IN MY MUSIC-ROOM.
JOHN ORTH.
One young lady who came this morning complained for the second time of pains in her arms. I was not surprised, for I had seen it coming on for some time. It is all the result of a talk I had with her on technic. I told her that the things she was ready to play and that she would enjoy doing would need about one-fourth more technic before they would be fit to listen to.
Upon learning that this was the case, she thought she would do it up in a hurry. So ever since our talk she has been pushing her metronome mark up higher and higher until rigidity and cramped conditions generally have been induced. This, of course, accounts for the aches and pains in the most natural manner.
She had been admonished often enough not to practice fast; not any faster than she could, and keep her wrists limber and a relaxed muscular condition in general.
I saw she was both strong, and headstrong; so it seemed best to let her go it for awhile and get some light in her own way.
So this morning she seemed more ready to listen, and accept my explanation of the trouble. I will call this young lady Miss Headstrong, and will report in my next article how she is getting on.
What trouble this force practice does make! How it wrenches the nervous system, twists the muscles, and snarls things up generally!
Take Miss Headstrong, for instance: she is in such a hurry that she is continually pulling up the bean she has planted to see whether it has grown any or not instead of letting Nature do her work quietly and doing her own in the same manner.
I have much more to say on this most vital subject of practice, besides a lot of personal cases which I think would be of interest.
