1 I 
 
 1 ( I 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 '^L-Si' nbi^ARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 MT 220.J73 1912 
 
 The art of teaching pianoforte piaying a 
 
 3 1924 021 635 507 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021635507 
 
THE ART OF 
 TEACHING PIANOFORTE PLAYING. 
 
THE 
 
 Art of Teaching 
 
 Pianoforte Playing 
 
 A Systematised 
 
 Selection of Practical Suggestions for Young 
 
 Teachers and Students 
 
 J. ALFRED TOHNSTONE 
 
 (Hon. L. Miis. T.C.L.) 
 
 Author of '* Piano Touch. Phrasing and Interpretation,' 
 
 " How to Use the Pedal in Piano-Playing," etc. 
 
 London 
 
 WM. REEVES, 83 CHARING CROSS ROAD, W.C. 
 
 Publisher of Books on Music, 
 
 SECOND EDITION REVISED. 
 
Printed by The New Temple Press, Norbury Crescent, S.W. 
 
PREFATORY EXPLANATION OF 
 THE SCOPE OF THE WORK. 
 
 MANY pianists who add to concert playing 
 the labours of a teacher; many young 
 students about to enter upon the duties of 
 the teaching profession as their life's labour; and 
 indeed, not a few of those who have spent years at 
 the work of giving lessons in pianoforte playing, 
 fail to achieve the success their abilities deserve, 
 simply for the lack of some clear, systematic, prac- 
 tical knowledge of the art of teaching. My inten- 
 tion then is, to set down, in some orderly and lucid 
 form, such information as may prove helpful to all 
 teachers in the practice of their art. 
 
 A serious study of the subjects of pianoforte 
 playing and pianoforte teaching for many years; 
 long and wide experience as a teacher, throughout 
 which earnest attention was given to method and 
 effectiveness in teaching; and not a little practice as 
 a writer upon subjects connected with pianoforte 
 study, may perhaps be regarded as a suitable equip- 
 ment for this undertaking. 
 
 Although a thorough knowledge of pianoforte 
 playing — a knowledge both practical and theoretical 
 
vi Prefatory Explanation 
 
 — is the iirst essential in the qualifications of a suc- 
 cessful teacher of pianoforte playing, it is far from 
 being the only essential qualification. Constant 
 disappointments and failures are occasioned by 
 the mistake of supposing that the practical skill of 
 the pianist is any guarantee of his efficiency as a 
 teacher. Although there are brilliant exceptions, 
 such as Hans von Biilow, it may safely be said that 
 famous pianists are, as a rule, not the most com- 
 petent teachers. The dry analysis of what they do, 
 and how exactly they do it, so necessary for the 
 skilful teacher, seems to them, not alone irksome, 
 but also likely to check that rapt outpouring of the 
 emotions which is the very essence of their artistic 
 creed. The more these pianists practise the art of 
 playing, the less, usually, do they study the art of 
 teaching. They have generally but one method of 
 teaching, and that is, to offer the pupil practical 
 examples of playing for his imitation. By slow 
 degrees, if a pupil have a talent that way, he may 
 become a fairly successful mimic ; and if, in addi- 
 tion, he is an earnest, inquiring and ambitious stu- 
 dent, he may supplement his teacher's examples by 
 discovering for himself something of the principles 
 of his art. But, upon the whole, this method of 
 learning by mimicry alone is apt to stunt rather 
 than to develop the faculties of the student, and to 
 leave him more or less helpless so soon as he must 
 depend upon himself in his interpretative work. And 
 if the pupil fail in his mimicry, what resource re- 
 mains to him or to his virtuoso teacher ? 
 
 Skill as a pianoforte player is well; practical ex- 
 amples judiciously given are good; but no one can 
 be a really successful teacher who does not add to 
 his skill as a player at least these four things of 
 equal importance : first, a minute and accurate know- 
 ledge of how what he proposes to teach should 
 
of the Scope of the Work. vii 
 
 be done; secondly, the ability to recognise, on the 
 one hand, what exactly are the mistakes of each 
 pupil, and on the other hand, what exactly he must 
 do to correct these mistakes; thirdly, the power to 
 express himself with such clearness that the pupil 
 will understand exactly what to do, how to do it, 
 and what is to be avoided; and, fourthly, some 
 orderly, adequate methods in teaching, so that the 
 needs of the pupil may be effectively met at the- 
 lesson, and his studies wisely directed. In short, 
 the teacher must make a careful analysis of his sub- 
 ject, of the general principles of his art, and of 
 his pupil's faults; he must formulate clear methods 
 of imparting the result of this analysis to his pupil; 
 he must cultivate the art of lucid and accurate ex- 
 pression; he must ensure an effective result by the 
 application of some orderly system to his whole 
 teaching; and he must have the persuasive power or 
 the force of will needful to induce fruitful accept- 
 ance of his instructions. 
 
 In the majority of these essentials th° famous vir- 
 tuoso too often fails. He does not devote himself, 
 as a rule, either to analysis or to systematic prin- 
 ciples in his teaching; he does not practise the art 
 of expressing, in clear and accurate language, or 
 in lucidly defined principles, what is to be taught. 
 Pianoforte tones are his natural medium of expres- 
 sion; but in the language of the accomplished teacher 
 he is often inarticulate or obscure. 
 
 Still, it is by no means the concert player alone 
 who lacks these essential qualifications of the accom- 
 plished teacher. All those young students, too, 
 whose knowledge of pianoforte playing has been 
 gained chiefly by the common method of mimicry, 
 and very little by the imparting of principles and 
 rules, must feel somewhat puzzled as to how best to 
 proceed, when they start on theif careers as teachers. 
 
viii Prefatory Explanation 
 
 In the lessons contained in this book, methods are 
 suggested, hints are offered, principles and rules are 
 formulated, courses of study are sketched out; and 
 all these are sufficiently general and varied to fur- 
 nish a useful guide for the teacher without circum- 
 scribing his individual genius or running any risk 
 of stunting his development. 
 
 The first chapter contains a general outline, both 
 of the essential practical divisions of the subject, 
 and of those collateral studies, without which no 
 musical education can be other than very superficial. 
 And it must be remembered that as this work is in- 
 tended chiefly for the use of the average student 
 and teacher, the minimum rather than the maximum 
 of requirements needful for a liberal education is 
 kept in view. Each teacher will select those divi- 
 sions specially suited to his needs should he con- 
 sider this minimum burdensomely large. After the 
 general outline of subjects is sketched, each subject 
 is taken separately for special treatment; and sug- 
 gestions are raade for a right direction of the pupil's 
 studies in each division. Some of the subjects 
 are treated in considerable detail; and occasionally, 
 where subjects overlap in separate chapters, sug- 
 gestions are repeated, so that the guidance for senior 
 and junior pupils may be the more definite and em- 
 phatic. The two main practical divisions of the 
 subject — Technique and Interpretation — are dis- 
 cussed at greatest length. 
 
 In later chapters suggestions are offered for effec- 
 tive instructions at the lessons; for a wise appor- 
 tioning of the lesson to the needs of the pupil; 
 and for the most effective methods of directing 
 the student in his hours of practice. Finally, 
 some hints are given upon the choice of suitable 
 music. 
 
of the Scope of the Work. ix 
 
 Thus, an orderly, suggestive and fairly compre- 
 hensive survey of the selected minimum of require- 
 ments for the serious study of pianoforte playing 
 is mapped out, as a lucid, effective and systematic 
 guide for the inexperienced, the unlearned and the 
 inarticulate or obscure teacher. 
 
 J. ALFRED JOHNSTONE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Prefatory Explanation of the Scope of the 
 Work v 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introductory. General Outline of the Minimum 
 
 OF Subjects, Direct and Collateral, Included 
 
 IN A Liberal Musical Education. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Technique : what it Meatis ... 
 The Necessity for Technique 
 Best System of Technique ... 
 Various Branches of Technique 
 Protest against "Studies" ... 
 Advocacy of Purely Technical Exercises 
 Fantastic Theories of Touch 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 
 7 
 9 
 
 section ii. 
 
 Interpretation ... ... ... ... ... lo 
 
xii Contents. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 PAOK 
 
 Theoretical Subjects ... •■• • ■■ ■•• H 
 
 (A). The Elements of Music 
 
 (b). Harmony 
 
 (C). Form and Analysis 
 
 (d). Conclusion 
 
 15 
 16 
 
 18 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 General Suggestions for Teaching Technique. 
 
 SECTION I — Technical Exercises. 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 II 
 
 12, 
 
 13 
 15 
 16, 
 
 17 
 18 
 
 Finger-Technique ... ... ... ... 19 
 
 Mental Concentration and Co-ordination of 
 
 Brain and Muscle ... ... ... ... 20 
 
 Position of Hand and Striking Finger ... 22 
 Relative Merits of Striking and Pushing 
 
 the Keys ... ... ... ... ... 27 
 
 Details of Position ... ... ... ... 31 
 
 Details of Striking ... ... ... ... 31 
 
 A Firm Touch or Full Key Depression ... 33 
 Two-Finger Exercises and Finger Gym- 
 nastics ... ... ... ... ... 34 
 
 Three-Finger Exercises ... ... ... 42 
 
 Five-Finger Exercises ... ... ... 45 
 
 Scale Work ... ... ... ... ... 50 
 
 The Metronome and Scale Rhythms ... 56 
 
 -4. Broken Chords ... ... ... ... 61 
 
 Extended Arpeggios ... ... ... 66 
 
 Wrist and Arm Technique ... ... ... 71 
 
 Daily Schools of Technical Exercises ... 79 
 
 Some Useful Works on Technique ... 81 
 
Contents. 
 SECTION II. — Pianoforte Studies. 
 
 1. Introductory Remarks 
 
 2. Time and Tempo 
 
 3. How to Teach Strict Time 
 
 4. Metrical Accentuation 
 
 5. Expressive Time Freedom; Quasi Tempo 
 
 Rubato 
 
 6. Parenthetical Note on Slurring 
 
 7. Conventional Tempo Rubato 
 
 8. How to Teach Accent, Emphasis and 
 
 Rhythm 
 
 g. Rhythm of Divided Beats 
 
 10. How to Teach Expressive Freedom in 
 
 Accentuation 
 
 11. Crescendo, Diminuendo and the Various 
 Degrees of Tone-Shading 
 
 12. General Suggestions for Teaching Phrasing 130 
 
 13. Monophonic and Polyphonic Music ... 139 
 
 14. Polyphonic Music ... ... ... ... 149 
 
 15. How to Teach the Use of the Pedal ... 152 
 
 16. Character and Style in Interpretation ... 157 
 
 17. Some Useful Books on Interpretation ... 161 
 
 PAGR 
 
 1. Introductory Suggestions ... 82 
 
 2. Progressive Schools of Studies ... ... 85 
 
 3. Lists of Graded Studies with Authors and 
 
 Opus Numbers ... ... ... ... 87 
 
 4. Octave Studies ... ... ... ... 8g 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 General Suggestions for Teaching 
 Interpretation. 
 
 90 
 
 94 
 96 
 
 98 
 
 100 
 
 II I 
 113 
 
 118 
 
 122 
 
 124 
 
 125 
 
XIV Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Suggestions for Teaching Fingering, Reading, 
 Accompanying, Memorising and Ear- 
 Training. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1. Fingering ... ... ... ••■ ... 163 
 
 2. Usesand Abuses of Reading and Memorising 171 
 
 3. Special Suggestions for Teaching Reading 174 
 
 4. Concise Hints for Reading ... ... ... 176 
 
 5. Note on Ear-Training ... ... ... 177 
 
 6. Accompanying ... ... ... ...181 
 
 7. Memorising ... ... ... ... ... 183 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 General Suggestions for Teaching Elements 
 OF Music:, Harmony and Form. 
 
 1. Elements 
 
 2. Harmony 
 
 3. Form 
 
 4. Some Useful Works on the 
 
 Treated in this Chapter 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Subjects 
 
 187 
 191 
 193 
 
 [g6 
 
 General Suggestions for Effective Work at 
 the Lesson; and for the Wise Direction of 
 THE Pupil's Practice. 
 
 1. The Lesson 
 
 2. Reiterated Insistence 
 
 3. Mental Alertness and Concentration 
 
 4. Order of Subjects at Lessons 
 
 5. Apportioning the Lesson Hours 
 
 6. The Practice Hours ... 
 
 . 198 
 . 200 
 . 201 
 . 202 
 . 205 
 . 208 
 
Contents. xv 
 
 PACK 
 
 7. Directions for Effective Practice ... ... 209 
 
 8. Slow Practice ... ... ... ... 210 
 
 9. Difficult Passages ... ... ... ... 211 
 
 10. Hours of Practice ... ... ... ... 213 
 
 11. Suggestions of Eminent Teachers for Divi- 
 
 sion of Practice ... ... ... ... 214 
 
 12. Detailed Graded Time-Tab les ... ... 221 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 General Guidance on the Choice of Music, with 
 
 Some Hints upon Educational Editions of 
 
 Pianoforte Classics. 
 
 1. Graded Guides now Published ... ... 224 
 
 2. Concise Classified and Graded Lists of 
 
 Educational Music ... ... ... 226 
 
 3. Popular or Light Pianoforte Pieces Graded 229 
 
 4. General Suggestions upon the Choice of 
 
 Teaching Editions of Classical Music ... 235 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Concluding Summary of Essential Points of 
 View Requiring Special Emphasis. 
 
 1. A Genuine Love for Music ... ... ... 244 
 
 2. High Standards of Musical Interpretation 
 
 in the Mind of the Teacher 245 
 
 3. The Aim in Playing should be to Play 
 
 Beautifully ... ... ... 246 
 
 4. , Learn to Play Simple Pieces Well ... ... 248 
 
xvi Contents. 
 
 PACK 
 
 5. The Necessity for Thinking and Listening 250 
 
 6. What Effective Prractising Really Means .. . 251 
 
 7. How to Avoid the Dreary Dullness of Com- 
 
 monplace in Playing ... ... ... 252 
 
 8. Summarised Conclusion of General Coun- 
 
 sels for the Teacher ... ... ... 254 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introductory. General Outline of Subjects, 
 
 Direct and Collateral, included in a 
 
 Liberal Musical Education, 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 I. Technique : What it Means. 
 
 Mechanical dexterity; power and independence of 
 finger; suppleness of finger and wrist joints; rapid- 
 ity of finger and hand motion; accuracy of aim in 
 key striking; perfect co-ordination of brain and 
 muscle — in short, the complete training of those 
 members of the body by which pianoforte sounds 
 are elicited and controlled — these are some of the 
 essential aims of technique. And the best method 
 of technique is that by which these ends are best 
 attained with the least expenditure of labour and 
 time. 
 
 2 
 
The Art of Teaching. 
 
 2. The Necessity for Technique. 
 
 Technique is necessary. Whether the ambition of 
 the teacher or the student be small or great, if there 
 is to be any success there must be technical training. 
 And the labour of attaining excellence, even in very 
 modest provinces of pianoforte-playing, is greatly 
 lightened by the regular use of some well-ordered 
 and effective system of technical training. There 
 are parents vyho, during a preliminary interview, tell 
 the teacher that they wish the pupil to be taught 
 "to play a few pieces," but would rather that he 
 was not troubled with exercises; and there are pupils 
 plenty of them, who dabble along at these pieces 
 and avoid exercises. 
 
 But there is surely no case of the kind yet re- 
 corded where the result was not to annoy the zealous 
 teacher and to make a laughing-stock of the pupil. 
 Does the parent who desires his child to learn car- 
 pentry say to the instructor : " I only want my boy 
 to make a few cabinets and ornamental furnishings 
 for the drawing-room, but I would rather you did 
 not bother him with the trouble of learning how 
 rightly to use the saw, the plane, or the chisel ?" No 
 parent would be so foolish. Or, in sending the 
 child to school, does he say : " Be good enough to 
 skip the drudgery of the alphabet, spelling, gram- 
 mar, composition, elocution; I simply wish the child 
 to read a little poetry and a few novels for his 
 pleasure." Certainly not. Sensible people know 
 
The Necessity for Technique. 3 
 
 that by such means neither pleasure nor profit is at- 
 tainable. Whether a pupil be young or old, amateur 
 or professional; whether his aim be profit or 
 pleasure, he must learn to use his tools if he is to 
 succeed. He must study some effective plan of ac- 
 quiring good technique ; he must practise some tech- 
 nical exercises of various kinds every day. If the 
 parent insist upon the folly of the no-technique plan, 
 and is willing to pay for it, no doubt the teacher 
 whose hours are not full, will take the money prof- 
 fered for the annoying work of listening to unpro- 
 fitable stumbling. But no conscientious teacher, to 
 whom is fully entrusted the musical education of a 
 pupil, can possibly, without doing great wrong, leave 
 aught undone to make the technical foundation good 
 and sure. 
 
 There are other parents, again, who say : " Yes, no 
 doubt, technique and good playing are very useful, 
 but any teacher will do for the first few years; later 
 on I shall employ a first-rate master." Such cases 
 are common. Does such a parent say in other edu- 
 cational matters : " For the first few years, bad writ- 
 ing, bad grammar, bad spelling, bad sawing, bad 
 planing, bad chiselling, do not matter; later on, 1 
 shall have the faults put right by a first-rate 
 master?" No parent is so foolish. And if there is 
 any study which, for ultimate success, requires the 
 foundation to be the very best, that study is music. 
 The workmanship is of the same delicate quality as 
 that required for the chiselling of a statue or the 
 carving of a cameo. Therefore the wise parent and 
 the conscientious and learned teacher, will, from the 
 very start, ensure the best method of technical 
 study. 
 
The Art of Teaching. 
 
 3. Best System of Technique. 
 
 It is a fashion nowadays among some of those 
 persons who desire the reputation of liberality in 
 opinion, to deprecate the notion that there is any 
 such thing as a best system of technique. And there 
 are a few eminent teachers who seem disposed to 
 support this theory. One of their arguments is, that 
 they have seen, on the one hand, excellent results 
 obtained by plans "utterly condemned from the 
 standpoint of pedagogic science"; and, on the other 
 hand, "very bad results from very beautiful 
 systems." The exposure of this fallacy is worthy 
 of a moment's attention, lest the inexperienced 
 teacher fall into the error of wandering from system 
 to system at the suggestion of each plausible coun- 
 sellor who happens to propound some novel scheme. 
 The best system of technique is surely the most 
 eif active method of gaining the power to elicit the 
 required tones frotn the pianoforte with the greatest 
 ease, accuracy and neatness. Here then is the ques- 
 tion for the teacher : Is there any one system which 
 tends to produce better results in a given time than 
 any other? If so, the principles of that system are 
 the right principles. In the doing of anything there 
 must be one method more effective than another; 
 and to discover the elements of this best way should 
 be the aim of every earnest teacher of technique. 
 That there has been, and still is, great diversity in 
 the methods of good teachers is no argument against 
 one most effective method; for is not progress always 
 
Best System of Technique. 5 
 
 the issue of diversity ? This best system, culled in 
 part from my own experience and in part from the 
 experiences of all the most eminent teachers of tech- 
 nique throughout the world, I formulate and ad- 
 vocate, not alone here, but also in a work upon this 
 subject, entitled "How to Strike the Keys of the 
 Pianoforte" (second edition), published by Ham- 
 mond and Co., as No. 207 of their Academic Edi- 
 tion; and in "Piano Technique," published by 
 Weekes and Co. On the general principles there 
 laid down there is an immense consensus of eminent 
 opinion in agreement that these are the most effective 
 principles. 
 
 And, finally, it may be said that if any system of 
 teaching in the world were to be advocated or con- 
 demned upon individual results, at one moment it 
 would be extolled as perfect, and at the next 
 moment condemned as worthless. The right 
 criterion is, what system, in the opinion of a large 
 consensus of learned and experienced judges, pro- 
 duces the highest average excellence with the small- 
 est average expenditure of labour? While those 
 who love experiment may expound the curious 
 systems of isolated pedagogues, young teachers will 
 be wise in adhering closely to some fixed system 
 which has been well tried and has been prolific of 
 excellent results. 
 
 4. Various Branches of Technique. 
 
 Technique, for greater convenience in teaching, is 
 divided into various branches. There are finger- 
 technique, wrist-technique and 'arm-technique; there 
 
6 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 is the technique of melody playing, of accompani- 
 ment, legato, staccato, passage-playing, octave and 
 chord work. 
 
 5. Protest against "Studies." 
 
 For the cultivation of these different branches of 
 technique various courses are adopted. There are, 
 first, the purely technical exercises which are in- 
 tended to promote general power, flexibility and 
 rapidity of movement, for the attainment of ease, 
 accuracy and fluency, in those successions of notes 
 and chords most commonly recurring throughout 
 music. Such exercises include scales, arpeggios, 
 octaves and finger passages of various kinds. There 
 ' are, secondly, progressive technical schools, which 
 are intended to educate the fingers, not alone in 
 large general divisions of technique, but also in 
 varied examples of less general, but still typical, 
 difficulty. The third course is to make a compara- 
 tively small use of purely technical exercises; and 
 to depend largely upon " studies." These composi- 
 tions deal with all the varied branches of technical 
 requirements; they are a diluted form of exercise to 
 which some musical entertainment is added, in the 
 hope of making practice a little less unpalatable. 
 By many teachers, this, the least important branch 
 of technical study — nay, indeed, the one branch of 
 doubtful value — is the only branch which is seldom 
 neglected. 
 
 If the teacher feel himself bound to follow con- 
 ventional custom in this matter, let him choose some 
 
Protest Against " Studies. " 7 
 
 course of the best standard studies, suitably graded 
 to meet the needs of students at all stages of their 
 advancement. And let his point of view be, not 
 how many studies can be crowded into the curri- 
 culum, but, what is the smallest number which will 
 effectively develop the technical powers of the 
 student. For these compositions are to be tolerated, 
 not as an essential part of a pianist's education, not 
 as works of art, but only in so far as they make the 
 classic literature of the pianoforte easier of access to 
 our students. It will, of course, be understood that 
 such beautiful works as those of Chopin, for exam- 
 ple, studies in name, but music in reality, are not 
 intended to be included in this category. 
 
 Many courses of equal value might easily be 
 mapped out from among the thousands of studies 
 written by Czerny, Clementi, Cramer, Chopin, Ber- 
 tini, Berens, Euhl, Moscheles, Mayer, Wolfahrt, 
 Heller, Alkan, Kohler, Henselt, Concone, Kirchner, 
 Kessler, Liszt, Doring, Loschorn, BergmuUer, Rubin- 
 stein, Duvernoy, Rosenthal, Thalberg and many 
 others. For the purposes of this book, the large 
 selection given in Chapter II, and the explicit hints 
 upon their use, ought to serve all desirable ends. 
 
 6. Advocacy of Purely Technical Exercises. 
 
 Of primary importance, however, in technical 
 training, is the systematic and daily use of those 
 purely technical exercises which contain, undiluted, 
 the essence of technique. It is encouraging to find 
 that many of the ablest teachers in the world are at 
 
8 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 length coming to regard these exercises, not alone as 
 the first essentials for right training, but as an effec- 
 tive and concise substitute for "studies," at all 
 stages of the pupil's progress. 
 
 Two-finger exercises constitute the first step in any 
 well-ordered course; next, and in combination with 
 these, three and fi.ve-&nger exercises will follow. 
 After, and in combination with these, will come 
 scales, broken chords, arpeggios, octaves and chord 
 work. "Piano Technique," "The Royal Method 
 for Scales and Arpeggios " and " The Royal Method 
 for Wrist and Octave Technique," by the author, 
 contain the chief part of that minimum of technical 
 exercises which cannot safely be neglected, or 
 wisely superseded, by any student of modest ambi- 
 tions who does not desire to qualify himself for the 
 position of concert-pianist. For the use of students 
 of such modest aims, convenient and progressively 
 arranged compendiums of technical exercises have 
 been published. Of these, one or two may be men- 
 tioned as examples : the Cotta-Lebert " Pianoforte 
 School," Loschorn's "Technical Studies," Mason's 
 "Touch and Technique" and Germer's "Technique." 
 But if the student's ambitions shoot out beyond 
 these modest bounds, he may still find satisfaction 
 in some of those elaborate and complicated exercises 
 charted for his guidance by great pianists and 
 teachers. Of these may be named, Oscar Beringer's 
 "Daily Technical Studies," as a preparation for the 
 Tausig-Ehrlich "Daily Studies," in three books, or 
 the "Advanced Exercises" of Raphael Joseffy. The 
 student who cannot attain a very high degree of 
 technical skill by the right use of the various exer- 
 cises named here, may safely confess to failure and 
 betake himself as speedily as possible to some other 
 walk in life. 
 
Fantastic Theories of Touch. 
 
 7. Fantastic Theories of Touch. 
 
 Besides the urgent counsel to thorough technical 
 training, there is, in these days, need for a word of 
 caution against the methods of those who would in- 
 crease the difficulty of its attainment by bewildering 
 theories on the subjects of touch and tone. Nearly 
 every new book upon technique adds some fresh 
 mystery and novelty to the subject. We now have 
 serious exponents of the "finger-elastic touch," the 
 "up-arm sweeping touch," the "elastic fist touch," 
 the "stab touch," the "low wrist touch" and the 
 ".fingers-lying-on-the-keys touch." Then again, we 
 are introduced to a variety of complicated tones, 
 such as "broad" tones, "caressing" tones, "liquid" 
 tones, and even " floating " tones ; as well as to fal- 
 lacious theories of tone-colour in pianoforte-playing, 
 by whose aid we are to produce the timbres of many 
 orchestral instruments from the much abused piano- 
 forte. Many quotations from handbooks of repute 
 might readily be made to show the extent of ttie 
 confusion of ideas which prevails upon the subject 
 of pianoforte touch, tone and timbre; but perhaps 
 a single example from a work recently published 
 and highly esteemed, will suffice to show that it 
 would be difficult to speak in exaggerated terms of 
 this confusion. "A chord will sound more brilliant 
 with less expenditure of strength if, immediately 
 after striking it, the hand is withdrawn sideways 
 and somewhat downwards!" As if there was the 
 shadow of a possibility of affecting the tone after 
 the fingers have left the keys no matter what course 
 the hand takes. 
 
