Piano Playing Part 10

[Sidenote: _The Playing of Double Thirds_]

Please tell me something about the general practice of thirds, both diatonic and chromatic; also, about those in the first movement of the Grieg Concerto.

As the playing of pa.s.sages in single notes requires a close single legato, to do double thirds requires an equally close double legato. As to the exact details of legato playing I may refer you to my book, "Piano Playing," where you will find the matter discussed at length in the chapter on "Touch and Technic."

THE INSTRUMENT

[Sidenote: _The Kind of Piano Upon Which to Practise_]

Is it irrelevant whether I practise upon a good or a bad piano?

For practice you should never use any but the very best available instrument. Far, rather, may the piano be bad when you play for people.

This will not hurt you nearly so much as will the constant and habitual use of a piano with a mechanism in which every key demands a different kind of touch, and which is possibly out of tune. Such conditions impair the development of your musical ear as well as of your fingers. It cannot be otherwise. As I said once before, learning means the acquiring of habits: habits of thinking and of doing. With a bad instrument you cannot develop any good qualities, even if you should possess them by nature; much less can you acquire them. Hence, I recommend a good piano, clean keyboard--for your aesthetic perceptions should be developed all around--a correct seat and concentration of mind. But these recommendations presuppose on the part of the student some talent and a good teacher.

[Sidenote: _Do Not Use a Piano Extreme in "Action"_]

Is it not better for a student in the advanced stage of study, who is preparing for concert work, to practise on a piano with a heavy action in order to develop the finger and hand muscles, and to use an instrument with a light action for obtaining an artistic finish to the lighter pa.s.sages occurring so often, for instance, in Chopin's music?

All extremes are harmful in their effects upon study and practice. A too heavy action stiffens and overtires the fingers, while too light an action tends to impair your control. Try to obtain for your practice a piano the action of which approximates as nearly as possible that of the piano on which you have to play in the concert, in order to avoid unpleasant surprises, such as premature fatigue or a running away of the fingers.

[Sidenote: _How Tight to Keep the Piano's Action_]

Should I keep the action of my piano tight?

Keep it tight enough to preserve the "feeling" of the keys under the fingers, but to make it more so would endanger your finger action and it may injure your hand.

[Sidenote: _The Action of a Beginner's Piano_]

Do you think it wise for a beginner to practise on a piano that has a heavy action?

That depends upon the age and physical development of the beginner.

"Heavy" and "light" action are not absolute but relative terms, which comprise in their meaning the power of resistance in the player's hand.

The action should be so adjusted that the player can--even in the softest touch--always feel the key under his finger. A too heavy action leads necessarily to an employment of the shoulder muscles (which should be reserved for brief, special uses) and may permanently injure the hand.

[Sidenote: _Playing On a Dumb Piano_]

Are mechanical appliances, such as a dumb keyboard, of advantage to the student of the piano? Should its use be restricted to a particular stage in the course of study?

Music is a language. Schumann said: "From the dumb we cannot learn to talk!" The totally dumb or mute piano should, therefore, not be used, or very little, if we aim at a "musical" technique--that is, a live, multicoloured technique qualified to express musical thought and feeling. Personally I have never used a dumb piano.

THE PEDALS

[Sidenote: _A General Rule About the Pedal_]

Should I use the pedal with each melody note? Should like a general rule.

The treading upon the pedal should always follow immediately after the striking of the note for which it is intended, or else there will be discords arising from the mingling of that note with the one preceding it. This is the general rule. Exceptions there are, of course, but they occur only in certain moments when a mingling of tones is purposed for some special effect.

[Sidenote: _The Use of the Pedal for Colouring_]

What is the use of the damper pedal?

Primarily it serves to prolong such tones as we cannot hold with the fingers. But it is also one of the greatest means for colouring. The employment of it should always be governed by the ear.

[Sidenote: _How to Use the Pedal_]

Please tell me how to use the pedal. I find that in some pieces there is no mark under the measures to show me when it should be used. Is there any rule which you can give me?

a.s.suming that you have in mind the artistic use of the pedal, I regret to say that there is no more a rule for this than for the mixing of colours upon the palette of a painter who strives for some particular shade or tint. He knows that blue and yellow make green, that red and blue make purple; but those are ground colours which he can rarely use.

For the finer shades he has to experiment, to consult his eye and his judgment. The relation between the pedal and the player's ear is exactly similar to that of the palette and the painter's eye. Generally speaking (from sad experience) it is far more important to know when _not_ to use the pedal than when to use it. We must refrain from its use whenever there is the slightest danger of unintentional mingling of tones. This is best avoided by taking the pedal _after_ striking the tone upon which it is to act, and to release it promptly and simultaneously with the striking of the next tone. It may be at once taken again, and this alternation must be kept up where there is either a change of harmony or a succession of "pa.s.sing notes." This is the only positive rule I can give, but even this is often violated. Let your ear be the guardian of your right foot. Accustom your ear to harmonic and melodic clarity, and--listen closely. To teach the use of the pedal independent of the action of your own ear is impossible.

[Sidenote: _Let Your Ear Guide Your Pedalling_]

In Weber's "Storm" should the pedal be held down throughout the entire piece, as directed? It produces quite a discord.

Without knowing this piece, even by name, I may say that the pianos of Weber's time had a tone of such short duration and volume that the discords resulting from a continuous use of the pedal were not so noticeable, as they are now upon the modern piano with its magnificent volume and duration of tone. Hence, the pedal must now be used with the utmost caution. Generally speaking, I say--again--that the ear is the "sole" guide of the foot upon the pedal.

[Sidenote: _Use Pedal With Caution in Playing Bach_]

Is Bach's music ever played with the pedal?

There is no piano-music that forbids in playing the use of the pedal.

Even where the texture of a piece does not require the pedal--which happens very rarely--the player might employ it as an aid where the reach of his hand proves insufficient to hold all the parts of a harmony together. With Bach the pedal is often very important; for, by judicious use--as, for instance, in the cases of organ-point--it acc.u.mulates harmonic tones, holds the fundamental tone and thus produces effects not dissimilar to the organ. Qualitatively speaking, the pedal is as necessary in Bach's music as in any other; quant.i.tatively, I recommend the utmost caution in its use, so as not to blur the fine texture of his polyphony.

[Sidenote: _The Student with a Fondness for the Pedal_]

I always want to use the pedal as soon as I take a new piece, but my teacher insists that I should get a good singing tone first. Is she right?

You "want" to use the pedal? In the face of your teacher's advice to the contrary? Then why did you apply for a teacher? People who consider their own pleasure while engaged in any kind of study need no teacher.

They need discipline. Learn obedience! If by following your teacher's advice you should fail to progress, even then you have no right to do anything else than go to another teacher. But he will in all probability not be very different from the first one in his precepts. Hence, I say again: You should learn obedience!

[Sidenote: _Using the Two Pedals at Once_]

May the damper pedal and the soft pedal be used simultaneously, or would this be detrimental to the piano?

Since the mechanisms of the two pedals are entirely separate and independent of each other you may use them simultaneously, provided that the character of a particular place in your piece justifies it.

[Sidenote: _To Produce a Softer Tone_]

Should the expression "_p_" be executed by the aid of the soft pedal or through the fingers?

The soft pedal serves to change the quality of tone, not the quant.i.ty.

It should therefore never be used to hide a faulty _piano_ (or soft) touch. Mere softness of tone should always be produced by a decrease of finger-force and a lessening of the raising of the fingers. The soft pedal should be employed only when the softness of tone is coupled with a change of colouring, such as lies within its range of action.

[Sidenote: _Do Not Over-Use the Soft Pedal_]