TH E ETUD E 37 J |QUESTIOHSj | WANSWERS W [Our subscribers are invited to send in questions for this department. Please write them on one side of the paper only, and not with other things on the same sheet. IN EVERY CAS E THE WRITER' S FUL L ADDRES S MUST BE GIVEN , or the questions will receive no attention. In no case will the writer's name be printed to the questions in THE ETUDE. Questions that have no general interest will not receive atten-tion H. B. T.— In reply to your question as to whether every piece is to be played in accordance with the teachings of some certain method, Virgil, Mason, or Leschetizky, my answer is an emphatic NO ! The object of all piano study is the most musical, sympathetic, and artistic rendering of a composition possible to the player. Whatever method or means facilitates that result should be used; whatever militates against it should be shunned. There are points in piano-playing that are not covered by any method; again, some of the most vital points in artistic playing are exhaustively treated in the Mason and Virgil methods, but no one has discovered the philosopher's stone. An acquaintance of many years with Dr. Mason, as his pupil and admirer, warrants me in asserting that he would be the first to deprecate any such claims for his method. At the same time, I personally believe that he has come nearer to the philosopher's stone than any one else I know of. You will find his " Touch and Technic" an exhaustive and masterly analysis of all that goes to make up the highest quality of musical and artistic playing. If you care to do that kind of playing you can not afford to be ignorant of the best means of developing it—viz., Mason's " Touch and Technic." What Dr. Mason has done for the musical side of piano-playing Mr. Virgil has accomplished for the technical side. You will find in the "Foundation Exercises" an exhaustive analysis of the com-plex playing movements that go to make up rapid, even, and brilliant scale, arpeggio, and passage playing. I can not agree with Mr. Mathews in his estimate of these movements. I find after unpre-judiced trial that these" supposedly exact" playing movements pro-duce with every pupil certain technical results that are secured by the current piano methods with only the talented few. I have used the method in teaching for over five years, so I know whereof I speak; the results can not be gainsaid, and as I am after results in my teaching, I do not concern myself as to whether Mr. Virgil's analyses are exact or only supposedly so. Now, a word of caution : The Virgil method used exclusively and to excess can result only in unmusical playing; but the teacher who perceives clearly the dividing line between technic and music can, by a happy combination of Dr. Mason's " Touch and Technic " with the Virgil method, get results with the average pupil that would not be attained by either method alone. If you do the best kind of musical and expressive playing you will find yourself at every point in accord with Dr. Mason's method, and, from the technical side, Mr. Virgil's. You should aim to give the most sympathetic rendering of a piece with the most expressive and beautiful touch at your command; if you can get an artistic and musical effect that justifies the means used, and the Mason, Virgil, Leschetizky, or any other method says you must not use that means, why so much the worse for the method. In other words, be broad, liberal, unbiased, and independent in your thinking and playing, eschew evil and hold fast to the good wherever found, but do not believe any teacher who tells you that a composition must be played by any " rule o' the thumb." PERLE E V . JERVIS . L. G.—1. There is no standard fingering of the chromatic scale which makes use of the thumb on all white keys except F and C, the second finger on all black keys. In the examples which you sent to us you use a different fingering in descending from that em-ployed in ascending. Kalkbrenner's fingering is, starting at E and ascending one octave: R. H., 1231313123131 ; descending, read the figures from right to left. L. H., descending, from CtoC , 12313131 2 3 1 3 1; ascending, reverse. Czerny's fingering4s: R. H.,3121212312123 ; descending, reverse. L. H., descending, 3121212312123 ; reverse in ascending. Cramer's fingering: R. H., ascending, 1231234123123 ; re-verse, descending. L. H., descending, 1231234123123 ; as-cending, reverse. Note that the right hand employs the scale from E to E ; the left hand from C to C. Germer, in his book, "Th e Technics of Pianoforte Playing," recommends for two octaves, beginning at B and going up the scale, the succession of the five fingers, 1 2 3 4 5, the thumb coming on B, E, A, D, G . 2. An organist should not play during the time that administer makes announcements. It is a farce to have music at such a time. When music is given, attention should be undivided. L. G.—1. A chorus is generally written in parts; a refrain may be for one voice. For example, a song of three verses may have a waltz refrain. This is a very popular custom. 2. The name of the writer, Behnke, is pronounced Banke (longa). SISTER G.