10 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Many young teachers must surely often wonder 
 how they are to understand, to reconcile, or to teach, 
 one half of these conflicting schemes and theories 
 about which they read. If they love simplicity, 
 clearness and sound sense, they will find sure light 
 by always defining for themselves, in as terse, as 
 simple, and as lucid words as they can, exactly what 
 can be done, what ought to be done, and how it is 
 most easily and effectively to be done; and then, 
 abiding modestly content with this luminous know- 
 ledge, leave mysterious superfluities to those who 
 invented them. 
 
 After thorough study of the history of pianoforte- 
 playing, we find that the most magnificent results 
 were attained by the most simple methods; that the 
 main principles by which an effective technique is to 
 be attained are very easy to understand ; and that 
 the difficult thing is, the patient, persistent, atten- 
 tive, careful work necessary to carry "these principles 
 into practice. Complicated theories are too often 
 the subterfuge of those who prefer words to work. 
 
 The main principles of touch and technique are 
 set forth concisely in the form of practical direc- 
 tions, both for the teacher and the student, in the 
 author's manuals, "How to Strike the Keys of the 
 Pianoforte," "Piano Technique" and "Touch, 
 Phrasing and Interpretation" (Reeves). 
 
 SECTION II.— INTERPRETATION. 
 
 The theory that musical interpretation cannot be 
 taught, is as fallacious as it is common. It is ad- 
 mitted that the interpretation of one player may be 
 
Interpretation. 1 1 
 
 imitated by another; and that a person "naturally 
 gifted" may rightly interpret music for himself; 
 but it is denied that it is possible to formulate prin- 
 ciples, so detailed, adequate and systematic, as to 
 make the teaching of interpretation an effective art. 
 Whether this theory is true or false I think it 
 gains its currency largely because of the failure of 
 incompetent teaching. Teachers who are not culti- 
 vated enough to interpret music adequately them- 
 selves, fail ; and teachers who are ignorant, both of 
 the principles of interpretative art and how to teach 
 them, fail also; and this theoretical scapegoat 
 carries away the burden of their failure, and thus 
 leaves their reputation untouched. 
 
 Can interpretation be taught? Part of the true 
 answer may be arrived at by asking whether taste, 
 appreciation, sympathy, love of beauty, may be cul- 
 tivated. But the root of the matter is this : either 
 our musical notation, with all the signs elaborated 
 to make its rhythm, structure and expressive signi- 
 fication clear, is an intelligent symbolism for the 
 conceptions intended to be expressed ; or it is a hazy, 
 indefinite symbolism, expressing nothing clearly at 
 all, and useful only in so far as it furnishes an 
 elastic medium through which performers can give 
 an exposition of their own notions and feelings. If 
 the latter be the true view, then indeed musical in- 
 terpretation cannot be taught, for the very good 
 reason that there is nothing definite or tangible to 
 analyse or to teach. Nay, more, there would be no 
 great musical compositions left to us at all, but only 
 skeleton suggestions capable of being moulded into 
 a myriad fantastic forms according to the caprice 
 of each individual fancy. Is such a' view credible ? 
 Is it credible that men of the intellectual calibre of 
 Beethoven and Chopin did not accurately appreci- 
 ate the significance of the symbolism they selected. 
 
12 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 did not thoroughly understand what they wished to 
 express, did not know how definitely to convey their 
 meaning? Surely the very statement of so prepos- 
 terous a view of musical art is its own sufficient 
 refutation. The symbolism is fairly definite and 
 explicit : and though the province of music pertains 
 rather to emotions than to ideas; still, its methods 
 of expression may, to a very large extent, be ana- 
 lysed and made clear to the student. The inter- 
 pretation of music may be taught just as the declam- 
 ation of fine poetry may be taught. Appreciation is 
 commonly meant when the word interpretation is 
 used; but even so, appreciation of beautiful music 
 is to be taught just as the appreciation of fine 
 literature, fine painting, or any other fine expression 
 of the human mind, is taught. There are persons 
 who never develop an appreciation for what is beau- 
 tiful : their lack of appreciation for fine music 
 should not therefore be set down to its unintelligi- 
 bility. Appreciation and insight, with regard to 
 art, depend largely upon training. There are few 
 persons wholly destitute of taste or appreciation, 
 however latent these may be ; and until many efforts 
 have been made to arouse the dormant powers, no 
 teacher need despair. 
 
 From a priori reasoning, then, we have affirmed 
 that musical interpretation can be taught; and we 
 may safely say that it can be taught more thor- 
 oughly by the knowledge and application of prin- 
 ciples and rules, than by imitation alone. 
 
 Experience, moreover, shows the correctness of 
 the conclusions pointed to by reason. Students have 
 been sent to me with the reputation of being hope- 
 lessly unmusical — students, too, who were intelli- 
 gent, tasteful, appreciative of much that was beauti- 
 ful in life and art. But a single lesson showed that 
 they had not been instructed in the very A B C of 
 
Interpretation. 13 
 
 musical interpretation. After a few years' training, 
 both by principles and examples, they became suc- 
 cessful artists. And, besides, they learned to rely 
 on their own resources in the interpretation of fresh 
 works; while clever mimics, their rivals, who scorned 
 them and their systematic training, were left help- 
 less when attempting to master a new work, since 
 their artistic equipment was confined chiefly to un- 
 intelligent efforts at accurate imitation. 
 
 If, then, music is as lucid, as orderly and as in- 
 telligible as any other useful branch of learning; if 
 a student may be so trained that he can at length, 
 unaided, discern its significance for himself; how is 
 this education to be given? There is no exceptional 
 mystery to be solved by an exceptional key. The 
 training must be upon much the same paths as those 
 trod in teaching a student the beauty, both in sense 
 and sound of poetic language. What would be 
 thought of the teacher who hoped to train students 
 to be eloquent and intelligible readers of Latin 
 poetry, before they understood the meaning of a 
 single word of Latin, or the structure or rhythm or 
 metre of a single line of verse; of the teacher who 
 pronounced these pupils incapable of appreciating 
 any poetry, because their attempts to mimic his 
 reading ' were rather crude, and because they went 
 hopelessly astray when left to their own resources ? 
 You would say that this man was ignorant of the 
 elements of the art of intelligent teaching. 
 
 In music then, the pupil must be systematically 
 trained in rhythm, in tone gradation, in a knowledge 
 of the structure of music, so that he may recognise 
 at once the proportionate importance of each part 
 of a composition, and must understand how to make 
 clear the proper significance of the parts, and the 
 unity of the whole, by just phrasing. Pitch, time, 
 rhythm, emphasis, tone gradation, structural form — 
 
14 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 these are some of the important elements of his 
 subject, which must be made entirely familiar to the 
 intelligence and the ear of the student before he can 
 see the full significance of the music. The business 
 of the teacher is, to analyse the music into its com- 
 ponent elements, to show the structural significance 
 of each part and its relation to the whole ; to culti- 
 vate the ear of the student so that he may discern 
 the most delicate variations of time and tone; and 
 to instruct him in all the general laws which govern 
 musical expression. Some day precept and example 
 will bear fruit. Suddenly the pupil will become 
 unconscious of analytical principles; the composi- 
 tion will seem to him a beautiful and indivisible 
 whole ; a spirit will seem to him to live in the notes ; 
 he will hear a familiar voice in the music. 
 
 Many practical directions upon the principles of 
 musical interpretation are given in the author's text- 
 book, entitled "The Art of Expression in Piano- 
 forte-Playing," published by Weekes and Co. ; while 
 in Chapter III of this work the general principles 
 of interpretation are discussed at some length. 
 
 SECTION III.— THEORETICAL SUBJECTS. 
 
 In addition to the purely practical part of piano- 
 forte-playing, and the studies which bear directly 
 on its two main divisions — technique and interpreta- 
 tion — there are other collateral studies which cannot 
 be ignored by any teacher or student who desires to 
 become in any sense an educated or intelligent artist. 
 Indeed, to rise above the standing of an ignoramus, 
 
Theoretical Subjects. 15 
 
 a modicum of knowledge on three collateral sub- 
 jects is essential. These three subjects are : Ele- 
 ments of Music, Harmony and Form. 
 
 (A). The Elements of Music* 
 
 Instruction in the Elements of Music should be 
 given regularly and systematically from the very 
 first lesson. Its province in musical education is 
 much the same as the province of the alphabet, 
 spelling and elementary reading in the child's ordin- 
 ary education. A very little progress at each lesson 
 vi^ill cover the whole ground in a year or two, and 
 will thus lay a foundation not easily forgotten. To 
 the impatient reply of many a teacher, that reference 
 to this subject is hardly necessary, it may well be 
 retorted that while ignorance is yet so common, no 
 help towards its removal is superfluous. How fre- 
 quently does one find even senior pupils so un- 
 familiar with this alphabet of music, that they 
 stumble pitifully over their notation, their key 
 signatures, their time, their elementary musical terms. 
 
 This is just as if you were to find the senior pupil 
 of a grammar school blundering along through clas- 
 sic poetry, blocked at every step by ignorance of 
 spelling, punctuation, grammar and every element- 
 ary step of knowledge that would help to make the 
 poetry legible or intelligible. No teacher should 
 tolerate any neglect of this very A B C of musical 
 knowledge. 
 
 * See "The Royal Road to the Rudiments of Music," 
 (Weekes & Co.), by the author. 
 
16 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 (B). Harmony. 
 
 It is not necessary that the very young pupil just 
 beginning to learn pianoforte-playing should take 
 up this subject. As the child begins his education 
 with the alphabet, spelling and easy reading, and 
 later on proceeds to grammar, etymology and the 
 structure of sentences; so may the student gradually 
 progress in music. But the folly or ignorance of stop- 
 ping with the alphabet, and simple spelling, and 
 then forthwith expecting cultured reading, is no 
 greater than when, in the case of music, the theoreti- 
 cal education of the child ceases with a cursory 
 glance at his Elements; and cultured playing is 
 looked for on this inadequate foundation. 
 
 Harmony, which teaches the formation and gram- 
 matical progression of chords, helps the pupil to 
 recognise his notes, to read intelligently, to punctu- 
 ate and to analyse ; it familiarises him with cadences, 
 with many chords frequently used and their natural 
 progressions, which otherwise must needs be spelled 
 out as isolated and disjointed words each time they 
 are met; its knowledge helps to give to his playing 
 that indefinable characteristic of scholarly acquaint- 
 anceship which distinguishes it from the playing 
 of one who is ignorant ; and such knowledge is as 
 evident to the musical expert who hears, as are 
 the secret signs of masonry to a master in the 
 craft. 
 
Form and Analysis. 17 
 
 (c). Form and Analysis. 
 
 Of all the divisions of theoretical knowledge, 
 there is none which so tends to illuminate the inter- 
 pretations of the player with the light of intelli- 
 gence, as that of Musical Form. For the beauty of 
 music is largely beauty of structural form; and 
 hence architecture has been eloquently styled" frozen 
 music." Imagine a student of architecture who was 
 utterly ignorant of drawing, shape, proportion, per- 
 spective, structure, shading or indeed any of the 
 foundation elements of his art, attempting to give 
 an exposition of architectural forms in the drawing- 
 room or the college hall ! Yet this would not be 
 much more reprehensible than many of the piano- 
 forte performances which are indiscriminately ap- 
 plauded by the uninstructed. To him who ignores 
 the study of Form, music must seem something like 
 a fortuitous assemblage of notes quite independent 
 of order, plan or unifying principle, marked off into 
 portions of equal length by bar-lines. 
 
 The study of Form exhibits the well-de&ned plans 
 upon which all good music is built up; it makes 
 manifest the general structural outline of the great 
 classes of musical compositions' — Sonatas, Arias, 
 Fugues, Rondos and the like; it gives a complete 
 analysis of the elements out of which these structures 
 are developed ; it shows the relative importance of 
 every part, its relation to the complete composition 
 and the logical coherence of the whole work. It 
 teaches the proper punctuation of the music, and 
 offers to the performer an intelligent, orderly, lucid 
 
 3 
 
18 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 view of each composition as a beautiful design, the 
 symmetry of whose parts may be clearly presented 
 to the hearer. 
 
 There is no more distinguishing badge of the musi- 
 cal dunce than ignorance of musical form, which, 
 whatever he does, the player cannot hide. There is 
 nothing which makes music sound so ludicrous, so 
 nonsensical, so confused, as ignorant disregard of 
 the formal structure of the composition rendered. 
 Therefore every conscientious teacher and every 
 serious student will insist upon a little more light 
 on this subject as the educational course advances. 
 
 (D). Conclusion. 
 
 Equipped with some fair knowledge of this mini- 
 mum of theoretical subjects, the student, be he ama- 
 teur or concert player, need not be ashamed of his 
 performances. Even though the playing of the 
 drawing-room musician be objected to by unmusical 
 friends as too high-class, or be cavilled at by super- 
 ficial critics as too simple and natural to be impres- 
 sive; still, he will always have the approval of his 
 own cultivated judgment, as well as of all those 
 whose appreciation is that of the scholar and the 
 artist. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 General Suggestions for Teaching Technique. 
 
 SECTION I. -TECHNICAL EXERCISES. 
 
 I. Finger-Technique. 
 
 Practical instruction at the pianoforte should 
 always begin with finger-technique. No one can 
 play well except he learn first to use his fingers well. 
 The objects of right finger-training are to gain the 
 greatest possible power, independence, delicacy, 
 rapidity and accuracy of finger-movement. In short, 
 the muscles and joints of the fingers and hand re- 
 quire the nicest and most effective training and con- 
 trol. And the fingers require, besides, to be accus- 
 tomed to many typical passages of notes which are 
 of a kind found to occur commonly throughout the 
 literature of the piano. These are, roughly, the 
 things that require to be done. What is the most 
 effective way of doing them? 
 
 There are two great essentials often ignored by 
 the teacher. The first of these is training the mind 
 to attend carefully, and to watch that no finger 
 movement is made except in so far as it carries out 
 a definite intention of the brain; the other is train- 
 
 19 
 
20 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 ing the ear to attend carefully to the intensity and 
 duration of every sound, so as to discern readily all 
 those nice gradations of force and length which are 
 the foundation of rhythm, time, tempo, legato, 
 staccato, and the thousand minutiae of artistic inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 2. Mental Concentration and Co-ordination 
 OF Brain and Muscle. 
 
 The teacher who succeeds in convincing his pupil 
 that no fi-nger movement undirected by the intelli- 
 gence has any improving efficacy; that no note 
 struck unheeded in its force and length by the ear 
 has any improving efhcacy, is the teacher whose in- 
 structions will bear good fruit, and that rapidly. 
 
 We hear much in these days of changeful fashions, 
 about the Macdonald-Smith system, the Virgil- 
 Clavier system, about this system, that system, and 
 the other system; but if there be efficacy in any one 
 of them, it is briefly comprehended in this, that the 
 necessity of exercising the intelligence with regard 
 to every movement is recognised and is effectively 
 enforced — that the work done is the result of un- 
 ceasing co-ordination between brain and muscle. 
 Their virtue may be all summed up in these words : 
 Find out exactly what is to be done, and how it 
 may best be done; then set your mind fixedly upon 
 that thing required, and insist that every movement 
 of every finger is in perfect obedience to some ac- 
 curate direction of your mind. That is the secret 
 of compressing three years' average work into a 
 three months' course. 
 
Mental Concentration of Brain and Muscle. 21 
 
 Right finger movement is a very simple, not a 
 very complex affair; and yet the number of theorists 
 is still increasing, who, consciously or unconsciously, 
 develop around the simple actions involved in tech- 
 nique, doctrines elaborated and complicated till they 
 reach the amazing and mysterious proportions of 
 such a work as Tobias Matthay's "Act of Touch in 
 all its Diversity." Mason, of America, Leschetizky, 
 of Vienna, and other eminent teachers, are supposed 
 to be the inventors of magical schemes for perfect- 
 ing technique by highly complicated and new 
 methods; but if all the complications be whittled 
 away, the useful movements will be found to be few 
 and simple in kind, and in fair agreement through- 
 out most systems : while the secret of the startling 
 success of these eminent teachers consists in enforc- 
 ing the student's attention on each movement to b^; 
 made; in directing each movement with as much 
 accuracy and mental force as possible; in rapidly 
 developing mental concentration, and mental rapid- 
 ity in controlling muscle movement, and thus accom- 
 plishing the most speedy and excellent results. No 
 new system, however, provides any escape from hard 
 work upon the part of either teacher or pupil. The 
 true wisdom is, to suspect, to examine, and to lop off 
 new-fangled complications; and to rely on the use 
 of the good old maxim : Whatever your finger 
 findeth to do, do with all your mind, and will, and 
 strength. 
 
 It is because the plan here suggested is so simple 
 and self-evident that I dwell on it with so much 
 emphasis; for its very simplicity and truth are 
 partly the cause of its neglect. That the secret of 
 so much careless, unfruitful work is, failure to en- 
 force brain concentration and will power at every 
 movement, has been made clear enough to me again 
 and again throughout my experience as a teacher. 
 
22 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Often when I explained to a new pupil the right way 
 to strike a note and directed him not to make a 
 single movement of a single finger without definitely 
 and accurately thinking of what was to be done, and 
 how it should be done, and then doing it with all 
 his might; I received a stare of amazement in reply, 
 and was informed that it was not necessary to think 
 when practising exercises. The idea was, that 'exer- 
 cises were intended for the fingers, not for the brain. 
 If you can reverse this process, and convince the 
 pupil that all practice is primarily brain-work, and 
 secondarily finger-work, you have sowed the seed of 
 success. 
 
 If therefore you desire success, let your first 
 lesson, your second lesson and many lessons, all 
 depend on this direction : Never move a finger with- 
 out knowing exactly how it should be moved, with- 
 out having a definite intention in your mind, or 
 without doing your utmost to direct that movement 
 so as to gain from it the m,aximiim result possible. 
 It is surprising how soon even young children will 
 recognise the success of this method; and how it 
 gives interest to the practice which formerly bored 
 them by its idle routine. 
 
 3. Position of Hand and Striking Finger. 
 
 The next points to be made clear are : what posi- 
 tion of the hand is the best for acquiring good 
 finger-technique; what are the principal movements 
 to be studied and practised by the pupil and what 
 
Position of Hand and Striking Finger. 23 
 
 finger exercises are most likely to develop those 
 movements most rapidly and effectively ? 
 
 The position of the hand and striking finger are 
 of the utmost importance, and to cultivate the habit 
 of using the best position requires the most vigilant 
 attention on the part of the teacher from the very 
 first. It is useless simply to explain and show the 
 right position to the pupil and then pass on to 
 further instruction. At each lesson fresh watchful- 
 ness is needed until the pupil remembers that right 
 position is the first matter demanding his thought- 
 ful attention when he sits down to the piano. 
 
 Those who consult a variety of curious systems of 
 technique may find some difficulty in arriving at a 
 decision on this subject of position. 
 
 Some advise a high wrist; others a low wrist; 
 some direct that the knuckle joints next the hand 
 (the third joints) be pressed down so that the back 
 of the hand will form a hollow, others that these 
 knuckles be humped up ; some insist that each finger 
 be raised high, so as to be able to strike with the 
 more power ; others decry this plan, and counsel that 
 the required tones be produced by laying the fingers 
 on the keys and then depressing them without strik- 
 ing. Where does the truth lie in such a conflict of 
 opinion ? The only way to gain a full assurance of 
 faith for ourselves, and to protect our path against 
 every fresh wind of doctrine is, to determine first, 
 exactly what it is we want the hand and fingers to 
 do, and secondly, how varied tones can be produced 
 by manipulating the notes of a pianoforte. 
 
 Our main object is, to gain independence of 
 finger, and power, delicacy and rapidity of finger 
 movement : and secondly, we must remember that 
 no matter how we manipulate a pianoforte key, 
 whether we strike it or push it, we can only alter the 
 
24 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 tones by making them longer or shorter and softer 
 or louder. (This matter is treated at some length in 
 paragraph 4 of this chapter, as well as in "Touch, 
 Phrasing and Interpretation" (Reeves).) 
 
 The easiest and most rapid method of accomplish- 
 ing our object is probably the best. Now, the ques- 
 tions are, whether power, independence, rapidity of 
 movement, are more easily or effectively to be gained 
 by lowering the wrist and depressing the knuckle 
 joints, or by keeping our wrists high; or again, 
 whether by lifting our fingers high to strike the notes 
 or by resting them on the keys in order to push 
 them down? If one's mind were quite cleared of 
 the various theories in vogue upon the subject, and 
 it was a question to be decided upon a commonsense 
 view of the matter, would not one say that the posi- 
 tion which seemed to give the most freedom and 
 power to the fingers was the best position ? A 
 simple, commonsense view, suggested by a lay mind, 
 often comes nearer to the truth than the most com- 
 plicated professional doctrine. 
 
 Try this experiment. Sit at a table, and put your 
 hand opened flat on it. Then by drawing in your 
 finger-tips, curve the joints next the tips slightly, 
 and the second joints a good deal; then lift the 
 hand at the wrist joint off the table an inch or two 
 and hold the hand and arm so that they will form 
 an even and slight slope from the elbow to the 
 second joints of the fingers. Only the finger-tips 
 and the side of the thumb must touch the table. 
 Now, with the other hand, lift the middle finger, 
 from the third joint, keeping the first and second 
 joints still curved as they were; then when the finger 
 thus lifted is at its height let it go, and at the same 
 time use all the downward force you can in hitting 
 the table with the uplifted finger-tip. Repeat this 
 operation half a dozen times, and note the force 
 
Position of Hand and Striking Finger. 25 
 
 with which the finger-tip strikes the table. Next, 
 draw back your hand to the edge of the table, lower 
 your wrist below the edge of the table and repeat 
 the previous experiment. Again, replace your hand 
 over the table as in the first experiment, depress your 
 third knuckles firmly and repeat the first experi- 
 ment : then raise those knuckles high and once more 
 try the effect. Compare the force of the blow in all 
 these cases and you will probably find that no 
 matter what position you choose, the first experiment 
 produces far the most forcible result. By lowering 
 the wrist, you miss the power of straight-downness ; 
 by depressing the knuckles, you cramp the fingers 
 and make it more difficult to raise them to an effec- 
 tive height; by raising tne knuckles high, you lose 
 some of the muscular elasticity in the rebound of 
 the fingers. By similar sets of experiments the 
 same position will be found to give the greatest 
 freedom of the fingers for flexibility and independ- 
 ence, as well as the fullest control over all the move- 
 ments of the fingers 
 
 There are some teachers and students who act as 
 if there is necessarily a better result to be gained by 
 the method which presents most obstacles. Possibly 
 in a much longer time and with much harder work, 
 the same result might be attained from the low Wrist 
 or the cramped finger, for example ; and. the virtuous 
 feeling of having triumphed over the obstacles pre- 
 sented by these positions naturally enamours the 
 traveller with the hard way now conquered and 
 leads him to believe that it is the hard road that 
 leads to success. 
 
 There are some again who go to the opposite ex- 
 treme and advise the easiest road of all. They 
 recommend that the fingers reoose quietly on the 
 keys; that all the muscles of the hand be allowed 
 to remain completely relaxed ("devitalised" as it 
 is now called); and that, for the purpose of sound- 
 
26 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 ing the notes, the fingers be gently lifted up and 
 down. This plan is no doubt exceedingly simple 
 and exceedingly easy; but by its fruits it must 
 be condemned. Is this not the very style and 
 method of every unregenerate son of Adam when 
 he comes to his first lesson with a bunch of feeble 
 fingers all moving together if one is moved? What 
 earnest teacher has not had many a hard fight 
 against the feebleness of this primitive devitalisa- 
 tion ? And does it not seem hard to have it pro- 
 mulgated as a new doctrine full of virtue? 
 Simplicity is useless if it is ineffective. Whether are 
 power, control and independence to be gained by 
 allowing all our hand muscles to remain in their 
 normal condition of weakness, flabbiness and inter- 
 dependence, and by feebly raising and dropping 
 each finger; or by practising a strong, high, up-lift 
 of each finger and a forcible down-stroke; at the 
 same time holding the other fingers motionless, so, as 
 to isolate each and detach it from the influence of 
 the others as much as possible ? The very state- 
 ment of the conflicting views is a sufficient answer 
 to the whole question. 
 
 But it is often asserted in these days, that the 
 practice of lifting each finger high and drawing it 
 up forcibly by a strong effort 'of the will, is likely 
 to bring about a stiffened condition of the muscles 
 which does some mysterious and deadly injury to 
 the tone. Its opponents assert that it produces what 
 they call a thumping touch. What do natural in- 
 telligence and experience answer to this charge? 
 Natural intelligence says that the player who has 
 cultivated the greatest independence of each finger, 
 the greatest power with each finger, the freest and 
 most rapid movement of each finger, is the player 
 who has the various gradations of tone most easily 
 within his reach. And experience says, that many 
 
Position of Hand and Striking Finger. 27 
 
 of those unhappy pupils whose technical training 
 was conducted in accord with some cramped, un- 
 comfortable hand position, or with the fingers feebly 
 lifted and dropped by flabby "devitalised" mus- 
 cles, bewail their inability to play any rapid 
 passage, even clearly, not to say brilliantly. Inde- 
 pendence and power are sacrificed to this flabby 
 devitalisation. But so far from the method com- 
 mended here producing any permanent or injurious 
 cramping of the muscles, every experienced pupil 
 can learn, in a very few minutes, to relax all the 
 muscles of his hand, to allow his fingers to drop, 
 and by moving softly, still to move with great clear- 
 ness and rapidity over the notes. It is the inde- 
 pendence, power, elasticity and flexibility, that 
 require labour in the cultivation ; the flabby flopping 
 is within easy reach. And while the well-trained 
 fingers have both methods at command, the ill- 
 trained are left lamenting at those passages which 
 demand brilliancy and force. 
 
