

which seems to speak in the music When this day .

dawns it is time f o r the performer to throw his

,

who l e heart a nd so u l into the music he play s and

.
,

to try to express a s power fu lly and beautiful ly as

he can what he feels in the music However careful .

and sy ste matic the e ducation o f a player may be ,

he need never fear that the routine or convention al

character o f this education wil l inter fere with the
in divi dua lity o f h i s p laying when the day o f
m aturity has arrived in which he can freely throw
himsel f heart and sou l into the music he is rendering .

I f there be a hopefu l in dividuality i t wil l be guided , ,

trained and developed no t dwar fed I f there be

, .

but littl e in dividuality that little wil l be benefited

,

by the cu lture o f a libera l education The strong .

and em o tional individuality need s constant watch

fu lness against the error o f trying to obtrude itsel f
into a l l the mu sic p layed so a s to obscure the ori
,

g i na lity and variety o f the severa l compo se rs The .

true artist is he whose soul is posses se d o f the beauty

o f the mu sic be fore him w h o seeks no t a fter an ex
, ,

position o f himsel f but a fter the heart and mind o f

,

the composer ; whose sympathies go o u t generously

t o the v ar ie d works he takes upon himsel f to int er
pret .

Among many c lasses o f pl ayers a few m ay be co n

ci se ly described for the ed i fica ti o n o f the student .

There is the c la ss whose i deal is technique w h o h o pe ,

to win appl ause by th e bril liancy o f their bra v u ra

feats but whose sym pathies are smal l whose hearts
, ,

are co ld who se imaginations are not kin dled There

, .

are th o se again o f strong master fu l emotiona l dis

, , , ,

positi o n likewise narro w i n their sympathies who

, ,

are for ever giving an exp o sition o f them selves

162 The Art o f T e aching .

K u lla k ,
“
[ E sthetics of Piano forte P laying ”

( Schirmer )
H ow to U se the Pedal
.

“ ”

J A l fred Johnstone
.
,

( Ashdown ) ’
.

”
M arx B eethoven s Piano forte Works ( C layton
,
“

S ummy ) .

’
K u lla k Beethoven s P iano P lay ing ( Schirmer)
,
“ ”
.

Reinecke s L et ters on B eethoven s Sonatas

’ ’ “ ”

( A u gener) .

G ood rich “ Theory o f Interpretation ( Presser)

,
“ "
.

R iemann C atechism o f Piano forte P laying

,

( A u gener) .

“
C hristiani Piano forte lE sth eti cs ( Harper ;
”
,

Reeves) .

“
J A l fred Johnstone
. Phra sing in P iano Play ,
-

ing with E x amp les ( Ashdown )

,
”
.

Q
t ath am My Thoughts o n Music and Musicians
,

( C hapman ) .

“
J Al fred J ohnstone Touch Phrasi ng and Inter
.
, ,

pretation ( Reeves ) ”
.

D annreuther Musica l O rnamentation ( N ovel lo )

,
.

H arding Musica l O rnaments ( Weekes )

“
,
”
.

F o w les Musica l G races ( Vincent C o )

,
“
.

Wei tz ma nn History o f Piano forte P laying ,

“

( Schirmer ) “
.

P arry The Art o f Music

,
.
”

P arry The O x ford Hi story o f Music

,
“
.
”

“ ”
N i eck s D ict ionary o f Musica l T erms
,
“
S tainer and B arrett D ictionary o f Musical ,

T erms ( N ovel lo )
”
.

“
H il es D ictionary o f Musica l Terms
, .
”

G rove D ictionary o f Mu sic and Musicians

,

( Macmil l an ) .

H a ns lick T h e B eauti fu l in Music

,
( N“
ovel lo )
”
.
 C H AP T ER IV .

Su ggesti o ns f o r Te a ch i ng Fi nge ri ng ,

R eadi ng A cco mp any i ng a nd M emo ri si ng

, ,

an d Ea r~Training .

r
. F INGERING .

N OT o f the labours o f the teacher is at once more

o ne

necessary an d more tedious th a n that o f training

p u pils to use appropriate fingering O rigina l sin .
“ ”

is no t a more troub lesome v i ru s for setting peop le

.

wrong tha n the natural propensity o f the untraine d

pu p i l to u se in near ly every case the mo st hope
, ,

less ly awkward fingering which coul d be conceiv ed .

If for examp le there is a passage which lies ea sily

, ,

within the compass o f the five fingers some finger is ,

sure to be chosen for the beginning o f the passage ,

which wi l l make it impossib l e to reach the remaining

notes without some awkward and unneces sary side
moti o n o f the hand Yet without the most care fu l
.

an d assiduous training in appropriate metho ds o f

fingering the technica l di f ficu lties o f the stu dent
,

wil l be vastly increased every new piec e wil l occa

,

sion fresh superfluous labour and fluent reading ,

wil l be we l lnigh impossibl e The tediou sness o f .

1 63
164 The Art o f T eaching .

the work o f teaching fingering lies in the fact that ,

f o r a l o ng time no more interesting power i s ca l le d

,

into pl ay than the patience needed f o r continue d

an d unt i ring insistence The metho d i s line upon
.
“

”
l ine correction upon correction the same fault to
, ,

be put right a hundred time s in the same way There .

i s no roy al road ; there i s no p leasant road .

The teacher is not le ft to his o w n i ngenu i ty ei ther , ,

in these days to supply the requisite fingering

, .

M odern editors supply al l that is neede d in this

matter in the maj ority o f cases And general ly it .
,

is far better to use wel l fingere d music for y oung -

pupi ls than to trust to rul es Ru les for fingering .

are so vague so genera l an d so be set by exceptions

, , ,

that they may wi se ly be left until the mental powers

o f the stu d ent have developed consi d erably Then .

perb a s it may be wel l to try to create interest and

thought fu l ness a nd resource b y expl aining some o f
the main princip les upon wh ich goo d fingering is
base d But i f the patient plodding i f the ceaseless
.
,
’
vigi lance be shirked ; i f this part o f the pupil s edu~
,

cation be no t thoroughly carrie d o u t from the very

beginning the chances are exceedingly smal l that
,

the lost groun d wil l ever be recovere d in a fter years .

F urther there is no part o f hi s work which so

,

stamps the hopele ss pupil as th e persistent negl ect

of the appropriate fingering fu l l y marke d o n his
music A te acher may patiently correct a pupil
.

time a fter time during th e lesson ; during the lesson

he m ay insi st that every note is pl ay e d b y the ap
pointed finger ; he may urge the necessity f o r right
fingering and the fo l ly o f neg lect o r carelessness ;
but in not a few case s he might as we l l to u se a ,

homely Irish phrase be whistl ing j igs to a mi le

,
“

”
stone T his hopeles s condition m ay general ly be
.

traced to the fact that due attention to right finger

’
n
l g w a s n o t ma de an essentia l part o f the pupil s
1 66 The Art o f Te aching .

B ut the technical exerci ses whose right fingering

is perhaps o f the greatest importance are scales ,

bro ken chords an d arpeggios F or upon these a

-
.

great proportion o f the passage work in near ly al l -

music is b ase d The fingering o f these may possi

.

bly be simp lified for the convenience o f the teacher

, ,

by ru les ; or rather his memory may perhaps be

helpe d by r u les Prob ably the surest road to accur
.

acy is to te ach these techn i ca l exerci ses in the

,

groups o f which the fingering is the same an d to ,

continue the practice o f one single group be fore

proceedin g to the next until a mistake in fingering ,

is impossible T hus in scal es C G D A and E

.
, .
, , ,

maj or an d minor might be grouped together as the

scales fingered in the right hand ascending and in ,

the l e ft h and descending by I 2 3 ; I 2 3 4 alter , , , , , , ,

na tely .T h e exceptional fingering o f tw o sca les

beginning with a white note is easily remembered :
B maj or and minor le ft han d ascending b egin wit h
, ,

4 not 5 ; and F maj or an d minor right h and d e

, ,

scen ding begin with 4 no t 5 T hen with regard to

, , .

scales beginning on a b lack note B egin with the .

third finger in the left hand and w ith the second

finger in the right han d ascen ding ; and begin with
the third finger in the right han d and with the second
finger o f the le ft hand descen ding The exce p tions .

are : L eft hand ascendin g in B fl at and E flat ,

minor s begin with second finger ; in F sharp maj or

,

and m inor begi n with fourth finger R igh t hand .

descen ding in F sharp and C sharp maj ors begin

, ,

with second finger ; and in B fl at maj or and minor

begin with fourth finger Another important rule .

with certain exceptions is this : fo l l ow with the

thum b on th e first white note a fter beginning o n a
b l ack note The im p ortant exceptions are : le ft
.

han d descending in E fl at harmonic minor use 2

, , ,

3 I ; in B fl at harmonic minor u se 2 3 4 I
, , , , .
 Fing ring e . l 67
There are certain mistakes in the fingering o f
scales so common that t hey shou ld be guarded
ag a inst with especia l c are F o r example in the
-

.
,

scales o f B fl at E fl at and A fl at maj or le ft hand

, ,

asce nding the fourth finger i s very o ften no t used

,

as it shou l d be for E flat A fl at an d D fl at resp ec

'

t i v ely An d many pupils forge t that the thumb

.

shou l d not fol low the fir st b l ack note in the sca les
of E fl at and A fl at harmonic minors le ft han d ,

descending .

When a l l the sca les have be en so thorough ly p ra c

t i se d with the usua l fingering that there i s no chance
of a single mistake the very advanced student ,

shoul d then practise a l l the sc ales with ex actly the

same fingering which i s used for the scale o f C
'

’
Frank lin Tay lor s ru l es for the fingering o f maj or
sca les in doub le third s an d sixths are s o simple and
convenient that they may be quoted :
S ca les in third s : u se the litt le finger but once in
e ach octave R ight han d sharp scales as far as
.
,

five sharps have the l itt le finger on the fi fth degree .

L e ft han d sharp sca les as far as five sharps have

,

the little finger o n the note A R ight hand fl at .

,

scales as far as six flats have the litt le finger on the

note G L e ft han d fl at sca les as far as five flats

.
,

have the midd le finger o n the sixth degree .

E x am ple o f fingering right hand ascending : ,

3 4 5 3 4 3 4 3
’
1 2 3 1 21 21
Scales in sixths : use the mid dle finger o nce in
e ach octave .

R ight hand sharp scales as far as five sharp s

,

have the mid dl e finger on the sixth degree L e ft .

han d sharp sca les as far as six sharps h ave the

,

mid d le finger o n the note G R igh t hand fl at

'

.
,

sca le s a s far as six flats have the mid d le finger o n

the note A L e ft h and fl at scales a s far as five
.
,

flats have the midd le fin ger on the fi fth de gree ,

168 The Art o f Te aching .

It is o f even greater importance that in the case

o f scales to teach broken chor ds and arpeggios in
groups for the purpos e o f fingering B oth the
,
.

groups and their fingering wil l be foun d in C hapter

I I o f this work .

Some teachers and pupils pre fer to use the third

instead o f the fourth finger in such arpeggios as
D maj or first position left han d or F minor second
, , , ,

position right han d where the interva l between the

, ,

fir st two or the last two notes is a maj or third and ,

o ne o f the notes is bl ack T his seem s a mistake ; .

for the invariable use o f the fourth finger no t only

makes for the greater accuracy derived from u ni
formity but it a lso strengthens what i s commonly a
,

weakly used finger .

The preservati o n o f a close lega t o especial ly in ,

melo dy and in polyphonic music is so important ,

that specia l pains mu st be taken to gain the ca se

which i s req uired Various devices o f fingering are
.

needed f o r many awkward pass ag es O f these de .

vices the m o st important are sliding from one note

,

to the n ext with a single finger usual ly from a ,

b l ack to a white key ; and changing fingers on a

singl e key in order to leave a convenient fin g er free .

N o wide success in p l aying is attai n ab le where the

p upi l is no t thoroughly wel l trained in the use o f
’
these two devices B ach s fugues an d Mendel s
.

’ “ ”
sohn s L ieder ohne Worte p rovide ample material
f o r such p ractice as it required And the teacher .

wi l l fin d that som e regul ar practice on the or gan or

harmonium is most useful for devel oping facil ity
in the a ttainment o f lega t o in awkward passages .

S ome c o unsel o n the subj ect o f fin gered e ditions

o f music where eminent authorities di f fer so widely
, ,

may prove acceptab le The o l der school s o f

.

p layers teachers and editors base d a l l their finger

,

ing o n the principle o f t echnica l co nv enience a nd

l7 0 The A rt o f T eaching .

easy provi d e d that the e f fect be no t in any w i se

,

marred The difficulty o f the teacher consists

.
”
,

there fore in making a j u diciou s se lection in finger

,

ing By adhering cl osely to the o ld schoo l he is

.

likely to miss some aids to clear phrasing ; while

by adhering clos ely to the modern schoo l he is likely
to a dd to the di f ficulties o f the pupil Perhaps the .

sa fe course wou l d be to steer clear o f the extremes ,

represented on the o ne side by Kohler and on the ,

other by Scholtz ; an d to adapt the fingering in ,

cases o f di f ficu lty to the needs o f the individua l ,

pu i1
i s to the con fusion caused by using two sets o f
.

number s to represent the fingers it is to be hoped ,

that editors and pub lisher s wil l soon come to some

decision that wil l end th e di f ference between E ng “

“
lish and F oreign fingering
” ”
.

S OM E U S E F UL W OR K S ON F INGERING .

“
Art o f E xpression P ar I 7
The ,
”
. .

”
Frank lin Tay l or Primer o f Piano forte P laying ,
“
-

C hapter II I ( Macmil l an ) .

Techni que and E xpression “ ”

F rank lin T ay lor , ,

C hapter III ( N ovel lo ) .

R iem ann C atechism o f Piano P laying Par 3 0

,
“
-

,
”
.

( A u gener) .

G ordon S aun der s T he Art o f Phrasing Part ,

“
,
”

II ( H ammon d ) .

[ E sthetics o f the Piano forte

”
C hapters
“
K u lla k , ,

V IX ( Schirmer )
-
.

J A l fred John stone T h e R oy al Method for

“
.
,
”
Scale s an d Arpeggios ( Al la n) .
 Use s d A bu ses o f R ead ing and M e mo ri sing l7 l
‘

an .

Q U SES A ND A B U S E S OF RE A DING A ND
ME M ORI S ING .

