Piano Mastery Part 19

"I first establish an arched hand position, with firm fingers."--Edwin Hughes.

"I teach arched hand position."--Alexander Lambert.

"One must first secure an arched hand, with steady first joints of the fingers."--Eleanor Spencer.

"The first thing to do for a pupil is to see that the hand is in correct position; the knuckles will be somewhat elevated and the fingers properly rounded."--Bloomfield Zeisler.

"A pupil must first form the arch of the hand and secure firm finger joints. I form the hand away from the piano, at a table."--Agnes Morgan.

Leschetizky teaches arched hand position, with rounded fingers, and all who have come under his instruction advocate this form. It is the accepted position for pa.s.sage playing. A few pianists, notably Alfred Cortot and Tina Lerner, play their pa.s.sage work with flat fingers, but this, in Miss Lerner's case, is doubtless caused by the small size of the hand.

It is clear from the above quotations, and from many other opinions which could be cited, that the authorities agree the hand should be well arched, the end of the finger coming in contact with the key; furthermore there should be no weakness nor giving in at the nail joint.

FINGER ACTION

The question of lifting the fingers seems to be one on which various opinions are held. Some pianists, like G.o.dowsky for instance, will tell you they do not approve of raising the fingers--that the fingers must be kept close to the keys. It is noticeable, however, that even those who do not speak favorably of finger action, use it themselves when playing pa.s.sages requiring distinctness and clearness. Other players are rather hazy on the subject, but these are generally persons who have not gone through the routine of teaching.

The accepted idea of the best teachers is that at the beginning of piano study positive finger movements must be acquired; finger action must be so thoroughly grounded that it becomes second nature, a very part of the player, something he can never forget nor get away from. So fixed should it become that no subsequent laxity, caused by the attention being wholly centered on interpretation can disturb correct position, condition, or graceful, plastic movement.

"For pa.s.sage work I insist on finger action; the fingers must be raised and active to insure proper development. I think one certainly needs higher action when practising technic and technical pieces than one would use when playing the same pieces before an audience."--Clarence Adler.

Alexander Lambert speaks to the point when he says: "I teach decided finger action in the beginning. Some teachers may not teach finger action because they say artists do not use it. But the artist, if questioned, would tell you he had to acquire finger action in the beginning. There are so many stages in piano playing. The beginner must raise his fingers in order to acquire finger development and a clear touch. In the middle stage he has secured enough finger control to play the same pa.s.sages with less action, yet still with sufficient clearness, while in the more or less finished stages the pa.s.sage may be played with scarcely any perceptible motion, so thoroughly do the fingers respond to every mental requirement."

It is this consummate mastery and control of condition and movement that lead the superficial observer to imagine that the great artist gives no thought to such things as position, condition and movements. Never was there a greater mistake. The finest perfection of technic has been acquired with painstaking care, with minute attention to exacting detail. At some period of his career, the artist has had to come down to foundation principles and work up. Opinions may differ as to the eminence of Leschetizky as a teacher, but the fact remains that many of the pianists now before the public have been with him at one time or another. They all testify that the Viennese master will have nothing to do with a player until he has gone through a course of rigorous preparation spent solely in finger training, and can play a pair of Czerny etudes with perfect control and effect.

ARTISTIC TOUCH

One of the greatest American teachers of touch was Dr. William Mason, who made an exhaustive study of this subject. His own touch was noted for its clear, bell-like, elastic quality. He remarked on one occasion, in regard to playing in public: "It is possible I may be so nervous that I can hardly walk to the piano; but once I have begun to play I shall hold the audience still enough to hear a pin drop, simply by the beauty of my touch and tone." Dr. Mason's touch specialties were "pressure" and "elastic" or "drawing-off" touches. He found these gave both weight and crisp lightness to the tones.

Mr. Tobias Matthay, of London, has given much time and thought to the study of touch and key mechanism. He says: "The two chief rules of technic, as regards the key are: Always feel how much the key resists you, feel how much the key _wants_ for every note. Second, always listen for the moment each sound begins, so that you may learn to direct your effort to the sound only and not to the key bed. It is only by making the hammer end of the key move that you can make a sound. The swifter the movement, the louder the sound. The more gradual the movement the more beautiful the quality of sound. For brilliant tone, you may hit the string by means of the key, but do not, by mistake, hit the key instead."

Thuel Burnham, a pupil of Mason and Leschetizky, has welded the ideas of these two masters into his own experience, and simplifies the matter of piano touch as follows:

MELODY AND COLORATURA HANDS

"The position and condition of the hand varies according to the character of the music and the quality of tone you wish to produce. If you give out a melody, you want a full, luscious tone, the weight of arm on the key, everything relaxed and a clinging, caressing pressure of finger. Here you have the 'Melody Hand,' with outstretched, flat fingers. On the contrary, if you wish rapid pa.s.sage work, with clear, bright, articulate touch, the hand must stand up in well-arched, normal playing position, with fingers well rounded and good finger action. Here you have the 'Technical' or 'Coloratura Hand.'"

The distinction made by Mr. Burnham clears up the uncertainty about arched hand and articulate touch, or low hand and flat fingers. Both are used in their proper place, according to the demands of the music. The player, however, who desires a clean, reliable technic, should first acquire a coloratura hand before attempting a melody hand.

SECTION III

_The Art of Practise_

We have seen that if the pianist hopes to perfect himself in his art he must lay the foundation deep down in the fundamentals of hand position, body condition, correct finger movements and in careful attention to the minutest details of touch and tone production.

The remark is often heard, from persons who have just listened to a piano recital: "I would give anything in the world to play like that!"