 4. Relative MERiia of Striking and Pushing 
 THE Keys. 
 
 So much is written nowadays upon the injury 
 done, both to the muscles of the hand and to the 
 quality of tone produced from the pianoforte, by 
 striking instead of pushing down the keys, that it 
 seems only right to make a short digression for the 
 purpose of clearing away the difficulties from the 
 path of young teachers, and showing them solid 
 reasons for adhering to the principles and practice 
 of the great teachers and pianists of the past. 
 
28 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Mr. Townsend, in his "Balance of Arm," and Mr. 
 Matthay, in his " Act of Touch," the one with many 
 witty sallies, the other in ponderous dialectics, attack 
 unmercifully the established custom of striking the 
 keys; and claim every possible virtue for the new 
 system of pushing which they advocate. 
 
 In order to decide upon a right choice, let us 
 define once more what is required for the purposes 
 of good technique. We require for our fingers 
 force, independence and flexibility; we require the 
 ability to skip nimbly from position to position up 
 and down the keyboard, we require the ability to 
 depress, with certainty and ease, as well to release, 
 with speed and accuracy, the required keys. 
 
 As regards force, v/ho could question the 
 superiority of a blow over a push ? A moment's 
 experiment at the pianoforte would be sufficient to 
 convince even the most infatuated theorist on this 
 point. Then, as to flexibility and independence, 
 the superior efficacy of a strong muscular uplift of 
 the finger, to the feeble motion involved in merely 
 pressing down and releasing a key, has already been 
 discussed. Again, if one's fingers lie on the keys, 
 how can they skip nimbly from position to position, 
 how can they execute with ease, accuracy or force, 
 rapid skipping passages or difficult chord and 
 octave passages of any kind ? 
 
 Continuous contact of the fingers with the keys 
 will be found, upon a short trial, to be a serious 
 hamper to the free movement of the hands up and 
 down the keyboard, as well as to the forcible action 
 of the fingers upon the keys. Then, lastly, with 
 regard to accuracy in releasing the keys — a matter 
 so important both in the legato and staccato touches 
 — is not one of the great difficulties in the training 
 of the young pupil, this very difficulty of persuading 
 
Relative Merits of Striking and Pushing the Keys. 29 
 
 him to lift his finger clearly and well from the keys? 
 By the new method of pushing we shall made pretty 
 sure of perpetuating the original fault of making 
 the successive tones overlap by the continuous de- 
 pression of two or more keys at once. 
 
 But it is said by the advocates of the new theory 
 that the pianoforte key is a lever, just as is a spade 
 or a crowbar ; and that a push is the correct method 
 of operating a lever. They assert, moreover, that 
 the quality of tone to be elicited from a pianoforte 
 key by striking (or "beating," as Mr. Townsend 
 calls it) }s not comparable with that to be obtained 
 by pushing. A few moment's experiment at the 
 pianoforte will be sufficient to destroy the fallacy 
 that there is any difference in quality of tone in the 
 case of a note pushed and a note struck. Strike 
 and push the same note alternately several times in 
 succession, taking care that in every case the tones 
 are equal in force and length; thus you will prove 
 clearly to yourself, by the mere use of your ears, 
 that the tones are all exactly the same in quality or 
 timbre, no matter how they are produced. 
 
 But Mr. Townsend and Mr. Matthay say that we 
 push the " spade," " oar," " pump-handle " and " crow- 
 bar"; that we do not dream of striking them. Is 
 it not utterly absurd therefore of us to strike or 
 beat a pianoforte key which is also a lever ? In the 
 case of the spade and other implements mentioned, 
 our object is to move gradually and steadily a mass 
 at the other end of the lever. In these cases, more- 
 over, we have not to skip about nimbly in order 
 to manipulate fifty or sixty such levers rapidly in 
 succession. What we want to do when we depress 
 a pianoforte key is quite a different matter. We 
 wish to make the hammer at the other end of the 
 
30 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 lever strike against the strings with a smart tap and 
 then instantaneously rebound. 
 
 There is nothing so likely to confuse the issue, 
 and to throw dust in the eyes of the ignorant, as 
 the use of an utterly erroneous simile. A well- 
 chosen simile will prove just as valuable in clearing 
 the issue. The levers of a typewriter correspond 
 in their action to the levers of a pianoforte key- 
 board. An instantaneous tap and an instantaneous 
 rebound comprise the requisite movements. To 
 become an efficient typist, rapid skipping from key 
 to key and accuracy in striking the required keys, 
 are regarded as two of the chief essentials. Who 
 ever saw a typist pushing instead of striking the 
 keys of his machine? Such a method would so 
 impede his action as to destroy the possibility of 
 rapid work. If this be the case with so small a 
 keyboard as that of a typewriter, how much more 
 must it be the case where the keyboard is so ex- 
 tended as that of the pianoforte? 
 
 And, apart from theories, is not the experience of 
 all great pianoforte players on our side in this con- 
 tention ? Our one pianistic opponent is the pianola. 
 It does not need to skip, for it has a finger for every 
 key, and on each key one of these accurate fingers 
 is laid to do its work by pressure. All other factors, 
 therefore, except "quality of tone," are outside the 
 issue in this case. One wonders whether even Mr. 
 Townsend or Mr. Matthay would venture to assert 
 that the "quality of tone" produced by the pianola 
 machine with its stolid finger pressure is superior 
 to that produced by Paderewski, who lifts, not only 
 fingers, but also hands and arms, when it seems 
 good to him, in order, the more forcibly, the more 
 rapidly and the more effectively, to strike or "beat" 
 the keys. 
 
Details of Position. 31 
 
 5. Details of Position. 
 
 The teacher will therefore require that the pupil 
 sit opposite to middle C, on a seat high enough to 
 allow his elbows, when lying near his side, to be so 
 raised above the keyboard that his arm will form a 
 gentle slope to the second knuckles of his fingers; 
 and that his hand be kept high above the keys so 
 that the fingers may have plenty of room for 
 moving up and down when striking and lifting. 
 One point that requires constant and special care, 
 is the side next the fifth or little finger. Its ten- 
 dency is to drop, and as the weaker fingers 
 lie on that side they need the more freedom in order 
 to develop in them greater power. The hand, in 
 the best position, will then slope slightly from the 
 little finger side towards the thumb side, so that 
 if a marble were laid on the back of a hand held 
 in correct position, it would immediately roll off at 
 the thumb side. 
 
 Some thirty or forty photographs of the hand 
 rightly held and of the fingers in right position, are 
 contained in "The Royal Pianoforte Method," by 
 the author of this work. 
 
 6. Details of Striking. 
 
 The points requiring the closest attention in the 
 position and movements of the fingers are these : 
 (a). The striking finger should be raised rapidly 
 
32 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 and with great force, from the joint next the hand — 
 the third joint. 
 
 (b). It should remain motionless while pulled 
 up with as great force as possible. The first and 
 second joints should be curved, but this curve must 
 not be altered with the upward movement of the 
 finger. 
 
 (C). It should strike down with the utmost force 
 and rapidity, depressing the key firmly to the very 
 bottom; and at the same moment the next finger 
 should rise with equal force to an equal height 
 above the keys. 
 
 (d). The finger tips must never be allowed to 
 move in and out; there must be no involuntary 
 motion; no finger should drop one hair's breadth, 
 before it makes its sudden swift rush down upon 
 the key from its height of two inches. 
 
 (e). The curves of the first and second joints of 
 the finger should be so slight that the soft pad of 
 the finger, not the nail, will strike the key; and all 
 the fingers should be held in an even, curved row, 
 bowed out towards the middle finger, from the 
 thumb on one side and the little finger on the other ; 
 and no finger should be jerked in or out of its neat 
 place in the curved row. 
 
 (f). The thumb must lie comfortably at the edge 
 of the hand, with its first joint slightly bent, so that 
 it may move freely up and down. 
 
 (g). Constant, keen and patient watchfulness on 
 the part of the teacher will be needed, for some con- 
 siderable time, and at every lesson, to prevent the 
 pupil dropping a finger towards the note before the 
 sudden down-stroke, or moving the finger-tips in- 
 voluntarily in and out from the back towards the 
 front of the keyboard, or rubbing the keys, or neg- 
 lecting to see that each note sounded is very loud, 
 
Details of Striking. 33 
 
 and that no one tone sounded is weaker than another, 
 or failing to preserve an absolute legato, or failing 
 to depress the key firmly to the bottom, or sticking 
 out the thumb at the root joint, or neglecting to 
 concentrate his mind on each movement, or neglect- 
 ing to define to himself accurately what is to be 
 done, and neglecting to do it forcibly, and with the 
 intention of extracting its utmost efficacy. 
 
 The inquirer will find concise directions upon 
 every necessary detail regarding the position of the 
 hand and fingers, and upon the right movement of 
 every finger, clearly expressed in the author's hand- 
 bcioks of technique, entitled "How to Strike the 
 Keys of the Pianoforte," No. 207 of the Academic 
 Edition of Hammond and Co., London; "The Royal 
 Pianoforte Method" (Boosey), and "Pianoforte 
 Technique" (Weekes). 
 
 7. A Firm Touch or Full Key Depression. 
 
 The terms "a weak touch" and "a firm touch," 
 while very commonly used, are often not so clearly 
 defined as to be practically useful. And yet a firm 
 touch is one of the most essential elements of a good 
 technique. In clearly understandable terms, a firm 
 touch means full depression of every key to the very 
 bottom. If this be neglected, the probabilities are 
 that the legato of the pupil will prove very faulty, 
 and that in very soft or rapid passages he will be 
 very liable to miss notes. For a long time it may 
 seem easier to the novice to play softly by avoiding 
 full key depression ; but such an easily acquired ac- 
 complishment is sure to be at the expense of cer- 
 
 4 
 
54 The Art o{ Teacliing. 
 
 tainty for the rest of the pupil's career; while the 
 soft touch, acquired more laboriously through full 
 key depression, has the advantage of sureness and 
 accuracy. These things being so, the wise teacher 
 will spare no pains to ensure, from the very first, 
 the habit of full key depression. 
 
 8. Two-Finger Exercises and Finger- 
 Gymnastics. 
 
 Finger-gymnastics of an intelligent kind, prac- 
 tised for a few minutes daily, even for hve minutes 
 daily, will be found most useful in developing in- 
 dependence, elasticity, strength and muscle-control. 
 But their effectiveness, again, depends largely upon 
 the mental concentration and will-power thrown into 
 their practice. The exercises in Ridley Prentice's 
 "Finger and Wrist Gymnastics," published by 
 Novello, will prove sufficient for all ordinary re- 
 quirements. Mechanical instruments, such as the 
 Technicon, should be used with caution, lest the 
 muscles and joints be strained. The mind and the 
 will are the best muscle-stretchers. 
 
 Two-Finger Exercises. 
 
 The more intelligently two-finger exercises are 
 practised the fewer of them will suffice to develop 
 a high standard of finger power. These simple ex- 
 
Two- Finger Exercises. 35 
 
 ercises are so necessary and so effective; and they 
 are so admirably adapted to the pupil's needs 
 throughout the whole of his pianistic career, from 
 start to finish, that no apology is needed for dis- 
 cussing them at some length. 
 
 (a). They should be practised with separate 
 hands. Few elementary pupils have the ability and 
 concentration necessary to allow of their getting the 
 best result from purely technical exercises when 
 using both hands together. Besides, these exercises, 
 if practised with all one's energy, are so tiring to 
 the muscles that no time is lost when resting one 
 hand while the other is working. 
 
 (b). As the left hand is usually the weaker and 
 less capable of the two, it requires the more attention 
 and practice, although, as a rule, it gets the less. 
 By training the pupil from the beginning to observe 
 the following order of practice, the natural inequal- 
 ity of the two hands may be minimised : left hand, 
 first; right hand, secondly; left hand, thirdly; 
 and later on, when the elements of technique are 
 mastered and both hands are used together, as in 
 scales and arpeggios, then, fourthly, both hands 
 together. 
 
 TiRST Two-Finger Exercises. 
 
 The simplest form of the two-finger exercises con- 
 sists of a slow trill in the key of C, repeated thirty 
 or forty times with each pair of fingers at a metro- 
 nome rate of forty to sixty, one note to each beat. 
 Although some detailed and concise directions for 
 
36 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 its right practice are given in paragraph 4 of this 
 chapter, as well as in "How to Strike," still, it may 
 be wise here to emphasise more important points. 
 
 (a). First, look to the hand position; then see 
 that the motion of the striking finger, from its root 
 joint, is rapid and powerful; that the finger is pulled 
 up hard, and that it depresses its key firmly. 
 
 (b). Insist that the practice be slow as to the suc- 
 cession of the notes. It is an excellent plan, during 
 the first few months, to require the pupil to wait for 
 a beat or two between the successive strokes, hold- 
 ing all his finger tips motionless, and keeping all 
 the fingers except the one which has struck a note, 
 pulled up as hard as possible. This exercise of 
 waiting, in itself, develops considerable muscular 
 control if done exactly as here suggested. But 
 though the succession of notes is to be slow, the 
 action of the striking finger must be as rapid as 
 possible. If the finger fall slowly, the practice is 
 waste of time. Slow succession, in order to have 
 ample time to guard against all faults, and rapid 
 finger motion, in order to gain speed and power, 
 are the combination most likely to bear fruit. 
 
 (c). See that the finger-tips keep to their even, 
 curved row; that no finger drops before it moves 
 rapidly downward to strike; that every tone is loud, 
 and all equally loud; that the thumb does not stick 
 out at its root joint; that there is no involuntary 
 moving in and out of the finger-tips; and that the 
 fingers, unaided by weight of hand, produce the 
 tone. 
 
 (D). The fifth or little finger requires special 
 care and special treatment. One of the earliest, 
 commonest, and most difficult faults to treat suc- 
 cessfully is the moving of the hand downwards in 
 sympathy with the little finger at each of its strokes. 
 Unless this finger be made to move freely at its root 
 
First Two -Finger Exercises. 
 
 37 
 
 joint, and independently of any hand movement, 
 the finger technique will never be clear, brilliant or 
 accurate. An excellent special exercise for training 
 the little finger is, to depress four white keys firmly 
 with the other fingers, and while keeping them de- 
 pressed, to strike slowly and loudly the little finger 
 note fifty times in succession, watching carefully to 
 work fromthe root joint and independently of hand 
 movement. 
 
 (e). Impress upon the pupil that two great ob- 
 jects in the powerful uplift of the finger are, to 
 strengthen the muscles and to isolate each striking 
 finger from all the other fingers as much as possible, 
 in order to control each separately as the brain de- 
 sires. Sympathetic movement of fingers other than 
 the striking finger is one of the most natural and 
 one of the most fatal faults of the untrained pupil, 
 and it is a fault very difficult to overcome. One 
 very helpful device is to think specially of pulling 
 up hard the finger on each side of the striking finger 
 at every note struck. 
 
 When all the details of hand position and all the 
 details of this exercise have been thoroughly mas- 
 tered, the pupil may gradually go on through the 
 following two-finger exercises in the order and the 
 manner specified. 
 
 The first exercise, which has just been minutely 
 described, is as follows. (Foreign fingering is used 
 throughout). 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 fm^^^mimm^^ 
 
 Each measure of the preceding exercise is to be 
 repeated at least thirty times without stopping. Set 
 
38 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 the metronome at 40 and strike one note to each 
 beat at first; then gradually increase the pace till 
 96 is reached. 
 
 Exercise No. 2 is similar to No. i. Instead of 
 using the key of C, play the exercise in a new key 
 every day or every week, until every major and minor 
 key has been practised for some months. 
 
 Set the metronome at 60 and use the following 
 alternations of speed; hrst, four notes, at the rate 
 of one note to a beat; and then, eight notes, at the 
 rate of two notes to a beat. 
 
 - 1 2 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 
 
 %^'tM- 
 
 — ±- ^_. i^ -_ ^_- ^ — i. 1 i 1 ^ 
 
 
 ■^p^rr'if-: 
 
 E?=tf&^?- 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Exercises Nos. 3 and 4 afford varieties of speed 
 and rhythm which may be used for Exercises Nos. i 
 and 2 as the pupil becomes more efficient. The sec- 
 tion for each pair of fingers, as just illustrated for 
 a single pair of fingers, may be repeated ten times 
 without stopping. The metronome should always be 
 used; and the duple or triple rhythm should always 
 be carefully marked. 
 
 Caution. In every one of these exercises, the 
 
First Two-Finger Exercises. 39 
 
 result attained depends upon the correctness of the 
 movements, the mental concentration and will-power 
 exerted and the continuance of the exercise at every 
 practice until some improvement is felt in the points 
 desired — ^independence, power, rapidity of move- 
 ment. And it is also essential, if the maximum of 
 efficacy is desired, to practise all the exercises as 
 directed, in every key, both major and minor; for 
 the fingers thus early become accustomed to all com- 
 binations of adjacent black and white keys. 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 12 12 12 
 
 'i i l i 5 : etc. 
 
 & 4 fi 
 
 5 4 5 ^ r. 4 ^ 
 
 4 .1 43 
 3 s 
 
 1 2 1 
 
 ^0^i^^^. 
 
 Rhythmical illustrations for the practise of No. 5. 
 
 k^j^^m^^^^m^ 
 
 — I'i' M | i I— ^—1-^ — r"i""i- ■ ^ ^ 
 
 When the former exercises have been effectively 
 practised for a period of from six to twelve months, 
 they may be set aside and No. 5 may be substituted, 
 and may be practised for a few minutes daily 
 throughout the rest of the student's career. This 
 exercise is to be played throughout a chromatic 
 octave, ascending and descending, each, hand separ- 
 
40 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 ately, without stopping, and without any change 
 of fingering. When forcibly played, it will be 
 found so fatiguing that it may be advisable to prac- 
 tise it with one pair of fingers of each hand alter- 
 nately. The notes of each measure of the exercise 
 must be repeated in accordance with the rhythmical 
 illustrations given. When practising in duple 
 rhythm, in accordance with illustration (a); when 
 practising in triple rhythm, in accordance with illus- 
 tration (b). As the progress of the student ad- 
 vances, the pace may gradually be increased. For 
 the first year M.M. I, =60 may be suggested; second 
 year .this may gradually be increased to ', = 96; 
 third year to 120; fourth year to 144; fifth year to 
 176. 
 
 No. 6. After working a year or two, the pupil 
 should practise Exercise No. 2 in double notes 
 (thirds), in addition to his single note exer- 
 cises. : i . 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 1 2 
 
 2 n 
 
 i«*— I.*.— p-1— I- 
 
 1 ---^^.-^ ' — — I — I a-M — ' — — I — ' — I — (*^ — ^^ 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ -^ -", 'H 
 
 ^?^^8 
 
First Two- Finger Exercises. 41 
 
 These exercises also are to be played fortissimo, 
 each finger sounding its note with all possible force. 
 They are to be played throughout a compass of 
 three octaves ascending and descending, three times 
 without stopping, always with each hand separ- 
 ately and with the various pairs of fingers as 
 marked. Exercise No. j may be also practised, for 
 the sake of contractions, with such fingers as i 3, i 4, 
 I 5, 2 4, 2 5, 3 5. After the exercises have been well 
 practised in the key of C, they should be practised 
 in a new key every day, until every key, major and 
 minor, is thoroughly familiar. Special care is neces- 
 sary to guard against any movement of the hand 
 and to insure that the force of every stroke is de- 
 rived from the finger alone without any help from 
 movement or weight of hand or arm. In the case of 
 ambitious pupils it would be wise to direct that these 
 exercises should regularly form part of the stu- 
 dent's daily practice. They may be begun at a 
 metronome rate of J =72, playing quavers; then the 
 pace may gradually be increased till they can be 
 played in any key at 144, four notes to each beat. 
 
 Caution. In every case, no matter how advanced 
 be the technical attainments of the student, at least 
 one half of all his practice should be a slow succes- 
 sion of notes, with rapid finger action. Practice 
 consisting entirely of notes in rapid succession is 
 likely to deteriorate, instead of improving the 
 playing; an excellent rule to observe in the practice 
 of every technical exercise is, therefore, twice, at 
 a moderately slow rate, using great force in the 
 stroke and the up-lift; and then twice at double the 
 speed. 
 
 The two-finger exercises here suggested will be 
 
42 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 found fully adequate to the requirements of all 
 those whose ambition is to be able to use their fingers 
 with ease, power and rapidity. 
 
 g. Three-Finger Exercises. 
 
 There are three fingers rather handicapped in the 
 race of technique — the little finger and its two 
 neighbours. Some additional attention bestowed on 
 them will fully repay the labour. But while the 
 first three or four of the two-finger exercises given 
 in the preceding paragraph may be regarded as an 
 essential part of the education of all pupils, three- 
 finger exercises may be reserved for those more 
 serious students who desire to succeed. 
 
 Every direction given for the effective practice of 
 two-finger exercises refers equally to the three- 
 finger exercises. In addition, special energy and 
 force must be devoted to the stroke of the fourth 
 finger. 
 
 The following figures provide examples of such 
 simple exercises as will be found useful. Each of 
 them is to be continued throughout a compass of 
 three octaves, ascending and descending, and is to 
 be repeated three times without stopping. The 
 efficient teacher will not fail to insist on familiarity 
 with every key, major and minor, in the practice of 
 all these technical exercises, since the common habit 
 of using the key of C major exclusively is hope- 
 lessly inadequate for the passage work afterwards 
 met with throughout pianoforte literature. 
 
Three- Finger Exercises. 
 
 43 
 
 The first note of each group of three or four 
 should invariably be accented. The metronome rate 
 may begin with J =6o, and may incjease to 144. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 XE m. • 
 
 C 543 543 643 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 4°4 6S4 534 
 
 
 •-•-• 
 
 Mt.: 
 
 =prrP=r=f 
 
 -I—I— t- 
 
 ■trrrci 
 
 454 354 354 
 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 4u3 153 463 
 
 4u;i 'oa 40a ^^ 
 
 4GS 435 43S 
 
 — ^— '.^1^ — I— ^ — — ^.' — r~F~i — — «^^« — ■-»-« — ,- 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 3453 _4 6S4 fi 3 4 S ^>'^n33 
 
 ■^■l"" l^^-m- 
 
 
 1o 13S1 3513 
 
 gg^^^^^^^iS=^=5= 
 
.44 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 jlg ^iiig^^^^^^ 
 
 ::?EEZfESEiE^=KEiE3^3 
 
 Exercise No. 5 is designed chiefly for the pur- 
 poses of stretching the fingers, and of exercising 
 them when in a stretched position. It is made up of 
 the notes of the chord of the dominant seventh with 
 the octave added. The notes of the octave are to 
 be held firmly down all the time, while the inter- 
 mediate notes of the chord are to be struck with all 
 possible force and to be accented as marked, in 
 groups of four. The three inversions of the chord, 
 as well as the original position, must be used in the 
 practice of this exercise; and there should be from 
 ten to twenty repetitions of the exercise for each 
 position of the chord. The speed may begin at 
 J =60, and may gradually be increased until 144 is 
 reached, when alternate speeds of two and four notes 
 to each beat may be used for successive repetitions. 
 
 This exercise is, of course, not suitable for very 
 small hands; but it is admirably adapted for in- 
 creasing the stretch of any hand that can, at first, 
 even with considerable difficulty, cover the required 
 notes. The fingers must always be neatly curved, 
 and each one be kept over its appointed key. 
 
 The exercises just given may be regarded as the 
 minimum of their kind which, well used, will guard 
 the student against the possibility of technical 
 failure. 
 
Five -Finger Exercises. 45 
 
 10. FivE-FiNGER Exercises. 
 
 It is a common practice, with teachers who are not 
 rightly trained, to begin the technical work of the 
 pupil with five-finger exercises. Some popular 
 pianoforte tutors furnish a few models of these 
 exercises which are accepted as the orthodox foun- 
 dation of finger technique. As has already been 
 pointed out, much more rapid and thorough results 
 are gained by beginning with the simplest form of 
 two-finger exercise and, by its use, training the men- 
 tal powers to attention, and the hand and fingers 
 to correct position and motion. There are so many 
 nice points which require all the alertness and con- 
 centration a child can command, that if the com- 
 plications of five fingers and varied figures are in- 
 troduced too soon, the mind becomes confused and 
 careless habits are sure to be contracted. But when 
 right position and right movements are assured, then 
 five-finger exercises are invaluable for developing 
 ease, independence and rapidity, in executing com- 
 plicated figured passages. 
 
 Of the many collections of five-finger exercises 
 published, there is one very well-known set which 
 will still fully serve all ordinary requirements. 
 Schmidt's "Daily Finger Exercises" should form 
 part of the student's daily round of practice so long 
 as he desires to use his fingers effectively. But 
 there is little virtue in the common use of these 
 valuable exercises. Not by playing over a few of 
 
46 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 them every day thoughtlessly and aimlessly ; not by 
 confining the practice of them to the key of C ; not 
 by putting them aside after this cursory reading, as 
 matter so elementary in character as to be suitable 
 for children's fingers only, may their real value be 
 discovered. During my own teaching experience I 
 have never yet had a pupil who had passed beyond 
 the reach of benefit from this book, and benefit not 
 so easily attainable by any other means. But I 
 have had many utter bunglers who bitterly resented 
 what they called "being put back to the beginning," 
 when I told them that their only hope of success 
 lay in learning to play these exercises effectively. 
 Learning how to do rightly a thing which hereto- 
 fore has been always wrongly done is not retrogres- 
 sion but advancement. 
 
 The following suggestions are given as a practical 
 guide to progressive methods of practice for these 
 exercises. 
 
