J. E. V.—1. The term diminuendo does not imply a decrease in the rate of movement as well as in power, although it is not unusual to hear players so interpret the direction. The correct mark for a slower time in connection with diminishing power is dim. e rall.
2. Cantando means "in a singing style" and has no direct reference to either movement or power.
C. A. G.—1. In playing church-music on a reed-organ a repeated bass note is not struck unless the rhythm is to be specially emphasized. Tie repeated notes, as a rule.
2. The change of the syllable name si to ti was suggested and carried into use by the Tonic-Sol-Fa originators in England. This system does not use notes, merely indicating the syllable name by an initial letter, thus: d, r, m, f, s, l, t. Since sol has the initial s, the seventh syllable was changed to ti. The consonant t also gives a better hold on the sound than the sibilant s. You can find a statement of this method in the Tonic-Sol-Fa primer, published by Novello.
3. If a piece is written in 6/8 time, the metronome-mark should be on the basis of the time to an eighth or a dotted quarter. In 2/4 or 4/4 a quarter or an eighth should be used to indicate the movement. If you will write to the publisher of The Etude and give your address, he will send you a little pamphlet explaining the metronome.
4. If two notes on the same degree, standing alone or as part of a chord, are united with a tie, the second note is not struck unless a dot is placed over each note, in which case the execution is slightly staccato.
I. H.—In sight-singing work you can use either si or ti for the seventh of a scale, the latter being now considered the better. See answer to C. A. G.
C. I. C.—A work giving songs used by various countries, although not strictly folk-songs, edited by J. P. Sousa, can be had from the publisher of The Etude. It is called "National, Patriotic, and Typical Airs of All Lands." Perhaps you may be interested in Elson's "Curiosities of Music." The article in Grove's Dictionary will help you in studying the subject.
J. A. E.—You do not give your address, so that we are unable to mention lecturers on musical subjects who are available for work in your vicinity.
M. D.—Mr. David Bispham is a native of Philadelphia, but now has his home in London. We have no biographical sketch of him at hand or of other famous concert-singers that can be published in these columns. It will be better to write to such singers as you are interested in, asking for the facts you want to present in a club paper. There is no biographical work devoted to American concert-singers.
F. H. S.—"Suggestive Studies for Music-Lovers," by Caroline I. Norcross, is intended for persons who have a musical education, but not piano-training, such as a violinist, for example, who plays the piano a little. If you already play Clementi's and Kuhlau's sonatinas, I think you will want something a little more difficult. What you want is practice of the right kind, it does not matter so much what it is. Duet-playing, you taking the bass part, will be an excellent thing for you. Another suggestion is that you take technical pieces, and stick to them. For this we recommend Loeschhorn's "Piano-Technics." If you will take this book and study it carefully, you will get the mechanical part of piano-playing in a nutshell. If you want something to follow Clementi and Kuhlau, take a volume of the "Modern Student," published by Theodore Presser. The pieces are all of an etude character, and will suit you, because they will give you the technical training. At the same time they are pleasing pieces.
B. D.—The softening of the tone of your piano should be left to the judgment of the tuner. Possibly he may be waiting for you to say something to him about it, as most people do not like a soft tone, and therefore tuners do not like to soften the tone without orders, however much they may think it needs it. How often to soften it depends so much on the individual needs of each case that nothing definite can be said on the subject. But in any case it should be done as seldom as possible. Tuning can be learned quite as well at a factory as at a school. Indeed, in the opinion of some good tuners the factory is the only place where it can be properly learned.
You will find in a work entitled "The Technics of Violin- Playing," by Karl Courvoisier, a statement of some of the principles of bowing as illustrated by the so-called Joachim system. It must be borne in mind, however, that Joachim has never written an exposition of his method. Anything claiming to represent his teaching is by a pupil or follower.
L. P. S.—1. See Mr. Mathews' article on "Music-Teaching from a Country Standpoint," on page 410 of this number of The Etude.
2. Landon's "Reed-Organ Method" is a very popular instruction book for that instrument, and can be used with pupils even if the teacher should not have an organ in her studio.
E. G. J.—Clarke's "Harmony," in connection with the "Key," can be used for self-instruction.
A. M. L.—It is impossible to give a general metronome- marking which would suit any march, waltz, etc.; but, in a general way, it can be done, with the understanding, of course, that the time would be modified to suit the character of the particular composition. For a march written in double time, or for any two-step, the metronome would be set at 120, counting two beats to a measure of either 2/4, 2/2, or 6/8 time. For a waltz the metronome is generally set at from dotted half note equals 60 to dotted half note equals 66. For a galop, the metronome would be: quarter note equals 138 to 144. For a polka, quarter note equals 112 to 116. For a mazurka, quarter note equals 126.
5. L.—A pupil having advanced as far as the third or fourth grades and having a good technical foundation should, with careful study and application, be able to continue for some time without a teacher and make some prog-