If we were to form a hasty j udgment from o u r

common O bservation o f the cases wher e an excel
lent reader o f music seems incapab le O f m emo ri s
ing ; and on the other hand O f the ca se s where the
, ,

p l ayer to whom mem o rising appear s to have become

,

a s econ d nature seems incapab le o f readi ng music

,

fluent ly we might be inc line d to conc lude that

,

fluent reading and facile memorising were tw o i n

compatib le accompl ishments An d the po ssessor o f .

one O f these attainment s is apt to be more envious

Of the posses sion o f the accomp lishment he l acks
than prou d o f his own The publ ic who are no t .
,

skil led in the subj ect regard each accomplishment ,

as a S pecia l gi ft not ea sily acquired in the course

,

o f education A s a ru le these so ca lled gi fts are

.
,
-

simp ly the resul t o f har d persevering care fu l work , ,

.

Whether the case be that o f a genius or o f a person

o f mediocre talent his remarkab le accomp lishment s
,

are in nearly every instance , largely due to work

—
,

work so inten se S O severe so continuou s so care

, , ,

fu l as to be quite beyond the inclination s o f the

,

average man .

R e a ding an d memorising in music ca l l int o play

quite di f f erent facu lties ; and there may be more
ta ste an d aptitu de in any given case for the one
than f o r the other The rea d er must posse ss natura l
.

quickness o f eye and menta l alertness ; his busines s

is to take i n an d comprehend as much as he can s ee
at a single gl ance F o r his purpose the fleeting i m
.

p re ssion received fro m a ra p id glance i s su f ficient ;

17 2 The Art o f Te aching .

an d practice soon d evel ops the quickness o f eye and

the menta l a lertness required .

O n the other hand the memo riser is no t at a ll

,

anxious to develop quickness o f sight o r the mental

a lertness nece ssary for comprehending in a moment
so m uch as can be seen at a glance He rather .

avoids this rapi d sketchy m etho d a s be ing dia

,

metrical ly opposed to his d esires What he wants .

i s to get a fixed impression in his mind and a fixed

habit in his fingers by reite ration continued until
,

the aid o f the printed notes is no longer required .

While the rea der trie s to deve lop those faculties

which produce their best resu lt by the most rapid
and e f fective attention to the printe d page the aim ,

o f the memoriser i s on the co ntrary to withdraw

, ,

his attention therefr o m a s soon as possible T h at .

many students shoul d b e e f ficient at but o ne o f the se

accompl ishments i s the n not to be wondered at
, , ,

when we reflect upon the opposing methods needed

for the attainment o f each The habits which de .

v el o
p the one are likely rather to weaken aptitude
and power for the other But ef ficiency in either i f
.
,

examined into wil l usua l ly be found to be the re

,

su lt o f har d work and d efici ency equal ly the result

'

of neglect B oth o f these accomplishment s are

.
,

however so valuab le to the student that they should

,

be cul tivated assiduously and from the very begin

ning o f the pupi l s career N o one who is no t a
’
.

fluent reader can ever hope to become a widely edu

ca te d musician except by en dless l abour ; nor can
,

he be a general ly u se fu l mu sician un less he i s ab le

to give e f ficient service as an accompanist at a
’
moment s notice But o n the other hand so fas
.
, ,

ci na ti ng does the habit o f desu ltory readi ng become

to the fluent reader that in many cases it is i mp o s
,

sibl e to per suade h i m to d evote time a nd care to the

l7 4 The A rt o f T eaching .

can both re a d an d memorise G et him to do both .

for you during his lesson L et him read one single .

measure o f the music ; i f he cannot d o thus much ,

then h i s first business is to l earn his notes and their

time val ues ; but if he can read even one single
measure S l o w ly then point out t o him that constant
,

study and practice such a s he devote s to the cultiva

,

tion o f his techni que for exampl e wi l l bring further

, ,

ease and speed Again get him to learn o ff for

.
,
'

y ou one sing le measure o f a simp le me lody ; i f he

accompl ishes this successfu lly let him add a second
measure Suppose that a fter l earning one measure
.

correctly he assures you that he cannot learn two

mea sures show him h i s absurdity by a sking him
,

to point o u t the particul ar note at which his

memory fail s T hu s by the simp le experiment o f
.
,

doing it each pupil m ay prompt ly convince himse l f

,

that he can memorise o r read Th e expert reader .

i s usua l ly one who spen ds most o f h i s spare time ,

and w h o has from early year s spent most o f his

spare time in rea ding al l the m usic he can find
,
.

And the expert memoriser is u sual ly one who began

young to cu ltivate the habit o f committing his music
t o memory .

3 . S PEC I AL SUGGE S TI ON S F OR TEA CH ING REA DING .

From the very first lesson s one fourth O f the time

of each lesson shou l d be spent in going over fresh
notes : that i s i n p laying at sight The pieces so
,
.

read need not a fterwar d s be learnt There is m ore .

educationa l virtue in taking the very y oung pupil

 Sp e ci al Suggestio ns f o r T e aching R ea d ing . I7 5

through a good dea l o f fresh mus i c than in getting

him to labour long an d probab ly in vain trying to
, ,

learn a few pieces thoroughly Very thorough .

le arning i s far more likely to be use fu l a fter a few

preliminary ye ar s o f more or less cursory stu dy F o r .

some years each fresh piece taken for reading may

be gone over three time s R ight notes may be the
.

chie f aim during the first re ading ; at the second ,

time and rhyt hm may be added ; at the third some ,

attempt however crude shou l d be made to interpret

, ,

the genera l character an d expression o f the piece .

D uring the first year or two a beginner when read

, ,

ing wi l l prob ab ly fin d matter enough in the notes

, ,

fingering time an d rhythm to occupy h i s attention

,

ful ly B ut so soon a s i s possible he shoul d be urged

.

more and more to menta l a lertness and to bear in ,

min d that the more he aims at the more he wi ll

probab ly accom plish .

N ot a lone d uring the lesson shou ld much time be

devoted to the practice O f read ing fresh mu sic A .

fair proportion o f the daily practice hour s shou l d

al so be set apart f o r this important work In the .

case o f very young pupil s fi fteen m inutes dai ly may

suffice ; a fter some fair progress has been made this
m ay be increase d to hal f an hour ; an d for a long
period an hour daily i s l itt le enough to devote to
reading both with a V iew to greater facility and to
,

a libera l acquaintance with the piano forte c l assics .

Whi le in the ca se o f young or backward pupi ls the ,

attention o f the teacher during the lesson wil l be

taken up chie fly with n o tes fingering time and , ,

rhythm the rea ding l esson o f the expert pupil wil l

,

be devoted chiefly to valuab le interpretative hints .

And although rea ding may at first seem tedious to

the pupi l w h o h as a s it were to spel l out h i s words
, ,

l aboriou sly ; sti l l it is the duty o f the conscientious

,

teacher to in sist that it be not neg lected f o r a sing le

l7 6 The Art o f T e aching
'

day B efore very long the season o f due reaping

.

W i l l arrive when what had been a weary task

,

will become to the pupil o f ta ste a daily

, ,

pleasure .

4 . C ON C I S E H INTS F OR R E A DING AND E AR

T R A INING .

( I ) C hoose at first very easy music : that i s

.

music con structed up o n a s i ng le harmonic basis with

but little time complication few accidentals and ,

wel l within the technica l abilities o f the pupil .

Insist upon the habit on the part o f the ,

pupi l o f counting aloud in a stro ng clear voice

, , ,

unti l some se nse o f time has been cu ltivated b II t not

'

longer This counting may be accompanied by be at

.

ing with th e foot or the u se o f a metronome O n no .

account al low the pupil to S hirk his proper labours

o f exp l aining the correct counti ng himsel f for each
piece and then doing his own counting ; for thus
,

on ly wi l l he become qual ified to do this important

work for himsel f during h i s practice hours when
he cannot be dependent on the help o f his teacher .

L et the t emp o chose n be su f ficiently slow to allow

o f accurate time being kept .

B efore any pl aying begins let the pupil ex ,

p lain th e time signature and mention the sharpened

or fl attene d notes be longing to the key o f the piece ;
an d make sure that proper rhythm is always asso
C I a t e d with time both in the counting and p laying
, .

See that appropriate fingering i s always

use d I n or der to g u ar d again s t the habit o f using
.

wrong fingering when the pupi l was practising read

I ng by himse l f it wou ld be wel l to choose a lways
,
17 8 The A rt o f T e aching .

average pupi l to rea lise the sound from mental ly

rea ding the notes tha t the p l aying at sight com ,

m o nly done is so far from adequate or intel ligent .

E xercise s in writing o u t mu sic from hearing the

notes p layed over wi l l be foun d to be some help in
deve loping this power o f gra sping the sound O f
notes from looking at them T his subj ect is now .

receiving some o f the attention i ts importance de

serves ; an d for the purpose o f training the ear some
very use ful textbooks are no w pub lished E le .
“

mentary E ar T ests H o w to L earn and How to ,

T each T hem by the author ( Weekes ) ; and E ar

,
” “

Training by D r S aw v er ( Weekes ) m ay be named

,
”
.
,
.

RE A DING .

N ever
al low the pu p i l to stop to correct a
sing le mistake o r to pick up a note mis sed Whether
, .

he stumble s whether he p lays wrong notes whether

, ,

he omits notes a ltogether teach him to g o straight ,

ahead supported by the steady swing o f the rhythm .

Thus and thu s a lone wil l he acquire the power of

, ,

s o grace fu lly hiding h i s error s that they wi l l not be

noticed T here are few habits more irrit ating in a

.

p layer than that o f cal l ing attention to every

stumb le he make s by vain attempts at correction ;
an d it is quite a s ineffective as trying to pick u p -

dropped S pecimens O f the letter 12 Though the .

e ssence o f care fu l p ra cti s i ng i s to correct every error , ,

the same method means ruin to any chance o f facility

in rea ding O ne o f the most e f fectual he lps in this
.

’
p art o f the pupil s work i s the practice o f reading
duets or accompanying some instrument o r voice
, ,

f o r in practice o f this kind there is no time for cor

recti ng errors and so the pupi l gets into the habit o f
,
 Ear T raining. I7 9

going stea dily o n with his pl aying hiding d e fici ,

enci es as grace fu l ly as possib le .

S o soon a s the pupil is capab le o f a p p reci

ating the fact exp l ain to him that goo d reading
,

does not consi st simply in striking the notes but in ,

the right ren dering o f the music A fter training his .

ear to appreciate pitch rhythm tone variety ; a fter

, ,

showing him both by i l lustrations a s wel l a s by his

,

o w n experience in p lay ing something o f the sty l e

,

an d character o f various mu sical forms such as ,

marches gavottes nocturnes then urge him to try to

, ,

form some menta l conception o f the sty l e o r charac

ter o f the piece he is about to pl ay an d to express ,

that character in h i s ren dering Induce h i m to try .

alway s to make the piece he i s pl aying soun d a s beau

ti ful a s he can ; to try to elicit some music from it .

In order to convince your pupil the more eff ec

ti v ely that good reading does no t consist entirely o r
chiefly in merely striking the notes i l lustrate the ,

e f fect o f a dopting a like course in the reading o f a

piece o f poetry G abb le over the wor ds regard less
.
,

o f metre punctu ation emphasis sense feeling i nte l

, , li, , ,

gence an d even the most obtuse student wi l l readi ly

,

a dmit that this can hard ly be ca l le d reading at al l .

F or the purpose o f developing quickness o f

eye it is advisab le to get the pupil to spen d a por
,

tion o f the time set apart f o r reading in simply

trying to strike the notes in time a s fa st as he can , .

Spite o f the drawbacks mentioned i n the preceding

paragraph spite o f neg lected expression spite o f
, ,

stumb l ing wrong notes an d notes o mitted it is

, ,

worth while spending a littl e time every day reading

over notes at a fa st pace F or on ly thus i s it possi
.

b le to devel op that quickness o f eye which i s re

quired to enabl e o ne to rea d rapid music .

H o w to choo se suit ab le music for practice

in rea d ing especial ly at a reasonab le cost is a d i ffi
, ,
180 The Art o f T eaching .

culty in the path o f many teacher s The first essen .

t i a ls are easy piece s shor t pieces and p lenty O f ,

variety The simpler an d more melodious o r the

.
,

more strongly marked in rhythm the music which i s ,

at first chosen the better wil l the resul ts prove F o r

, .

’
the purpo ses o f the y o u ng pupil G u rlitt s music is ,

very suitab le A great many books O f h i s short

.

pieces are pub lished by A u gener and a special cata

logue contain s a l arge list O f these pieces c l assified
in degrees O f difficu lty Krug is likewise a fertile .

composer an d transcriber o f pieces suite d to the

needs o f the immature rea der A fter these the .
,

son a tinas o f L ange D u ssek K u h lau Reinecke , , , ,

C lementi m a y be recommended
,
T hese may be i h .

te rsp ersed with albums o f marches g a v o ttes m i nu et s , , .

’
G u r litt s opus numbers I 3 O 2 1 9 2 2 4 2 0 5 7 4 I O I , , , , , ,
’ “
1 04 ; Krug s Album L ieb linge der Jugend ; ,
”

’ ’
G e mer s
“
r Schoo l o f Sonatina P laying ; Li to lff s ”

“ ’
C lassics for the Young ; Schar w enka s
“
Album ”

’ “
for the Young ; an d N eu sted t s B luettes and
” ”

“ ”
Pens ées may be suggested a s something like the
kind o f pieces suitab le f o r youth fu l readers .

A s to the expense that i s lessening year by year

,

with the issue o f numbers o f pieces in book form at

a lo w price But there i s undoubtedly room stil l for
.

the publ ication o f a few vo lumes o f short and varied

piece s arranged in or der O f progressive difficu lty
, .

each volume containing a couple o f hundred pieces

specia l ly selected for the purposes o f pupils who
wish to practise S ight reading E conomy may at -
.

present be indu lged by re reading a fairly liberal -

course o f works at considerab le interval s .

N ote The attention O f the student is special ly

.

ca l led to t h e fo l lowing new works by the author :

“
E ighty G raded Pieces f o r Sight Reading
“
”

( Weekes ) ; Album o f Attractive Pieces ( A l lan ) ; ”

“
E lementary Sight Rea ding Album ( A l lan ) ”
.
I8 2 The A rt o f T eaching .

the other L ong practice thought ful care and

.
,

anx ious watch fulness are essentia l preliminaries to

the attainment o f this idea l .

These cursory suggestions o n reading and acco m

panying may be supp lemented from other works on
teaching ; but what can be sai d is O f sm al l practica l
value compare d with what is to be accomplished by
steady care fu l practice When a pupi l says to me :
, .

“
I woul d give anything to be ab le to p lay as a great
“
p layer I once heard ; I ad d except the work
”
, .
”

You wi l l o ften meet excellent readers among those

who se work has not been aided by rules and su g
gestions T heir main ru le o f procedure w a s to read
.

every piece o f music they cou l d lay hands on in ,

season and out o f season There i s many a poor .

reader again w h o is acquainted with all the aids

, ,

avai lab le towards acquiring this accompl ishment ,

but who c annot be induced to put them into practice .