But would they even give the necessary time, to say nothing of the endless patience, tireless energy and indomitable perseverance which go to the making of a virtuoso.

How much time does the artist really require for study? Paderewski owns to devoting _all_ his time to it during the periods of preparation for his recital tours. At certain seasons of the year most of the artists give a large portion of each day to the work. G.o.dowsky is an incessant worker; Burnham devotes his entire mornings to piano study; Germaine Schnitzer gives six hours daily to her work, and if interrupted one day the lost time is soon made up. Eleanor Spencer "practises all her spare time," as she quaintly puts it. A professional pianist must give a number of hours each day to actual practise at the keyboard, besides what is done away from it. The work is mentally going on continually, whether one really sits at the instrument or not.

The point which most concerns us is: How shall one practise so as to make the most of the time and accomplish the best results? What etudes, if any, shall we use, and what technical material is the most useful and effectual?

Wilhelm Bachaus, whose consummate technic we have so often admired, says: "I am old-fas.h.i.+oned enough to still believe in scales and arpeggios. Some of the players of the present day seem to have no use for such things, but I find them of great importance. This does not necessarily mean that I go through the whole set of keys when I practise the scales. I select a few at a time and work at those. I start with ridiculously simple forms--just the thumb under the hand and the hand over the thumb--a few movements each way, but these put the hand in trim for scales and arpeggios. I practise the latter about half an hour a day. I have to overhaul my technic once or twice a week to see that everything is in order. Scales and arpeggios come in for their share of criticism. I practise them in various touches, but oftener in _legato_, as that is more difficult and also more beautiful than the others. I practise technic, when possible, an hour a day, including Bach."

Sigismond Stojowski considers that scales and arpeggios must form a part of the daily routine.

Thuel Burnham says: "Of my practise hours at least one is given to technic, scales, arpeggios, octaves, chords, and Bach! I believe in taking one selection of Bach and perfecting it--transposing it in all keys and polis.h.i.+ng it to the highest point possible. So with etudes, it is better to perfect a few than to play _at_ so many."

THE PIANIST A MECHANIC

Edwin Hughes, the American pianist and teacher in Munich, remarks: "Technic is the mechanical part of music making; to keep it in running order one must be constantly tinkering with it, just as the engine driver with his locomotive or the chauffeur with his automobile. Every intelligent player recognizes certain exercises as especially beneficial to the mechanical well-being of his playing; from these he will plan his daily schedule of technical practise."

Teresa Carreno a.s.serts she had in the beginning many technical exercises which her teacher wrote out for her, from difficult pa.s.sages taken from the great composers. There were hundreds of them, so many that it took just three days to go the rounds. She considers them invaluable, and constantly uses them in her own practise and in her teaching. Each exercise must be played in all keys and with every possible variety of touch and tone.

Paderewski gives much time daily to pure technic practise. He has been known to play scales and arpeggios in a single key for three quarters of an hour at a stretch. These were played with every variety of touch, velocity, dynamic shading and so on.

It is seen from the instances quoted that many great pianists believe in daily technic practise, or the study of pure technic apart from pieces.

Many more testify that scales, chords, arpeggios and octaves const.i.tute their daily bread. Some have spoken to me especially of octave practise as being eminently beneficial. They feel these things are essential to the acquiring of a fine technic, and keeping it up to concert pitch.

Some artists are partial to certain technical studies. Bachaus highly recommends those of Brahms, for instance. All artists use Bach in connection with their technic practise; in fact the works of Bach may be considered to embody pure technic principles, and pianists and teachers consider them a daily necessity.

INVENTING EXERCISES

Together with their studies in pure technic alone, the artists invent exercises out of the pieces they study, either by playing pa.s.sages written for both hands with one hand, by turning single notes into octaves, by using more difficult fingering than necessary, thus bringing into use the weaker fingers, changing the rhythm, and in numerous other ways increasing the effort of performance, so that when the pa.s.sage is played as originally written, it shall indeed seem like child's play.

Another means to acquire technical mastery is through transposition. One would think Bach's music difficult enough when performed as written, but the artists think nothing of putting it through the different keys.

Burnham relates that during early lessons with Dr. Mason, that master gave him a Bach Invention to prepare, casually remarking it might be well to memorize it. The simple suggestion was more than sufficient, for the ambitious pupil presented himself at the next lesson with not only that particular Invention learned by heart, but likewise the whole set!

De Pachmann, in his eagerness to master the technic and literature of the piano, says that when a Bach Prelude and Fugue was on one occasion a.s.signed him by his teacher, he went home and learned the whole twenty-four, which he was able to play in every key for the next lesson!

SLOW PRACTISE

The question is often put to artists: "Do you deem it necessary to work for velocity, or do you practise the composition much at the required speed?" Many pianists practise very slowly. This was William H.

Sherwood's custom. Harold Bauer believes velocity to be inherent in the individual, so that when the pa.s.sage is thoroughly comprehended it can be played at the necessary rate of speed. Bachaus testifies he seldom works for velocity, saying that if he masters the pa.s.sage he can play it at any required tempo. "I never work for velocity as some do," he remarks. "I seldom practise fast, for it interferes with clearness. I prefer to play more slowly, giving the greatest attention to clearness and good tone. By pursuing this course I find that when I need velocity I have it."

Clarence Adler counsels pupils always to begin by practising slowly--faster tempo will develop later, subconsciously. Velocity is only to be employed after the piece has been thoroughly learned, every mark of expression observed, all fingering, accents and dynamic marks mastered. "You would scarcely believe," he adds, "how slowly I practise myself."

A FEW EXCEPTIONS

There are very few exceptions to the general verdict in favor of technic practise apart from pieces. G.o.dowsky a.s.serts he never practises scales.