—1. In the playing of sonatas and rondos the pedal should be used, as well as in all other music. The old idea that aca-demic playing must necessarily be dry and stiff has long ago been abandoned. That the sonatas of earlier times require greater care in the use of the pedal, or, rather, give fewer opportunities for its use, is no reason why it should not be used at all. 2. The " Two Skylarks" (Leschetizky) must not be played with-out sentiment or expression any more than any other piece of music; on the contrary, this piece gives very nice opportunities for delicate vacillations of tempo and refined shading. With regard to both questions, we would suggest that, in teach-ing, the artistic element should never be lost sight of, except, perhaps, in the purely mechanical training of the fingers. Even Master John Sebastian Bach's works admit of a most refined and highly artistic style of playing. It goes without saying, however, that all ques-tions of expression are to be deferred until the mechanical difficui-ties of a piece are mastered, or at least so far mastered that a fair representation of the musical idea of the piece is possible. 3. "O n Sound," by Tyndall; "Sound and Music," by Sedley Taylor, and " The Student's Edition ofHelmholtz" are standard books on the scientific side of music. N. C.—1. If you wish to take up a course in harmony, we recom-mend you to get a copy of Clarke's " Harmony." It is well adapted for self-instruction. 2. Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words" vary in degree of difficulty from Grade II to V. 3. We recommend young teachers to use the " Standard Graded Series," by W. S. B. Mathews; and as a book on teaching, Sefton's " How to Teach—How to Study." SISTER M. D.—1. In playing the Mason two-finger exercises, the hand should not rise on the second note, the finger flexion alone producing the desired effect. 2. Clinging legato, in the case of notes a third apart, is accom-plished by clinging to the first tone, with firm pressure upon the key, until the second tone is sounded, and then sliding up over the intervening key,—black or white,—making sure that it is a slide, and not a lift; what Dr. Mason would call the glissando, or " skat-ing " over the tops of the keys with a feeling of continuous contact. 3. The "pearly scales," as you call them, should be done by "slight, almost imperceptible, finger flexion" as the finger leaves the key after the tone is produced; a flexion of the nail joint only, described as the " flexion of the finger-tips." In passages of con-secutive tones like the moderato or fast forms of two-finger exer-cises, or in scales at a similar rate of speed, the detachment is so modified by the blending of the successions of tones and their overtones that the legato effect predominates.—M. G. MURRAY. OLD READER.—Rubinstein's " Christus" was produced at Bremen in 1895. We have no means of ascertaining if and why the Berlin authorities refused to allow it to be given in the latter city. We would remind you and other readers that we must have cor-respondents' names and addresses to all inquiries. C. A. K.—1. Mathews' " Standard Graded Course" is a progressive course of piano studies, and will give you good drill in technical and artistic work. 2. You can commence in Grade III, if you play Kuhlau sonatinas. 3. Divide up your time between teehnicai study and pieces, not more than an hour's continuous practice. 4. You will find the advertisements of a number of well-known teachers in THE ETUDE who will give you lessons in harmony by correspondence. 5. M.—It is perfectly proper to have a musical composition com-mence with a portion of a measure. It is caused by the necessity for proper rhythmic accent. The last measure of the strain must be shortened by just the same value as is given in the opening meas-ure. The measures may appear to be full, but the subject will end before the close—say on the third beat—and the remaining beat will be the commencement of another part. Sometimes at the finish of a composition the measure will have four full beats, when it should have but three according to the above rule; but this is simply a pro-longation of the final chord, such as would be produced by placing a pause over it. H. B.—In " La Campanella," by Liszt, as in many other pieces, when two hands are employed in playing the notes on one staff, all notes with stems turned up are played with the right hand; those with stems turned down, with the left hand. Sometimes you will see an extended arpeggio, or a long scale passage, divided between the hands in this way, the execution being indicated by the upward and downward stems. Liszt was very partial to a trill played with one finger of each hand succeeding each other in rapid alternation. It gives a more powerful effect than when two fingers of the same hand are used. S. S. J.—1. All intervals larger than an octave, with one excep-tion, are considered simple, and are figured in accordance with this principle; thus, a tenth is considered a third, a twelfth as a fifth, a fifteenth as an octave. But since the ninth is reckoned as a member of dominant harmony, it must be figured. We can add a ninth to a dominant seventh chord; for example, G, B D, F A. A being a ninth, and a part of the chord, must be figured. 2. The soprano voice is considered to have a compass from middle C to C two octaves higher; the alto from F or G below the treble staff to about E, fourth space; the tenor from D, third line, bass staff, to A or B-flat above the staff; the bass from F, first added space below the staff, to about E-flat above. Of course, exceptional voices exceed these limits in both directions, and voices of moderate range have less compass. You did not ask about two very important and com-mon voices—the baritone and mezzo-soprano; the former with a compass from about A-flat, first space, bass clef, to F above the staff; the latter from about A or B below the treble staff to about A or B-flat above. The limits mentioned above are the usual ones. M. L.