S 0 i s it in the wor l d o f letters There are many .

cu ltivated readers w h o gain their cu ltivation by

S pending their leisure in a wide course o f desu lt o ry

reading for the love o f it ; while on the other side , ,

there are many uncu ltivated students conversant

with the most approved and u p to date methods o f - -

learning w h o yet lack the one thing need ful —real

,

love impel ling them to work Wil l work enth u si .

, ,

asm are the chie f essential s to success in this part

,

o f musica l educatio n at al l events ; lucid su gges

,

tions as to the best metho ds o f work perhaps lessen

the di f ficul ties somewhat .
 M emo rising . I83

7 . ME M OR I S ING .

Memorising i s a l so m ainly a matter o f stea d y

work an d o f work undertaken from a very ear ly
,
’
stage in the pupil s c areer B ut whereas rea ding .

shou ld occupy a considerab le portion o f the time o f

the les son an d o f the time set apart for pr actice ,

memori sing requires but a very sm al l portion o f

either Its great a dvantage s are that it saves th e
.

labour o f carrying about books o f music ; that music

p layed from memory is much more impre s sive to
the bea rer ; an d that the per former i s ab le to give his
who le attention with far more free dom and far less
,

restraint to the interpretation o f the music

,
.

There are various metho d s o f memorising music .

The commonest is that o f the happy go l ucky stu - -

dent w h o depend s a l m ost entire ly upon h i s facu lty

O f touch He trains his fingers so per fectly in the
.

path O f a piece that once started they wil l a lmo st

, , ,

without an effort o f the min d go through mechanic ,

a l ly to the en d This muscu l ar o r finger memory i s

.
-

un fortunate ly no t al together reliable ; an d where a

,

breakdown occurs the case is o ften hope less Strange .

to say Pa derewski is reported to depen d upon thi s

,

method o f memorising T here is little doubt that

.

in many case s it is far the e a siest method B ut h o w .

few pl ayers there are w h o practise so persistently as

Paderewski in or der to ensure themselves against a
breakdown ? Yet this metho d has i ts advantageou s
si de F o r more tha n o ne great pianist when his
.
,

mental or intel lectua l memory failed him in the

midst o f a per formance save d the position by ceas
,

ing to try to think at al l and letting his fingers run,

a long o f their o w n accor d This muscu lar o r finger .

I84 The A rt o f Te aching .

memory is best adapted for bril liant passages co n

structed upo n a scal e o r arpeggio basis o r upon the
repetition o f a certain fl orid pattern o r figure ; and
especia lly f o r those rapid passages whose certain
execution is on ly attained a fter much pr actice .

A second pl an i s to learn the notes o f the music

by heart a few measures at a time Writing the
, .

n o tes o u t a fter try ing for some time to learn them

O ften helps to fix them securely in the mind This .

method may be aided by the impressions received

by the fingers during practice ; o r it may be under
taken a s von B u low un dertook it without playing
, ,

a t a l l j u st as one wou ld learn o ff the words o f a

,

piece o f p oe try o r o f an oration A mo dification o f .

this pl an is t o try to fix in the mind a picture o f the

pages o f the mu sic from which the practice i s done .

And then with the he lp o f the facu lty o f touch this

, ,

menta l image carries o ne success ful ly through even ,

though each individual not e may no t be fixed in the

min d so distinct ly and sure ly as to enab le the
student to write a fair copy o f the piece In al l . .

cases o f intel lectual memory the senses o f touch , ,

sight an d hearing o f course contribute som e share

, ,

to the tota l resu lt even though the proportions may

,

be different in different cases and different indi

vi d u a ls .

T here
is l ittle doubt that by far the most per fect
metho d o f memorising consists in a studious com
bination o f the three metho ds suggested suiting the ,

proportion s o f the variou s methods to the needs o f

the particul ar ca se The notes shou l d be committed
.

to memory measure by measure ; and as an aid

, , ,

some music S hou ld be copied out from memory day

by day In addition to this p l an the stu dent should
.
,
’
try to form in his min d s eye a s clear and distinct a
picture o f the pages o f the mu sic as he can ; and ,

thirdly by dint o f constant practice he shou l d train

, ,
18 6 The Art o f T eaching .

’
tice especia lly i f it be begun early in the pupil s
,

career The best time o f the day f o r practice in

.

memorising i s the morning when the mind i s fresh ,

.

Much has been written on the subj ect R ules o f .

vary ing de grees o f com plication have been devised

as aids ; but the time spent upo n these essay s and
ru les wou ld probab ly pro duce better resu lts i f spent
in the exercise o f memorising itsel f While there is .

no doubt some intere st in a psycho logical analysis

of the various processes by which memorisation i s
accompl ished the practica l va lue o f the discussion
,

wil l I think be found to be inconsiderab le i f for no

, , ,

other re ason because each pupil usual ly adopts i n~

,

s ti ncti v e l
y that metho d o r combination O f methods
best suited to his own c ase .

G uidance is perhaps desirab le as to a wise pro

g ressi v e choice o f music to be memorised A S in
'

reading the easiest pieces to memorise are simple

,

me lodies with simp le accompaniments ; then S imple

airs with simple variations ; th en bril liant pieces o f
a ron do type o f S impl e construction and founded
,

o n a simp le harmonic basis A fter these the pupi l .

,

may go o n through a course o f easy marches ,

gavottes an d other pieces o f a simple and regular

form to the easier works o f Mendels sohn Weber
, , ,

H ay d n an d Mozart L ater o n the compositions of .

,

Beethoven C hopin an d Schumann wil l lead to the

, ,

comp licated contrapuntal po lyphony O f B ach .

The most excel lent work yet pub lished upon this
subj ect i s that by D r Shinn ( Vincent C ompany ) .
,
“ ”
entit led Musica l Memory and i ts C u ltivation .
 C HAPT ER V .

G eneralSu ggesti o ns f o r Teach i ng

El ements o f Mu si c , Ha rmo ny d Fo rm
an .

I . E LE M EN TS .

“
T H E S E are not practical subj ects There are .

many pupil s who have such a rooted obj ec tion to

any theoretica l part o f musica l study that it is no
easy matter to in duce them to app ly themselves
e f fectively to this nece ssary part o f their education .

A lthough the subj ects j ust named may no t be a s

apparent ly an d direct ly practica l as technical ex er
ci ses stu dies and pieces ; sti l l their rel ation to the
, ,

practical aspect o f musical per form ance i s so c lose

that any great succes s a s a p l ayer i s almost i mp o s
sib le without their knowledge N O teacher shou ld
.

there fore al low hi s pupil s to grow up ignorant o f at

least the ru d iments o f these theoretica l subj ects .

F ortunately th e co lossa l ignorance which former ly

,

existed even upon the subj ect o f The E lements o f

,
“

”
Musica l Know ledge is no w l argely di ssipate d
1 37
I88 The Art o f T eaching .

through the influe nce o f numerou s test examinations

by various pub l ic examining bo dies as wel l as ,

through the influence o f a host o f treatises pub lished

o n this subj ect .Yet in spite O f a l l this the mistake
, ,

is sti l l commonly made o f not beginning to give

theoretica l in struction from the very start o f the
’
pupil s course an d not going on systematical ly with
it a s the practica l instruction proceeds A few .

minutes at each lesson a few q uestion s set for home

,

exercises each week woul d cover the whole ground

,

in a S hort time an d save the pupi l from the d i s

,

ability and disgrace o f ignorance In many cases .

where this elementary instruction is given to the

pupi l the subj ect i s neg lected a fter the prescribed
,

course ha s been once comp leted Th e memory O f .

the average pupi l i s however so S hort that careful

, ,

reca p itul ation at regul ar interva ls is q u ite as need fu l

a s the original instructions With regard to the.

practica l beari n g o f the elements o f music on play

ing : H ow much smoother is the path O f the pupi l
who understands thoroughly the re lative time value
o f notes the key and time signature the meanings
, ,

o f musical terms the right m etho ds o f interpreting

,

the chie f ornaments and kindred matters ? But the

instruction given must be real live explanatory i n , ,

struction , o f such a kin d a s wil l appeal to and en ‘

lighten the pupi l T eaching elements o f music by

.

rote i s o f no more practica l value than the mech a ni

ca l schoo l teaching O f E nglish grammar so o ften
given whose fruit is the breaking o f every rule o f
,

good speaking an d good writing so soon a s the

schoo l precincts are le ft .

T h e rel ative value s o f notes shoul d be explained

so c lear ly and e f fectively tha t th e qu avers o f a piece

o f music will th e moment they are seen be played

, ,

twice as fast a s its crotchets ; that the extent o f each

beat wi l l be gu a ged at once even though it be min
190 The Art o f Te aching .

obscure phrases shou l d there fore be rigorous ly ex

’
cl u ded from the teacher s vocabul ary When for .
,
“
examp le smoothly i s given as the meaning o f the
,
”

term leg a t o in s o me book explain to the pupi l that ,

such a definition is meaning less an d that even if it ,

did happen to mean anything that meaning would ,

be utter ly wrong L ega t o simply means the sustain .

ing o f one sound unti l the next begins ; in the case

of the piano it means that o ne key i s to be kept ,

depressed until the next is depressed What this .

“
ha s to do with smoothnes s wou l d not be very ”

easy to discover Again i f there be a direction to .

,
“
pl ay a given passage with a broad touch or a ”

“ ”
l iquid touch prov e the utter absurdity o f this ,

d irection to your pupil by a clear exp lanation o f the

limits and the po ssibilities o f touch You wil l find .

it very easy to convince him by the reiterated strik ,

“ ”
ing o f a sing le tone that touch is neither broad ,
“ “ “
no r narrow neither liquid nor solid but that,
” ”
,
”

tones may S imply be loud or so ft long or short ,

.

I f your pupil tel ls you tha t s tri ng end o means

“ “
urging o n o r that co n m o t o mean s with motion
,
”
,
”

tel l him that y o u want nothing but clear S imple ex ,

p l anations which have some definite and practical

,

meaning A l l music is pl ayed with motion and i s

.
, ,

in a sense urging on S tri ng emlo however means

,
.
, , ,

that the pace o f the music i s to be q uickened ; and

co n m o t o means that the music is to be taken at a ,

fair ly rapid rate I f again y o u are tol d th at .

, ,
’ “
al la rg a a a o means broadly o r that d o lee means ,
”

“
sweet ly do not rest content until your pupil gives
,
”

an expl anation that wi l l S how definitely how th e

passages marked thus shou l d be playe d L et him .

’
un derstan d that a lla rg a a a o usua l ly means a little ,

S lower a little louder and a littl e ma rca t o ; and that

, ,

d o lce usua l ly means so ftly .

L et one o f the lessons in the e lements o f music be ,

 El ements . I9I

that affectation o r obscurity or word s without a

c lear definite meaning are enemies o f real kno w
, ,

ledge an d shoul d never be to lerated for a moment

, .

N o te The stu dent is advised to use the auth or s

.
’

“
textbooks on the subj ect o f this sectio n : The
R oy a l Ro ad to Ru diment s o f Music and Ques ” “

tion s on the R oy a l R oa d to R udiments ( Weekes ) ”

.

2 . H A R M ON Y .

Here t o o in thi s theoretical subj ect harmony

, , , ,

there i s much to be found that i s o f practica l val ue

to the pianist Harmony is the grammar o f chord
.

s tructure and chor d progression Its know ledge .

enab les the p l ayer to recognise chor ds the mom ent

he sees them however broken o r disguised in form
,

they may be without the lab our o f spel ling o u t their

,

sep arate notes ; it enab le s him to recognise the vari

o u s cadences o f the music an d so to di scover its ,

structure and punctuating points ; it enab le s him t o

reduce to their simp lest form and there fore to rea d ,

with far greater ease fl orid or bri l liant pa ssages o f

,

a l l kinds ; an d it enabl es him to ren der m ore i nte lli

gently an d forcib ly many typica l chord p ro gres
sions Its effects in short are much the same a s the
.
, ,

e f fects o f a know ledge o f spe l ling gramm ar sound , ,

an d sen se to a reader o f poetry

, .

D uring t h e technical s tu dy o f the pupi l at the

arpeggios o f different chords he shou l d be taught ,

to observe an d recognise their notes as the notes o f

the principa l chor ds o f which mo st music is m ade up ,

sounde d in succession He shou l d be req uired to .

recognise a nd to name these chord s under their vari

192 The Art o f T eaching .

ou s guise s a s they occur in his pieces E ven a very

, .

l itt le o f this analy sis unde rtaken regu larly wil l , ,

materia l ly help the pupil in h i s re a ding ; wi l l enab le

him to p lay with the confidence begotten o f fami
,

li a ri t y many passages which before were laboriously

.

spel led o u t ; and wil l help to guide him to an i ntelli

gent u se o f the pedal So to o if the various musi
.
, ,

ca l cadences— the fu l l c lose the hal f c lose the in

t erru p te d and p lagal cadences—b e so learnt that
, ,

they wil l be at once recognised in each piece played ,

the knowle dge thus gained wil l make reading easier ,

phrasing c learer and the whole rendering more

inte l ligent .

Valuab le a s is the study o f harmony o n paper ,

what is o f far greater importance for the pianist i s ,

that practical study which wil l enab le him to hear

mental ly what he sees He shoul d learn to recog .

nise chords and cadences by their sound and should ,

memorise their soun d .

If the pupil is ambitious and i s willing to ac ,

quaint himsel f with al l the chief chords and typical

chord progressions common ly used in music by ,

working out figured basses by writing them o u t ,

from hearing them sounded on the piano forte and ,

by analysing the harmonic basis o f the mu sic he

p lays he wil l soon find hi s labour repaid by i n
, ,

crea se d faci lity by finer insight by stronger con

, ,

fid ence by scho l ar ly power

,
He will feel that he is .

n o longer an outsider but an i nitiated member of ,

the musical cra ft C ompare the declamation o f

.

’
Mi lton s verse by a scho lar with that by a lad who ,

ha d to spe l l the wor ds be fore he coul d pronounce

t h em who knew nothing O f grammar o r the structure
,

o f a sentence and you may thus appreciate in some

,

degree the value o f a knowle dge o f harmon y to a

p la y er .
 The Art o f Tea ching
'

tom him to lo o k upon musical compo sition s as b eau

’

‘
tifu l structures o f intel ligent ly and care ful l y
a rranged proportions And to make this view clear
.

in the ren de ring it m u st first be c learl y graspe d in

,

th e mind .

