Page 29G MAY 1920 THE ETUDE these details should serve, and so to teach their pupils to play in a dry-as-dust, humdrum fashion which could not possibly please anyone but the teacher herself. There is also the danger, during the lesson hour, of devoting too much time to the crudest part of the work, to dissecting and correcting. music which the pupil has only begun to learn, such as the "new piece," given at the preceding lesson. Rather, point out any glaring errors in such work, and see that the pupil is not running upon insuperable obstacles; and, for the rest, leave him to solve his problems with as little outside assistance as possible. Then, give the major attention to what is erroneously called "review work," but which should rather be called "finishing work" — to the discussion of the aesthetic side of the music upon which he has been occupied fo r several weeks, or even months, and which, with its technical problems under control, is now ready for those interpretative touches that will glorify it and raise it to the grade of a work of art. Show him where the meaning may be made more vivid by an accent here, a melodic stress there; suggest an elasticity of tempo that will mold the ex-pression into its desired form ; play for him passages of special import; fire him with enthusiasm to perform as a great pianist might perform, inspired by poetic thought. Teach him, in short, to listen to his own music. The gravest charge against the piano as an instrument is that its effect is mechanical, because the player does Is your playing intelligently expressive or not? D o you really know why you play certain passages softly and sweetly, while you play others in the oppo-site manner? D o you interpret them so merely because.you happen to notice a piano or forte sign? When I first began my study of music (not having been blessed with an efficient teacher who should have given me ample enlightenment about all the details of expression, etc.) I was forced to make an outlet for my pent-up emotions by faking the expression which I so noticeably exhibited in my playing. If I thought dolce and piano tones were becoming monotonous, I immediately played louder and more passionately; or, if I imagined that my hearer was becoming.restless as a result of the forte passage, I would then begin to render some of the most musically sentimental sounds that I was capable of compassing. T o remedy a like condition the student should study such books as Edward Baxter Perry's Stories of TEACHERS should realize the great value of present-ing positive statements to their pupils. They should not only "practice what they preach," but teach what they preach in a practical way. The majority of the alphabet of "don'ts" should be eliminated and a large quantity of "do " substituted. The emphasis must be placed where it belongs. When teaching the simple rudiments to the pupil, if the stress is laid on the right principle always, wrong habits will probably never come into view. Say to the pupil: "This is a whole note. That is 'G' on the second line of the TREBLE clef. Keep your hand very loose and the fingers well curved at the tips. Play the notes so that they will sing sweetly." These simple admonitions will become fixed in the pupil's thought, and lay a foundation for good musicianship. The fretted and anxious, "Oh!— Don' t do this! and D-o-n't do that!" can hardly give encouragement or inspira-tion to the pupil. The writer has had experiences which may be of help here. A while ago, a little fellow came for les-sons who had evidently been urged to play series of notes which his small hands were unable to grasp. H e had become accustomed to holding his hands in a sprawled and rigid position and struck the keys with a thump. As I attempted to show him his faulty habits and to teach him the advantages of right ones, to my surprise he insisted that he liked his way better, and couldn't possibly play at all in the way I had directed. not make the tone, as in the • violin. But an infinite graduation of tonal shading is there, if only the pianist understands how to use it to the best advantage. H e cannot give his undivided attention to more than one thing at a time, however; and if this attention is fo -cused continually upon muscular action, the music must go hang. Employ every means, therefore, to make your pupil listen. From the very beginning, this listen-ing faculty should be cultivated by ear training. Lit-tle snatches of pieces or exercises should be played to the pupil fo r him to write down. During these proc-esses these snatches will sink into his consciousness and will become fo r him music instead of finger mo-tion. So lead him all the way to an aural analysis of his music until he becomes saturated with the spirit of everything which he plays. Foster this attitude, also, by any other available helps along the way. Place each piece in its true per-spective by investigating its composer, his environment and his attitude. Lead the pupil whenever possible to a study of elementary harmony. Make him, in short, musically intelligent by every means in your power. See that he hears good music and teach him to listen to it with discrimination. For the result to-ward which a worthy piano teacher is aiming should not be to produce an animated pianola, but a per-former who, as far as he goes, interprets his music with an artistic appreciation that is a jo y both to him-self and to his auditors. Standard Teaching Pieces, his Descriptive Analysis of Piano Works, and Goodrich's Musical Analysis, etc. There are numerous other books which give many helpful ideas as to interpretation and analysis. The Perry books help to develop the imagination and give much valuable information in regard to the aesthetic side of music. Schuman's Carnaval is an excellent work to study and interpret. Read Perry's description of the different selections and study all or some of them; they are intensely interesting and helpful. An -other most excellent book is Christiani's Principles of Expression in Piano Forte Playing. Music has form just as poetry has and it should be the desire of every student to study compositions until clear ideas of their form are gained. One reason why classical music is not invariably appreciated is because the performer does