 (i). Use first and chiefly the exercises numbering 
 3 to 33. Repeat each one, at least ten times without 
 stopping, or better still, repeat it, as you should 
 repeat every technical exercise, until you feel that 
 you have gained something in power, ease or flexi- 
 bility. Begin with a metronomic speed of 60 to 72 
 and play the exercise alternately, twice, two notes 
 to each beat, and then twice, four notes to each beat. 
 Each movement must be made as if on its efficacy 
 one's whole success depended. When the exercises 
 can be played at the rate of 96, four notes to each 
 beat, in exactly even time, with a high uplift of the 
 fingers, and with every tone so loud that it seems as 
 if there were no longer any weak finger, then the 
 pupil may, with benefit, proceed to the next mode 
 prescribed. , 
 
Five- Finger Exercises. 47 
 
 (2). Take four exercises for each day's practice. 
 Play them in three major and three minor keys every 
 day — for example, in C, C sharp and D major and 
 minor, on Monday; in E flat, E and F major and 
 minor, on Tuesday; and so on till all the keys are 
 practised. Then, on the remaining two days take 
 six keys each day for revision. Repeat each exercise 
 five times in each key at 96, alternating two and 
 four to each beat. Continue this mode of practice 
 till the first hundred exercises are well done and 
 then proceed to the next mode prescribed. 
 
 Caution. Whatever method of practice be chosen, 
 the teacher must never cease to take care that in all 
 the slow practice errors of hand position and finger 
 movement are vigilantly guarded against, that the 
 utmost force is used with every finger stroke and 
 that the up and down movements of the fingers are 
 as rapid as possible. 
 
 (3). The method of practice next suggested will 
 probably be found the most useful for a permanent 
 place in the daily practice of the student. One or 
 two exercises will suffice for each day's work. Play 
 each one of these in all the twenty-four major and 
 minor keys successively without a single break. 
 Repeat the exercise three times in each key, playing, 
 first, two notes to each beat, secondly, three, and 
 thirdly, four notes to each beat. This practice may 
 begin at a speed of M.M. 96 and may be continued 
 patiently, month after month, until a speed of 184 
 can be comfortably maintained. No break is to be 
 made in passing from one key to the next. Playing 
 in groups of three, notes usually grouped in fours, 
 will be found a little troublesome, but the difficulty 
 may best be overcome by accenting the first note of 
 each group of three until this mode of playing 
 
48 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 becomes familiar. This introduction of triple 
 rhythm helps to equalise the power of the fingers by 
 constantly shifting the accent to different notes. 
 In all cases, the first note of each group should be 
 accented. For this mode of practice, the exercises 
 numbering 3 to 33, and those in double notes from 
 119 onwards, will be found most useful. 
 
 During fhe practice of five-finger exercises, the 
 best results are to be gained by separate hand prac- 
 tice during the greater part of the course; but if it 
 seem desirable for some reason to use both hands 
 together, it would be well to accustom the pupil to 
 the order of practice already suggested : Left hand 
 first, right hand second, left hand third, and then 
 both hands together. 
 
 The course of five-finger exercises here sketched 
 out will provide abundant material for five or six 
 years' careful work; and there is no student who 
 should ever omit from his daily practice some such 
 exercises as those prescribed. 
 
 Further minute and explicit directions on this 
 branch of the subject will be found in "How to 
 Strike the Keys " and " Piano Technique " (Weekes). 
 
 Additional Exercises. 
 
 For the sake of those students who desire to pur- 
 sue further the study of finger exercises, it will 
 suffice to name some useful collections of these 
 exercises : 
 
Additional Exercises. 49 
 
 Mason, "Touch and Technique," Part I; the 
 Cotta-Lebert " Pianoforte School," Part I ; Germer's 
 " Technique " ; Raphael Josseffy's " Advanced Exer- 
 cises"; and the Tausig-Ehrlich "Daily Studies," 
 Part I. 
 
 Memorising Technical Exercises. 
 
 It is indispensable to first-rate work that all tech- 
 nical exercises be committed to memory and be prac- 
 tised without the book. Thus only is it possible to 
 give the needful attention to right position of the 
 hand and effective movement of the fingers. 
 
 Proper Proportion of Time for Finger 
 Exercises. 
 
 The wise amount of time to be devoted by each 
 pupil to the daily practice of two, three and five- 
 finger exercises, will of course depend upon the state 
 of his progress, and the total amount of his daily 
 practice. Detailed suggestions are given in the 
 graded time-tables contained in Chapter VI. Here, 
 it may be added, that less than five minutes with 
 each hand separately, and when both hands are 
 practised together, five minutes additional, will not 
 be likely to produce any effective result. 
 
 5 
 
50 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 II. SCALE-WORK. 
 
 Opinions differ as to the proper time to begin the 
 study of scales. Some teachers use them almost at 
 the beginning of the pupil's career; others spend a 
 considerable time first at finger-exercises and easy 
 pieces. A safe rule would be to delay their intro- 
 duction until correct position of hand and effective 
 methods of striking were assured. 
 
 Untrained heads and untrained fingers require so 
 many repetitions of a new lesson before it is fruit- 
 fully assimilated, that it may be well to devote a 
 month to the practice of the first scale learnt. 
 
 The additional problems in scale-playing, too, of 
 varied fingering and of crossing the thumb under 
 the fingers, make sure advance the slower. 
 
 Hand Position in Scale-Playing. 
 
 The hand should be held, if possible, a little 
 higher above the keys than in the former exercises. 
 It is very necessary to insist that it be especially so 
 raised at the little finger side, for otherwise feeble 
 performance will be induced by the common habit 
 of dropping this side of the hand while playing an 
 ascending scale with the right hand or a descending 
 scale with the left hand. Plenty of room is needed 
 for ease in the side movement of the thumb and 
 plenty of height to ensure a powerful stroke from 
 the weak fingers. 
 
The Thumb Movement. 51 
 
 The Thumb Movement. 
 
 In order to avoid unevenness of time and tone, 
 the utmost care is needed in the management of the 
 thumb. If evenness is to be attained, it must be by 
 devising some means for enabling the thumb to be 
 in as convenient a position for striking its notes as 
 any other finger. That is, it must be directly over 
 its note just when its turn comes to strike. The 
 thumb is an awkward member, and its duty of skip- 
 ping from interval to interval of varying size, is an 
 awkward duty. There is only one way of effectively 
 minimising its difficulties, and that is, training it to 
 move carefully and gradually from note to note, 
 instead of moving by a series of ill-timed jerks. If, 
 as the fingers move up the scale, the thumb be left 
 in its original place, to skip, at first a fourth and 
 then a fifth, it is not rational to expect that it can do 
 its work with the same evenness as those fingers 
 which have only to move vertically to reach their 
 notes. And yet this plan of allowing the thumb to 
 wait and then make a frantic skip to its note, is not 
 only practised by careless pupils, but is actually 
 taught by some teachers ! 
 
 All difficulties connected with the use of the 
 thumb in scale-playing may be minimised, nay, 
 indeed, may be overcome, by training the pupil, with 
 the utmost watchfulness, from the beginning of his 
 practice, to observe the following points : 
 
 (A). Keep the hands very high above the keys. 
 (b). Instead of holding the hands at right angles 
 
52 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 to the keys, let them be bowed a little outwards so 
 that the finger-tips of both hands will slope towards 
 each other; and keep them at the same angle with 
 the keyboard throughout the whole scale. This 
 may be accomplished by continuously moving the 
 wrist joints on, the right wrist to the right and the 
 left wrist to the left. In this way the thumb will 
 the more easily reach its key. (See the detailed dia- 
 grams in "The Royal Method for Scales and 
 Arpeggios" by the author.) 
 
 (c). The first joint of the thumb should be bent 
 just so much as will allow it, upon striking its note, 
 to lie straight along the centre of its key. The 
 common fault is, to bend the first joint out of strik- 
 ing position altogether when moving it under the 
 hand. When once the correct position is secured 
 for the first joint, every care must be taken to keep 
 the angle of the first joint constantly fixed, and to 
 accomplish all the sidewise movement from the root 
 joint only. Further, the sidewise motion of the thumb 
 should be made instantly after it strikes its note; 
 and it should be gradual — that is, not by sudden 
 long skips, but note by note. Taking the key of C 
 major and the right hand, for the purpose of illus- 
 tration, the procedure is as follows. Bend the 
 thumb correctly and strike C ; the moment D is 
 struck by the second finger, move the thumb 
 instantly under the hand, from the root joint, until 
 it is in correct position over E ; at the same time 
 move the wrist a little onward to the right; then the 
 moment the third finger strikes E, again move the 
 thumb instantly on, always at the root joint, till it 
 is over F, at the same time repeating the onward 
 movement of the wrist. Thus the thumb will always 
 be in position for striking when the time for its note 
 arrives. 
 
The Thumb Movement. 53 
 
 (d). The next common fault occurs just after the 
 thumb strikes F. When the fingers then pass 
 onward over the thumb, they are twisted round out 
 of their correct angle with the keys by a sudden jerk 
 to the right, the thumb being used as a pivot on 
 which to execute this twisting movement. The correct 
 action is, to move the whole band on, keeping it all 
 the time at the same angle with the keys and while 
 moving it on, to lift it up again high above the keys 
 to its original position. 
 
 (e). When correcting the fault already men- 
 tioned, of bending the thumb, at its first joint, 
 nearly to a right angle so as to jump to its note in 
 time, it would be well to urge this general princi- 
 ple : that any movement, even the slightest, of any 
 hhger, which puts the finger out of its correct posi- 
 tion for striking with accuracy and straight down 
 upon its note, is a wrong movement. When, for 
 example, the first joint of the thumb has been bent 
 to a right angle before it strikes, it must promptly 
 be unbent again or else it cannot help striking two 
 notes at once. Therefore this undue bending is 
 waste movement, increasing the difficulty of habitual 
 accuracy in aim. So of every finger; each time a 
 finger jerks out at the tip, or curls in, so as to be in 
 the least degree out of the right position for effective 
 striking, the wrong movement must be put right 
 before there can be an effective stroke. And every 
 such movement is not only waste energy, but it mili- 
 tates against habits of accuracy and power. 
 
 (f). Every direction given here regarding the 
 gradual movement of the left wrist towards the left 
 in descending scales and of the right wrist towards 
 the right in ascending scales, as well as regarding 
 the constant, immediate and even motion of the 
 thumb, applies yet more strongly to arpeggio-play- 
 
54 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 ing. For in arpeggio-playing the tiiunib-skips are 
 wider, and the tendency to undue bending and 
 jerky movements are more pronounced. One slight 
 caution in this matter, however, may be given. If 
 the onward movement of the wrist be too rapid or 
 too violent, its tendency will be to drag the hngers 
 sidewise off their respective keys. 
 
 (g). Never allow the pupil to drop his wrist 
 when striking a note with his thumb. The best 
 remedy for this fault is, to teach him, from the very 
 first lesson, to lift his hand slightly at the moment 
 of striking the thumb note. 
 
 (H). Many pupils need to be carefully warned 
 against the following faults : dropping a finger to 
 grope, as it were, for its note, before its moment for 
 striking; allowing the second finger to linger on, 
 instead of promptly releasing, its note; and making 
 the thumb notes too loud as well as the fourth finger 
 notes too weak. 
 
 (l). In the case of scale practice, again, and after- 
 wards in arpeggio practice, as well as in all technical 
 exercises, "studies" and "pieces," the teacher who 
 desires success, and that in the shortest time, will 
 insist upon the absolute necessity for slow practice 
 — a slow succession of notes, played with the most 
 rapid finger action possible. Such slow practice 
 should be the invariable rule, not alone with the 
 beginner when learning a new study, but throughout 
 the whole career of the student it should ever alter- 
 nate equally with rapid practice. Constant rapid 
 practice destroys all chance of attaining independ- 
 ence, clearness, accuracy, neatness or brilliancy. 
 
 Note. Any appearance of reiteration which the 
 teacher may seem to notice as he passes from one 
 section to another of this work, may serve to remind 
 him that without constant reiteration of his instruc- 
 
The Thumb Movement. 55 
 
 tions he cannot reasonably hope for success. 
 Throughout this work it has seemed wise, for the 
 sake of greater completeness in the various sections, 
 to repeat some of the more important suggestions 
 already made. 
 
 (J). A year's diligent study should suffice to 
 familiarise the young pupil with the major scales; 
 but however long the time required may be, no pupil 
 should be allowed to proceed further until he is 
 absolutely sure, not only of the right method of 
 playing scales, but also the right lingering of each 
 scale. If rules for the fingering of scales be desired, 
 they may be found in " The Royal Method for Scales 
 and Arpeggios," in which special attention is called 
 to the note taken by the "third" ("fourth," foreign 
 style) finger of each hand in each scale. If this 
 finger be rightly used the others will usually take 
 their correct places without much trouble. Further 
 hints on fingering are given in the section of this 
 work devoted to that subject. 
 
 After learning the major scales, six months more 
 will probably be found sufficient for mastering the 
 harmonic minors, and another six months for the 
 melodic minors. 
 
 (k). Each scale should, especially in the earlier 
 stages of the pupil's progress, be repeated some ten 
 to twenty times uninterruptedly and throughout a 
 compass of four or five octaves. The common plan 
 of stopping after two or three feeble repetitions of 
 a scale throughout a compass of two octaves, cannot 
 be too strongly condemned. For the first six months 
 all the scale practice should be done with separate 
 hands, left hand first, right hand secondly and left 
 hand again, thirdly. After this period, both hands 
 may be used together during part of the practice. 
 
56 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 12. The Metronome and Scale Rhythms. 
 
 Every pupil should have a metronome. By its 
 judicious use all hopeless floundering in the mazes 
 of time may pleasantly be avoided; and by techni- 
 cal exercises a sense of steady rhythm may gradu- 
 ally be developed in the pupil. Lack of any strong 
 sense of rhythm and lack of the power to teach even 
 time, are noticeable characteristics of many teachers. 
 From a very early stage, then, in the pupil's career 
 the metronome should be used. And its use should 
 be continued throughout elementary hnger exercises, 
 scales, "studies" and "pieces." At first it may be 
 used for the greater part of the lesson and the prac- 
 tice. Afterwards, as the sense of even time develops 
 in the pupil, the amount of its use may gradually 
 be lessened. But there are few pupils who can 
 wisely dispense with its fairly constant use until 
 after a number of years. And in ninety-nine cases 
 out of a hundred, the teachers who do not use a 
 metronome at their lessons may at once be detected 
 by the unevenness of the time kept by their pupils. 
 
 Since nearly all scale, arpeggio and other running 
 passages of notes, throughout musical literature, are 
 written in rhythmical figures, varying in time and 
 accent, it appears to be contrary to all musical sense 
 to adopt the usual habit of making scale and 
 arpeggio practice consist of a succession of notes 
 exactly equal in time and tone. That such an un- 
 musical method of practice should ever have been 
 formulated or continued shows how lacking were 
 
The Metronome and Scale Rhythms. 57 
 
 the inventors in any intelligent analysis of the needs 
 of the case; and with what thoughtless ease con- 
 vention is allowed to fasten useless fetters on its 
 followers. A very short practical acquaintance with 
 the application of rhythmical devices to technical 
 exercises is needed to convince anyone of their 
 superior efficacy, whether for developing a rhythmi- 
 cal sense or for increasing the technical powers. 
 And, strange as it may seem upon a first considera- 
 tion of the statement, the scales most even in tone, 
 should such scales be desired, may most rapidly be 
 acquired by the practice of rhythmical scales with 
 very strong accents, provided that the accents are so 
 arranged as to fall continually on different notes, 
 and that all the accents are of equal strength. The 
 unaccented notes should be played softly. 
 
 Examples of such rhythmical figures as will prove 
 generally useful are given below. Others may be 
 devised by the teacher or may be found in " How 
 to Strike" where there are also detailed directions 
 for their eff^ective use. 
 
 J J • • to be practised for a compass of three eetaves. 
 
 III Ml 
 
 • • • • « • 
 
 i%) . . . . . 
 l~rr', Jill 
 
 ^ p > p 
 
 (4). 
 
 IT' r=H 
 
 • • J • • • „ „ „ „ four 
 
 )) )» )) *j 
 
 )) ») 11 
 
 four 
 
 three 
 
58 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 J jfd J SIZ „ „ , three 
 
 (6). -^^-, 
 
 J ittj J j"jT3 • >«'' 
 
 (7)- 
 
 (8); 
 
 JtttS ^^it:^' „ „ „ ... „, 
 
 JjJ /T^ /T1 
 
 3 
 
 (10). 
 
 - - - - !> !i !. four 
 
 
 • • al • ■••• •••• 
 
 f T I I 
 
 tliiee 
 
 • • • f • o • ,, „ ,, four 
 
 Many an amateur whose ambitions are not very 
 great will be content with a scale course which in- 
 cludes the major, minor and chromatic scales, in the 
 octave position only. Three or four years' steady 
 work should make a pupil so familiar with this 
 limited course, that daily regular practice, even for 
 but a short time, ought perceptibly to improve his 
 finger technique. But no serious student could 
 venture to limit his scale-study to this minimum 
 
The Metronome and Scale Rhythms. 59 
 
 equipment. After he has mastered all the scales in 
 the octave position, he will proceed to scales in 
 thirds, sixths and tenths, in both contrary and simi- 
 lar motion. 
 
 All pupils should invariably practise every scale 
 quite as much beginning from the highest as from 
 the lowest note. 
 
 When all these scales are familiar to the student, 
 it may be found effective to appoint three scales each 
 week for special practice at first; then a few months 
 later, six scales a week; and after that, perhaps two 
 scales a day, in order to revise the whole scale-round 
 each week. This method of procedure is equally 
 applicable to arpeggio practice. Another excellent 
 method for daily practice, at this advanced stage 
 of the pupil's progress is, to go carefully through 
 one or two pages of Dr. Harding's " 5,000 Scale and 
 Arpeggio Tests" or the irregular exercises in "The 
 Royal Method for Scales and Arpeggios " each day. 
 Here may be found lists of scales and arpeggios set 
 down in varied and irregular order, so that by their 
 use the student may be able to play promptly any 
 required form of any scale or arpeggio. 
 
 Whatever method of practice be adopted, the 
 varied scale rhythms already suggested should be 
 used. As the student gains power and ease he may 
 gradually increase the speed of his scales and 
 arpeggios till he can play them as rapidly as eight 
 notes to each beat with the metronome set at ninety- 
 six; never forgetting, of course, to alternate slow 
 with this rapid practice. 
 
60 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Tone Variety in Scale and Arpeggio Practice 
 
 Of equal importance with the cultivation of 
 rhythmical effects in technical study is the cultiva- 
 tion of varieties in tone shading. The common habit 
 is, to rest content with a feeble and monotonous 
 mezzo-forte; the occasional exception is, the prac- 
 tice of a continual fortissimo ; the plan, as desirable 
 as it is rare, which should be adopted so soon as the 
 student has attained a fair degree of independence, 
 power and flexibility of fingers, is the cultivation of 
 every variety of tone, from the softest sound to a 
 vigorous fortissimo. 
 
 Very soft, rapid and even scales will probably be 
 best attained by relaxing all the hand muscles 
 entirely and hardly raising the fingers from the 
 keys at all. But no such practice should be allowed 
 until the pupil has long learnt how rightly to lift 
 his fingers and to produce a powerful tone. 
 
 An exceedingly rapid fortissimo scale is a mark 
 of great technical acquirement; and if there be 
 added to this the ability to play scales //, pp, cres- 
 cendo, diminuendo, either legato or staccato, both 
 slowly and rapidly, the foundation is laid for tech- 
 nical success with the fingers. 
 
 For the purpose of cultivating technical endur- 
 ance it is advisable to practise a "scale of scales." 
 Such an arrangement of the whole of the scales, so 
 fingered that they may be played successively with- 
 out a break, can be found in " The Groundwork of 
 the Leschetizky Method," by Malwin Bree, pub- 
 lished by Schirmer. 
 
 Further directions for acquiring speed and power 
 
Tone Variety in Scale and Arpeggio Practice. 6 1 
 
 in scale-playing may be found in Part II of Mason's 
 "Touch and Technique" as well as in "How to 
 Strike." 
 
 Ambitious students, after they have mastered all 
 forms and varieties of scales with single notes in 
 each hand, will proceed to learn scales in double 
 thirds and double sixths. To these they will apply 
 the rhythms and varieties of tone which they have 
 now learned to apply to the single note scales. 
 
 In concluding this section of the subject of tech- 
 nique, it may be well to state that scale and arpeggio 
 practice is one of the absolute necessities in technical 
 education. The pupil who neglects them is a tech- 
 nical dunce and do what else he will, must ever 
 remain a dunce. The daily amount of time to be 
 devoted to scale practice will, of course, depend 
 upon the total length of each day's practice, as well 
 as upon the stage of the student's progress and the 
 scope of his ambition; but it may safely be said 
 that less than fifteen minutes is wellnigh useless; 
 and that sixty minutes may, very profitably, be 
 spent for some, years at this fruitful labour. 
 
 13. Broken Chords.* 
 
 Special prominence is here given to this section of 
 technical study, not only on account of its great 
 importance, but because of the very general neglect 
 of teachers and students to give it the attention it 
 deserves. Franklin Taylor writes : " I regret that 
 one irrrportant branch of technique is very generally 
 
 * Consult the author's textbook: "Graded Manual of 
 Broken Chord Exercises" (Weekes). 
 
62 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 neglected — namely, broken chord passages as dis- 
 tinguished from continuous arpeggios." And again, 
 he is most emphatic in his advice that extended 
 arpeggios should "never be attempted until the 
 fingers have acquired sufficient strength and free- 
 dom of movement " by the use of broken chord pas- 
 sages. In addition to the efficacy of these exercises 
 for developing finger power and flexibility, are not 
 such passages much more frequently met with 
 throughout the whole range of the classic literature 
 of music than extended arpeggio passages ? And 
 yet how prevalent is the custom of going on straight 
 to extended arpeggios without any attention what- 
 soever to this preliminary study. It would be quite 
 as sensible to omit all other finger exercises and go 
 straight to the study of scales. 
 
 The study and practice of broken chord exercises 
 may begin simultaneously with scale-work or be 
 taken up very shortly after ; and it should be assidu- 
 ously cultivated by every student for some years. 
 
 These exercises may be classed into four grades 
 and each grade should be studied for six or twelve 
 months according to its difficulty and the ability of 
 the pupil. 
 
 Grade I might contain exercises consisting of 
 broken common chords in various figures and differ- 
 ent positions for a fixed position of the hand. 
 
 Grade II, exercises consisting of broken common 
 chords in various figures ascending and descending, 
 requiring moving positions of the hands. 
 
 Grade III, exercises consisting of broken chords 
 of the dominant and diminished seventh, in various 
 figures and positions, for a fixed position of the 
 hands. 
 
 Grade IV, exercises consisting of broken chords 
 of the dominant and diminished seventh, in various 
 
Broken Chords. 63 
 
 figures ascending and descending, requiring Tioving 
 positions of the hands. 
 
 Just as has been recommended in the case of 
 Schmidt's finger-exercises, each of these exercises 
 should be practised in every key, major and minor. 
 So' hkewise each exercise should be repeated ten or 
 twenty times without stopping and to the beat of 
 the metronome. At first they should be practised 
 slowly and with separate hands; later on the speed 
 may be doubled and quadrupled. 
 
 In those grades which require a fixed position of 
 hand, great care must be taken to keep the thumb as 
 nearly as possible over one note of the octave and 
 the little finger over the other and the remaining 
 fingers over their respective notes. 
 
 The exercises should be practised in the following 
 key-groups of which the fingering are the same : first, 
 C, G, F major; secondly, E flat minor and F sharp 
 major; thirdly, D, A, E major and C, G and F 
 minor; fourthly, E flat, A flat, D flat major and A 
 flat, D flat and F sharp minor; and lastly, in the 
 odd keys, B and B minor, B fiat and B flat minor. 
 
 A very few examples of such exercises, in one or 
 two of the grades suggested, are given here as a 
 guide to the teacher, who will devise other figures 
 and exercises for his pupils as this study proceeds. 
 
 GRADE I. 
 Practise in every key. 
 (I). (10). (li). 
 
 6 4 2 
 12* I J_ 
 
 
64 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 (2). 
 
 (21). 
 1 2 
 
 I»=P1 
 
 (26). 
 
 # ,p- 
 
 rp-;p 
 
 
 H-H ^^ 
 
 !=.=?r.^^.= tizfzt-fzwzt 
 
 ti^-t 
 
 (3). 
 
 (3 ). 
 
 Ot). 
 
 ^^^■^■^ r, 323 oo 1242,-- 
 
 1 4 ."i 4 1-424 
 
 (4)- 
 
 (4"). 
 
 1^ '--f- 
 
 " " ^, a 1 :> :=» 4 2 2 1 ^u 
 
 (46). 
 
 b_W 3 2 2 1 
 
 (5). 
 
 (5«). 
 
 15^ — ^-HH-H === _♦ 
 
 
 (Sf-) 
 
 — 1-« H-J-f- 
 
 
 
Broken Chords. 
 
 65 
 
 GRADE II. 
 Practise in C, G, F major; A, E, D minor ; F sharp major and E flat minor, 
 (I). 
 
 1 51 SB 3 B 3 2 
 
 13 4 5 1 a i 
 
 (2). 
 
 £4-1 
 
 
 R iin p™ 
 
 ■•--•- 6 4 
 
 6 4 
 
 -J 1 — ^ — — ^-J- 
 
 M- 
 
 (3). 
 
 ,. .fcsi,j aJgj JiJg 3^. 
 