’
A s the student s educatio n in form a l structure
a dvances p art o f every lesson should be devoted to
,

a carefu l ana ly sis o f the form o f the work un d er

stu dy E ven if at first this analy sis be but general
.
,

it shou ld expl ain clear ly the su bj ects bri d ge pas

'

sages episode s modu lations development sections

, , , ,

co d a s an d the like L ater on imitative passages

.
,

and a l l the variou s modes o f thematic development ,

shou l d be closely ana lysed and every modification ,

o r d evelopment shou l d be traced to its s o urce After .

this a comp lete mo ti v a l examination o f the who le

,

c o mposition should be un dertaken so that its logical ,

coherence and total evo lution from its embr y onic

origins may be m ade mani fest There is no other .

part o f musica l study which brings to l ight so many

d el icacies o f expression beauties o f imitation neat , ,

nesses o f arrangement former ly hid d en from the ,

view This study is so practical that it is a very

.

rare thing to h ear an intel ligent expo sition of any

fine musica l work whose formal construction is no t
c lear to the p l ayer .

O nce again imagine a man ignorant o f the Eng

, ,

li sh language ignorant o f the structure of vers e nay

, , ,

ignor ant o f the extent o f a single verse or a single

“
sentence attempting to decl aim the grand har ~
,
’ ‘
monies o f Milton s P ara dise If by
diligent practice he was lucky enough to gain some
fluency in the enunciation o f the words stil l how , ,

cru d e how unintel ligent how uninspired by the

, ,

graces o f form and the delicacies o f expression

wou ld h i s recita l soun d in the ear s o f a scho lar ! In
l ike manner does ignorance o f m usical form dif fer
 Fo rm . I9
5

enti a tethe crude per formance o f the i l l iterate from

the cu ltivated exposition o f the musica l scho lar .

The m ost sp lendid o f al l musica l form s yet i n

vented i s the sonata form ; and th e most inte l lectu al
an d compl icated is the fugue The stu dent who .

acquires a minute famil iarity with the structure o f

’
Beethoven s sonatas an d B ach s ’
Wo ltemp i ri rtes
“

”
C lavier may feel a j ust confi dence that whatever
, ,

be the fau lts o f h i s interpretations they wi l l not be

,

l acking in coherence lucidity an d intel ligence

,
.

Whereas in former years it w a s no t a lway s easy

for a teacher who lived at a distance from the great
cent res o f musical activity t o fin d sy stematic and
simpl e gui de —
,

books o n th is branch O f musical know

le dge there is no excuse now f o r neg lect In the
,
.

’ ’
case o f B eethoven s sonatas and B ach s fugues not ,

on ly h a s N ove l lo in h i s se ries o f educational

,

primers pub lished a detai led analy sis o f every

,

sonata an d every fugue by which even the most u n

,

intel ligent stu dent m ay rea dily comprehen d the

bro ad structural outl ine o f these works ; but R ie
m a nn a l so in h i s edition s o f these works h a s sup
, ,

p leme nte d this general out line with a m inute m o ti v a l

an alysis U pon musical form genera l ly there are
.
,

now publ ished a host o f admirab le treatises T h e .

names o f a se lection o f these i s appen ded to thi s

chapter .
I96 The Art o f T eaching .

4 . S OM E U S EF U L W OR K S ON TH E SUBJECTS
T RE A TED IN TH I S C HA PTER .

I . E LE M ENTS OF MU S I C .

J o h nsto ne The R oy al R oad to R udiments

,
“ ”

Week es ) .

J ohnstone Questions on Rudiments (Weekes )

,
“ ”
.

“
F isher The C andidate in Music ( C u rw en)
,
”
.

“
J opl ing I 5 0 Questions ( Weekes )
,
”
.

D icks , H andbook o f E xaminations ( N ovel lo )

“ ”
.

2 . H A R M ON Y .

“ ’
Man sfiel d The Student s Harmony (Weekes )
,
”
.

Mansfiel d Supp lementary E xercises and Melo

,
“

‘ ’ ’ ”
dies to The Student s H armony ( Weekes ) .

“
Prout H armony S ixteenth e dition ( A u gener)
, ,
”
.

Macpherson H armony ( Wi ll iams ) ,

“ ”
.

M a cf a rren Rudiment s o f H armony ( C ramer )

,
“ ”
.

M a cf a rren
“ ”
S ix L ectures o n H armony
,
.

Stainer Primer o f H armony ( N ovel lo )

,
“ ”
.
 C HAPT ER VI .

G eneralS u ggesti o ns f o r Eff ecti v e Wo rk

at the Le sso n an d f o r the Wi se Di recti o n
’
o f the Pu p i l s Practi ce .

I . TH E L E S S ON .

T HE extent o f the work un dertaken and the pro

portion o f time devoted at the lesson to each divi
sion o f the work m ust depend chiefly upon the
,

needs the desires and the capabil ities o f the indi

,

vidua l pupil A large number o f eminent teachers

.

agree however that the principa l divisions of the

, ,

work o f most pupil s shoul d be undertaken syste m

a t i ca lly an d in a uni form order An order which .

may be found genera l ly usefu l is this : technical

exercises studies pieces memorising reading a nd
, , , ,

revision Instructions upon element s o f mu sic har

.
,

mony and form m ay be i tersp er se d at appropria te

1s g
 The L esso n . I99
moments Such an orderly an d uni form p lan w il l
.

be likely to induce sim il ar orderline ss in the course

of the stu dent s practice D r C ar l Reinecke sug
’
. .

gests that the lesson be divide d int o three equa l

part s one third to be devoted to technica l i n stru c
,

tion one third to stu di es and pieces and one thir d

, ,

to reading S uch a division even i f genera l ly

.
,

approved may require considerab le modification to

,

ad a pt it to the need s O f any individ u al pu p il .

N U M B ER AND L ENG T H OF L E S S ON S .

Th e general queston o f the number and length o f

the lessons to be given depends on so many varied
f actor s that very definite guida nce i s not easy to
offer F or the very young pupi l a short lesson o f a
.

few minutes perhaps ten minute s daily woul d b e

, ,

mo st suitab le ; or two to three lessons weekly o f ten

’
to fi fteen minutes each wou l d suffice i f the chi ld s ,

practice were care f u l ly supervise d F or the avera ge .

schoo lgirl who rega rded music a s a p leas ant a cco m

,

p li sh ment no t a s part o f a liberal and serious educa

,

tion one ef fec tive les son o f ha l f an hour each week

,

shou l d su ffice O r ag a in the same time wou ld p ro b

.
,

ab ly be foun d sufficient for any pupi l whose daily

’

h o u r s f o r practice were few an d w h o there fore coul d

not undertake any very extende d course o f musical
study A real ly goo d teacher may give as much
.

use ful instruction in one week ly les son O f hal f an

hour a s can possib ly be as s imi lated by any pupi l o f
average abi lit y en gaged upon a limited scheme o f
200 The Art o f T eaching .

study In the case O f an ambitious pupi l whose

.

work h a d reached an advanced stage an d who se ,

course o f study was fair ly wi de a weekly le sson of ,

an hour see m s to the earnest teacher to glide by

b efore al l that is need fu l can be to ld B ut as a .
,

ru le very long lessons that i s lesso ns o f more tha n

, , ,

ha l f an hour are both wearisome to the teacher and

,

va lueless to the pupi l and lessons o f less than h a l f

an hour are a s a rule too short to a l low O f any very
, ,

effect i ve I nstruction .

2 . REI TERATED IN S I S TEN C E .

’
In the ear ly stages o f the pupi l s tuition each ,

fresh lesson shou ld begin wi th renewed insistence

upon a right position o f the hand and the right
action o f the fingers However care fu l a teacher .

m ay be there are few cases in which for a con

, ,

e time he wil l not have to correct some fault

si d era b l ,

o f position or to urge the pupil to more e f fective

,

finger action It is a very genera l rule that what

.

the teacher neglects to insist upon repeated ly the ,

pupi l neglects to do or to practise ; or that whenever

’
the te acher s attention is relaxed the pupil Offers him ,

the flattery o f imitation a n d there is retrogression ,

instead o f progress Alertness energy care .

, , ,

enthusiasm har d work o n the part O f the teacher

, ,

beget l ike virtues in the pupil An inexperienced .

teacher is o ften apt a fter he explains c learly to a

,

pupi l how o ne thing shou l d be done and sees that

the pupi l does it rightly to leave that matter as ,
202 The Art o f T eaching .

acts to act in the most e f ficacious metho d possib le

, ,

an d to listen care ful ly to the result o f his action is ,

the teacher w h o mu st succeed N o such teacher can .

“
take things easy for a moment The easy moment
”
.

o f the teacher is the moment in which the seed o f i n

attention and carelessnes s drops into the mind o f

"
the pupil T here are teachers who give lessons
.
“

al l day long ; but no virtue from them enters into

’
the pupil More than a mo d est day s work o f really
.

effective teaching is beyon d the en durance o f any

man The mental ef fort the wil l force needed to
.
, ,

stimu late the pupi l to exert his utmost powers of

mind and heart at his work i s o f itse l f no l igh t ,

strain on the v i ta lity o f a teacher But he who '

spares himsel f at the expense o f h i s pupil i s not fit

to teach .

The notion which has ha d great vogue in day s

,

gone by that teaching consisted principa l ly in

,

listening to a pupil p laying a portion O f work set

for practice and then appointing a further portion
,

for future practice has fortunately S O completely,

dropped out o f fashion that it i s simply mentio ned

here as an historical curio sity .

4 . O RDER OF S U B j EC Ts AT L E S S ON S .

When the neces s ary instructio ns on hand position -

an d fi nger action has been give n al l ele m entary or

-

, ,

rather foundation exercises shou l d be revised ; and

,

fresh means for stim u lating and for increasing the

e f ficacy o f the work shoul d be set before the pupil ,
.

Scales arpeggios broken chord passages special

, ,
-

ex erci ses for counteracting speci a l finger weaknesses ,

 Ord e r o i Subjects at Le sso ns . 203

chord an d octave work shoul d fol low In each divi

,
.

si o n o f the work something fresh shou ld be a dded

each week whether it be fresh matter o r fresh sti mu
,

lu s to more e f ficient stu dy It is a fata l mistake to .

fai l in keeping steadi ly be fore the pupil i n each , .

p art o f his work an idea l far above his attainments

,
.

S o soon as an idea l is reache d and there i s no pros ,

p ect beyon d intere st fl ags practice becomes

, ,

mechanica l progress ceases

,
.

If studie s are used o r i f some technica l school be

,

appointed f o r practice this shoul d next cal l for ,

attention at the lesson The no tes rhythm mark s .

, ,

o f expression shou l d al l receive care fu l attention

,
.

I f the character o f the stu dy h e chiefly technica l ,

then the te acher m ust insist that it be made effective

for purp o ses o f technique Whether it be inten de d .

to improve finger o r wri st actio n o r to teach skip s , ,

passage work o r chor d progressions it must be ,

pl ayed with absol ute note correctness an d with such ,

force an d speed as wi l l insure the resu lt inten ded .

And it is important to urge the pupil to attain effi

ci ency i n each exercise as quickl y as possib l e in ,

order that a wide range o f technica l work m ay be

covere d without lo ss o f time Again the pupil to .
,

be successfu l mu st reali se that merely going through

finger exerci se s S ca les arpeggios o r other technica l
, ,

exercises for a few repetitions is genera l ly waste o f

, ,

tim e E very technical exercise S hou l d each day be

dil igent ly practise d —no matter what the number o f
.

repetitions invo l ve d — unti l some definite improve

ment has been attained The muscles which are not .

worked each day to the point o f fatigue an d a little

beyon d at each technica l exercise are the musc les o f
, ,

a stag nant o r non progressive pupil-

’
As regard s pieces there is o ne part o f the teacher s
,

work upon which there is considerab le di f ference o f

opinion Some authorities advocate the p lan o f re
.
204 The Art o f T eaching .

i
str ct attention to a few piece s until they are
i ng
thoroughly wel l learnt ; while others recommend that
a great dea l o f music shou l d be gone thr o ugh each
year even though its rendering fal l far short o f what
,

is desirab le T here is litt le doubt that in the case o f

.

very you n g chil dren finished performance i s not as ,

a ru le to be expected
, As has been suggested in a
.

former chapter more progressive educ a tional results

,

wil l therefore probab ly be attained by hal f learning

many pieces than by continued practice f o r a long
,

time at a single piece or a few pieces O f course it .

is not meant th a t any work done shou ld be careless

work ; let it be thorough so far a s it goes ; but rather
than await speed correctness certainty and polish
, , ,

pas s on to something fresh T hough perhaps useful .

in the case o f elementary pupils i f this system be ,

exc lusively employed for very long it is likely to i n ,

duce habits o f practice and to form ideals o f excel

,

lence far from what is desirab le T here i s a vast

,
.

di f ference between hal f learning and thoroughly

learning a piece o f music E very stu d ent who has .

once been at the labour o f learning even a few d i f fi

cult an d rapid compo sitions so that he cou ld from , ,

memory p lay them through at the re quired spee d

, ,

with ease correctness and polish wil l appreciate the

, ,

greatnes s o f the gu l f that is fixed between hal f

learning and artistic workmanship This more or .

le s s finished per formance may take a year two years , ,

three years not o f consecutive work on the same

,

piece but o f severe and carefu l practice undertaken

,

an d persisted in f o r con siderab le periods with short ,

interva ls o f change at some other study When .

once a stu dent is per suaded to attain a fine standard

o f exce l lence he genera l ly takes pride in trying to
reach at least as fine a standard in the future Hal f .

done work annoy s him Yet there i s danger in the .

excl u sive empl o y ment o f this sy stem o f patient ,

206 The A rt o f Te aching .

stood o r is uneven a w ho le lesson may wi se ly be

, ,

devote d occasiona l ly to playing through al l tech

ni ca l exercise s stu dies and pieces to the be at o f the
, ,

metronome concentrating th e who le attention upon

,

the accurate time o f the per formance O r where the .

sense o f rhythm i s weak an occasional lesson may ,

wel l be spent at rhythm exclusively when ex a ggera ,

tion O f th e normal rhythm may be req uired during

’
the pupil s p laying in or der to create in his mind a
,

strong sense o f rhythm and an adequate i dea o f the

,

importance o f the subj ect In al l cases directions .

.
,

a lone are useless N ot only must the required point

.

be il lu strated by the teacher but it must be put

rightly into practice by the pupil ala rmg tire lesso n
,

F or otherwise it is quite impo ssib le to be certain that

the tuition given i s e f fective and ground may be lost ,
’
during a week s wrong practice Where fingering .

has b een neglected it may be al lotted hal f the time

,

of each lesson unti l some improvement is e f fected .

Then again i f a pupi l contract a habit o f stumbling

, ,

time must be spent trying to induce him to practise

more an d m ore s lowly unti l he rea ch es a rate o f speed
at which he i s certain o f accuracy D uring the first .

’
few years o f the pupi l s educational course at al l ,

events it wil l be wise to go care fu lly over the notes

,

an d fingering o f each fresh study or piece under

taken i n or der to avoid the risk o f having wrong
,

notes and wrong fingering practised f o r some time

preceding a lesson .

