Page 45J+ JULY 1920 THE ETUDE as far as I can figure it out, to just three sources, viz., New Thought, Christian Science and the Bible. Of course, the Bible is the whole store, anyway. All I can say is that through "New Thought" and Christian Science there came to me the kind of light which was necessary for me to gain a deeper under-standing of the Bible—the knowledge how to make its precepts more and more practical in the everyday affairs of life. When I say "practical" I mean PRAC-TICAL, helpful and useful in every day and every hour of the day, and I feel like adding, especially at the piano. I sometimes say to my pupils: "You must soak in the atmosphere of New Thought optimism—not just take a bath, then jump out and forget all about it." CARL W. GRIMM A TRULY normal and healthy person never thinks of his nerves. If your nervousness is due to poor health, then it is very important for you to consult a doctor. You can preserve good health by taking plenty of outdoor exercise, sufficient amount of sleep, proper food, entertaining good and noble thoughts; all of which will produce a happy state of mind. Many a case of "nervousness" is merely acquired by listening to the erratic talk of someone who thinks it is good form to have "a case of nerves." Shun such a person as you would a contagious disease. A certain amount of anxiety or excitement per-meating a player when performing in public seems to be inseparable from an artistic personality, for without it the performance would be cold and life-less. But it does not mean that on this account you should lose control of yourself. Players who have been trained when young to play often at pupils' recitals or informal gatherings al-ways perform with greater ease than those who have not had such early training. As a rule, young pupils play with more unconcern than advanced students. Do not imagine that beginners play with more ease because their pieces seem simple to you; for them their pieces require as much effort as difficult ones for you. Young players feel no responsibility and delight to "show off." More advanced players be-come too self-conscious and self-critical. We all know that accidents are liable to happen, but why should we torture ourselves with the thought of the possibility of them? Do not entertain thoughts of fear. For older students it is sheer determination, will power, concentration and mastery of self that will overcome nervousness. In order to conquer this nervousness play for friends in the home circle as often as possible. No matter how you may dislike doing so here is the best training school for public performances. We assume that you have gained a solid technical skill, have prepared your music prop-erly and memorized it thoroughly before attempting to play it without the notes before you. You must be able to play the music without a flaw when by yourself. Often when we play for ourselves we are apt to be less critical than when playing for others. Only by having learned your pieces thoroughly can you have confidence in yourself. Never practice up to the last minute before a public performance, give yourself a rest for at least half a day, and do not fret about the coming performance. And when the time arrives for playing do not think of yourself, but of the music. Be so absorbed in what you are doing that no other, thoughts can creep in. Never permit your mind to drift. More often it is not the nerves that need control but the mind. And before you start to play take a long, deep breath, and continue to breathe properly. Have you ever noticed that nervous people are always out of breath? Now I will give an account of an actual occur-rence, to show how sheer imagination created the spirit of confidence. I had a pupil, a young lady, who feared that she would become nervous while playing at a concert. Fortunately, her brother was a drug-gist. She intimated to him that she confidently be-lieved he could find some medicine in his store which would make her storm-proof against all nervousness. Being very obliging, he agreed to prepare a mixture for her. He gave her a little fancy bottle. He told her to inhale the contents frequently and long; fur-ther, it being a very sweet but strong medicine, she must merely allow her tongue to touch it occasion-ally—she might swallow just a drop at a time. As a secret concoction, she should not allow anyone else to touch or taste it. She kept the bottle for her-self, and was so sure of its infallibility that she never imagined for a moment that she would be possessed of stage-fright. It certainly worked wonders. Be-cause it happened so long ago I can now safely reveal the secret of the ingredients of this wonderful little bottle. It contained merely sugar water, spiced with a few drops of an invigorating perfume. The magic, however, was worked by the young lady breathing deeply and saturating her mind with im-plicit confidence of success. This, after all, is the best remedy for nervousness I know of. J. LAWRENC E ERB "NERVOUSNESS" may usually be classified in two ways, either as "stage-fright," a temporary interfer-ence with the normal functions of the brain and nerv-ous system, due to unfamiliar surroundings and con-ditions, or as a logical condition—often similar in its manifestations to stage-fright—due to a lack of proper preparation or to a realization or fancy that the task undertaken is too difficult for adequate performance. If we add to these two subjective causes of nervous-ness the entirely futile and unnecessary panic produced by dwelling overmuch upon the occasion and magni-fying its importance, we have about exhausted the list of normal reasons for stage-fright. The diagnosis of the case generally suggests the remedy. In the first case, and as a general principle, more frequently appearing before other people is the sine qua non. This is managed in several ways. First, the class-lesson, whenever possible, is an asset of highest value for many reasons, but particularly because it serves to replace self-consciousness by self-forgetfulness. A person overcomes self-consciousness before people by mingling with them in small or large groups and learning to feel at home with them. The class-lesson is a step in the right direction; the next step is frequent studio recitals, confined largely or entirely to students, in which students of all grades take part. In this way the nervous pupil has an op-portunity to compare and acquire a measure of self-assurance. Only after such preparation should a pupil be asked to appear before a public audience; but this means will almost inevitably eliminate nervousness arising from unfamiliar surroundings and conditions—which is a perfectly normal but preventable phe-nomenon. As for the second