not understand the form of the piece he is playing. The result is a succession of musical harmonies or sounds, some loud and some soft, but all meaningless. Finally I imitated in exaggerated form his manner of playing, and then demonstrated the sound produced when good habits of hand position and finger technic were used. In answer to my question as to which he preferred, to my dismay he frankly asserted in all sin-cerity that he liked the first way best. Needless to say, the wrong way was not mentioned again. I took another tack with him. It was understood that he should play his old exercises in his own way. But with the new exercises I introduced the proper methods, making no invidious comparisons. With the right model before him he soon assimilated good habits and continued happily with his study. Recently a little girl when attempting to name a note which she had struck at the keyboard said: " fF—Oh—n-o ! my mother said it wasn't 'F,' but I've forgotten what she said it was." Later she struck a chord with the remark: "I know that isn't right!" It is true that it seems harder to solve a problem in arithmetic for which we have already obtained a wrong answer than to do another of equal degree of difficulty at first hand. So it is, if work is carefully done at the beginning much trouble will be avoided. Set a good example by always playing accurately and well yourself. Get the student's point of view, and be a real help in marking out a correct and in-teresting path of study, ever patient in helping him over stumbling blocks with kindly words of encourage-ment. Above all, rejoice with him when work is well done. Those Tiresome Five-Finger Exercises! By T. L. Rickaby THE five-finger exercise is one of the most useful features of preparatory keyboard work. It might be added that it is also the most cordially disliked feature from the student's viewpoint. This is due to the fact that it is the most misunderstood and abused of all the mechanical work that pupils are required to do. Whe n rightly understood and wisely used five-finger exercises are indispensable in technic building. Other-wise much time is wasted on them, and they may be the means of doing actual harm, to say nothing of boring the student into his musical grave—to wit, making him give up music altogether. Ask the average pupil what five-finger exercises are for, and if the answer is not a laconic "Search me! " it will be to the effect that they are to "render the fin-gers nimble or supple." This is not correct. Youn g fingers are supple and nimble naturally (too much so) and the five-finger exercise is to remedy this by giv-ing the player complete control of the fingers, without which no rapid or satisfactory playing is possible. Five-finger exercises strengthen the muscles of the fin-gers and develop endurance; they make the fingers capable of independent movement, and tend to estab-lish a good position of the hand on the keyboard—all weighty considerations, indeed. When an exercise is given it must be played in vari-ous keys if the player is to get its full value. T o play twenty exercises in the key of C is a waste of time and effort. T o play one exercise many times in many keys is to accomplish more than one desirable object at once. Any pupil can be taught to do this, because transposing an exercise is a matter of ear-training. Half a dozen exercises may be chosen for this treat-ment, and that is all that will ever be needed. It will be very evident that they will not be for the very young pupils or beginners, but fo r those who have had more or less work at the keyboard. That class of exercises in which keys are 4ield down by certain fin-gers while the others move are to be severely let alone, at least so far as younger pupils are concerned. They tend to stiffen and contract the muscles and, moreover, have a deadening effect on the player's musical sensibil-ities. In fact, they are liable to make the pupil agree with the comic picture man that "there is always SOMETHIN G to take the jo y out of life! " The whole question of the five-finger exercise hinges on the needs of the pupil. All require them, but not to the same degree. It must not be forgotten that all exercises of any kind are merely a means to an end. If fingers and hand readily assume a good position, if there is a reasonable amount of strength and independ-ence, then eliminate the five-finger exercise. The hand position will crystallize, and further strength and independence will be developed by scales, arpeggios and real music. It must never be lost sight of that the five-finger exercise treats all fingers alike. The weak fourth and fifth fingers receive no more attention than the others. If weakness and inequality are pro-nounced—and they often are—then the Mason Two -Finger Exercises are infinitely preferable to the Schmidt and Plaidy five-fold variety, and should be freely resorted to. The Well-Tuned Piano D o not let the child practice upon a piano out of tune. It will inculcate a careless habit of the ear that may entirely spoil the accuracy of musical appre-hension. A t most it is a matter of a few dollars now and then to keep the instrument tuned. And it is a good thing for the wearing quality of the piano, as well as for the musical ear of the little student. Then, too, the next door neighbor will listen with a more indulgent ear to the interminable five-finger exercises if they are rendered more musical by being performed upon an instrument in perfect tune. Start the Fashion of Punctuality IF everybody were on the minute in keeping an ap-pointment the world would suddenly seem to have acquired ball bearings. It would be as if someone with a huge oil can had lubricated all the joints of everyday life. Can't we "start something" in this line? Make a sort of fashion of punctuality? It surely ought to be as easy as inaugurating something new in neckties or hats. Half the time people are unpunctual simply because they think the other fellow is not going to be on time. If people come to know that YO U will be there on the dot they will keep faith with the clock and you. Start the fashion! What Do You Mean by Musical Expression? By Ira M. Brown Teaching in the Language of "Do" By Hazel Howes Earron
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