As technica l faults lessen and technical ability in

creases the proportion o f time devoted at the lesson
,

t o this branch o f the work may be shortened and the ,

more time may be dev o ted t o interpretation F o r .

whil e the instructions on techni q ue are com paratively

few in numbe r though not to be effectively utilised
,

without great labour ; the detail s o f interpretation

are end less a nd must occupy the great proportion o f
,
 A p p o rtio ning the Lesso n Ho urs . 207

th e time o f each lesson especia l ly a s the attainments

,

o f the pupil advance B ut at no point o f the career

.

is it wise to neg lect th e mo st care fu l revision o f the

technica l work .

L eft han d pr actice i s very commonly shirked ,

either from ignorance or care lessne ss I f in any .

case the teacher discover s signs o f weakness there ,

he shoul d make it a point to te st th e work o f the

l e ft han d separately from time to tim e .

T h e rea ding o f some fresh mu sic S hou l d be heard

at every lesson ; and a s the ski l l o f the pupi l i n
creases interesting opportunities f o r exp l a ining
,

nice points o f interpretation become more numerous .

I f revision o f piece s former ly lea rnt be neglected

by the teacher he wil l soon fin d that they are f o r
,

gotten rapid ly and that the repertoire o f hi s pupil

, ,

instea d o f increasing regu larly wi l l a s a ru le , , ,

become miserab ly scant If it were not thought de

.

sirab le to require some o f this revision at each

lesson one o r tw o lesson s in each month migh t be
,

set apart for re hearing o ld pieces and pieces

-

memorised .

Theoretica l instructions on practical lines shou l d

form a part o f every les son .

Whatever arrangement be ma de for th e apportion

ing o f the time o f the les sons care shoul d be taken
,

that no branch o f the stu dy is ove r looke d If it be .

found that it is impo ssib le to d o any j ustic e to al l

the divisions o f stud y during a sing le lesson then ,

o ne lesson mig h t be d evoted to technique o ne to ,

interpretation a nd o ne to reading revision memo r

, , ,

ising and theoretica l instructions .

Whatever be the m ethod a dopted it i s on ly by the ,

utmost c are on the part o f the teacher ; by never

ceasing vigi lance ; by a high sense o f duty ; by
thorough know le dge o f every detail o f his work ; by
un d erstan d ing h o w to impart instruction c learl y and
208 The Art o f T eaching .

systematica l ly ; by the patient correction o f faults ;

by the constant e levation o f the ideal s o f the pupil ;
an d by stimul a ting the enthusiasm o f the pupil
through the power o f h i s own genuine enthusiasm ,

that any rea l success is to be attained .

6 . TH E PR A CTI CE H OU R S .

Judicious advice upon the most e f fective use o f the

time appointed for practice is quite as important a
’
part o f the teacher s work a s any instruction given at
the lesson upon the ren dering o f the music And .

yet h o w se l dom are thought care or counsel bestowed

, ,

upon this important subj ect ' Few pupil s have

themselves any intel ligent idea o f the wisest division
o f their practice hours ; few know what methods o f

practice are l ike ly to attain the best resu lts In .

every case therefore the teacher shoul d give the most

exp licit directions f o r e f fective methods o f practice ;
he shou ld do h i s utmo st to ensure the carrying out of
these directions ; and in addition to this he should ,

perio dica l ly fil l up a tim e table o f practice

“ ’
Pupi l s D aily Practice Time ( Weekes ) for
each pupil stating not on ly the total number o f
, ,

hours req uired for dai ly practice but also the propor
,

tion o f time which must be set apart for the practice

o f each specific subj ec t o r division o f the work An .

’
archangel s instructions wou l d prove futile i f the
practice we re left to the care o f itsel f or were rele
gated to the tender mercies and j udgment o f the
ordinary pupil .
210 The Art o f Te aching .

of th eparticu lar thing you shou l d have done He

wil l prompt l y answer that he was not By persis .

ten t asking o f this question at each fau lt committed ,

and then b y getting the pupil to repeat the passage

thinking o f the point previously neg lected you will ,

soon prove to him that practice is effective only in so

far as each finger movement is definite ly and accur
-

ate ly direc ted to the accomplishment o f a S pecific

resu lt by a watch fu l brain An alert and watchful
.

habit b o th at the lesson an d during practice i s one

, ,

o f the chie f essential s o f success I f you secure it

.
,

a l l the re st wi ll fo l low ; if y o u fai l to secure it the ,

be st that can be looked f o r i s hopeless mediocrity .

There fore it is wel l to be pertinacious in urging the

pupil to mark that the brain directs every movement ;
that the eye watches every action o f the fingers ; that
the ear listens intent ly to every tone .

8 . S L OW PR ACTI CE .

( D) Whatever else be neg lected or omitted slow

.
, .

practice from the beginning to the end o f the edu

,

ca ti o na l career shou ld a lways be insisted upo n

,
No .

beginner is able to co ordinate brain and finger

-

movement rapid ly : so that i f the fingers move in

rapid succession they must outrun the guidance of
the brain an d fal l into errors U ntil the mind is
.

traine d to move rapid ly and to guide the movements

o f the muscle s whil e moving rapidly al l rapid play ,

i ng i s no t only u seless but inj urious because it is a ,

training in habits o f carelessness The moment the

.

fingers outrun th e abil ity o f the brain to define the

 Slo w Pr actice . 21 1

action o f each finger an d the tone o f each note that ,

moment the practice i s so much waste time And in .

the ca se o f the more advance d pupil s low practice ,

i s required f o r the purpose o f gaining greater force

of finger an d f o r training his fingers to habits o f
unerr i ng acc u racy .

C o n stant rapid practice i s one o f the surest roads

to stumbl ing unevenness and failure E ven a fter a
, .

study o r a piece h a s been learnt the bril liant finger

,

passages o r the rapid chor d an d octave passage s

shoul d no w and again be selected f o r care fu l s low
, ,

practice And though the stu dent has acquired no t

.

a little bri l liancy i n his technique he shoul d per ,

severe i n the habit o f alterna ting slow and rapid

practice during hi s technica l study While playing .

technica l exercises s low ly he sh o ul d strike every note

using high and rapi d finger action ; an d
then when p l aying them at a fast pace he might
, ,

sometimes p lay them /o rli s s i m 0 sometime s gi a nts

,

s t w o with a l l musc les re l axed and sometimes with

'

vari ed sha des o f tone .

9 D I FF IC U LT PAS S A GE S
. .

no point does the metho d o f the average

In
pupi l contrast more strongly with that o f the rea l
artis t than in his practice o f di f ficul t pas s ages Th e .

every day pupil p lays hi s piece straight through and ,

then straight through again bes to vli ng a s much or

,
r
,

rather as lit tle attention upon pa ssage s o f specia l

,

di f ficulty as upon the eas iest parts o f the p iece T hus .

the easy parts remain easy an d th e difficu lt par ts

remain difficu lt ; an d the hearer is irrit ated by
2 I2 The Art o f T eaching .

stumb ling or slipshod work even i f a total break ,

down is avoided Th e pl ayer w h o wins artistic su c

.

cess a dopts a pl an quite the opposite o f this A fter .

a few care fu l readings o f the piece he discovers a ll

the passages which present special dif ficulties to him ;
the se he selects f o r a lmo st exc lusive study He con .

tin nes his practice o f these di f ficult passages day by

day week by week i f need be until they become as
, , ,

ea S
y as the e a siest mea sure o f the piece .

When Pa derewski i s on tour curious people who ,

wish to hear him prac tise o ften stan d at the door of

his room expecting to be treated to an extra display
o f musical i nterpretation outside the concert hall .

A s a rule a fter waiting wearily til l their patience is

,

exhausted they depar t disappointed and astonished

, , .

Yet al l the time th ey were watching one o f the great

secrets o f h i s success T hey heard short passages of
.

mu sic repeated t i mes beyond count first with o ne

, ,

h and then with the other

,
They heard some o f the
.

persevering app lication which conquers di fficulty ;

they heard the carefu l repetition O f some expres sive
phrase unti l every tone w as produced exactly as the
p layer intended Such care ful persevering system
.
, ,

atic work i s one o f the sure st marks o f genius and ,

the on ly road to success as a piano forte p layer The -

teacher w h o has succeeded in persuading a pupil to

a dopt this method o f practice ; w h o h a s convinced
him that it i s abso lute waste o f time to keep repeat
ing e a sy passage s until the di fficu lt passages have
been con quere d ; w h o ha s in duced him to per severe ,

i f needs be for a thousand repetitions o f a passage

, ,

to attain certainty and accuracy ; he is the teacher

who h as accomplished by far the greatest and the
most fruit fu l o f his ta sk s And it S hou ld be borne
.

in mind that there are very few pieces in wh ich there

are not some S hort portions o f exceptional di f ficulty .

With the counsel to repeat these passages there

2171 The Art o f Teaching .

t h ree hours li ttl e enough for the attainment of su c

cess There m ay be phenomena l geniuses whose
.

abi lities enab le them to accompl ish as much in o ne

hour a s the average human being can accomplish in
five or six but the se suggestions are no t intended
,

for their case T hough the hours already mentioned

.

may prove gener ally suitab le to the needs o f the

amateur a larger prop o rtion o f time shou ld be set
,

a p art by the serious student for his daily practice .

Perhaps he may find the fo l lowing hours more likely

to suit his purpose L et him begin with o ne hour a
.

d ay ; a fter S i x months add ha l f an hour ; add another

hal f hour at the end o f the first twe lve months ; and
then increase the amoun t o f the practice by an addi
ti o na l ha l f hour every si x m onths until the maxi ~

mum o f six hours is reache d .

In every case the hours o f practice should be

broken up ; and no pupi l S houl d u sually spend more
t h an tw o hours consecutive ly at the piano forte .

II . SUGGE S TI ON S OF EM INEN T TEACH ER S FOR

D I V I S I ON OF PR A C TI CE .

Itmay prove usefu l first to quote the views of

eminent teachers o n this subject and then to expla in ,

the p lan which seems to me the most advisable .

DR . R IE MA NN .

Dr . Riemann
recommends that an hour be broken
into two halves f o r morning and a fternoon p rac
tice ; one and a hal f hour s into tw o three quarter
,
—
 Sugge sti o ns o f Emine nt Te a che rs f o r Practice . 215

hours ; three hour s into tw o hours for morning and

,

o ne hour for a fternoon practice ; four hours into ,

ei th er two hours for morning an d two hours for

a fternoon o r into three divisions o f o ne two a nd
, ,

o ne hours H e a dvises furthermore that the pra e

.
, ,

tice begin with technica l exerci ses o ne finger tw o ,

finger five finger exerci se s scales arpeggios p ro

, , , ,

gressions succes sive ly no t necessarily al l o n the

”
,

sam e day an d that one third o f the who le practice

,
’
be spent on technique ; the secon d thir d on e t u eles
o f an expres sive or inte l lectua l character ; an d the
“
remaining thir d on the study o f actu al works o f
”
art.
21 6 The Art o f Te aching .

FR A N KL I N T A Y LOR .

An H oa r an d

Fi ng er exerc i se s sca le s etc

, , .

S tudy
O ld s tudy a lread y learnt
P l ayi ng over piece alre ad y l e arnt ,

rea ding

To ta l 90

F o u r H o u rs H o u rs .

Technica l '

w ork

Tw o o ld stu d i es
Sonata o r co nce rto

A f t ernoo n .

F inge r xercises
e

S m a l le r piec e ( variationrice) o r cap

Sonata or revising a piece alrea dy learnt
,

To ta l 1 20
218 The Art o f T ea ching .

S eco nd D i v i s i o n .

M IN S .

Sca les
P iece

Thi rd D i v i s i o n .

Re -

learning o ld

F i v e H o u rs i n F o u r D i v i s i o ns :

F i rst D i v isi o n
.

E xercises
S tu dy 60

S eco nd

S cal es a nd exercise s
P i eces

Th i rd D i v i s i o n .

Re learning
-

ol
d piece
Reading 30

F o u rt h D i v i si o n .

d i rect s

A UER
P .

One H o u r .

T echnica l exercises sca l es

,

S tu dy
 Sh gges tio ns o f Eminent T eacher s f or

Technica l e xer ci ses ,

Li gh ter pie ce .

Af ternoo n
- .

S ona ta o r co n ce rt o
ii
R ep et t on of fo rmer p iece s
f

SC H OO L .
220 The Art o f T eaching .

F i v e H o u rs f or M o rni ng d Af
an terno o n
.

Technical exercises
E tu des
N ew piece s
Rev i s i on and readi ng

G ORD ON S AUNDER S .

Te ch nical exercise s
S cales

Pie ce

To ta l 60

One H o u r

T echnical exerci se s

O ld
piece o r s tu dy
Memori si ng

Tot al 90
 O
H
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CD C O O O O
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LQ LQ I oo
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LQ O LQ LQ O O w l“
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LQ O LQ LD O O m N
l
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o ?
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o O O O O O O O O
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o
O O O O O O O lm M
n N . H N H H

O
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lo
m
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O O O O O O m N
N H N

O O O w
H H
H O H H o H
8
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2 n m u
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m w E E
m
o
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a
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mm 3
mo
.

; 8 8 2
.

w
.

8 .
o H c c
o
mw
o
8 o
mfi a
o
U o w m H

3 : m nH
A e o
fi m
a
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x
H m : G m o q
d o
m a H
.

H
o o
oG
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m fiL a 5 o

9
o
o
w
E E n o 8 fi
m
w o u
w o
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om
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9
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95
. .

93
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. .

n 0 H N
 C HAPT ER V II .

G eneral G u id a nce on the C h o i ce o f M u si c

w i th so me Hi nts u p on
Ed u cati o nal Edi ti o ns o f Pi ano fo rte C l assi cs .

1 . G R A DED G UIDE S N OW PU BL I S H ED .

T HE choice o f suit able music f o r pupils at various

stages o f advancement is o ften a c ause o f perplexity
to the inexperienced teacher There was some .

ground in years g o ne by for a l itt le perp lexity ,

when pub lished guides were rare ; but now so much

grading o f music has been done that it woul d seem ,

a lmo st su f ficient to mention some o f the most usefu l

guides to note their rel ative values and to explain
, ,

their scope .

( A) N o teacher can fai l t o make wise sel ection

.

who accepts f o r th e pieces o f his choice the gra ded

lists name d in R id ley Prentice s Mu sician
’
This “
.
”

work i s pub lished in si x books comprising si x de

224
226 The A rt o f Te aching .

P aris C on servatoire has given a great deal o f l abour

,

an d care to the issue o f a graded list o f works suit

a b le for teaching purp o ses T hi s list is pub lishe d
by H eugel as M a rmo nt e ls Vade —
.