 ■^^-a-'-J-^ -' *^ 
 
 m 
 
 ^^ms 
 
66 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Many other figures, both in the two grades already 
 illustrated, as well as for chords of the dominant 
 seventh, may readily be devised and copied out by 
 the teacher; or if there be some who do not care to 
 work out such broken chord problems for them- 
 selves, they may find much excellent guidance both 
 as to form and fingering in Franklin Taylor's little 
 "Primer of Pianoforte Playing," pp. 26 to 42; in 
 Germer's "Technics of Pianoforte Playing," in the 
 Cotta-Lebert "Pianoforte School," Book III; or in 
 Mason's "Touch and Technique," Part III. 
 
 Note. A complete graded manual of broken 
 chord exercises by the author, is now published by 
 Weekes and Co. 
 
 15. Extended Arpeggios. 
 
 After a year's diligent course of study at some 
 typical broken chord exercises in the various grades 
 mentioned in the previous section, the teacher may 
 safely proceed to the usual course of extended 
 arpeggios. 
 
 These arpeggios may best be studied in sections, 
 
Extended Arpeggios. 67 
 
 in the following order : first, arpeggios of major 
 common chords, separate hands, in the first position 
 only; secondly, arpeggios of minor common chords 
 similarly; thirdly, these arpeggios with both hands 
 together also; fourthly, the second and third posi- 
 tions of these chords in addition, first, separate 
 hands and then both hands together; fifthly, 
 arpeggios of the diminished seventh and dominant 
 seventh, with separate hands in all positions; 
 sixthly, the same chords hands together; seventhly, 
 all the chords already named, in similar motion, 
 both in sixths and tenths. 
 
 Fingering of Arpeggios. 
 
 Accuracy of fingering is of the utmost importance ; 
 therefore the teacher must patiently persist until 
 accuracy of fingering is attained. The task of 
 learning the right fingering of common chord 
 arpeggios will be found so much easier if these 
 arpeggios are learnt in the groups of which the 
 fingering is the same, that it is well worth while to 
 make a careful study of the following classification 
 and to teach these arpeggios in the groups named. 
 
 Group I. C, G, F and F sharp majors; D, A, E 
 and E flat minors. 
 
 Group 2. D, A, E majors: C, G, F minors. 
 
 The fingering for these groups is easily 
 remembered : 
 
 Left hand, first position; 5, 4, 2, i ; 4, 2, i, etc. 
 
 Left hand, third position; 5, 3, 2, i ; 3, 2, i, etc. 
 
 Left hand, second position; 5, 4, 2, i ; 4, 2, i, etc.; 
 except where the first key is black, and then, 4, 2, i. 
 
68 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Right hand, first position; i, 2, 3; i, 2, 3, etc. 
 
 Right hand, third position; i, 2, 4; i, 2, 4, etc. 
 
 Right hand, second position; i, 2, 4; i, 2, 4, etc., 
 except where the. first key is black, and then, 2, i, 4; 
 2, I, 4, etc. 
 
 Group 3. E flat, A flat, C sharp majors; F 
 sharp, C sharp, A flat minors. 
 
 Fingering : 
 
 Left hand, first position; 3, i ; 3, 2, i, etc. 
 
 Left hand, second position; 5, 4, 2, i ; 4, 2, i, etc. 
 
 Left hand, third position; 4, 2, i ; 4, 2, i, etc. 
 
 Right hand, first position; 2, i, 4; 2, i, 4, etc. 
 
 Right hand, third position; 2, i, 4; 2, i, 4, etc. 
 
 Right hand, second position; i, 2, 4; i, 2, 4, etc. 
 
 Group 4. The isolated chords of B and B flat 
 major and minor. 
 
 Fingering : 
 
 B major, right hand; fir-st position; i, 2, 3, i; 
 second position; 2, 3, i, 2; third position; 2, i, 2, 3. 
 
 B major, left hand; first position; 5, 3, 2, i ; 
 second position; 3, 2, i ; third position; 3, i, 3, 2, i. 
 
 B minor, right hand; first position; i, 2, 3, i; 
 second position; i, 2, 4, i ; third position; 2, i, 2, 3. 
 
 B minor, left hand; first position; 5. 4> 2, i; 
 second position; 5, 4, 2, i ; third position; 4, 2, I, 4. 
 
 B flat major, right hand; first position; 3, i, 2, 4; 
 second position; i, 2, 4, i ; third position; i, 2, 4, I. 
 
 B flat major, left hand; first position; 3, 2, i, 3; 
 second position; 5, 4, 2, i ; third position; 5, 3, 2, i. 
 
 B flat minor, right hand; first position; 2, 3, i, 2; 
 second position; 2, i, 2, 3; third position; i, 2, 3, i. 
 
 B flat minor, left hand; first position; 3, 2, i, 3; 
 second position; 3, i, 3, 2; third position, 5, 3, 2, i. 
 
 Complete rules, classifications and variations in 
 regard to fingering, may be found in the author's 
 textbook, "The Royal Method for Scales and 
 Arpeggios" (Allan and Co.). 
 
Special Faults in Arpeggio Playing. 69 
 
 Special Faults in Arpeggio Playing. 
 
 The teacher will probably soon discover that all 
 faults made in scale-playing are likely to be accen- 
 tuated in arpeggio playing. He will therefore 
 watch the following points vigilantly : the instant, 
 and even, onward movement of the thumb; the out- 
 ward bend of the wrists; the high position of the 
 hands at the little hnger side; the high raising of 
 the whole hand the moment it passes the thumb ; the 
 avoidance of all twisting of the hand and fingers 
 round the thumb instead of an even onward move- 
 ment of the hand, po^d at one constant angle to 
 the keyboard. 
 
 One additional and very common fault is break- 
 ing the legato. Now, as the surest way of elim- 
 inating a fault is to concentrate the attention on the 
 right thing to be done exactly at the point where the 
 fault appears; so the best way to remedy this fault 
 IS to ensure attention to the following directions. In 
 the right hand ascending, and in the left hand 
 descending, watch carefully to hold down the note 
 preceding that taken by the thumb until the thumb 
 note is struck. Again, in the right hand, descending, 
 and in the left, ascending, watch carefully to hold 
 down the thumb note until the following note is 
 struck. 
 
 AA.5. Many pupils find it difficult to attain ac- 
 curacy or certainty in arpeggio-playing. A very 
 helpful mode of practice for all such pupils is this : 
 Repeat each arpeggio until you have played it three 
 times in succession without a single mistake, with 
 
70 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 the metronome set to any convenient speed, from 
 ninety-six to i68; first, three times, two notes to each 
 beat, then three times, three notes to each beat, and 
 then three times, four notes to each beat. If a single 
 mistake or even a stumble be made during any repe- 
 tition, stop at once, and begin the prescribed arpeggio 
 three times over again. There are few pupils who 
 will not soon develop certainty if this mode of prac- 
 tice be conscientiously carried out daily. 
 
 The scale rhythms already given should be used 
 regularly for arpeggios; varieties of tone must be 
 assiduously cultivated; and the staccato touch 
 should never be neglected. 
 
 While it may be well, during the first six months 
 of arpeggio practice, to limit the compass to two 
 octaves, in order that the fingers may become accus- 
 tomed to their new positions, this compass should be 
 enlarged to three, four and five octaves, as soon as 
 possible. The memorising of the arpeggios must 
 not be forgotten; or the order of practice already 
 suggested for separate hands; or the alternations of 
 slow with rapid practice. 
 
 Less than fifteen minutes daily for the beginner; 
 thirty minutes a day for the unambitious pupil ; 
 and forty to sixty minutes a day for the student 
 who hopes to attain a brilliant success, may safely 
 be regarded as the minimums for some five or six 
 years of the educational course. 
 
 Many pupils, from the long habit of practising 
 scales first, and arpeggios afterwards, each day, find 
 it rather disconcerting to play an arpeggio and a 
 scale in immediate succession. This disability may 
 be overcome by a little practice every day of scales 
 and arpeggios in alternation. 
 
 If special exercises be desired for the cultivation 
 of endurance, much satisfaction may be found in the 
 use of Mason's "Touch and Technique," Book III, 
 
Special Faults in Arpeggio Playing. 71 
 
 as well as in the "Scale of Arpeggios" and "Suite 
 of Arpeggios," contained in the appendix of Malwin 
 Bree's "Groundwork of the Leschetizky Method." 
 
 1 6. Wrist and Arm Technique. 
 
 It is not at all uncommon to meet with players 
 whose technical acquirements are quite one-sided. 
 Some pupils who attain considerable fluency in 
 finger technique fail utterly in chord and octave 
 playing; while others, again, who have considerable 
 facility in chord and octave work, appear to have 
 very little facility in finger-passage work. Such 
 one-sidedness is not due to limited talent on the part 
 of the pupil, but may generally be traced to inade- 
 quate training given by the teacher. Both of the 
 great divisions of technical work — finger technique, 
 and wrist and arm technique, should be cultivated 
 from a very early stage in the education of every 
 pupil : both should receive equal and diligent atten- 
 tion throughout the whole educational career. If 
 the cultivation of wrist flexibility and power be 
 neglected in the early years of the child's practice, 
 the probability is that the lost ground may never be 
 recovered. One cause of this early neglect may be 
 •found in the notion that octaves and large chords 
 are not within the reach of a small hand. But then, 
 these stretches are not necessary. Wrist training 
 may be begun with single notes, and may be con- 
 tinued with thirds and common chords of three 
 notes, until the hand has grown large enough for 
 more extended stretches. 
 
 The first points to be aimed at are much the same 
 
72 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 as those required for finger technique : suppleness of 
 joint, power, accuracy of aim, and rapidity of move- 
 ment. The best wrist exercises for the beginner 
 correspond somewhat to the elementary two-finger 
 exercises. A single note repeated will suffice. 
 
 The points to be carefully observed are these : 
 
 (a). Raise the hand rapidly till it is as nearly as 
 possible at right angles with the arm, at the same 
 time taking care that the correct curve of the fingers 
 is not altered; hold it for a moment so uplifted; 
 then strike down with a movement as rapid as possi- 
 ble. Let the succession of notes be slow, but the up 
 and down motion of the hand as extensive and rapid 
 as possible. 
 
 (b). Hold the wrist rather low — nearly on a level 
 with the keyboard. 
 
 (c). Keep the forearm steady; relax the muscles 
 of the arm, and keep them relaxed all the time; let 
 the striking movement be as if the intention were to 
 whip the notes, allowing the elbow to move slightly 
 with the motion of the hand, while the wrist is the 
 fixed central pivot from which all the movement is 
 governed. 
 
 (d). Keep the fingers neatly curved; and do not 
 let the hand drop before its moment for striking. 
 
 This exercise may be played at first with repeti- 
 tions of a single note, using the middle finger to 
 begin with, and following with the other fingers; 
 next, with repetitions of thirds; next, with repeti- 
 tions of sixths; then, with repetitions of common 
 chords, major and minor, three notes to each chord; 
 and then with chords of the dominant and dimin- 
 ished seventh, four notes to each chord. 
 
 The speed taken at first will be very slow; say 
 M.M. 60, one note or chord to each beat. 
 
 As the wrist joint and arm muscles soon grow 
 weary, it will be well to practise these exercises a 
 
Wrist and Arm Technique. 73 
 
 little at a time, but that little often. A few minutes, 
 half a dozen times throughout the course of the day's 
 practice, is far more effective than a continuous 
 attempt which utterly fatigues and stiffens the mus- 
 cles. As power develops, the length of each practice 
 may be increased and the number of the practices 
 decreased. The tendency towards stiffening the 
 arm muscles is one of the greatest difficulties to be 
 contended against. One helpful plan is, to get the 
 pupil to shake his hand rapidly up and down in the 
 air for some time, keeping his forearm as steady as 
 possible; and while he is engaged in this exercise, to 
 observe the relaxed or loose condition of his arm 
 muscles, so that he may try to adopt the same mus- 
 cular condition at the piano. So soon as any stiffen- 
 ing of the muscles begins, the pupil should stop the 
 exercises, rest for a little, and then begin again. A 
 series of exercises will now be suggested which may 
 be used progressively from a very early stage in the 
 pupil's work, in order to ensure a proper advance of 
 wrist-technique, side by side with hnger-technique. 
 All the points already mentioned as to the right 
 method of practice will be carefully enforced by the 
 teacher. 
 
 (a). With the middle hnger strike each note of a 
 scale ten times throughout the compass of an octave, 
 ascending and descending, at a metronome rate of 
 sixty, one note to each beat; next strike each note 
 twenty times at double this speed — M.M. 60, two 
 notes to each beat. 
 
 (b). When, by a few weeks of this practice, some 
 moderate degree of wrist flexibility is attained, 
 again double the speed, playing four notes to each 
 beat, with the metronome at sixty. As the speed in- 
 creases, the raising of the hand will, of course, be 
 lessened. But for many months it will be advisable 
 
74 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 to spend a few minutes daily at the practice of the 
 first exercises, raising the hand as high and as 
 rapidly as possible, during a slow succession of 
 notes. And for the first twelve months it may be 
 well to enforce separate hand practice exclusively. 
 
 (C). Repeat each note of a scale eight times 
 throughout a compass of two octaves, at sixty, four 
 notes to each beat. Go through all the scales in this 
 way. And vary the 'use of the middle finger by 
 practice with each of the other fingers. Next, use 
 four repetitions of each note throughout a compass 
 of three octaves; then two repetitions for a compass 
 of four octaves; and then, single note staccato scales, 
 at first, with each of the fingers separately, and 
 afterwards, with the usual scale fingering, but in all 
 cases, with exaggerated wrist action. 
 
 (D). After a few months' training with single 
 notes, a similar course may be gone through, using 
 major and minor thirds at first, and afterwards, 
 major and minor sixths. 
 
 (E). The major common chords may next be 
 taken, three notes to each chord; and they may be 
 played throughout a chromatic octave, ascending and 
 descending, eight repetitions of each chord at sixty 
 to eighty-four, two notes to each beat at first; then 
 four repetitions of each chord, then two repetitions, 
 and then up and down the chromatic octaves, strik- 
 ing each note but once. This exercise may be in- 
 creased in speed till it can be played atM.M. J = 84, 
 either in quavers, semiquavers or demisemiquavers. 
 
 Note. For variety and effective results, it is 
 advisable to get the pupil to practise all wrist exer- 
 cises in the rhythmical figures suggested for scales 
 and arpeggios. 
 
 (f). After the major, the minor common chords 
 should be added; then chords of the dominant and 
 
Wrist and Arm Technique. 75 
 
 diminished seventh, four notes to each chord; and 
 after that, the inversions of all these chords. The 
 same manner as that suggested for the practice of 
 common chords may be adopted here. The course 
 sketched now may very well occupy the earlier years 
 of the pupil's education in wrist technique until his 
 hand develops sufficiently to take up octave work. 
 
 As the intervals used in wrist practice increase in 
 width great care must be taken to avoid contracting 
 the stretch between the thumb and the little finger 
 when raising the hand. Neglect of this precaution 
 often leads to stumbling, incorrect notes and uncer- 
 tainty when playing octave passages. 
 
 The various methods recommended for the culti- 
 vation of wrist technique, while using single notes 
 and intervals requiring but a small stretch, may 
 again be applied now to the practice of octaves : 
 ' first, eight repetitions of each note of a major scale, 
 for an octave ascending and descending; then four 
 repetitions for two octaves; then two repetitions for 
 a compass of three octaves; and at last, octave 
 scales, striking each note once. The metronome may 
 be set at eighty-four at first, and the speed may 
 gradually be increased by playing two, then three, 
 then four notes to each beat. The various rhythmi- 
 cal figures suggested should be used at all stages of 
 progress ; and the metronome speed may be increased 
 till all the scales can be played at 126, four notes to 
 a beat. 
 
 Minor and chromatic scales will, later on, be 
 followed by octave arpeggios of all the chords 
 formerly practised as single note arpeggios. Then 
 all the scales and arpeggios may be practised in 
 thirds and sixths, both in similar and contrary 
 motion. The student who spends some years at the 
 careful practice of all the exercises here suggested 
 
76 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 will have laid the foundation of a very neat and 
 effective wrist technique. 
 
 For the purpose of developing his powers further 
 in the same direction, and for cultivating ease in 
 executing chord passages of various kinds, he may 
 proceed to the following" four exercises: 
 
 (i). Strike full common chords, four notes to each 
 chord, both major and minor, successively and con- 
 tinuously on every note of a chromatic scale, for the 
 compass of an octave ascending and desicending, 
 first, with eight repetitions of each chord ; next, with 
 four repetitions; next, with two repetitions; and at 
 last but one chord for each note. Set the metronome 
 at seventy-two, and gradually increase the pace till 
 the exercises can be played at 126, four notes to each 
 beat, for example : 
 
 J = 72 to 126, 
 
 (a). (6). {c). 
 
 l-ffi-si— sSi-4 
 
 
 (2). Adopt the same system for chords of the 
 dominant seventh, playing five notes to each chord. 
 The greater part of all this practice should be with 
 separate hands. 
 
 (3). After this, practise, in the same manner, full 
 
Wrist and Arm Technique. 77 
 
 common chords and their inversions, at first four, 
 and then two, repetitions of each chord, till a 
 chromatic octave of chords has been completed, 
 thus : 
 
 («). 
 
 
 
 (*)• _ n ("^ 
 
 m p n -•-•■ -•- 
 
 :::*=: ;:zt:tiE3:=Bi::8:?iEB 
 etc. i,^;^*^ etc 
 
 (4). Chords of the dominant seventh, with their 
 inversions, five notes to each chord, practised simi- 
 larly, may complete this series of exercises. This 
 final exercise is a difficult one, and is suitable only 
 for hands with a large stretch. 
 
 For the purpose of a vigorous fortissimo, all these 
 exercises may be also practised with the full force 
 of the arm. At the moment of striking the chord, 
 raise the wrist slightly, and at the same instant throw 
 the force of a forward and downward movement of 
 the arm upon the fingers. In this way a very forci- 
 ble or martellaio tone may most easily be produced. 
 
'8 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Other Useful Octave Exercises. 
 
 As the technical powers develop, the pupil may 
 be directed to supplement the foregoing exercises by 
 a systematic use of the author's "Royal Road to 
 Octave and Wrist Technique" (Ashdown). Junior 
 pupils Mfill find both pleasurable and profitable 
 variety in the use of Leybach's "La Diabolique," if 
 it be memorised, and played every day in accordance 
 with the directions of its author : four times continu- 
 ously at a metronome rate of 152. Six months' 
 regular practice, after a few years' preliminary 
 wrist exercises, ought to enable the pupil to accom- 
 plish this fatiguing task. Further useful exercises 
 in octaves may be found in Book IV of Mason's 
 "Touch and Technique" and Kullak's "Octave 
 School." 
 
 Note. "The Royal Road to Octave and Wrist 
 Technique" contains not only minute and explicit 
 directions upon the most effective method of prac- 
 tising chords and octaves, but also provides such a 
 progressive course of technical exercises and studies 
 as should suffice for the needs of the student 
 throughout the whole course of his training. 
 
 Needless Multiplication of Technical 
 Exercises. 
 
 In all the various branches of technique which 
 have been discussed here, the exercises now pub- 
 
Needless Multiplication of Technical Exercises. 79 
 
 lished are practically innumerable. The student 
 who plods patiently through book after book of 
 these exercises, might be excused for asking him- 
 self where it was all to end. The varieties of 
 figures, more or less complicated, into which pas- 
 sages for finger and wrist exercises could be 
 wrought, are infinite in number. But it is hardly 
 profitable to spend one's time upon more than such 
 a specially selected and skilfully arranged minimum 
 as will most speedily and most effectively develop 
 the technical powers. When, by a right use of this 
 effective minimum of exercises, a high degree of in- 
 dependence, power, and rapidity of movement is at- 
 tained ; when one's fingers become familiar with a 
 number of the principal typical figured passages 
 which are found to occur often throughout piano- 
 forte literature; when also, the wrist training has 
 reached a corresponding stage of advancement ; then 
 it is far better to devote the time appointed for tech- 
 nical practice to the daily repetition of familiar and 
 effective exercises, and to learn fresh passages for 
 fingers and wrists as they are met with in the pieces 
 under study, than to attempt a tithe of the new ex- 
 ercises to which our attention may, from time to time 
 be called. 
 
 17. Daily Schools of Technical Exercises. 
 
 So soon as the pupil has gone through such a 
 foundation course of technical study as has been 
 sketched so far, the next business of the teacher is 
 to provide some concise and efficient method, not 
 alone to prevent retrogression, but to ensure still 
 
80 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 further advance. Many eminent teachers have ap- 
 plied themselves to this problem, and have devised 
 for its solution schools of daily technical study. 
 These works are intended to promote advanced tech- 
 nical brilliancy. They are usually of a comprehen- 
 sive kind, and include varieties of complicated 
 figures for two, three, four and five fingers, whether 
 for the hands in fixed positions or moving up and 
 down the pianoforte, as well as for the mastery of 
 contractions and extensions ; scale and arpeggio 
 studies; repeated note exercises; skipping passages; 
 chord and octave work. It is intended that these 
 exercises be played with force and brilliancy; and 
 that they be practised, not alone slowly, but also 
 at a very rapid rate. Each work or section of the 
 work is arranged to provide sufficient material for 
 one day's technical practice. And the whole work 
 or section of it appointed for practice, should be 
 played through continuously. 
 
 Amongst such technical schools the following may 
 be mentioned. The order adopted is that of pro- 
 gressive difficulty. 
 
 1. Plaidy's "Daily Studies" (Augener). 
 
 2. Loschorn, "Technical Studies" (Presser). 
 
 3. Leybach, "La Diabolique" (a single wrist 
 study). 
 
 4. Kohler, " Technische Materialen." 
 
 5. Germer, "Technics of the Piano" (Bosworth). 
 
 6. Czerny, "Forty Daily Exercises," Op. 337. 
 
 7. Hanon, " The Pianiste Virtuose." 
 
 8. Moore, "The Mechanism of Pianoforte-Play- 
 ing" (Bosworth). 
 
 g. Mason, " Touch and Technique " (four books). 
 
 10. Kullak, "Octave School," Books II, III (octave 
 studies only). 
 
 11. Oscar Beringer, "Daily Studies" (Bosworth). 
 
Daily Schools of Teclmical Exercises. 81 
 
 12. Joseffy, "School of Advanced Piano Playing" 
 (Schirmer). 
 
 13. Tausig-Ehrlich, "Daily Studies" (three books). 
 
 Of all these, by far the most effective works are 
 the " Kullak Octave School " and the Joseffy or the 
 Tausig-Ehrlich "Daily Studies." After a good 
 technical foundation has been laid, these works 
 should be practised till they can be played with ac- 
 curacy, power, brilliancy and endurance, at a high 
 rate of speed. No student who has thus mastered 
 Czerny, Op. 337, Mason, Hanon, Kullak, Joseffy and 
 Tausig-Ehrlich, and who continues to spend an hour 
 or two at their daily practice, need look for fresh 
 exercises to labour upon; no such student need hide 
 his technical light under a bushel, from lack of just 
 confidence. 
 
 18. Some Useful Works on Technique. 
 
 1. Johnstone, "How to Strike the Keys of the 
 Pianoforte" (Hammond). 
 
 2. Franklin Taylor, " Primer of Pianoforte-Play- 
 ing" (Macmillan). 
 
 3. Franklin Taylor, "Technique and Expres- 
 sion" (Novello). 
 
 4. Riemann, "Catechism of Pianoforte-Playing" 
 (Augener). 
 
 5. Moore, "First Principles of Technique" (Bos- 
 worth). 
 
 6. Marie Prentner, "The Modern Pianist" 
 (Presser). 
 
 7 
 
82 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 7. Malwin Bree, " Groundwork of the Leschetizky 
 Method" (Schirmer). 
 
 8. Harding, "5,000 Scale and Arpeggio Tests" 
 (Weekes). 
 
 9. Johnstone, " Piano Technique " (Weekes). 
 
 10. Johnstone, "Royal Method for Wrist and Oc- 
 tave Technique" (Ashdown). 
 
 Useful Pianoforte Tutors. 
 
 "The Royal Pianoforte Method," by J. Alfred 
 Johnstone (Boosey). 
 
 The Cotta-Lebert "Pianoforte School," Part I. 
 
 L. Kohler, "Practical Piano-Method" (Peters). 
 
 Damm's "Tutor" (Steingraber). 
 
 Gurlitt's "Technics and Melody," Op. 228, three 
 books. 
 
 Franklin Taylor's "Pianoforte Tutor." 
 
 Holmes and Karn, "Technical Training." 
 
 SECTION II.— PIANOFORTE STUDIES. 
 
 I. Introductory Suggestions. 
 
 It may very pertinently be asked, what on earth 
 is the necessity for adding to the very elaborate 
 scheme of technical work already outlined ? Is any- 
 thing further really required beyond the labour en- 
 tailed by occasional passages of exceptional diffi- 
 
Introductory Suggestions. 83 
 
 culty in the pieces under study ? Is technical work 
 of value and beauty in itself, or is it of value only 
 in so far as it helps the more rapidly to bring the 
 beauty of real music within easy reach ? These 
 questions are worth the asking. Were I to give my 
 own opinion frankly and strongly, I should not 
 hesitate to advise that all these inventions called 
 studies should be entirely put aside; and that the 
 time appointed for them be divided between the 
 technical exercises already suggested, and the finest 
 music obtainable. 
 
 The subject, however, deserves consideration, if 
 only in deference to those able and earnest teachers 
 who advocate the use of these compositions. Be- 
 sides, it may be contended, that such a host of emin- 
 ent pianists and teachers would not have written or 
 urged the use of these legions of studies if they 
 may wisely be set aside. This contention may, how- 
 ever, be satisfactorily met. Before the subject of 
 technique had been examined, analysed, system- 
 atised, reduced to a sort of practical scientific 
 method ; when the means of acquiring technique were 
 left to the judgment of the individual teacher; when 
 there were no comprehensive, effective and system- 
 atised schemes of technical exercises published ;' then 
 these studies came to be regarded as the orthodox 
 stepping-stone to technical efficiency. So long have 
 such views obtained, that it seemed the right and 
 natural thing to walk in the paths trodden by so 
 many eminent guides. 
 