type of nervousness, due to a lack of preparation or a realization or fear that the task undertaken is too difficult, the cure is almost en-tirely in the hands of the teacher. Under no circum-stances is a teacher justified in programming an unpre-pared selection. There is no surer way of breaking down the "nerve" of a performer than to expect per-formance before the selection is properly learned (but, in the case of students, the teacher must be the judge). Moreover, there is no greater insult to an audience than to ask them to listen to a selection which is not ready for performance. There may be reasons why a student might be asked to study a selection beyond his ability to perform—though they are few—but to ask a student to perform such a selection in public is absolutely without justifica-tion upon any score. There can be no intention for programming any number for public use, except that of adequate performance. If a teacher cannot guarantee that the program will cause pleasure instead of dis-tress, a sense of satisfaction instead of uneasiness, then he cannot afford to let his pupils appear unless he is prepared to, as some frankly do, announce that the recital is in the nature of a laboratory for the benefit of the students and that listeners come at their own risk. A teacher cannot afford to discourage his pupils. Honest and constructive criticism is his business, though even here it is easy to overdo. The proverbial "drawing" qualities of sugar and vinegar apply here surely. A student recital should be a routine matter, otherwise it has little justification. Rarely can a teacher claim that his students have anything to say of suf-ficient artistic merit to justify a public recital on that ground. There must be other reasons. The chief one is educational. The recital is a demonstration of edu-cational results, a goal for the students, and a means of propaganda for good music. On this basis the selec-tions should represent the finished product of the regu-lar work. Of course, there is no harm, other things being equal, to include those prepared numbers that make the best showing, but to program a number simply because it looks well on the program, or be-cause it is a novelty, is utterly indefensible and sooner or later works harm to both teacher and pupil. After all, there is only one standard for music-teaching, and that is the educational standard—the fullest possible development of the talents and capa-bilities of the pupil. On that basis the student per-formance is amply justifiable—when material mastered in the natural course of educational processes is pre-sented. In such a case there is no room either for undue anxiety for fear the performance may not make the desired "hit," or for an undue estimate of the im-portance of the occasion. Nervousness is often a form of egotism, an overestimation of the magnitude of the function and of the part of the performer in it. In such cases the attitude of matter-of-factness must be impressed upon the student. "It is all in the day's work," and the world will keep right on rolling placidly around the sun, whether he fails or succeeds. HANS SCHNEIDER Nervousness in pupils is due to many causes, and the remedy is the removal of these causes, which is an absolutely individual matter. Nervousness may be the normal temporary instability of thought and action, or an abnormal, chronic, patho-logical condition resulting from a diseased nervous system. Where this demonstrates itself in motor restlessness, the well-ordered motions required of musical execu-tion are one of the best remedies. In normal and temporary nervousness (the most com-mon among pupils) fear is the general cause. A teacher himself may cause this through lack of sympathy with the pupil and misunderstanding of his shortcomings, by his aloofness or unnecessary severity. Remedy; Change the teacher's attitude, and—still more effective—change the teacher. In timid pupils the apprehension of playing before the teacher, even a sympathetic one, often creates a feeling akin to stage-fright. But this usually lasts only a few moments if not artificially increased or length-ened. Remedy: Make no correction whatsoever until the whole lesson is played through, to give the pupil time to gain confidence in his ability to do the lesson well, and his nervousness will cease. With pupils who practice carelessly, too fast, or not enough, nervousness is often the by-product of a guilty conscience. Their mind is on the failure, on the mistakes, and this auto-suggestion will lead to more mistakes and the upsetting of the mental equilibrium. Remedy: Change in the attitude of the pupil to-wards his work; education to concentrated, careful practice. In extreme cases I have used exclusive prac-tice on a silent keyboard with good success. Having no tones, the eye must control the fingers; and this means attention, whereby the careless prompting of the ear (which is the real cause of the shortcoming) is eliminated. Another cause of nervousness is the giving of ma-terial beyond the technical ability of the pupil. In this case the mind may "see" the music, but the motor ap-paratus cannot execute it properly. Remedy: Replacing the too difficult with more suit-able material. The law of diminished returns may also cause tem-porary irritability, namely, when a pupil has occupied himself too long with a composition. In that case nerves and muscles grow less and less responsive. In spite of increased effort in practicing the compo-sition goes worse and worse. Anxiety and discourage-ment, especially when a recital is in sight, will cause grave irritation and nervousness. Remedy: Laying aside the work for a week or two to give mind and muscle a rest and change. Particular work will go better for it when taken up again. By far the most frequent, but least recognized, cause of nervousness appears through unnatural and faulty use of the player's tools (his body and members). Over-contraction and over-relaxation are the two poles of failure. A vicious circle is established which runs from muscles to nerves and return. Over-contraction (the most common) makes free and easy motions impossible, in spite of all good will and practice. This will cause worry and anxiety, and dis-turbs the normal, delicate coöperation of nerves and muscle. This makes impossible the selection of the proper groups of muscle necessary for all skillful exe-cution. The inhibitory cooperation of superfluous muscular groups will cause still more contraction, which again reacts as a disturbance of nervous stability. Remedy: The proper diagnosis of the pupil's mus-cular faults, a change of his way of playing by his present teacher, and, if he cannot do it, a change of teacher altogether.
< Page 8 | Page 10 >