—There is no work which could go between Elson's " Theory of Music" and Richter's "Manual of Harmony." We would refer you to Clarke's "Harmony," which combines both kinds of study in a very useful manner. E. V. N.—1. In order to read quickly, a pupil must be abJe to name and to locate the notes quickly. A young pupil relies too much upon playing from the " fingering " marked in early pieces. Then she learns to watch ahead for the position and direction of each succeeding note, which is all right, provided she can locate it accurately and promptly. Take something with plenty of skips, point to a note in the treble, have her locate it quickly on the keyboard; then skip to the bass. Have her read something new and difficult at every lesson for a while. In these purely reading exercises do not insist upon phrase-marks, etc. 2. For the hesitating or stuttering habit, continue the slow prac-tice you already use, and try the following: Have her play an easy hymn-tune, each chord firmly, and holding it so until she knows where to locate the next chord. Again, take something she knows well, and have her play it quickly; and even though she makes a mistake, force her to push ahead without attempting to correct it. 3. It is often good to give scales and arpeggios independently of the pieces in which they may occur, especially when practice^ with the accent demanded by the rhythm of the piece, the right touch, etc. L. W.—1. The intervals in our scale are not true to nature, with the exception of the octave. In other words, our scale is tempered. 2. Some animal sounds include recognizable intervals, but very few animal cries or bird songs may be correctly represented in our notation. There is a gibbon (a variety of monkey) that is said to sing a descending chromatic scale. 3. The Arabian scale (in fact, many Oriental scales) differs from ours, being divided into thirds of tones. 4. Bishop Ambrose of Milan and Pope Gregory were among the earliest and most enlightened patrons of music. 5. The syllables were first applied to the scale by Guido of Arezzo, in the tenth century. He adopted the first syllables of a hymn to St. John, which reads: " Utqueant laxis Re-son are fibris Mi-ra gestorum Fa-muli tuorum Sol-ve polluti La-bii reatum, Sancti Johannes." The Ut was afterward changed to Do, and Si was added when the octave scale was introduced. 6. The antiquity of the scale—either diatonic or chromatic—is a thing that can not be determined. Both are probably as old as are the attempts of mankind to make music. The chromatic scale gets its name from the Greek work for color, from its analogy to the gradual change in the " shading " from one color to another. 7. Our tempered scale is quite modern, but the untempered scale is at least as old as the pyramids. 8. The question as to the qualities of the various degrees of the scale is rather fanciful. The tonic may be called restful, the leading note restless; but which is the saddest and which is neutral the pres-ent writer has no means to determine. 9. The Lydian mode in Greek music was considered the most fit-ting for love-songs, hence Milton's reference to it. 10. We do use the scale intervals in speaking, but owing to the evanescent character of the sounds in speaking, their pitch and extent can not be determined accurately. The relative pitch of sounds is the same on all instruments, although some violin players claim to make a difference between C# and An enharmonic scale is one that moves by quarter tones. It is impossible in our musical system except on paper, thus—C C# J)\> D D# EL? E. Even this is not really enharmonic, as the intervals between and Di? ife are much less than the others. A. W. P.—To develop a chorus of twenty good voices (boys and girls, ranging in age from twelve to fourteen years) into an effective choir, the important thing in starting is the selection of music that is adapted to their singing capabilities. If they sing in two parts, teach the alto part first. As they do not read music, a systematic course of training, with graded exercises, such as are found in part first of the " Choral Class Book," by Lenson and McGranahan, would ultimately enable them to read music in all keys. A music chart for practicing scales and intervals is of great advantage. These reading exercises could occupy a part of the time of each rehearsal without detracting from the interest. A. H. M.—1. The following sonatas of Beethoven can be used in Grades V and VI : Op. 13, Op. 79, Op. 14, No. 2 ; Op. 10, No. 2 ; Op. 2, No. 1. 2. Mozart's " Fantasia in C-minor," " Theme and Variations, A -major," and the sonata in F-major in 3-4 time, first theme begin-ning in F, a dotted quarter, followed by six sixteenth-notes. 3. For Haydn use the ten sonatas, Litolff edition, No. 307. 4. For Bach, see " Letters to Teachers " by W. S. B. Mathews in this number. 5. The following pieces will be found useful in staccato playing, hand touch principally: "Staccato, Salon Etude," C. Bohm, Op. 212; " La Diabolique," J. Leybach, Op. 47; "Galop de Concert," J. Ley bach, Op. 8; " The Chariot Race," L. Schytte; and " Toccatina," William Mason, Op. 46, No. 1. L. B. D.—There is no fixed rule which guides a composer in the choice of a key for the piece he is writing, Considerations as to the character of the piece come into the case; for instance, certain kinds of arpeggio figures are better in sharp than in flat keys; cer-tain passages in chords, perhaps, the reverse. A certain melodie passage best in the tenor register, therefore, cannot be put in a very high key. Many composers have a conception of absolute pitch, and often a predilection for a certain key.
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