 But there is another way of looking at the matter, 
 too, in order to account for the popularity of this 
 species of composition. Successful teachers may 
 regard studies as a sort of sugar-coated pill of tech- 
 nique. Underneath a pleasant appearance of music 
 there is concealed the technical matter which consti- 
 
84 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 tutes their efficacy. And no doubt there are many 
 pupils who derive technical benefit from the use of 
 these diluted musico-technical studies, who would 
 refuse the more strenuous path of purely technical 
 labour. It may be well, therefore, to sketch briefly 
 a graded course of some of those studies which are 
 held in high repute. If used at all, they should be 
 used well. Phrasing, rhythm and expression must 
 be added to the purely technical part of the 
 work; and the compositions must be. diligently 
 practised until they can be played with accuracy 
 and certainty at the speeds required by their varied 
 character. 
 
 Fashions in studies change. One teacher, or one 
 school of music, will prescribe one course, another 
 some course entirely different. And indeed, this is 
 natural where there is so little system and so vast a 
 choice. One plan adopted is, to select a few books 
 of studies of progressive degrees of difficulty, and 
 to take the student laboriously and persistently 
 through them all to the end. A favourite selection 
 was Bertini, Opus lOO, 20 and 32; Cramer; half-a- 
 dozen books from Czerny's vast stock; dementi's 
 " Gradus " ; Moscheles, Opus 70 and 95 ; Henselt, 
 Opus 2 and 10; and Chopin, Opus 10 and 25. But 
 such a course was decried by others as too narrow in 
 its range of authors and unnecessarily severe. These 
 critics therefore prescribed a much more numerous 
 course of works and authors; and from each of the 
 opus numbers they advised that a small selection 
 be made. 
 
 The latest development of this school is to utilise 
 one or other of those varied, progressive and com- 
 prehensive lists of studies now issued by many pub- 
 lishers. It will suffice here to name at first a few 
 of these graded lists of studies; and afterwards to 
 
Introductory Suggestions. 85 
 
 give a list of some of the best known books of 
 studies, graded in four or five degrees of progres- 
 sive difficulty. Where books of studies are num- 
 bered by thousands, the unskilled teacher may well 
 be pardoned for desiring guidance to a safe ortho- 
 dox minimum. 
 
 2. Progressive Schools of Studies. 
 
 Novello and Co. issue a course of these studies 
 progressively graded and edited by Franklin Tay- 
 lor. In a series of fifty-two books may be found a 
 selection of some five hundred compositions by Ber- 
 tini, Cramer, Clementi, Dohler, Schmidt, Mayer, 
 Kohler, Steibelt, Berger, Lemoine, Moscheles and 
 others. 
 
 Augener and Co. follow with another list, edited 
 by O. Thiimer, also at one shilling per book. Although 
 there are but sixteen books in this collection there 
 are about 350 studies. There is a magnificent range 
 of authors, grades and works. Nearly forty of the 
 ablest study writers are fairly well represented. 
 Loschorn is a favourite; the series begins with Gur- 
 litt, Bertini, Bergmiiller, Lemoine and Duvernoy ; 
 and ends with Chopin, Henselt.Liszt, Seeling, Mayer, 
 Nicode and Haberbier. 
 
 Breitkopf and Hartel's publication is edited by 
 Conrad Kuhner. It is contained in ten books, at 
 two shillings a book, as their "Etude School." 
 
 Weekes and Co. issue an excellent and progressive 
 
86 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 series in nine books, under the editorship of Holmes 
 and Karn. 
 
 Years ago Lebert and Stark, in their "Pianoforte 
 School," compiled an excellent progressive course of 
 exercises and studies interspersed, which was pub- 
 lished by Cotta for the use of students of the Stutt- 
 gart Conservatorium. 
 
 Bosworth, again, publishes an admirable collec- 
 tion of " loo Elementary Studies," progressively 
 arranged by that able scholar, Germer. The fore- 
 most American publications of this kind are : " The 
 Standard Graded Course of Studies," in ten books, 
 by W. S. B. Mathews, issued by Presser, of Phila- 
 delphia; and "The National Graded Course," in 
 seven books, issued by the Hatch Co., of the same 
 city, all at one dollar per book. 
 
 Then, again, there are many individual writers of 
 progressive courses of studies; and these composi- 
 tions are varied within the limits of the individu- 
 ality of each writer. Different teachers have dif- 
 ferent preferences. Some are loyal to prolific old 
 Czerny. The most popular of his opus numbers are : 
 299, 3^7, 335, 365, 740, 309, 400. Some prefer Berens, 
 some Kohler, some Marmontel,-and others the more 
 modern school of Loschorn, of whose studies over 
 one hundred are arranged in progressive order, and 
 published by Augener. 
 
 The needs and desires of the more advanced stu- 
 dents are specially regarded in the one hundred 
 studies contained in Pauer's "New Gradus ad Par- 
 nassum," published by Augener. In these there are 
 sectional courses for Scales and Velocity, Thirds and 
 Sixths, the Shake, Arpeggios, Octaves, Chords, Ex- 
 tensions in Arpeggio Chords, Staccato, Left Hand, etc. 
 
Lists of Graded Studies. 87 
 
 3. Lists of Graded Studies, with Authors and 
 Opus Numbers. 
 
 The studies mentioned in the following lists con- 
 stitute but an infinitesimal selection from among 
 the many thousands issued by the great publishing 
 houses of England and Europe. The selection 
 given here is grouped into five grades of progres- 
 sive difficulty, and provides compositions very varied 
 in character, starting, on the one side, at such purely 
 technical works as those of Kohler, Berens, Czerny ; 
 and leading on through the musico-technical matter 
 of Cramer, Clementi, Loschorn, Moscheles, to the 
 more musical styles of Bergmiiller, Heller, Concone, 
 Henselt, Thalberg and Chopin. 
 
 Many other lists thus varied and graded might 
 very well be chosen; but the following lists contain 
 some of the studies most generally held in esteem 
 throughout the world by the advocates of this por- 
 tion of a student's curriculum. 
 
 Grade L 
 Yery Easy Studies for Elementary Pupils. 
 
 Berens, Opp. 70, 61, 73, 79. 
 Czerny, Opp. 353. 684, 139. 453- 
 Le Couppey, Op. 17. 
 Kohler, Opp. 151, 190, 205 
 Wohlfahrt, Op. 61. 
 
 Duvernoy, Op. 176. 
 Duvernoy, Op no. 
 Doring, Opp. 38, 86. 
 Lemoine, Op. 37. 
 Loschorn, Opp. 159, 192. 
 
88 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Grade II. 
 Easy Studies for Young Pufils. 
 
 Czerny, Op. 139 
 Kirchner, Op. 71. 
 Kohler, Opp. 182. 216, 234. 
 Duvernoy, Op. 176. 
 Bergmijller, Op. 100. 
 Loschorn, Opp. 65, igo, 193 
 Germer, 100 Elementary 
 Studies (Bosworth). 
 
 Gurlitt, Opp. 50, 51, 52, 53. 
 
 Kunz, Op. 14 
 
 Donng, Op 8. 
 
 Bertini, Op. 100 
 
 Berens, Op. 73. 
 
 Le Couppey, Op. 79. 
 
 Bach, Small Preludes. 
 
 Grade III. 
 
 Moderately Difficult Studies for Junior and Inter- 
 mediate Fufils. 
 
 Bertini, Opp. 29 and 33. 
 Heller, Opp. 47, 45, 46. 
 Krause, Opp. 3, 9. 
 Hiller, Op 46. 
 Loschorn, Op. 66 
 
 Berens, Op. 73. 
 Concone,Opp. 44,24,23,30,31. 
 Bach, Two- Part Inventions. 
 Bach. Suites. 
 Wolff, Opp 261, 19. 
 
 Cramer's Studies, Ed. by Coccius, Biilow, Tausig, Ruthardt 
 or Dr. Weekes. 
 
 Grade IV. 
 Studies for Senior Pupils. 
 
 dementi, Gradus. 
 Graham Moore, Op 24. 
 Czerny, Opp 355. 740, 818, 
 
 553- 834. 
 Mayer Opp.200, iig, i58, 305. 
 Loschorn, Opp. 67, 136. 
 Heller, Op. 16. 
 
 Moscheles, Opp 70 and 95 
 Berens, Opp. 61, 64. 
 Berger, Opp. 12, 22. 
 Doring, Opp. 8 
 Kohler, Opp. i2f, 138, 112. 
 Kessler, Op. 20. 
 Jensen, Opp. 32, 33. 
 
Lists of Graded Studies. 
 
 89 
 
 Grade V. 
 Studies for Advanced Students. 
 
 Alkan, 0pp. 38, 39. 
 
 Kohler, Op. 120. 
 
 Nicodfe, Op 21. 
 
 Chopin, 0pp. 10, 35. 
 
 Schumann, 0pp. 3, 7, 10, 13. 
 
 MacDowell, Op. 46. 
 
 Brahms, 51 Technical Exer- 
 cises. 
 
 Liszt, Concert Studies and 
 taganini Studies. 
 
 Bulow, Major, Minor and 
 Chromatic Studies. 
 
 Rosenthal and Schytte, Piano- 
 forte Virtuosity. 
 
 Pauer, New Gradus ad Par- 
 nassum. 
 
 Henselt, 0pp. 2, 5. 
 
 Czerny, Opp. 335, 365, 735. 
 
 Thalberg, Op. 26. 
 
 Kavina, Op. 14. 
 
 Saint-Saens, Op. 52. 
 
 Tausig, 12 Concert Studies. 
 
 Rubinstein, Concert Studies. 
 
 4. Octave Studies. 
 
 As an appendix to the lists already given, a few 
 octave studies are here mentioned for the sake of 
 those who desire to make a special pursuit of this 
 branch of technique through the medium of these 
 compositions. 
 
 Gurlitt, Op. 100. 
 
 Kertini, Op. 84. 
 
 A. Schmidt, Op. 16, Nos. 13, 
 
 14. 
 Low, Op. 281. 
 Alkan, Op. 35, Nos. 2 3, 5, 6, 
 
 9, 12. 
 Clementi, Gradus. Nos. 21, 65. 
 Henselt, Op 5, Nos. 5. 8. 
 Brahms, Octave Study in A 
 
 minor. 
 
 Johnstone, Koyal Method for 
 
 Lis2t, Concert Studies. Nos 
 
 I, 7, II (Breitkopf & Hartel). 
 W. Coenen, 6 Octave Studies 
 
 (Novello). 
 Loschorn, Op. 177. 
 Czerny, Op 553. 
 Thalberg, Op. 26, Nos. 3, 4, 
 
 6. II. 
 Pacher, Op. 11. 
 Chopin, Op. 25, Nos. 9, 10. 
 KuUak, Octave School, 3 
 
 books. 
 Octave and Wrist Technique. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 General Suggestions for the Teaching 
 of Interpretation, 
 
 I. Introductory Remarks. 
 
 Whether musical interpretation can be effectively 
 taught at all is a question upon which opinions dif- 
 fer. There are many persons who believe that it 
 is not possible to formulate or to express upon this 
 subject such guiding principles as will enable a stu- 
 dent to discover for himself the right spirit and 
 interpretation of musical works. These teachers, 
 unconsciously and by implication, deny the virtue 
 of their art of teaching. They vaguely believe that 
 there is in music some sort of esoteric mystery which 
 is to be understood only by those who have a natural 
 genius that way. 
 
 The best method of solving the question of the 
 justice of such opinions is to discover the real reason 
 
 90 
 
Suggestions for the Teaching of Interpretation. 91 
 
 of the denial of this power of communicating the 
 interpretation of music by teaching the principles 
 of musical expression. This inquiry will at once 
 differentiate teachers into two great classes : those 
 who analyse and formulate, on the one hand; and 
 those who work chiefly by imitation and without the 
 help of definite principles, on the other. 
 
 The mature artist, who has never spent any time 
 or study upon the analysis of what he does or how 
 he does it, when he is appreciatively playing a musi- 
 cal composition, if called upon to explain his method 
 of attaining this result, would probably make some 
 such statement as this : " Music speaks to me as in 
 the language of a familiar friend. Its voice I know, 
 its sentiments I appreciate, its spirit I feel, simply 
 because there is a natural affinity between us. Its 
 appeal to me, as ever must be the case with the true 
 musician, is instantaneous and clear. I have not to 
 inquire whether there are any theoretic principles 
 upon which its expressive message is based; nor do 
 cut-and-dried formularies of expressive interpreta- 
 tion concern any true initiate in the least." Now, 
 such a person, through utter neglect of the habit of 
 analysis, has quite overlooked, and quite forgotten, 
 the years of instruction by which his nature was 
 familiarised with such cut-and-dried principles of 
 expressive interpretation as rhythm, phrasing, varie- 
 ties of touch and tone, and all those component ele- 
 ments out of which that complex result which we 
 call music is made up. All these elements have at 
 length become so incorporated and welded together 
 into what now seems a natural and indivisible whole, 
 that their very existence is overlooked. Such a non- 
 analytical musician, when he plays a piece of music, 
 is not conscious that he sees a complicated succes- 
 
92 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 sion of notes in combination, varying in length, in 
 pitch, in force, and arranged so as to make up a 
 structure properly proportioned and well organised 
 in all its parts ; he is not conscious that he had ever 
 to learn the expressive signification of all these ele- 
 mental factors; the composition is to him simply 
 an organic, living whole, instinct with beauty as 
 evident to him as if it had never needed explanation. 
 Is it any wonder, then, that he decides for natural 
 musical obtuseness in the pupil who cannot see the 
 beauty that he sees, or that he decides against any 
 such cold and formal method as a cut-and-dried 
 theory of interpreting the significance of music by 
 teaching analytical principles? 
 
 Widely different are the views held by him who 
 subjects the whole matter to the keenest analysis. 
 He watches his own methods of study, observes the 
 development of his own insight by fuller knowledge, 
 and never forgets that a perfect whole is but the 
 artistic combination of a multitude of elemental fac- 
 tors, and that the appreciation of the whole is to 
 be helped largely by a right understanding of the 
 parts. He knows, from reflecting on his own ex- 
 periences, that a student may, and probably will, go 
 through many musical compositions, studying them 
 in their component elements, before these elements 
 become fused into one organic whole; before their 
 separate parts vanish from his conscious experience 
 in the light of the living beauty of an indivisible 
 whole. And some there are who never pass beyond 
 this stage of seeing in parts. Just as there are men 
 of science, keenly analytical, who never co-ordinate 
 the elements of their research, so as to see the light 
 of the beauty of the Organic Unity from whence 
 
Suggestions for the Teaching of Interpretation. 93 
 
 proceeds the total music of the world. But, as a 
 rule, the student succeeds if he be intellectual, if 
 he have a natural love for what is beautiful, if he 
 be earnest in his study. And it is by winning suc- 
 cess through this analytical and intellectual method 
 that solid foundation is laid for future successful 
 interpretation. His own powers of insight are thus 
 developed; he is not always dependent upon the 
 leading strings of a master; he is no longer the un- 
 intelligent servant of the art of mimicry. 
 
 If, then, we conclude that interpretation may be 
 taught through the medium of explanatory princi- 
 ples, and through the persevering application of these 
 principles by a skilled teacher; our next business is 
 to make a general analysis of the component ele- 
 ments which make up the expressive aspect of music, 
 and to explain the methods which will best help us 
 to use those elements to a practical end in musical 
 interpretation. Some of the chief of these com- 
 ponents are time and tempo, with all their varia- 
 tions; accent, rhythm and emphasis; varieties of 
 tone and touch ; phrasing, in its twofold aspect — that 
 of making the punctuation clear, and that of show- 
 ing how most effectively to elicit the right expres- 
 sion of the phrases; structural form, general and 
 minute; and, finally, the characteristic style of vari- 
 ous musical forms, in the first place, and of indi- 
 vidual composers, in the second place. 
 
 If it be objected that these are but the simple ele- 
 ments of the subject with which we have been made 
 familiar from the days of our musical youth; still, 
 if we may judge by the fruits of not a little of the 
 training given, it may well be replied that there is 
 yet scope for suggestive thoughts and practical hints 
 upon all these points. 
 
94 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 2. Time and Tempo. 
 
 It IS hardly overstating the case to say that a 
 large part of the failure of many pupils to play 
 tolerably well is due to the lack of ability to keep 
 time. And yet how few teachers there are who 
 would not declare that whatever else they neglected, 
 right time and right notes received the utmost atten- 
 tion. The teaching, then, however assiduous, can- 
 not be effective. This inefficiency is due partly to 
 the carelessness of the pupil; partly to the lack of 
 right method of the teacher ; and partly to the spread 
 of the erroneous idea that accurate time-keeping is 
 inconsistent with what is regarded as an expressive 
 rendering of music. This last source of uneven 
 time is deserving of examination for a moment before 
 effective methods are suggested for teaching accurate 
 time. 
 
 Some of our virtuoso pianists are partially 
 responsible for the notion that the more varied is the 
 time within the limits of a bar, a phrase, a period, 
 a movement, the greater are the opportunities for 
 displaying emotional effects. But we have safer 
 guides than bravura players, in the examples and 
 precepts of the great composers whose music is so 
 often distorted. Bach was a perfect timist; Mozart 
 regarded accurate time as one of the most difficult 
 yet most essential parts of good playing; Beet- 
 hoven insisted upon accurate time in his teaching, 
 and exemplified it in his playing, if Ferdinand Ries 
 is to be credited; Schumann's direction is, to play 
 in time and eschew the method of those virtuosos 
 
Time and Tempo. 95 
 
 whose playing resembles the walk of a drunken man; 
 and Chopin, whose romantic music is generally re- 
 garded as a fair held for the time-anarchist, was so 
 rigid a teacher of correct time that he generally kept 
 a metronome on the piano for the greater insistence 
 on accuracy. 
 
 Yet though all this is so, it must not be thought 
 that the perfect rendering of beautiful music is to 
 be attained by adhering slavishly to the mechanical 
 regularity of metronomic time. The point to be em- 
 phasised is this, that nothing short of a regular and 
 careful training in the accurate knowledge and 
 practice of the rules and laws of any art will ever 
 enable anyone to know when and how rightly to 
 relax the stiffness of rigid rule; how rightly to use 
 that restrained freedom of individual personality, 
 which stamps upon the work the impress of human 
 life. It was thus — through rigid rule — that the 
 master musicians of the world educated themselves 
 or were educated in their art. They studied the 
 rules and principles of composition as formulated 
 by eminent teachers from the works of their illus- 
 trious predecessors; and it was thus that they dis- 
 covered the path which led, not to anarchy or chaos, 
 but to disciplined and orderly freedom. The busi- 
 ness, then, of the effective teacher is to train the 
 pupil in the most rigid rules of time, and to insist 
 that no departure be made therefrom until lon<? 
 practice has assured their perfect mastery. The sug- 
 gestions on this subject which follow are intended 
 to make clear, in the hrst place, some of the most 
 effective means for training pupils to keep accurate 
 time; and, in the second place, what practical hiiits 
 may be given to the advanced pupil to show him 
 how wisely to pursue some individual freedom, and 
 thus escape from the tyranny of mechanical 
 monotony. 
 
96 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 3. How TO Teach Strict Time. 
 
 There are not a few teachers and pupils who are 
 unable to keep accurate time without the aid of some 
 mechanical device for the purpose. Fortunately for 
 the security of us all in this matter, the metronome, 
 an unerring test and guide, has been invented. 
 
 It is of no avail for any teacher to insist that his 
 sense of time, at least, is accurate; it is of no avail 
 that he count aloud with his pupils during their 
 lessons, unless he has first submitted himself to some 
 certain test in the matter. And even then, counting 
 aloud at the lesson, supposing it were correct, would 
 not guard the pupil from error during his practice; 
 and a habit of irregularity in the lengths of notes 
 grows upon the young player, until by and by it 
 is no easy matter to develop a sense of even time 
 at all. The best thing, therefore, that the teacher 
 can do is to submit himself and all his pupils to 
 metronomic discipline. 
 
 The Metronome. 
 
 From a very early stage in the education of the 
 pupil the metronome should be used. It is not at 
 all necessary or wise to wait until difficult composi- 
 tions are attempted. By using the metronome from 
 
The Metronome. 9l 
 
 the beginning, careless habits, so difficult to correct, 
 may be avoided. All technical exercises, beginning 
 with those for two fingers, should daily, at least 
 during some portion of the study, be practised with 
 the beat of the metronome. During a long and 
 wide teaching experience, I have not met with a 
 single pupil, unversed in the use of a metronome, 
 who could keep exactly even time — that is, who could 
 keep exactly with the beat of a metronome — through 
 the following test : playing a scale of four oc- 
 taves twice ascending and descending, fairly rapidly, 
 the first time striking three notes to each beat; the 
 second time, four notes to each beat. If this 
 seem incredible, the probability of its truth may 
 be proved by each teacher for himself by instituting 
 this simple test upon his own pupils. Perfectly even 
 time, then, learned without the use of the metronome 
 may be regarded as about as great a rarity as the 
 auk's egg. Every wise teacher will therefore keep a 
 metronome, and will regularly test the work of each 
 pupil by it; and every wise pupil will keep a metro- 
 nome, and learn to keep even time by its help. As 
 the education advances, and as the sense of even 
 time grows stronger, the use of the metronome may 
 gradually be lessened, but it should always be at 
 hand to check the learner in his study of a fresh 
 composition, and to prevent any retrogression in his 
 work. 
 
 The following preliminary exercise will be found 
 useful for young pupils whose sense of time is as 
 yet latent. Set the metronome at 60, and get the 
 pupil to strike one note again and again, exactly 
 with the beat. When this exercise is mastered, and 
 the sound is always exactly with the beat, then let 
 him strike the same note twice to each beat, so that 
 the first of each two notes may fall exactly on the 
 beat; then proceed to three and afterwards to four 
 
 8 
 
98 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 repetitions for each beat. If at first the pupil can- 
 not keep with the metronome from the sound, let him 
 look at the swing of the pendulum; and after at- 
 taining exactitude by the help of his eyes, he may 
 try again to judge from the sound alone. In all 
 cases it is essential to success that the pupil be made 
 to strike the first of every group of notes into which 
 a beat is divided, exactly with the tick of the 
 metronome. 
 
 4. Metrical Accentuation. 
 
 But although the even stroke of the metronome 
 will do much, yet of itself it is insufficient to safe- 
 guard the pupil absolutely from irregularities in 
 time, or to develop in him the sense of metrical or 
 rhythmic pulsation. Such a rhythmic sense is, if 
 possible, a more important element in musical work 
 than the perfectly even time of the notes and beats. 
 The sense of metre or rhythm should therefore be 
 cultivated, along with the study of even time, from 
 the very beginning. As has already been suggested, 
 the conventional plan of practising technical exer- 
 cises in a non-rhythmical manner should be entirely 
 put aside ; because it is only reasonable to expect that 
 unmusical, unrhythmical practice will destroy rather 
 than develop a musical or rhythmical sense in the 
 young pupil. 
 
 But even metronome and a sense of metrical ac- 
 centuation, invaluable as they are, will hardly quite 
 meet the necessities of the case. These will not 
 entirely safeguard the student from errors in time 
 
Metrical Accentuation. 99 
 
 unless he makes himself familiar with the number 
 and value of the beats in each measure; unless he 
 examines the broken beats and knows exactly where 
 each beat begins; unless he makes sure that each 
 measure has its right number of beats rightly divided 
 for the purpose of counting the time correctly. What 
 is needed is first, careful examination of the 
 measures, and a pencil note on the music to show 
 the exact point which marks the commencement of 
 each beat; and, next, careful counting aloud, in order 
 to make sure that each measure has its right num- 
 ber of beats, and that the beginning of each beat 
 synchronises exactly with a stroke of the metro- 
 nome. If, in addition to all these precautions, the 
 accentuation be strongly marked, the education of 
 the pupil in this matter will advance securely and 
 rapidly. Many teachers make the mistake of ana- 
 lysing the time of each measure for the pupil when, 
 with a little care, he could easily do this for him- 
 self. Such a method destroys, instead of develop- 
 ing, self-reliance, thoughtfulness, alertness. The 
 right principle is, seldom or never to do for a pupil 
 what he can or ought to do for himself. Insist on 
 thoughtfulness and self-reliance, however trouble- 
 some this may be. 
 
 When teaching the meaning of the various species 
 of time-signatures, never let the explanation end 
 with the statement that these signatures show the 
 number and kind of beat in a measure. Always 
 make the accentuation of each measure at least as 
 clear and emphatic a part of the instruction as the 
 number and value of its beats. But if after this 
 clear explanation the teacher do the counting for 
 his pupil, or if the pupil be permitted to count aloud 
 in a monotonous and rhythmless fashion, the effec- 
 tiveness of the theoretical instruction will soon be 
 nullified. If, on the contrary, rhythmical counting 
 
100 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 be not only taught but regularly adopted, the play- 
 ing cannot fail to be characterised by effective 
 rhythm. Let the count which belongs to the ac- 
 cented beat be enunciated with a strong emphasis, 
 and let the unaccented beats be counted softly : 
 thus, in 6-8 time 1, 2, 3; 4, 5, 6. In the first in- 
 stances it may be found advisable to teach young 
 pupils to count rhythmically, apart from the piano- 
 forte. 
 
 Should the methods suggested here be adopted, 
 time and accentuation may each be learned with one 
 half the labour by the help of the other. 
 
 Where a metronome is not available, beating time 
 forcibly with the foot is a substitute of some value. 
 The pupil who marks the beats of the measure em- 
 phatically with his foot, and also counts aloud 
 rhythmically in a firm, decided voice, may hope 
 eventually to approximate to fairly even time. But 
 it should always be remembered that feeble beating, 
 or feeble counting, or sing-song counting, is almost 
 invariably governed by instead of governing the 
 playing. 
 