’
Mecum o f a Pro
”
f e sso r .

( H ) T h e Associated B oar d o f the R oya l Aca

.

demy and the R oy al C o l lege o f Music every year

select an d arrange in five steps o f progres sive d i f fi
,

cu lty some twenty four studies and twenty four

,
- -

pieces for their sy stem o f loca l examinations .

A lthough upon the who le these selections are rather

, ,

o f an educational than a popular type what is ,

p leasant is o ften mingled with what is profitable .

T h e complete l ists for ten years offer an extensive

range an d p lenty o f variety ; each book is pub lishe d
by A u gener at the modest price o f one shi l ling ; and
the teacher who accepts such guiding coun se l as m ay
be foun d in this course i s not likely to stray far
from the path o f wis dom .

a
C ON C I S E C L A S S I F IED A ND G R A DED L I S TS o r
E DU CATI ON AL MU S I C .

( A) Short pieces. o f varied character for young

pupils : G u r lit t s compositions O pp I 7 9 2 1 0 I 4O
’
, .
, , ,
“
7 4 2 1 9 I 3 O an d 1 7 2 ; Krug L ieb linge der Jugend ;
”
, , ,

Reinecke C hi l dren s Album ; K u llak s C hi ld

’
,
’ ” “

L i fe
”
.

( B ) E asy sonatinas G u r litt ; L ange ; Reinecke ;

. .

D u ssek ; C lementi ; K u h la u .

( C ) Short varied pieces for j uni o r pupils G er

. .

mer rondo s ; H u nten rondos ; N eustedt

, B luettes
, ,
“ ”

“ ” “
and Pens ées ; L i to lff C l assics for the Young ; ,
”
 C lassif ied an d G rad e d Lists o f Ed u catio nal M u sic . 227

Schumann A lbu m for the Young ; N ovel lo

,
“ ”
,

Schoo l Marches ; Mende lssohn C hris tm as Pieces ; ,

“ ’
Scharwenka A lbum for the Young ; L i to lff s a nd
,
”

A u gener s A lbums o f M arches G avottes Minuets ;

’
, ,
’
S ch y tte s Albums ; the easier numbers o f Mende l s
’ “
sohn s L ie der ohne Worte .
”

( D ) S onata s in progres sive order

. H aydn ; .

Mozart ; K ohler S o nat a S tu dies ; C lementi ; D u ssek ;

,

Scarl atti ; H ummel ; Schubert ; B eethoven ; Weber ;

Brahms ; Schumann ; C hopin .

( E) ’ Po lyphonic music in progressive order

. .

B ach s Sma l l Prelu de s ; his E ng lish an d French

’ ’
S uites ; H andel s Suites ; B ach s Inventions T w o and ,
’ ’ “
Three Part ; Scar latti s C ompositions ; B ach s Wo l
t emp i ri rtes C lavier
”
.

( F ) V aried composi tions

.

’
for intermediate and
senior student s Hummel s C ompositions ; Men del s
.

’ ’
sohn s L ieder ohne Worte ; Mozart s an d B eet
“ ”

’ ’ “
hoven s Variations ; G ri eg s L yrische S tii ck e ;
”

C hopin s Wa ltzes Mazurkas N octurnes ; B rahm s s

’ ’
, ,
’
H ungarian D ances arrange d ; Mo szkowski s Spanish ,
’ ’
D ances ; B a rgi e ls C ompositions ; Scharwenk a s
P o lish D ances ; E dwar d G er m an s D ances fro m
’

“
Henry V II I an d N el l G wynne ; Schubert s Im
” ’ “ ”

’
p ro m p tu s an d other piece s ; VVeb er s misce l laneous
pieces ; G a de s short pieces ; and Hel ler s T aran
’ ’ “

tel le s and other short pieces

”
.

( G ) ’Variou s compositions for advanced stu dents

. .

C hopin s B a ll ades Polonaises Impromptus Studies

, , , ,

Pre ludes
’
an d ’
Scherzo s ; L iszt s R hap so dies ;
Brahms s compositions ; an d the more difficu lt works
o f B ach \ Veb er Mendel ssohn R ubinstein Schu
l
, , , ,

mann .

’
( H ) Beethoven s sonatas g raded As many young
. .

teachers experience some troub le in arranging B eet

’
hoven s sonatas in an approximate order o f tech
ni ca l diff i cu lty guidance on this point i s offered
,
228 The A rt o f T e aching .

here It wi l l o f course be borne in mind however

.
, , , ,

that the same di f ficu lties do no t present them se lves

to every stu dent so that there cannot be o ne fixed ,

rule f o r al l .

O p 49 N o 2 ; O p 49 N o I O p 7 9; O p 1 4 N o
.
, . .
, . . .
,
.

1 ; Op 1 4 No 2 ; Op 2 No
. 1 ; Op
,
10 No 1 ; Op . .
, . .
, . .

1 0 N o 2 ; O p 1 3 ; Op 1 0 N o 3 ; O p 2 6 ; O p 7 ; Op
, . . .
, . . . .

2 8 ; Op 2 No 3 ; Op 3 1 No 2 ; O p 2 2 ; Op 2 7 No
.
, . .
, . . .
,
.

2 ; Op 27 N o I O p 3 1 N o 3 ; O p 2 N o 2 ; Op 3 1
.
, . .
, . .
, . .
,

N o 1 ; Op 54 ; Op 7 8 ; Op 9
. 0 ; Op 8 1 A ; Op 5 3 ;
. . . . .

5 7 ; O p 1 0 1 ; O p 1 1 0 ; O p 1 1 1 ; O p 1 09; O p
. . . . .

10

M ozart a n d H ay dn graded Many o f the .

more interesting piano forte compositi o ns o f M ozart

and H a y dn are care ful ly arranged in order o f p ro
gressi ve di fficul ty in the C otta E dition Pauer a l so .
, ,
“
in his Pian o fort e Primer gives a graded list o f ”

the sonat a s o f Mozart B eethoven \

.
,

Veb er and
l
, ,

Schuber t

MENDEL S S OH N ’
S
“
L IEDER O H NE W OR TE "

G R A DED .

9 4 48 6 44
, , , , , 1 6 , I 4, 2 8 , 3 5 . 3 3 47 , ,

2 5, 3 1 , 2 7 , 4 2 , 3 7 , 40 ,
2, 1 0, 1 1 ,
2 6, 7 , 3 6 ,

29, 1 5 , I 3 , 2 1 , 39 , 4 5 , 3 4 , 3 o , 3 2 , 43 , 3, 1 8 24 , ,

23,
23 0 The A rt o f Te aching .

G RA DE I ( E lementa ry ) .

I C h a nso n d e C h asse
. A G u elia ni
.
( S ch o tt) .

2 B erceu se
5 C a v a ti na
F
.

e ui l le t d Alb u m
’
4
5 B a r ca r o lle 91

6 A B C W a lt
. z
7 S ere ne M o r ni ng G u rlit t, O p 1 01 No 3
F
, .
. .

8 Th e air No 8
H
. . .

9 unti ng S o ng No 19
W z
. . .

1 0 alt No 1 1
F k
. . .

1 1 a i ry B a r l
S m a lw o o d
M
. .

1 2 G o o d ni gh t N o ctur n e
-
i llw a d r
F l
. .

I3 C o nve nt C h i m e s e i x G a ti er u
F
. .

O p e r a ti c G e m s , a u s t
zz
,9

1 5 L a G a a L ad ra
W
.

I6 . i lli a m T e ll
1 7 M a ssani e llo
P M
.

1 8 C h r i stm as C a r d s G oo re
P
. . .

1 9 Al b u m o f S i x te e n i e ce s
M i ll r d
.

zo G o o d by e N o ctu r n e w a

F
-
. .

21 a ir
y S no w d ro p
f
.

22 Pla y ulness L a nge

F
. .

23 a i ry B o nh eu r
D
. .

24 Le ep a r t S trea b o g
M
. .

25 Th e . i ll J ensen, O p 1 7 , N O 3 . . .

26 R i go le tto ‘
. K g ru .

27 Th e T r u a nt s R e tu rn L a nge , O p 7 8 , N o 7
D M
. . .

28 a n ce d es
. a ri o nett e s W a ch s .

G R A DE 11 .

H Hym n d u S oir N ew ell .

R E d e lw e i ss L a nge .

O
O F u r D i ch
P B lu m e nli ed
-

U L o ngi ng
I

G A n d er W i ege
 Po p ular or Light Pi ano f orte Pi e c es G r ad ed . 23 1

7 . F
O r age N i ch t L ange .

8 . D i e Li eb elle
9 . 1 m Ah nensch lo ss
IO A lmro sch en
D
.
H

1 1 . ei n E i gen 9'

1 2. G o nd ellied O es te n
M
.

1 3 a r ch e G o uno d
P f P P M
. .

I4 N i ne i a no o r te i eces G. o o re
V
. . .

1 5 i llette S mall w oo d

F M
.

1 6 . A ragment end el s so h n .

I 7 N a p o l i ( T a ra ntella i n A M attei
W
.

1 8 I mmer i e d er Vand erw ell

M
. .

1 9 E ve ni ng S h a d o w s i llw a rd
D
. .

20 S y lv i a G a vo tte el i be s
M
. .

2 1 . a gi c R i l
l S i v ra i .

22 . L a C h a r meu se ( G a v o tte ) B a ch mann .

23. L a B o h e mi enne
24 P k
ol a El ega nt e Ki r ch ner , Op 409
M W t n
.

25 . L e C o r d e C h a sse . a so .

2 6. B a d i na ge V n W i l m Op
o 1 33
D ur nd O p 8
.
,
.

27 P o m p o nette a 0

Ki nk l
. ,

28 S e r ena d e d es Ange s e
2 9 T a ra ntella Cl d t au e

M z k D n
. .

30 . S p r i ng B lo sso ms ( a ur a ) or .

31 E rri neru ng L a nge

M
. .

32 . i gno nne Ku lla k , O p 1 1 8 . .

33 S u r le L a c K i rch ne r
k D
.

34 . H ammo c S o ng T F . unh i ll
. .

G R ADE I II
.

I The W a nd er i ng M
ai d e n L a nge
z D
.

2 H et li ed ( R o sen o h ne o r ne n)
M
i

3 i nu ett o Cha mi na d e , O p 2 3
4 D a nse Anci enne 0 13 7 5
B
.

’
!
”

U H e ar t s E a se m end el
F M
unera l a rch o f ; M a riiine tte
.

0 G o uno d .

V S y lp h es B a ch ma nn .

G T a ra nte lla i n A mi no r Pi ecz o u ka

D
.

D
\ G a vo tte ura nd , Op 8 4 . .
23 2 The Art o f T eaching .

1 0 Fi rs t W a lt z D u ra nd

Hu
' .

I I . sa e nr r i tt S p i nd le r .

1 2 llB a ci o A rd i ti
M z Min
. .

u e t a nd T ri o i n E fl a t S ch u lh o ff
'
1 3 o ar t s

Adi
.

I4 eu D u s se k
M H
.

1 5 Th e e mai d r el le r
V M
.

1 6 al se V i e n no i s e G P . oo re .

I 7 T a re nt e le tte
.

1 8 R i to r n e lle C h a ni i na d e
H
. .

1 9 G a v o tte i n G m aj o r a nd e l S i v ra i -

z
. .

20 G a elle. W o llenh a u p t .

2 1 S ti lle L i eb e L a nge
D
. .

22 P e a sa n t s
. a nce K e télb y .

23 H u i no res ke
. Vo n W i lm .

24 T a r a nt elle L eb i e rr e
H mo r e s k e v r k
. .

2 5 . u D o a .

26 T a lo n R o ge ( G a v o tte) u B ea u mo nt
M f P
.
.

’
27 Ou . u s i c s S o te s t i ni o ns M end elsso h n L ange -
.

28 T h e T ro t
. u S ch u b e t L a nge r -
.

2 9 L e So ir
. S ch y tte ( Au gene r, N o .

8 4 4o a »
3o S ca rf
D a n ce C h a mi na d e , Op 5 4
A
. . .

31 . S a lu t d mo u r E lgar .

32 N ad ia VVa ch s
F z
. .

33 a s ci n a ti o n W a lt

G R A DE IV .

H F eu F olle t ( lrrlich t) L a n ge
H
.

2 o r te nsi a
W A ll g
.
$9

0
0
a n d e rs tu nd e n , No 2, e re tto
H
.

i n D fla t eller
e La i leu se F S tr e a lb o g, O p 91 . .

w P i ere tte C h a mi na d e , O p 4 1 . .

a L o lita Op 5 4
D ra l
. .

v a nse P a s to Op 3 7
m C a llirh o e
. .

e F o u r th W altz D u ra n d O p 90
W a ltz
, . .

He S e co n d Op 86 . .

Hr B a b i lla ge H Op 8 1 . .
23 4 The Art o f T e aching .

21 M in u et Pa d e re w s k i
A
.
.

22 C a p ri ce su r les i r s d e B a lle t
k
.

’
d Alce s te d e G lu c S a i n t S a ens
-

z
.

23 C h a n t P o lo na i se , N o I , m u Lis t C hop in
k vk
-
.

A
. .

24 . lb u m T ch a i o s y ( L i to lf f
E d i ti o n
2 5 . R i ga u d o n

G RA DE
C a mp a nella Li s tz .

L e Pa p i llo n L a v a llee .

T h e S p i nni ng W h e e l S to j o w s k i .

T ra nscri p ti o n , O ve r t u r e to T a n n
Lis t z
M
.

Il o to r
P e p e tu o W e b er B a h ms r
I nv i ta ti o n to W a ltz
.

W e b er T a u s i g
-

k v
.

I s la m e y , O ri e n ta l F a nta si a B a la i re .

T a ns cri p ti o n o f W a gne r s W a l
r ’

ku
r e ni i tt T a u si g
z
.

R h ap s o d i e s N o s 6 8 1 0 , 1 2
. Lis t .

r
I m p o m p tu i n A fl a t G la z o u no v .

B a lla d e i n G m i no r B ra h m s .

R h a p so d y i n G m i no r Op 7 9 N o 2
Hu
.
S! , . .

nga ri a n D a nce i n F s h arp

mi n o r ’5
r
B a ca r o lle i n G m aj o r R u b i ns tei n
M D z
.

1 5 . A i d su mm er ig t s
h N
‘
rea m M e nd elsso h n Li s t -
.

1 6 u
L a L cci o la L e s ch e ti tz ky
D u
. .

R e fle ts d a ns lE au eb s sy
'

I 7
H
. .

1 8 R i ga u d o n i nto n, Op 2 3 N o I
D z
. . .
, .

tu
S d y in fla t Lis t .
 Suggestio ns u p o n the C ho ic e o f T e a ching Editi o ns . 23 5

4 . G ENER AL S U GGE S TI ON S UPON THE C H OI CE or

TE ACH ING E DI TI ON S o r C L A S S I CAL MU S I C .

