B. D. T.—1. Two notes on the same degree of the staff, connected by a tie, indicate that the first note is to be sustained the value of the two notes. If the second is to be struck both notes should have a staccato dot over them.
2. Lines connecting notes on two different staves indicate the movement of a melody that is to be clearly brought out.
3. "Color" in music is a term borrowed from painting, and answers to what is often called tone quality, such as distinguishes one instrument or one voice from another. It differs from "expression" as "the part" differs from "the whole"; "color" is one means of giving "expression" to playing.
4. Time refers to the meter of a piece as 2-4, 4-4, 6-8, etc. Rhythm refers to the movement of the piece, as waltz rhythm, march rhythm, mazurka rhythm, etc.
A. R.—1. Délibes's opera "Lakme" was brought out in 1883; a copy can doubtless be secured through any music- dealer.
2. "Adelaide," "Knowest Thou the Land?" and "In Questa Tomba" are songs by Beethoven that can be had for mezzo soprano voice.
3. Pochettinomeans "a very little"; portandomeans "carrying"; diluendomeans a "wasting away," equivalent to a decrescendo; similemeans in a "similar manner," used very much in pedal directions to indicate that the pedal is used in the various measures in the same way.
A. M. B.—It is impossible for us to tell you how to use the stops on your organ, since there is no standard set of names for the stops. The foundation stops of reed organs are those that give a pitch corresponding to the sound produced by striking the same key on a piano. Draw out one of the stops, press down middle C; if the pitch is the same as that of middle C on the piano the stop is an 8-feet one and should be used for general playing. Usually the stops are marked; for instance, Melodia, 8 feet; Flute, 4 feet, signifies that the pitch is an octave higher. A 4-feet treble should have a 4-feet bass stop drawn; if an 8-feet bass stop be drawn, an 8-feet treble stop may be used, to which can be added, to brighten the tone, a 4-feet stop. Write to the makers of the organ and ask for a book of directions for using the stops on that particular organ.
M. W.—Some authorities question the truth of the statement that music written in sharps is more brilliant than that written in keys with flats in the signature. Brilliant music can be had in every key. Doubtless the reason that persons think there is difference lies in the fact that it is easy to compare a piece written in D-flat with D, in E-flat with E, in F with F-sharp, and so on. Naturally the piece will sound more brilliant if put in the higher key, not because of the sharps in the signature, but because of the higher keynote. The matter is one of the comparative pitch of the pieces, not of one key as opposed to another.
G. E. G.—The "melodic finger" of which Leschetizky speaks is a term which means that the finger in striking a key should have great power to give the tones a melodic character when that quality is desired. This is very valuable in playing music of a polyphonic character.
J. F. L.—1. Your question as to when it is proper to put a sharp and when a flat in a chord is very obscure. We cannot reply to this. The use of chromatic signs depends upon the key in which you write.
2. We understand your next question to refer to the manner of writing the chromatic scale. In ascending passages many writers advocate the use of signs that raise the value, in descending signs that lower; the first may be a sharp or a natural, the latter a flat or a natural, dependent upon the key. For example, in the key of B the chromatic scale will be written according to above method, B, B-sharp, C-sharp, C-double-sharp, D-sharp, E, E-sharp, F-sharp, F-double-sharp, G-sharp, G-double-sharp, A-sharp, B, in ascending progression; descending it will be written B, A-sharp, A, G-sharp, G, F-sharp, F, E, D-sharp, D, C-sharp, C, B. Another method which we prefer writes the scale the same ascending or descending. Taking the key above it will be written, from the harmonic standpoint, B, C (lowered supertonic), C-sharp, D (lowered mediant), D-sharp, E, E-sharp (raised subdominant), F-sharp, G (lowered submediant), G-sharp, A (lowered leading note), A-sharp, B. The altered notes represent members of chromatic chords that can be used with a key, and yet not necessarily producing a modulation.
E. S.—1. The staccato may be made in three ways: from the finger, from the wrist, and with the combined arm movement. The finger staccato is best made with a glancing stroke, caused by drawing the finger briskly up and under the hand by an action from the first joint. The hand-touch is made by holding the wrist loosely and allowing the hand to bound lightly on and off the keys. The staccato may also be made by a combined movement of the hand and arm, in which the triceps muscle is brought into play. The employment of these various touches is regulated by the context of the passage to be executed and by the discretion of the performer.
2. Parallel scales are those in which both hands move in the same direction, whether the scales be played in octaves, thirds, sixths, or tenths.
W. H.—Counterpoint is the art of combining two or more independent voice-parts or melodies. Briefly speaking, counterpoint may be described as horizontal, or woven together, while harmony is vertical, or built up.
B. C.—The young pupil who is making such satisfactory progress in "First Steps" should be kept at that volume for about six months. But in addition a number of first- grade pieces should be used, suited to the abilities and requirements of the pupil. In the case of a bright pupil, "First Steps" may be followed by the second volume of the Mathews "Graded Course."
A. B. D.—Landon's "Foundation Materials" may be followed by the Mathews "Graded Course," beginning with Vol. II. Also Books I and II of the Selected Studies from Loeschhorn, edited by J. H. Rogers. The "Little Home Player," the "Engelmann Album," and "First Parlor Pieces" contain pieces admirably adapted for use in the earlier grades.
A. B. H.—1. It is never allowable to play the first two notes of a triplet against the first note of a couplet and the last notes of each group together. The second note of the couplet enters half-way between the last two notes of the triplet.
2. While it is usual to begin a turn written immediately over a note with the upper auxiliary, sometimes taste suggests beginning with the principal note. This is the case in the Paderewski Minuet about which you inquire. The composer himself executes the turn in this manner; hence it was so written out in The Etude.
3. In broken chords occurring in both hands, the rule given by von Bülow in his edition of the Cramer Studies is a good one to follow. When the chord is a short one both hands ascend together. When it is of longer duration the left hand begins and the right follows. In either case the tones should be sustained as far as possible.