 That part of this subject which pertains more 
 especially to accent and rhythm is treated in Section 
 8 of this chapter. 
 
 5. Expressive Time Freedom; Quasi Tempo 
 
 RUBATO. 
 
 So soon as the pupil has mastered the art of keep- 
 ing accurate time; so soon as all the various metres 
 in music have become so familiar and so sharply 
 marked in his mind that they are instantly recog- 
 
Expressive Time Freedom. 101 
 
 nised when seen, and clearly expressed in each piece 
 when played; then the appr^^priate period has ar- 
 rived for introducing to his attention some of those 
 slight modihcations in time which make for a more 
 expressive and less mechanical rendering. But in 
 the case of pupils in whom the sense of time and 
 rhythm is not so strongly developed in the mind as 
 to be a steady and unerring guide even when time 
 modifications are introduced, then any interference 
 with the even flow of the beats would probably tend 
 rather in the direction of disorder than of beauty. 
 
 Relative Time Values of Notes Approximate 
 Not Absolute. 
 
 The first/ and by far the most important, time 
 modification is that effected by a sort of give-and- 
 take in the proportionate lengths of the written 
 notes. Our musical notation does not express ex- 
 actly, and could not be made to express exactly 
 without useless complications, the relative duration 
 of the various notes. It can no more express with 
 exactitude this relative duration of the notes than 
 the various signs we employ to indicate varieties of 
 force can express with exactitude those delicate gra- 
 dations which give to a fine rendering its artistic 
 tone shading. In so fine an art as music, where nice 
 effects can only be rendered by delicately varying 
 means, all notation must be m.ore or less incapable 
 of expressing those minute gradations of length and 
 tone which differentiate the living, spiritual inter- 
 pretation of the true artist from the mechanical 
 grind of the pianola. Thus, in our signs for note 
 
102 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 values, suppose a semibreve were to last for sixteen 
 seconds, then a minim should last for eight, a 
 crotchet for four, a quaver for two, and a semi- 
 quaver for one second. Nevertheless, it is only by 
 training the ears of young pupils to appreciate these 
 proportionate lengths exactly that they will after- 
 wards be enabled to preserve the steady m.ovement 
 of the rhythm unaltered, when, for some expressive 
 purpose, certain notes are prolonged by a fraction 
 of a second, and other notes which follow are simi- 
 larly shortened. But just as the living beauty of the 
 music is the more readily elicited by a nice practical 
 appreciation of the true relative lengths of the notes, 
 that is, by adding a fraction to the length of some 
 and subtracting from the length of others, at appro- 
 priate times and in the right manner; just as surely 
 will the result of so doing lie in the. direction of 
 caricature if there be lack of well-directed know- 
 ledge, or if there be any exaggeration. This length- 
 ening and shortening of the written notes must be 
 so very slight that it could not readily be noticed 
 by a stranger to the device, although when he was 
 let into the secret, it should be perfectly clear to 
 him. If the uninitiated hearer perceives anything 
 further than the mere general fact that the music 
 sounds more expressive than the playing to which 
 he is commonly accustomed, then there is palpable 
 and unpleasant exaggeration. 
 
 The expressive device just explained is one of the 
 most valuable in the whole range of musical inter- 
 pretation, and it is used, consciously or uncon- 
 sciously, in large measure, by some of the world's 
 most beautiful players. 
 
 With regard to the use, by the student, of this 
 unwritten law of musical expression — as indeed, 
 with regard to accent and other interpretative fac- 
 tors — it should always be remembered that though, 
 
Relative Time Values of Notes. 103 
 
 for a long time, it must be adopted simply in obedi- 
 ence to the direction of the teacher, or to ensure 
 the application of some interpretative principle; 
 and though, for so long as this is the case, accent 
 and the minute give-and-take in the proportionate 
 lengths of the notes already enjoined, will sound 
 somewhat mechanical, exaggerated, unmusical, to 
 the ear of the cultivated musician ; still, after a wide 
 course of study and a zealous application of expres- 
 sive principles, the day will come in the develop- 
 ment of every pupil who has in him the seeds of 
 musical discernment, when these things will no more 
 be done simply by rote or in obedience to rule, but 
 will all, of themselves, fall into their natural place 
 in the musical rendering; will all be felt to belong 
 of necessity to the general effect; and will at 
 length cease to be consciously recognised, unless 
 by an intentional renewal of the analytical process, 
 as separate elements in the interpretation of an 
 artistic whole. The same principle holds equally in 
 the case of philosophic study. While the student 
 is busying himself with some analytical digest of 
 the laws of thought and the principles of the human 
 mind, the elements of his study seem to him 
 to have precious little practical bearing upon his 
 life or upon the cultivation of his mind. But when 
 various thoughtful principles are incorporated into 
 the very being, and take their place as an integral 
 part of the life; when the student feels in himself 
 that these are no longer merely analytical laws of 
 thought, but essential realities of life ; when at length 
 the whole being moves unconsciously in harmony 
 with those laws and principles; then, and not till 
 then, does the philosophy, whether it be political, 
 moral, mental or religious, take its proper place in 
 the life as a vivifying influence. 
 
 In the application of various expressive rules, the 
 
104 The An of Teaching. 
 
 thoughtful teacher will therefore expect crudity and 
 exaggeration from his pupil at first, and will be 
 content to wait patiently for the artistic fruit which 
 grows of long experience. The practical considera- 
 tions are, how and when it is wise to indulge those 
 expressive liberties which are not indicated in the 
 notation. Guidance on this quasi tempo rubato, or 
 give-and-take in note lengths, may be given by a 
 few general rules and an example treating of the 
 matter in some detail. 
 
 The best guide to the right use of anything is an 
 exact knowledge of its purpose. And the purpose 
 of this almost imperceptible lengthening of certain 
 notes is, to give them that expressive prominence 
 compatible with artistic smoothness, which, by the 
 use of accent alone, would be impossible. From this 
 explanation one principle of application is evident 
 at once. Wherever expressive prominence is desir- 
 able, especially in melodic passages when accent 
 alone might interfere with the smoothness of the 
 effect, the note for which this prominence is required 
 should be almost imperceptibly lengthened. Such 
 cases are of frequent occurrence. Again, in the case 
 of accompaniments, where the rhythm requires very 
 clear, but not obtrusive or noisy marking, the re- 
 quired end is attained by adopting this method in 
 the place of additional accentuation. 
 
 Variety of tone shading, and the pedal, are hardly 
 of more frequent use in the performances of many 
 cultured players than this delicate means of inter- 
 preting note values. Modern editors are coming to 
 recognise it as one of the important principles of 
 expressive interpretation. Two of these editors, 
 more especially, are very careful to illustrate it in 
 their editorial work. For this reason alone no teacher 
 should be without the scholarly editions of these 
 two learned men, Riemann and Germer. 
 
Relative Time Values of Notes. 
 
 105 
 
 In order to make explanation the more definite 
 and explicit, it may be well to illustrate it by an 
 example. The first few bars of Mendelssohn's 
 "Andante and Rondo Capriccioso," Op. 14, afford 
 an excellent example of the purpose and value of 
 various slight time modifications for the sake of 
 heightening the expressive effect. In spite of some 
 digression I shall, at the same time, comment upon 
 other points in the expressive interpretation of this 
 passage, so that it may serve as well for an illustra- 
 tion of explanations which follow in later sections 
 of this chapter. 
 
 Mendelssohn, Opening Passage from Op. 14. (Bars 1 to S and part 0/ ban 11 and IS.) 
 Andante. (1). (2). 
 
 •— «-•!— •-•-B-8-J- S^ 
 
 legato. Fed. 
 
 (3). 
 
 (4). 
 
 (5). 
 
 'rt 
 
 Pid. I'ed. Fed Fed 
 
 Fed 
 
 Fid 
 
106 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 (7). 
 
 :p — • q .'jst: 
 
 ■^^^mm 
 
 Poco rail. 
 
 
 Fed. •" 
 
 Fed. 
 
 zt 
 -«- 
 
 Pfi. 
 
 Fed. 
 
 Fed. 
 
 ill) 
 
 (12). 
 
 -'-k^l 
 
 m 
 
 nd bars 11, 12. rail. 
 
 
 ^^l^lS^i 
 
 p«;.. 
 
 =^Pfrf. 
 
 Here the first three bars and a half are a kind of 
 introduction to the air, in the form of a simple pro- 
 gression of reiterated chords illustrating the charac- 
 ter of the accompaniment about to follow. But 
 simple as this introduction is, it is not without con- 
 siderable expressive interest. Yet when the chords 
 are struck, as they so often are, in exactly even time, 
 and with exactly even accentuation, the effect pro- 
 duced is nearly as unlike the real music intended as 
 the monotonous outflow of a pianola or a barrel- 
 organ is unlike the playing of an artist. The very 
 
Relative Time Values of Notes. 107 
 
 life of this passage consists in a delicate give-and- 
 take in the proportionate lengths of the notes; a 
 variety of touch; and a constant rise and fall of 
 tone. The hrst points for detailed consideration 
 are, the appropriate give-and-take in the length of 
 the notes, and the tempo variations of the passage. 
 The opening octave in the bass should not be fol- 
 lowed at the exact interval of a quaver by the open- 
 ing chord in the treble. There should be an almost 
 imperceptible lengthening of the quaver rest. This 
 breik is a kind of caesural pause making it clear 
 that the continuous motive begins with the first 
 quaver chord in the treble. This chord must be 
 shortened by as much as the quaver rest was length- 
 ened, so that thus, not only will the time of the 
 whole beat remain unaltered, but the short quaver 
 will the more readily appear to lead up to the fol- 
 lowing beat. Again, the first chord of the second 
 group of quavers in the same measure should be 
 similarly lengthened; and a still greater prolonga- 
 tion is required for the third chord of the same group 
 in order to give expressive prominence to the melodic 
 note B, without that interruption of the smoothness 
 of the passage which would be occasioned by 
 trying to gain melodic prominence through the force 
 of accent alone. In the second measure, the 
 same proportionate variations of length should 
 be observed as in the first measure, except, that 
 there is no melodic note which requires to be speci- 
 ally prolonged. Where the notes are lengthened 
 very slightly, it is simply as an expressive substi- 
 tute for the rougher effect of metrical accent. 
 Throughout this second measure there should be a 
 very slight quickening of the tempo and an accom- 
 panying crescendo, in order to prevent the chance 
 of monotony and to give life to a phrase which, 
 from its extreme simplicity and lack of tonal 
 
108 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 variety, might otherwise appear uninteresting. The 
 third measure, with the first note of the fourth 
 measure, lead up to and form the cadential ending 
 of the phrase. These concluding motives should 
 therefore be so played as to call the attention of the 
 listener to the facts that here the short sentence of 
 introduction ends and that a new passage is about 
 to begin. And besides, they should receive such ex- 
 pressive treatment as will best elucidate their own 
 musical importance. A rallentando, fairly well 
 marked towards the close of the measure, together 
 with a slight crescendo, culminating at the seventh 
 quaver of the measure and a slight pause on the 
 important melody note A, followed by a prompt 
 return to the original tem-po and a rapid diminuendo 
 from the last quaver in the measure, will rightly in- 
 terpret the significance of the phrase and emphasise 
 the point of rest. The notes which should be slightly 
 lengthened are the third, fifth and seventh quavers; 
 in this case each of these a shade more than the pre- 
 vious one, until the expressive effect reaches its 
 climax at the seventh quaver. The next point in the 
 expressive rendering of this passage which demands 
 examination is the varieties of touch required. The 
 upper notes of the chords, as is usually the case, 
 require the greatest prominence, inasmuch as they are 
 of some melodic significance; the octaves in the bass 
 should be soft and legato ; and then, although stac- 
 cato for the chords be indicated by dots, this stac- 
 cato must not only consist in the very gentlest release 
 of the keys, but even this shortening of the notes 
 must be lessened practically to a non-legato, in each 
 case where the lengthening of any note for the sake 
 of melodic significance was required. In like man- 
 ner, too, must the staccato be increased where the 
 unimportant notes do not demand any emphasis. 
 The third point requiring attention is variation of 
 
Relative Time Values of Notes. 109 
 
 tone. The rise and fall of the motive in each 
 measure demands a slight crescendo and diminu- 
 endo. The culminating point of the crescendo in 
 each measure is the seventh quaver; and after that, 
 the diminuendo is rapidly completed in the two fol- 
 lowing notes. In the second measure, the expressive 
 effect of the slight accelerando is heightened by the 
 crescendo already suggested ; and in the third 
 measure, an increased crescendo is indicated by the 
 melodic importance of the motive. At the begin- 
 ning of the fourth measure, the tone should fall 
 away again to the same pianissimo that is required 
 at the opening of the piece. 
 
 Most of the expressive suggestions offered here 
 are carefully indicated on the musical example by 
 signs; and if they are delicately observed in the 
 rendering, they will go far towards eliciting the 
 musical beauty of what else must seem a mechanical 
 succession of chords. But at the same time it must 
 never be forgotten that danger lies quite as much 
 on the side of exaggeration as on the side of neglect. 
 Caricature is quite as far from genuine musical effect 
 as is a purely mechanical performance. Nor will 
 the result be correct or artistic until at length all 
 these expressive indications are interpreted uncon- 
 sciously, as if they were prompted, not by direction, 
 but by an appreciative sense of the musical signifi- 
 cance of the passage. 
 
 Once again, but more cursorily, let us apply our 
 expressive principles to measures 5, 6, 7, 8, and part 
 of measures 11 and 12. Simple as the accompani- 
 ment seems, it has an expressive beauty which, 
 rightly interpreted, will enhance the beauty of the 
 melody. In its right rendering we must use very 
 faint rhythmical accentuation indeed, depending for 
 our rhythmical marking rather on a slight lengthen- 
 
1 10 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 ing of those quavers where accentuation is indicated, 
 and proportioning that lengthening to the various 
 accents natural to the metre of the measure or 
 motive. The notes of minor importance will be ren- 
 dered very softly and staccato; the first bass note 
 of each half measure requires length, prominence 
 and sustenance by the use of the pedal. The tone 
 of the whole accompaniment must be a subdued 
 fianissimo . 
 
 Then, if we regard the melody, we shall find 
 crescendo and diminuendo again required for the 
 purpose of elucidating the beauty of the various 
 rising and falling phrases and figures, however long 
 or short those figures may be. Special prominence 
 must be given to the opening melody note so as to 
 arrest the attention at once; and in spite of any 
 piano indications, all melody notes must be sounded 
 with a full, rich tone, so that they may ring out 
 well above the accompaniment. It is fatal to the 
 beauty of a melody to pass over one single note in 
 a careless, slipshod or weak style, as if it did not 
 require thoughtful consideration, careful expression 
 and clear, distinct enunciation. In the example 
 given, the notes marked thus (~) must be slightly 
 lengthened. Motival caesuras are marked by a 
 punctuating comma. 
 
 Measure J requires special treatment. As often 
 happens in groups of short notes of considerable 
 importance, so here, an almost imperceptible slacken- 
 ing of the tempo and a very slight emphasis on each 
 note is demanded for the group of semiquavers in 
 this measure. Then, as here we are approaching a 
 cadential resting point, a marked rallentando is de- 
 manded, to draw attention to this closing of the 
 phrase. Each dotted quaver, too, must be percep- 
 
Relative Time Values of Notes. 1 1 1 
 
 tibly prolonged and each succeeding semiquaver 
 proportionately shortened; and the tone at the fall 
 of the phrase must again drop to a very subdued 
 fiano. 
 
 6. Parenthetical Note on Slurring. 
 
 One further point in this passage requiring careful 
 consideration is the slurring. In most editions of 
 the music a slur will be found covering the last three 
 notes of measure six and ending at the last note of 
 the measure. This is a typical example of the con- 
 fusion regarding slurring which unfortunately 
 obtains throughout the whole range of musical litera- 
 ture. Such confusion, as has been pointed out once 
 and again by various writers, arises from the use of 
 exactly the same sign for two totally different pur- 
 poses by both composers and editors. Instead of 
 using the bracket, as suggested by Sterndale 
 Bennett, to indicate the separation of the music into 
 its different phrases, and the curved line as a special 
 legato mark, this curved line or slur is used indis- 
 criminately for both purposes. And where it is 
 absolutely unnecessary to make any special indica- 
 tion of legato, this slur or curved line is constantly 
 inserted on the music as if for the express purpose 
 of confusing the inexperienced. The practical 
 question, then, since, pending reform, we must make 
 the best of things as they are, is, how are pupils and 
 teachers to decide whether a slur is merely a legato 
 indication or a sign to show the extent of a phrase? 
 There is but one absolutely certain guide, and that is, 
 
1 12 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 a very careful and detailed analysis of the formal 
 construction of the music. Such an analysis, to be 
 effective, must go far beyond a general outline of 
 the form; it must make clear the development of the 
 music from its smallest motival elements. Such a 
 motival analysis as is required is supplied by Rie- 
 mann in his excellent editions of many of our musi- 
 cal classics. But if such guidance be out of reach, 
 there is a fairly general and simple rule which will 
 safeguard the teacher and pupil from much con- 
 fusion and error : Where slurs cover whole measures 
 or whole beats, that is, where they correspond with 
 measures or beats, or where they end at the end of a 
 measure, they may usually be regarded as legato 
 directions simply. But where they begin or end at 
 any division of a broken beat, or of a group of notes 
 equal to a beat; and where they end at some ac- 
 cented division of a measure, they may usually be 
 regarded as punctuating or articulating slurs. 
 
 There are very few editions of the classics whose 
 slurring can be relied upon. Even the Cotta edition, 
 admirable though it be on many points, is constantly 
 in error on this important subject. And, strange to 
 relate, a prejudice against interfering with the ori- 
 ginal erroneous notation of the composer, has in- 
 duced even such late editors of Beethoven sonatas as 
 Charles D'Albert and Buonamici to reprint the mis- 
 leading phrasing of the past. Riemann and Germer 
 are the courageous pioneers and the safe guides to a 
 better method of editing. 
 
 The thoughtful teacher who has made himself 
 master of the principles already enunciated here on 
 the subject of give-and-take in the proportionate 
 lengths of notes for the purpose of securing expres- 
 sive time freedom, will carefully elaborate, observe 
 and apply these principles in his own playing ; will 
 
Parenthetical Note on Slurring. 113 
 
 mark the wide range of their appHcation, and will 
 patiently explain and enjoin their use upon his 
 pupils. 
 
 But although this species of tempo rubato is by 
 far the widest in its application, there is yet another 
 expressive time licence or tempo rubato of no slight 
 importance. While the range of its usefulness is 
 smaller, the capriciousness of its application makes it 
 difficult to offer very clear guidance upon the subject. 
 
 •J. Conventional Tempo Rubato. 
 
 This species of time freedom consists chiefly in 
 varying the speed of a piece at different parts of its 
 course. In the old days, when structural beauty and 
 intellectual development were regarded as among 
 the most essential characteristics of musical com- 
 positions, these variations in speed were little thought 
 of and little used. They would have been more 
 likely to mar than to enhance the beauty of the 
 design. But as time passed on, emotion took a more 
 and more prominent place in the constitution of 
 musical works; and one of the means devised for 
 giving expression to the changes of emotion was 
 speed variation. Beautiful as was the design of 
 many of Beethoven's works, still, the expression of 
 powerful emotions is there more readily apparent 
 than in the works of Each, Haydn or Mozart; and 
 in many of Beethoven's compositions we are now 
 accustomed to use slight changes of tempo for the 
 purpose of making clear the varied expressions of 
 soul depicted in the music. But it is in more modern 
 works that this tempo rubato has its full play. In 
 
 9 
 
1 14 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 the works of some the ultra-romantic school of com- 
 posers, such as Chopin and Schumann, the purpose 
 appears to be to express strongly a number of vary- 
 ing moods or tempers or emotions; and if intellec- 
 tual development, or unity and finish in design are 
 in any way opposed to this outpouring of the emo- 
 tions, they are to some extent sacrificed. The central 
 aim has moved entirely since the days of Bach. 
 With his school beauty pf design was the goal; if 
 emotion was coincident with the design, well and 
 good. But now things are reversed. Emotion is 
 the goal ; and if beauty of design occur in addition, 
 there is no great harm. Capriciousness, then, is a 
 characteristic of this modern emotional style; moods 
 vary capriciously, and constant variations in the 
 temfo is one of the means adopted to interpret these 
 capricious moods. Is it any wonder, then, that fixed, 
 unerring principles cannot be laid down to serve as 
 trustworthy guides in these spheres of changing 
 moods ? Sometimes a clue to the composer's inten- 
 tion is given by the use of such terms as stretto, 
 stringendo or agitato; but usually there is little 
 guidance further than the character of the music 
 •itself, or the traditions which percolate from the 
 composers themselves through an unbroken line of 
 great players. 
 
 Perhaps there is one single rule general enough in 
 its application to deserve special mention. Towards 
 the close of many of the larger works of Chopin and 
 Schumann there is intended to be a gradual working 
 up to a climax of some emotional intensity ; and an 
 increase of speed is desired as one of the means of 
 interpreting the increasing stress of emotion. Many 
 well-known examples might be given, such as the 
 first and last movements of Schumann's "Fassching- 
 schwank" or Chopin's scherzos and ballades. 
 
 But the fact is, that the current of variable moods, 
 
Conventional Tempo Rubato. 1 1 5 
 
 especially when impulsively and romantically ex- 
 pressed, is too capricious and too intangible to be 
 accurately defined and mapped out in clearly 
 marked rules and principles. At one time the pace 
 of these semi-disciplined compositions increases, at 
 another time it slackens, and without these variations 
 the rendering sounds absurd; but exactly where, for 
 how long, or at what rate these alterations should 
 take place, must be explained in each piece, by its 
 editor, teacher, traditional player or instinctive in- 
 terpreter. And this seems likely to be the only 
 available plan until a day arrives when the variable 
 currents of human emotion may be accurately 
 measured out in terms of musical time for practical 
 use and clear interpretation. 
 
 There is one caution, however, to which the atten- 
 tion of the teacher may well be called. Although 
 there is little doubt that increase of emotional agita- 
 tion may be partially expressed by a tempo gradu- 
 ally increasing, still, nO' intelligent composer ever 
 intended that the player should rush along more and 
 more furiously, until the pace reached a frantic 
 gallop. And yet not a few of our virtuoso pianists 
 indulge in this parade of acrobatic legerdemain, 
 until the speed destroys all emotional and musical 
 significance whatsoever. 
 
 Rallentando and Accelerando. 
 
 But although the expressive device of the tempo 
 rubdto explained in the previous section be too in- 
 definite for the application of hard-and-fast rules, 
 there are certain other orderly and generally recog- 
 
1 16 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 nised time variations which the teacher may safely 
 enjoin upon his pupil. 
 
 Two points of view regarding interpretation which 
 must ever be kept steadily before the mind are : the 
 necessity for making the structural form of the music 
 quite clear to the listener; and the necessity for 
 using every available device for enhancing its ex- 
 pressive significance. For both these purposes the 
 rallentando is of great value. By it the attention is 
 arrested and directed to a coming change of form or 
 mood, or to some resting point. Czerny, though it is 
 somewhat the mode at present to decry his work, has 
 given some excellent suggestions in his Op. 500, Vol. 
 Ill, upon the employment of the ritardando and 
 accelerando, from which the following extracts may 
 prove useful to those not familiar with this work-. 
 "The ritardando (including rallentando, ritenuto, 
 smorsando, calando, etc.), according to the generally 
 established rule, is much more frequently employed 
 than the accelerando, because the former is less likely 
 to disfigure the character of the piece, than the too 
 frequent hurrying on in the speed of movement. We 
 may retard the time most advantageously : 
 
 " I. In those passages which contain the return to 
 the principal subject. 
 
 "2. In those passages which lead to some separ- 
 ate member of a melody. 
 
 ''3. In those long and sustained notes which are 
 to be struck with particular emphasis, and after 
 which quicker notes are to follow. 
 
 "4. At the transition into another species of time, 
 or into another movement, different in speed from 
 that which preceded it. 
 
 " 5. Immediately before a pause. 
 
 " 6. At the diminuendo of a preceding very lively 
 passage; as also in brilliant passages, when there 
 
Rallentando and Accelerando. 117 
 
 suddenly occurs a trait of melody to be played 
 piano and with much delicacy. 
 
 "7. In embellishments, consisting of very many 
 quick notes, which we are unable to force into the 
 degree of movement first chosen. 
 
 " 8. Occasionally also, in the chief crescendo of a 
 strongly marked sentence, leading to an important 
 passage or to the close. 
 
 "9. In very humorous, capricious and fantastic 
 passages, in order to heighten the character so much 
 the more. 
 
 " 10. Almost always where the composer has in- 
 dicated an espressivo, as also at the end of a very 
 long shake which forms a pause or cadenza, and 
 which is marked dimimcendo." 
 
 In such cases as these the slackening of the speed 
 either arrests the attention and directs the mind to 
 some coming change or helps to elicit the beauty of 
 some expressive passage. The second subject in 
 sonata form, for example, is often of a more emo- 
 tional, expressive or melodious character, than the 
 first subject. Here a rallentando will call attention 
 to the coming change, and prepare for a smooth 
 transition to a slower tempo ; although against this 
 change it has pertinently been objected that in the 
 free fantasia some confusion may be caused in cases 
 where both subjects are used in the thematic 
 development. 
 
 In ancient music too, such as Each's, a slight 
 rallentando at a middle cadence, not only shows 
 more clearly the structural division of the music, but 
 also emphasises the restfulness of the cadential 
 point; while a more pronounced rallentando at the 
 conclusion of the piece, announces the coming of the 
 end, and prevents any appearance of abruptness. 
 
 Again, where it is desirable to emphasise the notes 
 
1 1 8 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 of a melodic marcato passage, this may be effec- 
 tively done by the use of a ritenuto. 
 