It i s very long since there were few i f any

no t , ,

o f the c lassics o f the piano forte annotated so a s to ,

prove real ly help fu l to the teacher an d studen t A s .

a rule bal d reprints o f the first pub lishe d text were

issued If a lterations o r a d ditions were intro duced
.
,

these were common ly unre liab le a s to text erroneou s ,

as to phrasing an d not very j udicious as to finger

ing Scho l arly teacher s and critics have no w
.

change d a l l that an d most o f our great piano forte

,

c lassics may be Obtained in e d itions as il l uminating ,

in their interpretative comme nt as they are rel iabl e ,

in their text admirab le in their phrasing an d wis e

,

in their fingering A s di f ferent editors o ften under

.

take their work from e ntire ly different points o f

view some hints to guide the choice o f the teacher
,

o r stu d ent may prove acceptab le The obj ects o f .

the se suggestio n s are to st a te first what edition s

, ,

are the mo st reliab le and at the same ti me the most

help fu l to the teacher ; an d second ly what is th e ,

primary intentio n o f each e dition .

( ) A . B A CH ’
S W OLTEM P IR IR I E S ' ‘
A
C L V I ER .

There is a notion preva lent among certain teachers

that Kr o l l s E dition o f this work is the best ; why
’
,

they are no t very sure ; but they feel convinced that

it shoul d be recommended for al l stu dents and a l l
requirements As a m atter o f fact it is o ne o f
.
“ ”
23 6 The A rt o f T ea ching
.

the most use less editions a teacher can have H is .

to ri ca ll y it is intere
,
sting a s the first important co n

t ri b u t i o n to the textu a l critici sm o f B ach ; but even

in its o w n narrow sphere it is now antiquated Krol l .

e dited the 4 8 twice within a few ye ars H i s first

“ ”
.

’
issue i s publ ished in Pe ters s edition Its text i s o f .

doubt ful authenticity in many cases ; it s phrasing i s

va lueless or rather non existent practica l ly ; any ~

hint s o f u se for fingering have bee n a dopted by

‘

better editions ; and i ts interpretation o f ornaments

has not even the merit o f being con sistent In no .

point is it o f any rea l value to the teacher The .

o ther Kro l l edition is pub lished by Breitkop f and

H arte l a s Vol um e X IV o f the B achge sel l scha ft edi

’
tion o f B ach s comp lete works in fi fty vo lumes T his .

“
e dition o f the 4 8 is purely a critica l text ; an d it
is in this respect a considerab le advance o n the
, ,

Krol l Peters edition Annotations o f a l l kind s are

-
.

omitte d such as fingering phrasing ; and where this

, ,

is so these splendid compo sitions probably appear

, ,

to the inexperience d student as so much o f the p ro ,

v erb i a l
“
doub le D utch E ven the textua l re
-

.
”

searches o f Kro l l co l lated in thi s editi o n have been

, ,

l arge ly superseded by the scho larly l abours o f H ans ‘

B ischo f f w h o h a s issue d through S tei ngrab er the

, ,
’
whol e o f B ach s composition s f o r the c l avichord .

T his edition has moreover the advantages o f usefu l

, ,

fingering metronomic indications an d a l itt le sug

,

g esti v e phrasing .

TEX TU AL E DI TI ON S .

If there fore a reliab le text i s the primary Obj ect

o f the teacher he may find a fair ly sa fe course in
238 The Art o f Te ac hing .

suppl ie d with scho l arly phrasing annotations mar k s ,

o f expression fingering ,
metronomic indications and
,

the interpretation o f ornaments T hese are a dded .

t o a te x t s ufficient ly re liab le f o r a l l or dinary pur

p oses .O f the two editions some m ay pre fer the ,

interpretation s o f G ermer others those o f K lind ,

w orth ; but no teacher need be ashamed to impart

the instructions contained i n either ; and any stu dent

w h o h a s assimi lated the scho larship containe d in

b oth h a s arrive d at a stage when he m ay sa fe ly dis

pense with leading strings an d consul t his own
-

m atured j u dgment upon points o f detail .

S U MMA R Y OF EACH E DI TI ON S .

F or text : B ischo f f and the B achgese l lscha ft edi

t i ons
.

F or minute m o ti v a l phrasing : R iemann .

F or general in terpretation : G ermer or K lind

w orth .

E DI TI ON S or B EE TH OV EN ’
S S ON A TA S .

Here again the phrasing indications o f the com

, ,

p oser were not ma de sufficient ly clear in the origina l

p ub lications to furnish quite sa fe guidance for the
,

a verage teacher or student .

Here a word o f caution i s necessary Some .

t eachers o f ability forgetful o f the minute i nstru c

,
 Ed itio ns f Bee tho ve n s S o natas 23 9
'

o .

tions by which they gained their own know le dge ,

fa l l into the error O f affecting o r expre ssing con

tempt f or the care fu l ly annotate d edition s o f emin
ent scho lar s and teachers A litt le reflection wou l d
.

show them that such an attitude is neither more nor

less than a contemptuous depreciation not a lone o f ,

the very art o f teaching w hich they pro fes s but also ,

o f the means by which they gain ed their o w n know

ledge L et them a sk themse lves wh a t are their o w n
.
,

instruction s to stu dents more than annotations made

by men less l earned than the critics whom mis ,

t ak en ly they neglect or de spise ?

,

—
B EETII OVEN T EX TU AL E D I TI ON S .

Breitkop f and H artel pub li sh two usefu l editions

o f B eethoven The o ne is purely textua l ; the other
.
,
“
The T eachers F o li o E dition i s carefu l ly revised
’
,
”

by C ar l Reinecke T his edition shoul d be used in

.

“ ”
conj unction with his L etters t o a L ady pub lished
by A u gener T h e S tei ngr ab er edition as in dee d is
.
,

the case with al l the editions o f that firm is va lued ,

for its textual accuracy .

P H R A S ING E DI TI ON S .

R iemann through Simrock has issued an editio n

, ,

which shows the same minute ana lytica l scho l arship

an d skil l which are to be found in his edition o f :

B ach s fugues
'
.
240 The Art o f T eaching .

D r L ebert , for
. the ear lier works as far a s O p 5 3 ,
.
,

and V o n Bu low , f o r the remaini n g piano forte works ,

have is sued in the fam o us C otta edition a sp lendi d ,

commentary upon Beethoven F ingering phra sing .

, ,

metronomic indications variations o f t emp o orna ~ , ,

m entation form an d copiou s interpretative fo o t ~

,

notes a l l conj oin to make this work more valua b le

,

to th e teacher an d student than many courses o f

lessons from less competent sources U n fortu n ately .
,

L ebert ha d no t gained a scho lar ly insight into th e

subj ect o f minute structura l phrasing an d again an d
again therefore he fa l l s into errors common to a l l
those edition s whose scho larship in this respect is , ,

not based o n the researches o f R iemann In spite o f .

this dr a wback however various publ ications in the

, ,

C otta edition original ly inten de d for the benefit o f

,

the stu dents o f the Stuttgart C onservatorium are ,

deserving o f great commend ation especia l ly in view ,

o f the fact that they were among the ear liest pion ~

eer s o f educ a tional editing o f the piano forte c lassics .

But upon the whole here as in the case o f B ach

, , , ,
’
there i s no e dition o f Beethoven s sonatas equa l to
that o f G ermer for the purposes o f the genera l ,

student He h as a genius for instructiv e editing

.
,

an d a s he has evidently studied an d assimilated

Riemann s work he embo dies its bes t fruit in his
’
,

editions An d this he does in a form les s compli

.

ca te d and there fore more lucid to th e ordinary

,

learner than R iemann s own works A s with B ach s

,
’ ’
.

fugues here too he a dds metronomic sugge stions

, , ,

fingering interpretation o f ornaments copious

, ,

phrasing signs j u dicious gui dance regarding the ex ,

pres sive give an d take in note lengths together with

- -

interesting comments on each sonata G ermer i s not .

on ly a scho l ar he is al so an appreciativ e interpreter

,

o f fine music He is a teacher who h a s evide ntly

.

systematised his ab le princip les an d who knows ,

 The A rt o f Te aching .

( c) . E DI TI ON S OF C H OPIN .

K lind w the editor p a r ex cellence o f

o rth is
’
C hopin s works He has ca l led the attention o f the
.

s tudent to many o f the hidden me lo dies interwoven

’
with C hopin s harmonic prog ressions an d a ecom ~

p a ni ment s ; he h a s suggeste d rhythm i ca l d i v i s i ons

.

for many o f tho se irregul ar groups o f notes with

which C hopin so o f ten a dorn s h i s me lo dies ; and he
ha s given many u se fu l hints upon the subj ect o f
fingering His various an notations prove a help ful
.

guide to many a stu dent An d i n spite o f occa .

sio u al exce ss in a l l these virtuous en deavours there ,

are few students scho lar ly enough o r genius

enough to ignore his hel p with safety
, .

’
M i k u li s edition c laims the merit o f adhering
’
cl osely to C hopin s own fingering and phrasing i f ,

indeed this ca n be a ltogether ca l led a merit S p i ed e l .

,

in the C otta e dition makes an el aborate de fence o f

,

his text fingering phrasing an d metronomic indica

, ,

tions ; an d K u lla k does very usefu l work in his edi

tion pub lished by Sch lesinger ( Weekes ) Hi s .

flowery aesthetic comments cou l d however be , ,

omitted with great advantage .

With regard to the C hopin text no edition can ,

’
right ly cl aim abso lute accuracy C hopin s own .

hope less care lessness and inconsistency make accur

acy impossib le ; while with re g ard to interpretative
comment there appears to be sti l l room f o r an edi
,

tion containing fu l l en lightening notes upon many

,

traditions o f great pl ayers F or in the ca se s o f both .

C hopin an d Schumann there are so many important

“ ”
traditiona l ren derings which the inexperienced
 Ed itions o f Cho p in . 243

teacher an d stu dent may not ea sily discover from

the notat i on that en l i ghtening comment i f it were
, ,

poss i b le to g i ve it wou l d be a great boon

.

, .

( D) . E DI TI ON S or O TH ER CO M POS ER S .

l n the case O f other composers it wil l be sufficient

to name the mo st usefu l editions And as a genera l .

note O f guidance it m ay be borne in mind that R ie

’
mann s editions are a l l rem arkab le for their minute
ana ly sis o f the phrasing and their carefu l exp o sition
’
o f the m o ti v a l struc ture ; Breitkop f an d H artel s a nd
’
B i sch o ff s e ditions are special ly va luab le for their
,

textua l accuracy ; whi le the C otta pub lications the ,

G ermer e ditions an d some o f the editions o f K lind

,

worth an d K u lla k are careful ly phrased an d i n ,

s tru cti v e ly annot ated for teachers .

Mozart s concertos arranged : Reinecke and the

’
,

C ott a E dition .

Mozart s sonatas : G P Moore R iemann G ermer

’
. .
, , ,

C otta.

Schum ann : N i co d e B ischo f f K u lla k C lara , , ,

Schumann .

Mendels sohn : K u lla k G ermer an d the C otta ,

E dition .

H ay dn R iemann an d the C ot ta E dition .

H andel : B ischoff ( S tei ng ra ber) .

N ote A l l the works publ ished in the Imperia l

.
“

E dition o f A l l an an d C o which are e dited by

”
.
,

S tan ford B arton are phrased with the utmo st care

-

and in the c learest manner .

 C H AP T ER V III .

C o ncl u di ng S u mmary o f Essenti a l

Po i nts o f Vi ew requ i ri ng Sp eci al Emp h asi s .

I . A G ENU INE LO VE F OR MU S I C .

NO teacher w h o d oes no t love music for it sel f and ,

who d oes not al s o l ove his work as a teacher can ,

j ustly hope f o r any great success D oubt les s much .

o f the technique o f the art o f piano p la y ing may be

-

taught an d taught effectivel y by o ne who though

, , ,

not a mu sical enthusia st h as mastere d the essentials

,

o f the subj ect both by carefu l stu dy an d b y ca re f u l

'

practice B ut this is a very sma l l p art o f the who le

.
.

Without a genuine love for music there cannot exist

in the min d an d ear o f the teacher a high standard
o f beautifu l interpretation Without this inspiring
.

love there wil l o f a certainty be a deadness in h i s

, ,

own interpretations O f mu sic ; and i f h i s interpreta

tion be dead those o f his pupil s wi l l be decide d ly
,

more dead Without this in spiring love o f music

.

for its own sake the per form ances o f both pupi l and
teacher wi ll sure ly cal l to the min d o f th e b earer
E zekie l s vision o f the val ley o f dry bones It is far
’
.

to o common a m istake in music teaching to remem

ber the t ea ch i ng and to forget the mu si c An d this .

“
is the radical reason why we hear so much sound
”
ing bra s s an d so many tink ling cy mba ls f ar an d ”

wide among the homes an d haunt s o f piano pupil s .

246 The A rt o f Te aching .

There i s something more in music than can be learned

by ru le ; an d to pe rceive this something love for the ,

music is essential N O ru les o f etiquette cu lled from

.

a book can make a gentl eman T h e stand ard o f .

gent leman likenes s must be in the mind .

T h e fact is th a t the m aj ority o f pupil s have not in

their minds and ears any standards to app ly to their
attempted musica l per formance at al l T hey have .

no st an dards o f t o ne with it s qualities an d grada

,

tion s ; no stan dards o f rhythm ; no stan dar d s o f

mu sica l expression T heir mind s and e ars are a bl a nk
.

as to standards when they come to learn And verb 1 1 . .

instructions can never create s tan dards N o ver b a l .

expl anation can make the pupi l who se ear is a b lank

real ise the s o und o f beautifu l tone Music con sists .

o f sounds and the soun ds must be made for the pupi l

,

so that h i s ear can discern them i f right standards ,

are to be cultiv a te d in him Here lies the necessity

.

for the teacher to be ab le t o p lay som e music beauti

ful ly and musical ly U n less the pupi l s have exam
.

p les O f musica l interpre tation and plenty o f them , ,

given f o r the purpose o f materialising the verbal i n

s tru cti o ns they get they can never a ttain to right
,
“ ”
standards ; and there fore however much teaching
,

they have they can never hope to pl ay musicall y

,
.

3 . T HE AIM IN P L AY ING S H OU L D BE To P LAY

B E A U TI F U LL Y .

It is mu s i c a fter al l that i s the concern O f the

, ,

teacher and the pupi l An d it S hou l d never be for

.

gotten that the m atter o f primary importance is to

make the music pl ayed soun d musical an d beauti fu l .

Any ins truction which l eaves this es sentia l e lement

 The Aim in Pl ay ing sho uld be to Play Beauti ul
ly 247 f .

out o f account or de legates it to a secondary posi

,

tion i s sure to be barren o f goo d resu lts

, .

