Piano Playing Part 13

[Sidenote: _The Playing of Slurred Notes_]

Should I accent the first note under a slur thus:

[Ill.u.s.tration]

or should I lift my hand at the end of the slur thus:

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Slurs and accents have nothing to do with each other, because accents relate to rhythm, while slurs concern the touch. The last note under a slur will usually be slightly curtailed in order to create that small pause which separates one phrase from another. Generally speaking, the slur in piano music represents the breathing periods of the vocalist.

[Sidenote: _How a Tie and a Slur Differ_]

What difference is there between a slur and a tie?

None in appearance, but much in effect. A tie continues the sound of the note struck at its beginning as long as the note-value at its end indicates. It can be placed only upon two notes of similar name in the same octave which follow each other. As soon as another note intervenes the tie becomes a slur and indicates a _legato_ touch.

[Sidenote: _Slurs and Accents Not Related_]

How should the beginning of slurs be accented?

Slurs and accents have nothing to do with each other. Slurs indicate either a legato touch or the grouping of the notes. Which one of the notes thus grouped is to be accented depends upon its rhythmical position in the measure. The strong and weak beat (or positive and negative beat) govern the accent always, unless there is an annotation to the contrary, and such an annotation must be carried out with great judiciousness, seldom literally.

[Sidenote: _How Long an Accidental Affects a Note_]

Where there is an accidental on the last beat of a measure does not that note resume its signature beyond the bar unless tied? The case I speak of was in a key of two flats, common time. The fourth beat, E, was naturalized and the first note of the next measure was E with the flat sign. I maintain that the flat sign is superfluous, and I should like to know if this is right?

You are quite right, theoretically. Nevertheless, the proper tonality signature of a note that was changed is very frequently restated when the same note recurs beyond the bar. Though this special marking is not necessary theoretically, practical experience has shown that it is not an unwise precaution.

[Sidenote: _"E-Sharp and B-Sharp" and the Double Flat_]

What is the meaning of the sharps on the E and B line, and of a double-flat? Are they merely theoretical?

They are not theoretical, but orthographical. You confound the note C with the key on the keyboard by that name. B-sharp is played upon the key called C, but its musical bearing is very remote from the note C.

The same applies to double-flats (and double-sharps), for D with a double-flat is played upon the key called C, but it has no relation to the note C. This corresponds precisely with the h.o.m.onym in language: "sow"--"sew"--"so"--sound alike, but are spelled in various ways according to the meaning they are to convey.

[Sidenote: _The Effect of Double Flats_]

How is an octave, written thus, to be played?

[Ill.u.s.tration]

As the single-flat lowers a note by a half-tone, so a double-flat lowers it by two half-tones or a full tone.

[Sidenote: _Double Sharp Misprinted for Double Flat_]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

In playing an operetta recently I found the double-sharp sign used for double-flats as well. Is this correct?

The sign may be a misprint. But if it should occur repeatedly I advise you to make quite sure, before taking the misprint for granted, that the sign is not, after all, meant for a double-sharp.

[Sidenote: _When an Accidental Is in Parentheses_]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Please tell me how a chord or an interval marked thus, is executed. What does an accidental in parentheses mean?

Chords marked as above are slightly rolled in the same manner as if marked by a serpentine line, unless the sign denotes a linking with the other hand. Which of the two meanings is intended you will easily infer from the context. Accidentals in parentheses are mere warnings given by some composers wherever there is a possibility of doubt as to the correct reading caused by a momentary harmonic ambiguity. I have found these accidentals in parentheses so far only in the works of French composers.

[Sidenote: _The Staffs Are Independent of Each Other_]

Does an accidental in the right hand influence the left?

Inasmuch as piano music is written in score form, the two staffs are as independent of each other as are the staffs in an orchestral score. We may, in cases of suspected misprints, draw certain inferences from one staff to the other, provided that they are justified by the prevailing harmony. As a rule, the two staffs are independent of each other in regard to accidental chromatic signs.

[Sidenote: _Why Two Names for the "Same" Key?_]

I am often asked why there must be fifteen keys in music instead of twelve--that is, why not always write in B instead of C-flat, in F-sharp instead of G-flat, in D-flat instead of C-sharp, or _vice versa_? I can only say that the circle of fifths would not be complete without the seven scales in sharps and the seven in flats: but Bach does not use all the fifteen keys in his Forty-eight Preludes and Fugues, omitting entirely, in the major keys, G-flat, D-flat, and C-flat, and, in the minor keys, A-sharp and A-flat. Are compositions in sharps considered more brilliant than those in flats? Do composers consider modulation in selecting their key?

The answer to your question hinges upon whether you recognize in music mere tone-play or whether you concede a mental and psychic side to it.

In the former case the mode of spelling a tone C-sharp or D-flat would be, indeed, irrelevant. But in the latter case you must admit the necessity of a musical orthography qualified to convey distinct tonal meanings and musical thoughts to the reader and to the player. Though there is in the tempered scale no difference between C-sharp and D-flat, the musical reader will conceive them as different from one another, partly because of their connection with other related harmonies. These determine usually the composer's selection in cases of enharmonic ident.i.ties. In the script of human language you will find an a.n.a.logy than which none could be more perfect. In English there are, for instance, "to," "too," and "two"; words in which the spelling alone, and not the sound of p.r.o.nunciation, conveys the different meanings of the words.

[Sidenote: _The Meaning and Use of "Motif"_]

What is the meaning of a "motif"? What does a dash mean over a note?

What is the best book of instruction for a beginner, a child of ten?

A motif is the germ of a theme. A theme may be composed of reiterations of a motif, or by grouping several motifs together; it may also combine both modes of procedure. The most glorious exemplification of construction by reiteration of a motif you will find in the opening theme of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. A dash over a note enjoins the player to hold that note with the finger until it has received its full value. The best "instruction book" for a child is a good teacher who uses no instruction book, but imparts his knowledge to the child from out of his own inner consciousness.

[Sidenote: _Tied Staccato Notes_]

In playing notes written thus is it permissible to slide the fingers from the keys or should there be only a clinging touch?

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Notes marked as above are to be played in such a manner that each note is slightly separated from the next. The best touch for this is from the arm, so that the fingers are not lifted from their joints, nor from the wrist, but that the arm pulls the finger upward from the key.

[Sidenote: _The "Tenuto" Dash and Its Effect_]

What do short lines below or above a note or chord mean in contradistinction to a staccato or an accent? And does it affect the whole chord?

The dash under or above a note is a subst.i.tute for the word "tenuto"

(usually abbreviated into "ten."), which means "held," or, in other words, be particular about giving this note its full sound-duration.

This subst.i.tute is usually employed when the holding concerns a single note or a single chord.

[Sidenote: _A Rolled Chord Marked "Secco"_]