And this prim ary ambition to make the music

soun d beauti fu l wil l i f kept steadi ly in view by both
,

teacher and p u p i l w o rk wonders It wil l concentrate

, .

atten tion o n beautifu l tone an d beauti fu l interpreta

tion it wil l prove that no rule o f technique or inter
p ret a ti o n can s a fely over ride this foun dation princi
-

pl e o f beauty It wi l l soon prove that any pre

.

scribed quality o f tone any expres sive annotation

, ,

any u se o f the pedal any suggested effect which

, ,

mi litates against beauty is to be abj ure d ; an d that

, ,

co ntrariwise any e f fect which makes f o r beauty is

,

goo d whether it is s upported by ru le or not .

In order to foster in the mind s and ears o f both

teacher an d pupi l good standar ds o f interpretation ,

it is very necessary to he ar much g o o d music Thi s .

is an essentia l part o f the training The teacher .

shou ld pl ay to h i s pupil ; an d the pupil shoul d spare

no opportuni ty o f hearing goo d music wel l p layed
whenever an d wherever he can F o r it i s as i mp o s .

sible to become a cu ltivated interpretative artis t by

l ab o riously learning to p l ay a few piece s o f music as
’
it wou l d be to become a cu ltivated Zi ttem t eu r by
committing to memory a few elegant extracts from a
few writers To play we l l it is necessary to hear a
.

great dea l o f music an d to know a grea t dea l o f

mu sic intim ately And not on ly so but the wider
.
,
’
the range o f any person s education the ful ler wil l ,

probab ly be h i s appreciation o f the beauty o f mu sic ,

an d the finer wi l l his pl ay ing become N arrowness .

o f the appreciating na ture is fata l to a ny fine inter

p ret a t i v e conceptio ns o f art .

248 The A rt o f Te aching .

4 . LE A RN To P L AY S I M PL E P IE CE S WELL .

Much o f the s lipsho d work o f pupil s ; many o f the

f ail ures to p l ay in an artistic an d finished sty le are ,

due to the ambition to attempt what is far bey on d the

p owers o f att a inment W ithout any fl uency o f tech
.

ni q ue without any a dequate training in the prin ci

,

p les o f musical interpretation many pupils are con ,

tent to hammer and hack away at music whose artis

tic per formance impl ies the utm ost technica l finish
and a high ly develope d musical inte l ligence An d
-
.

the great difficu lty is to persuade young and imma

ture enthusiasts that this attempt to dash through
what is too di f ficu lt for their powers wil l not advance
them one whit in their desire to play wel l M any a .

time a pupi l has come to me saying that sh e is an a d

v a nce d p layer an d that she wishes to le arn some d i f fi

cul t pieces O f B eethoven C hopin Brahms Schu , , ,

mann L i szt U p o n testing her I usu al ly found that

,
.

her finger training ha d not a dvanced to the stage

when sh e cou l d p l ay a simp le sca le passage with
evenness and fl uency and that un aided sh e cou l d not
,

m ake any intel ligent attempt to interpret one o f the

’ “ ”
l itt le lyrics in Schumann s A lbum for the Young .

B ut coming as an a dvanced pupil to do advanced

,

work she was utterly impatient o f the l abour r equired

,

to do elementary work wel l an d she looked down ,

with lo fty scorn upon the humbler but wiser student

“
the beginner who worked patiently to lay the
,
”

foun dati o ns which wou ld event u a l ly lead to succe ss .

’
B eethoven s view o f this matter is the only one
’
,

worth a moment s con sideration Per fection shou l d “

be the aim O f every true artist T h e simp lest com .

”

position p l ayed wel l p layed so as to arrest the a tten

,
25 0 The Art o f Te aching .

5 . TH E N ECE S S I TY F OR T H IN K ING AND L I S TENING .

rea l difficu lty o f the teacher is not to tell the

The
pupi l things he does not know but to convince him ,

that it is useles s to know i f he d o es not consciou sly

act in accordance with his know ledge T his sounds .

such a simple truis m that the careles s rea der might

be inc lined to pass it by with the casua l observation ,

O h o f course ! B ut rest assured that however

,
”
,

true lack o f succes s in impar ting an inward co nv i c

,

tion o f this fact to the pupi l i s the source o f h a l f the

failures o f the average teacher .

Ment al alertnes s i s a lien to the or dinary learner It .

h a s to be stimu lated constantly and e f fectively It .

h a s to be stimu late d u n ti l the pupi l is able to think

conscious ly when he is studying a composition o f
, ,

how each note shou l d be pl ayed an d is ab le to check ,

the resul t o f his thought by actua l ly hearing that the

thing i s done A s Ruskin says o f drawing : When
.
“

ever y ou take a pen in your hand i f y ou c a nnot count ,

every line you lay with it and sa y why you m a de it ,

so long and no longer an d why y ou drew it in that

,

direction and no other y o ur work is bad , An d so .

”

in music i f you cannot say exact ly h o w each note

,

shou ld be p layed an d tel l why you played it in th at

,

way and no other your work is ba d , .

T h e teacher who can induce his pupil to con een

trate his a ttention upon the thi ng to be done so th at
it wi l l with certainty be done is the success fu l
, , ,

teacher If the pupi l f o r exampl e be in duce d

.
, ,

before playing a note to ask himse l f whether it

,

S hou l d be long or sho r t lou d or so ft le a t o or s ta c

g , ,

ca t o he has l aid the found ations for success

, .
 The N e cessity f o r T hin ing k d Liste ning
an . 25 1

Th e three es se ntia l things to be done are to know , ,

t o th i nk an d to l i sten ; an d the toi lsome task for the

,

teacher is to see that the latter two are e f f ectively

a cco mp llsh ed .

6 . W HA T E FF E CTI V E PR ACTI S ING R E A L LY ME A N S .

O ne resu l t o f the fail ure to induce pupi l s to think

i n tent ly upon what they are doing is that what is ,
“ ”
ca l led practice consists simp ly in going m ech a ni
c a l ly over the notes ag ain and again repeating the ,

same m i stakes An d it is thi s mechanical repetition

.

o f mistakes tha t takes up the time for l earning and

becomes a bar to progres s E ffective practising .

means going over and over a passage or composition

ab so lutely correct ly unti l the habit o f this right
,

doing becomes confirmed The habit o f repetition .

without making a sing le mistake wil l accompl ish

more in a month than the ordinary habit o f repeating
mist a kes wi l l accomp lish in a year T here is on ly .

one road to rapid succe ss ; it is thi s : to pl ay each

no te ex actly right a lways The business O f the
.

teacher is to S how exact ly how it shou l d be p layed ;

an d the business o f the pupil is to think intent ly on
the right an d to l i s ten intent ly so as to confirm the
resu lt o f his thought Practising i s not for the pur
.

pose o f making mistakes and then hearing o f them

a fresh at a future lesson It i s for the purpose O f
.

be coming habituate d to the right doing o f the thing ,

so that i f it be necessary to increase the speed o f the

pl ay in g it wi l l stil l be right ; an d it is for the pur
pose o f cul tivating ease in pl aying It is neces s ary .

to practise in order that the habit o f play ing a thing

correctly wi l l become so fixe d that the p la y er can
25 2 The Art o f T eaching .

a lways an d with confidence be sure o f a correct per

f o rm a nce O n the day that any pupi l can be induced
.

to determine that he wil l never repea t a fau lt h i s ,

success is assured .

B esides this the teacher shou l d instruct the pupi l

,

as to the obj ect O f taking lesson s It wou ld seem .

that this obj ect i s o ften entirely lo st S ight o f The .

obj ect o f the lesson is to impart to the pupil some

know ledge o f which he wa s ign orant ; it i s not to
keep te l ling him again day a fter d a y the thing he , ,

does know G arcia says that he never during tw o

.
,
’
years instruction h a d to tel l Jenny L in d the same
,

thing even twice She knew tha t the obj ect o f the
.

lesson was to learn something new Any pupil who .

ca n be ma de effectively to rea lise this and to act ,

upon the rea li sation wi l l learn with eas e and ,

rapidity T h e teacher mus t be ready to spe n d m uch

.

V ital energy in trying to arouse his pupil to the state

o f menta l a lertness which wil l enab le him to regar d

h i s lesson as a time for learning an d not as a time ,

for hearing again and again the s ame things

neglected or forgotten through utter inattentio n .

7 . H ow TO A V OI D TH E D RE AR Y D U LL NE S S or
C OMM ON PL A C E I N P L AY ING .

The average per formance o f the average pupi l

suffers from a dea d level o f monotony It is too .

o ften without enl ightening c o ntrasts in to n e in rhythm , ,

’
in time in expression It reminds one o f a chil d s
, .

picture painte d al l over with a dul l tint o f grey O r .

it rem i nd S me o f my own boyish e f forts at carpentry

'

when I was unab le to u se so a s to pro duce beauti ,

ful l y sharp cut lines the saw the p l ane and the
-

, ,
25 4 The Art o f T eaching .

( C) The difference bet wee n the lengths o f notes

.

i s too o ften not sharp ly define d L ong notes esp eci .

,

a l ly where they are o f an emphatic character or

important by reason o f melo dic o r rhythmical value ,

wil l gai n in expressive e f fect by an infinitesimal

a ddition to their length T h e common fau lt is to .

rob them o f a shade o f their length an d to hand ,

over the robbed portion to the next short note thus ,

making for a dead leve l o f monotony .

( D) Th e same dead level is hear d in the l ack o f

.

c lear ly defined rhy th m U n less the rhythm o f each

.

piece is running i n the e ar o f the p layer so that

nothing can upset it ; an d unle ss that rhythm i s made
s o clear ly yet not obtrusive ly perceptib le in h i s
, ,

p laying that the b earer cannot fai l to perceive its

,

influence on the music the who le per formance wil l

,

lack unity coherence backbone and wil l be marred

, , ,

by the du l l shade o f the commonp lace .

Watch there fore constantly th at your pupil o b

, , ,

tain s a s many a s pos sible O f the de licate but sharp

contrasts which raise the per formance o u t o f the
common rut and give it an air O f distinction .

8 . SU MMARI S ED C ON CL U S I ON OF G ENER A L C OUN

S E L S F OR TH E TE A C H ER .

( A) S tu dy your own work carefu l ly thoroughly

.
,

and in minute detai l N ever rest satisfied with y our

.

present know ledge b u t a dvance per sistently remem

, ,

bering that in your ca se stagnation is practical ly

synonymous with retrogression L ook for review .
,

critical ly and u se any fre sh light that may arise .

The non progressive teacher canno t hope to win in

-

the race o f progress or to fu lfil h i s duty a s he ought .

 Summarise d C o nclusio n Of Co unsel s f o r Te acher . 25 5

( B ) B e thorough and system atic in y our teaching

.
.

The more y o u dem and o f y our pupi l the greater wil l

be his achievement The more y ou insist upon .

accuracy in every detail the nearer wi l l he appr o ach ,

to artistic success The more y o u stimul ate him to

.

menta l alertnes s an d concentration the greater wil l ,

be h i s capacity for rapid an d effectiv e work Th e .

more orderly an d systematic y our instruction the ,

more order ly an d systematic wil l a l l h i s study be .

( C) Aim at being ab so lutely c lear an d una f fected

.

in a l l your instructions E xpl ain y our points in .

simple in te l ligib le l anguage ; make quite sure that

,

y our pupil un derstands your exp lanations ; an d then

see that he carries them out in every detai l E limi n .

ate cant wor ds an d phrases O f every kin d from your

vocabu lary no matter h o w fashionab le they may be
, ,

or how fashionab le the teacher w h o af f ects them may

be An d remember that the first step towards lucid
.

exp l anation is a thorough mastery o f the meaning

,

o f the subj ect by yoursel f .

( D) Bear in m ind th a t care fu l patient in sistent

.
, ,

teaching i s your part o f the foundation o f success fu l

,

playing whether it be the p laying o f an amateur for

,
’
p leasure s sake o r o f a pro fessiona l pl ayer f o r his
,

l ivelihoo d And there fore whatever e l se y o u m ay

.
,
’
neg lect during the early ye ar s o f the pupi l s educa ~
tion never neg lect to insist upon thought fu l and
,

e f fective technique goo d fingering stea dy an d strong

, ,

rhythm even time varied tone shading intel ligent

, , ,

phr asing a nd appropriate sty le .

( E) D o no t expect to develop in the pupi l a ta ste

.

for fine music very rapid ly U se tact in this p ar t o f .

y our work remembering that it i s wiser to induce the

,

pupi l to like what i s p lea sant and popul ar i f on ly it ,

be good music in any sense o f the wor d than to d i s ,

gust him by to o severe and ex acting demands .

( F ) Wherever
. po ssib le get y our work as a teac h er ,
25 6 The Art o f Te aching .

perio d ica l ly teste d by competent outsi d e j u d ges in ,

order to gain a reasonable assurance that there i s no

retrogression in your work The teacher w h o neglects .

this wise precaution very o ften fin ds himse l f le ft

behin d by tho se who keep a n ey e on the forw ard
march o f educ ationa l method s And tests o f a desir .

ab le kind are no w easi ly foun d when so many trust

worthy an d capab le publ ic bo dies are con d ucting
course s o f examination from year to year .

( G ) Try to mo d e l y our own taste in music upon

.

those standar ds acknowledged by the voice o f the

wor l d to be the greate st While avoiding narrownes s .

o f taste do not fear to measure the work o f new com

,
“
posers by comparison with that o f the five s leeping
kings o f the worl d o f mus ic : B a ch H a r d el H ay dn
”
, , ,

Mozart and B eethoven T his method o f critica l sel f

.

education wil l give y ou a sen se o f proportion in your

j u dgments which wil l preserve you from much error
an d wi l l make your counsel va luab le .

( H) D o not train y our pupils to be unintel ligent

.

imitators by teaching simp ly through il lustr ations

,
.

Teach rather by princip les an d urge your pupi ls to ,

devel op their own m enta l resources by applying the

princip les they learn .

D O not spare yoursel f Though y o u expen d a l l .

y our best energies try as far as y o u are ab le to

,

stimu late y our pupil to enthusiasm An example o f .

w atch fu lnes s a lertnes s earnestness an d enthusiasm

, , ,

in the teacher is the best begetter o f like V irtues in

,

the pupil Al l through l i fe earnest accurate an d

.
, ,

conscientious work i s valuab le not a lone even in the

, , ,

case o f music teaching f o r the mu sica l fruit it be ars

, ,

but al so as a power to devel op that most precious o f

a l l p o s sessions a nob le character
, .

B y to i li s th e w ay up w a r d up w ar d, th e re fo re to i l .

Pri nted by The New Temple Press. Norbu ry Crescent. SM .