 In the author's textbook, "The Art of Expres- 
 sion" (Weekes and Co.), terse, detailed and clear 
 directions, for pupils and teachers, may be found 
 upon counting time, the time of ornaments, irregular 
 rhythms, cadenzas, the use of accelerando, the metro- 
 nome and tempi, and kindred subjects. 
 
 The subject of phrasing is fully treated in the 
 author's textbook, "Phrasing in Piano Playing, with 
 Examples" (Ashdown). 
 
 8. How TO Teach Accent, Emphasis and 
 Rhythm. 
 
 The lack of a strong sense of rhythm is a charge 
 often and justly brought against the English. Even 
 in chorus singing, where one would imagine that the 
 metre of the words would re-enforce the natural 
 accent of the music and compel attention to botli, 
 they are nevertheless constantly and ludicrously 
 ignored. A familiar illustration may bs given from 
 the first chorus of Handel's "Messiah." Who has 
 
 not heard the common rendering : " And all flesh 
 shall see it," and how few have heard the right ren- 
 dering : "And all flesh shall see it?" If then, this 
 triple metre, which makes the strongest appeal of all 
 metres to anyone possessed of a natural sense of 
 rhythm, fails hopelessly to arouse any adequate 
 appreciation of the regular recurrence of musical 
 accent, and fails, moreover, in spite of the re-enforce- 
 ment naturally suggested by an intelligent delivery 
 
How to Teach Accent, etc. 119 
 
 of the words, is it any wonder that the pianoforte 
 playing commonly heard lacks the verve, the roll, 
 the vitality, the measured regularity, of well-defined 
 rhythm ? Feebly expressed rhythm is no light fault 
 which other excellences will hide; for clear rhythm is 
 one of the essential elements of music. 
 
 Every teacher and student should bear in mind 
 too, that the hearer, through his ear alone, receives 
 but a feeble impression from rhythmless playing, 
 unaided as it usually is by the inferences which the 
 eye might gather from the printed page. It is better, 
 therefore, that the playing should err rather on the 
 side of too forcible than too feeble rhythm. 
 
 Accent should be taught from the very outset of 
 the pupil's career ; and its study should be continued 
 side by side with the study of time. These two 
 should never be put asunder : they ought to be a 
 twain in one of music. Unfortunately, the writer on 
 music has too often to record the unhappy fact of 
 their divorce. 
 
 Regular and Strict Accentuation. 
 
 It would be superfluous here to explain in detail 
 the various species of time signatures, simple and 
 compound; or to repeat what every book of ele- 
 mentary theory tells of the accentuation of the vari- 
 ous beats of each species. The point which calls for 
 suggestive advice here is, how may the knowledge 
 and practice of normal accentuation be taught most 
 effectively. It is evident from the results, that the 
 usual instruction on this subject is not only ineffec- 
 tive but actually misleading. Ask any average 
 
120 The Art of TeacKing. 
 
 pupil what he means by accenting a note, and if he 
 ever heard of such a thing at all, he will promptly 
 answer: "Playing it loudly, of course." If teachers 
 are insistent and pupils are attentive, a system of 
 monotonous thumping is often therefore the substi- 
 tute for musical rhythm. Instead of teaching the 
 pupil to strike every accented note loudly, let him 
 be directed to play the notes immediately preceding 
 and succeeding the accented notes softly : thus 
 accent without thumping will be effected. But direc- 
 tion without example is powerless in this matter; 
 for direction in itself will never fi.x in the pupil's ear 
 and mind the right differences of tone. Each pupil 
 must be shown, from the reiterated illustrations of 
 his teacher which he must immediately imitate, that 
 accent is produced by the sounding of two compara- 
 tively soft notes, the one preceding and the other 
 succeeding a louder note. If, for example, it was 
 thus made clear to the pupil that triple rhythm, 
 whether it belonged to a measure of simple, or to a 
 beat of compound time, meant that two soft beats 
 were to precede and to follow one louder beat so 
 that the louder note should s'cand out clearly, and be 
 readily distinguished by every hearer, a sense of 
 vigorous rhythm would soon be developed in his 
 mind. The point which the pupil must be got to 
 grasp is simply this, that the accented notes are not 
 necessarily loud notes, but notes which stand out 
 prominently in contrast to the softer tone of the un- 
 accented notes which surround them. The efficacy 
 of this method I have myself tested for many years. 
 The general lack of the knowledge of how to 
 teach accentuation effectively was lately called to 
 my attention forcibly by reading the following sen- 
 tence in a work on interpretation by one of the well- 
 known teachers of America : " In f time, the first 
 
Regular and Strict Accentuation. 121 
 
 and fourth beats take the chief accent; 2, 3, 5 and 6, 
 have lesser accents." Accent, as has just been pointed 
 out, is not any definite loudness or softness of notes ; 
 it consists in the varying loudness and softness of 
 successive notes. What this writer meant evidently 
 was, that 2, 3, 5 and 6 should be softer than i and 
 4, whose accentuation would thereby be attained. 
 Such confused instruction, and the prevalence of 
 rhythmless playing, are surely justification enough 
 for clear explanations and suggestions. If, in addi- 
 tion to lucid explanations, the teacher not only en- 
 forces rhythmical counting, but also invokes the aid 
 of the eye, the labour of attaining good results will 
 be minimised. In triple time let the pupil at first, 
 
 without playing, be made to count thus : i, 2, 3; i, 
 2, 3 ; and then let the counts be so written on the 
 child's music that the eye may assist the ear; thus 
 will the sense of rhythm be developed strongly and 
 rapidly. 
 
 It will be found useful to test the pupil's progress 
 in gaining familiarity with the principal musical 
 rhythms from time to time. This may easily be 
 done by setting before him various time-signatures, 
 and desiring him to count aloud a few measures, 
 marking the rhythm strongly in his counting. These 
 test exercises may be used either apart from the 
 piano, or at the piano, repeating a single note or a 
 single octave to illustratethe rhythm of the counting. 
 
 What has been said already in Section 12, Chap- 
 ter II, of this book, upon the great importance of 
 cultivating a sense of rhythm during the practice 
 of technical ekercises, may be studied once again in 
 its bearing on this chapter. 
 
 Here again, in accentuation, crudity and exagger- 
 ation must be expected for a long time. To the ear 
 
122 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 of the cultiva.ted musician, the work accomplished 
 may seem little better than mechanical monotony. 
 And crude the work will continue to be until accen- 
 tuation ceases to be done consciously, by direction 
 or according to rule — until it takes its natural place 
 unconsciously as one of the component elements of 
 an artistic whole. 
 
 g. Rhythm of Divided Beats. 
 
 When the normal accentuation of the various beats 
 in all species of time has been fairly well mastered 
 by the pupil, the teacher should draw his attention 
 to those finer accents which belong to the groups of 
 notes into which beats are dividf;d. The common 
 neglect of this finer accentuation is accountable for 
 much of the monotony of tone and irregularity in 
 time so frequently heard. And one of the chief 
 elements of beautiful playing is the fine shading of 
 tone which individualises successive notes, and 
 marks the even, though subdued, undercurrent of 
 rhythm which should correspond in the divided 
 beats with the stronger rhythmical current of the 
 whole measure. 
 
 Every divided beat should have its slight accent 
 on the first of the group of notes into which it is 
 divided. Groups of two quavers must have the 
 second softer than the first (J ,'); groups of three, 
 
 the second and third softer than the first (J, ,') ; 
 groups of fo ur are accented as a measure of four 
 
 beats (J a' J ,), except that, of course, this accentua- 
 
Rhythm of Divided Beats. 123 
 
 tion is far less marked than the normal accents of 
 beats. Groups of six must be carefully marked in 
 twcs, so as to avoid any possibility of their being 
 
 mistaken for two triplets (H"! J ' J)not( f"^'^ J J J). 
 
 The cases which require the most careful attention 
 on the part of the teacher are those in which a group 
 of notes makes up part, but not the whole, of a beat. 
 In nine cases out of ten, the pupil promptly accents 
 the first note of this broken group ; whereas the cor- 
 rect rendering is to increase very slightly the first 
 normal sub-accent of the group. 
 Examples : 
 
 
 isgig-s^igis^ 
 
 A large part of this sub-accentuation may be ac- 
 complished by the very slightest lingering on the 
 notes which bear the sub-accents. The effect of 
 accent may thus be attained more expressively and 
 smoothly. 
 
 And similarly, in the many cases of phrases and 
 motives which begin on a weak beat, and thus re- 
 semble in structure the cases of broken beats illus- 
 trated in the foregoing examples, the bes'; effect may 
 very often be gained by lingering slightly on the 
 first normal beat accent in the motive or phrase. 
 
124 
 
 The Art of Teaching 
 
 
 W 
 
 iil^^iii|fe#l^l 
 
 
 -it -*- 
 
 'rt 
 
 iii^4g=i 
 
 When the pupil has so fully mastered, not only 
 the normal accents of all species of time, but also 
 the sub-accentuation of broken beats, that he makes 
 the rhythm quite clear in his playing without any 
 further directions from his teacher, then has the suit- 
 able period arrived for acquainting him with tne 
 \arious expressive devices for acquiring artistic 
 freedom from the tyranny and monotony of purely 
 even metrical accentuation. 
 
 10. How TO Teach Expressive Freedom in 
 Accentuation. 
 
 All the varying degrees of tone-shading in a 
 piece of music, such as are indicated by crescendo 
 and diminuendo, for example; emphasis, implied or 
 directed, appropriate to the melodic and harmonic 
 structure of the composition, or to its emotional 
 character; phrasing, both as regards articulation 
 and expressive rendering : these are all factors 
 which modify in some measure the monotony of 
 regular metrical accentuation. But, and this reserva- 
 
How to Teach Expressive Freedom in Accentuation. 1 25 
 
 tion deserves careful noting, through all modifying 
 factors, the steady rhythm of the music must still 
 prevail upon the whole, so that the music may not 
 lack symmetry, regularity and coherence. 
 
 The first and one of the most important expres- 
 sive devices for modifying normal accentuation has 
 already been treated at some length. This device 
 is the partial substitution for accent of a slight 
 lengthening of those notes which require special 
 prominence or emphasis. But here, again, through 
 all modifications, there must remain a quiet, under- 
 current of accentuation which, while unobtrusive, 
 will nevertheless keep a steady grip on the rhythm 
 of the piece. 
 
 II. Crescendo, Diminuendo and the Various 
 Degrees of Tone-Shading. 
 
 The performances of the average player suffer 
 not less from absolute monotony of tone-shading 
 than from irregularity in time and lack of clear 
 rhythm. A cold, grey, lifeless tint of mezzo-forte, 
 so to speak, dulls the whole performance as a rule. 
 Shades and contrasts of tone continually varying 
 are as necessary in the rendering of beautiful music 
 as shades and contrasts of colour are necessary in 
 the painting of a picture. Seldom should the same 
 shade of tone prevail even throughout a single 
 phrase. 
 
 Here again, failure is not always or altogether 
 the fault of the pupil. Just as time and rhythm 
 may be taught if there be no negligence from the 
 
126 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 very beginning, and if the method adopted be effec- 
 tive, so may the knowledge of a considerable variety 
 of tone-shading be taught to anyone who can recog- 
 nise the difference in loudness and softness between 
 one note and another. But here again the teacher 
 often fails, simply because he overlooks the fact 
 that verbal directions are useless if there is not a 
 right standard in the mind and ear of the pupil. 
 It is useless to tell a pupil to play this passage 
 softly or that passage loudly until the various gra- 
 dations of tone are made clear to him, and are fixed 
 as a standard in his mind and ear by reiterated ex- 
 ample. Loud tones and soft tones should per- 
 sistently be offered in examples to the pupil until 
 he can promptly recognise at least five main shades 
 of tone : -pf, f, mf, f and #. Even then, it must 
 be remembered that the pupil may fail to imitate 
 the gradations he has learned to recognise. The 
 majority of pupils imagine that they are varying 
 the tone considerably when it is almost impossible 
 for the listener to distinguish any variation at all. 
 And so difficult is it to induce any pupil to mark, 
 with fair distinctness, the different gradations of 
 tone, that the only way to gain even approximate 
 success is to urge upon the player what seems to 
 him exaggeration. Not yet has it been my happy 
 lot to induce one single pupil so to exaggerate his 
 differentiation of tone-shading as to leave too great 
 a gap between a fine pianissimo and a full, vigorous 
 fortissimo, for the intervening grades of tone. 
 
 When some approximate standards of tone variety 
 have been fixed in the mind or ear of the pupil, and 
 when he has learned to conform his playing to these 
 standards, then the part of the teacher is to call at- 
 tention to each direction on the music, and to see 
 that in every case the right shade of tone is duly 
 reproduced. This process is laborious, and it re- 
 
Crescendo, Diminuendo and Tone-Shading. 127 
 
 quires unwearying patience, persistence and care. 
 But are not these a part of the essential character- 
 istics of a successful teacher? 
 
 So many gradations of tone as have been enumer- 
 ated here may not be apprehended by the learner 
 for some time. Indeed, it will be found advisable 
 to let the instructions on this ma!:ter proceed by 
 easy stages. For the beginner, it will suffice to in- 
 sist that every soft passage be played as softly as 
 possible and every loud passage as loudly as pos- 
 sible. When these two broad grades of tone are 
 adequately rendered, it will be time enough to at- 
 tempt to attune the ear of the young pupil to more 
 delicate gradations. And for the purpose of de- 
 veloping delicacy of perception in the pupil and 
 beauty in his performances, there is no device so 
 effective as an evenly graded crescendo and 
 diminuendo. 
 
 Crescendo and Diminuendo. 
 
 Gradual swellings and softenings of the tone are 
 one of the most characteristic features of all fine 
 piattoforte-playing. The performer who is not ac- 
 complished in the art of crescendo and diminuendo 
 has not attained much skill in musical interpreta- 
 tion. 
 
 As successive tones should hardly ever be exactly 
 equal in force, so there are few phrases or figured 
 passages whose beauty may not be more effectively 
 elicited by a rise and fall in tone, whether these 
 variations be indicated on the music or not. The 
 most general rules are always the most valuable for 
 
128 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 the learner. Every pupil should therefore be taught 
 to associate a rise and fall of tone with the rise and 
 fall of a phrase or figured portion of a phrase. By 
 reference to the example from Mendelssohn's "An- 
 dante and Rondo Capriccioso," quoted in section 5 
 of this chapter, some idea of the general use of 
 this expressive device may be gained. The faults 
 which must be watchfully guarded against are an 
 insufficient increase and decrease in the tone; jerki- 
 ness or unevenness instead of an equally graduated 
 swell and diminution; and expending the crescendo 
 and diminuendo too soon, instead of saving them 
 to last out for the whole passage indicated by the 
 signs. As to the first fault of monotony, no caution 
 against exaggeration need be given so long as the 
 increase and decrease of tone are evenly distributed 
 over the passage requiring the crescendo and dimin- 
 uendo. Then, as to the second and third faults, the 
 pupil must again and again be made to take care 
 that each crescendo passage begins softly, and every 
 diminuendo passage loudly; and that he graduates 
 the rise and fall so that it may be distributed evenly 
 over the whole passage which it is intended to affect. 
 
 Here again, as in the case of accentuation, the 
 crude attempts of the beginner will mellow down 
 in time, and the appropriate shades of tone needed 
 in order tO' make the music sound beautiful will be 
 rendered without conscious effort. All these expres- 
 sive variations of tone imply some modifications of 
 the normal accentuation. But through all modifica- 
 tions the normal rhythm should never for a moment 
 be lost sight of. 
 
 It is a common, though hardly a wise practice 
 with many teachers to confine the attention of 
 children almost exclusively to the notes of the music, 
 deferring nearly all instructions upon rhythm and 
 tone-shading to a later period. By this method 
 
Crescendo and Diminuendo. 129 
 
 there is unfortunately cultivated in the child the 
 habit of giving as little instead of as much of his 
 attention as he can to his work. Mental alertness 
 is thus neglected instead of developed. It is only 
 too true that "the less you have to do the less you 
 will do." So it is, that just at the period when even- 
 ness of time, regularity of rhythm and variety of 
 tone-shading should be taught to the child as essen- 
 tial and inseparable parts of music, he is taught 
 for a long time to regard the notes alone as the 
 music, and to devote the whole of a very feeble at- 
 tention to learning the notes as the one necessary 
 thing to be done. That this early training becomes 
 hrmly rooted in the mind and may not easily be 
 superseded is very clearly proved by a common 
 habit among pianoforte-players at a more advanced 
 stage of their career. The only occasion on which 
 they are known to make a wry face or to utter an 
 exclamation of disgust as if something had incom- 
 moded their sensibilities is when a wrong note is 
 accidentally struck. On the other hand, the neglect 
 of even time, rhythm, tone yariety, phrasing, costs 
 them not one twinge of discomfort. 
 
 In Chapter IV of "The Art of Expression" (en- 
 larged and revised edition) the general suggestions 
 offered in this section may be supplemented by a 
 careful study of the concise and detailed directions 
 contained there, upon accent, the character of differ- 
 ent rhythms, ^he sub-accents of grouped notes, 
 phrasing emphasis, expressive accentuation or em- 
 phasis, syncopation, gradations of tone, and all kin- 
 dred topics relating to this section of interpretative 
 study. 
 
 10 
 
130 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 12. General Suggestions for Teaching 
 Phrasing. 
 
 Phrasing appears to be one of the least under- 
 stood, and one of the least efficiently taught of all 
 branches of the art of pianoforte-playing. And es- 
 pecially is this so in the case of many young teachers 
 who do not hnd it at all easy to acquire clear notions 
 on the subject for use in their teaching. Then 
 again, this term is so hackneyed by amateur players 
 and amateur critics, who invest it with an air of 
 mystery and haziness, that it seems desirable to 
 explain exactly what phrasing really does mean, in 
 the baldest and clearest terms possible. 
 
 Phrasing, then, treats of two things : first, and 
 principally, it treats of the structural division of 
 music into its component parts; of the punctuation, 
 articulation or separating of the music into such 
 fragments as periods, sections, phrases, motives; and 
 into larger general divisions. Secondly, it treats of 
 the expressive rendering of these various divisions. 
 
 When we hear some person reading a poem or a 
 beautiful passage of prose effectively; when we hear 
 him carefully observing the punctuation, making the 
 structure of the stanzas, verses or sentences clear; 
 when we hear him eliciting the sense and the beauty 
 of the passage by marking the rhythm of the verse, 
 or the cadence of the prose, by a judicious use of 
 intonation, inflexion and emphasis, we do not say 
 affectedly, " Oh, how divinely he phrases ! " We 
 simply say, "How well, or how beautifully he 
 reads " ! But in music we find it hard to rid our- 
 selves of the idea that by the use of this term 
 "phrase," we are showing the superiority of our 
 knowledge to some of our less fortunate friends. 
 
General Suggestions for Teaching Phrasing. 131 
 
 From the explanation just given, it is easy to 
 realise the importance of right phrasing, and to 
 recognise, once and for all, that if we are to play 
 with intelligence, not alone must our musical punctu- 
 ation be clear, but each fragment of the music, as 
 revealed by the phrasing, must have its adequate 
 expressive interpretation. No performance will be 
 that of a true artist where careful study has not 
 been devoted to the formal and harmonic structure of 
 the music to be played. Imagine any person, ignor- 
 ant of the structure of Latin verse, attempting to 
 read off the hexameters of Virgil ! Perhaps, by 
 long practice, and by listening to the reading of a 
 master, he might attain to some fluency in his read- 
 ing; yet how crude, how uninspired by the grace of 
 style and the beauty of form, would his reading 
 sound in the ears of a scholar and an artist ! And 
 just so, or rather more so, is it in the case of music'. 
 Knowledge of structural design, minute analysis of 
 form and harmony, make clear and bring to light, in- 
 numerable delicacies of expression, imitative devices, 
 logical ties and relationships, fragmentary beauties, 
 new views of the perspective and symmetry of the 
 whole, the ignorance and the neglect of which differ- 
 entiate the crude performances of the illiterate from 
 the intelligent exposition of the scholar and artist. 
 
 If a child's musical education is to be thorough 
 and effective, it must proceed upon lines at least as 
 thorough and intelligent as those mapped out for 
 any other branch of learning. When we teach young 
 children to read, do we not insist upon their paying 
 full attention to the punctuation, so that the struc- 
 ture and meaning of what they read may be made 
 manifest? In every case, at all events, we show 
 them at first, the end of each complete sentence, and 
 insist upon a pause sufficient to define its limit. 
 Thus the habit of intelligent and clear articulation 
 
132 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 or separation of the divisions of a composition into 
 paragraphs, stanzas, sentences, fragments of sen- 
 tences, becomes early developed by a gradually pro- 
 gressive education in punctuation; and this habit is 
 never afterwards forgotten or neglected. 
 
 Articulating Phrasing. 
 
 In order to understand phrasing in its primary 
 sense — as referring to the division of the music into 
 sentences and their parts — a most careful study of 
 musical form, the grammar of structure, is required. 
 No person who is ignorant of musical form and 
 analysis is quali&ed to teach intelligently. Ima- 
 gine a "teacher" of English reading, who had no 
 notion of the meaning or use of punctuation; who 
 could not recognise the end of a stanza of poetry 
 or of a sentence of prose; whose pupils wandered 
 along helplessly from one chance word to any other, 
 utterly ignorant of the necessity for, or the appro- 
 priate places for, the use of intelligent, punctuating 
 pauses ! Yet this, mark you, is the condition of the 
 teacher of music who is ignorant of musical form. 
 
 Apart from the study of technical exercises on 
 the subject of form, something may be learned from 
 the various carefully phrased editions of our piano- 
 forte classics, such as those by Germer and Riemann.* 
 These scholarly analysts took upon themselves the 
 task of marking, elaborately and minutely, the ar- 
 ticulation of the music into phrases and fragments 
 of phrases, by signs such as curved lines or punctu- 
 
 * Note. The phrasing is very clearly indicated in the 
 ■' Stanford- Barton Edition " (Allan). 
 
Articulating Phrasing. 133 
 
 ating stops. By careful attention to these signs, not 
 a little practical knowledge of the extent of musical 
 phrases and their points of separation may be gained. 
 
 It is not necessary for the very young pupil to 
 take up a regular course of study on Form at the 
 beginning of his career. His instruction may at 
 first be confined to the clear exposition of the ar- 
 ticulation of the music he is learning, and to making 
 clear in his playing the separation of the parts thus 
 discovered. But no teacher is likely to be success- 
 ful in imparting even this elementary knowledge to 
 the young whose own education has not advanced 
 far beyond such a rudimentary stage. 
 
 In section 6 of this chapter, comment has been 
 made at some length on the confusion regarding 
 legato slurs and phrasing slurs to be found in most 
 editions of the classics. It was there pointed out 
 that this confusion is so general that the works of 
 Beethoven as edited by Lebert, Klindworth, D' Albert 
 and others, are full of errors.* Those who notice 
 this conflict of opinion among eminent editors of 
 classical works, conclude, in many cases, that there 
 is no sure foundation for interpretative phrasing 
 and that a right choice is merely a matter of taste. 
 Just as sensible would it be, if Milton had left 
 out all punctuating marks from his verse, and if 
 this verse had then been variously punctuated by 
 editors and publishers who did not understand the 
 structure of the verse, to conclude that its proper 
 punctuation was simply a matter of individual 
 fancy. No editor of music is likely to avoid gross 
 error who does not submit the music to the most 
 careful and minute analysis; or who does not under- 
 stand this one of the fundamental principles of 
 rootival phrasing : that musical metre usually con- 
 sists of a weak beat leading up to a strong beat, 
 
 * See note at the end of this section, page 137. 
 
134 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 not of a strong beat leading up to a weak beat. The 
 antiquated editor, as likely as not, drew his slur 
 line from the beginning to the end of one, two or 
 more measures. The scholarly editor, on the con- 
 trary, when he analyses the motival phrases which 
 form the texts upon which a composition is de- 
 veloped, founds his phrasing upon this analysis. He 
 finds that the motive begins more often at the middle 
 or end thin at the beginning of a measure, and so 
 he makes his phrasing slur end at the corresponding 
 division of the succeeding measure which completes 
 -he phrase. A thorough knowledge of these phras- 
 ing principles will enable the teacher to discover far 
 more easily for himself the limits of phrases; and 
 will therefore guard him from the error of con- 
 founding the beginning or end of a measure with 
 the beginning or end of a phrase. 
 
 If, in accordance with the suggestion offered in 
 section 6 of this chapter, those slurs which cover 
 whole measures or whole beats be regarded as legato 
 directions, and those which begin on an unaccented 
 part of a measure or beat, and end on an accent, be 
 reearded as phrasing slurs, many errors in inter- 
 pretation might be avoided. 
 
 Examples : 
 
 (»). Beethoven, Op. 2, No. 1. 
 
 Klindworth. 
 
 Riemann. 
 
 f^m^^^f^ ^ ^mmwpi 
 
 (4). 
 
 Beethoven, Op. 13. 
 Klindworth. 
 
 Riemann, 
 
 "*v 
 
 ^ t 
 
Articulating Phrasing. 135 
 
 These two familiar illustrations, which might be 
 endlessly multiplied from the works of Beethoven, 
 Bach, Mozart and Mendelssohn, will show quite 
 clearly the current editorial errors in this matter of 
 phrasing slurs. Klindworth evidently copied super- 
 fluous legato marks, and in so doing tempts the 
 ignorant to break the legato between the successive 
 measures, and thus make nonsense of the passages. 
 The composers themselves were equally careless and 
 confusing in their use of slur lines, and many edi- 
 tors hesitate to amend this confusion. Riemann, on 
 the other hand, goes to the root of the structure, 
 and uses his slurs to define the limits of the phrases. 
 
 It is not enough that the proper punctuation of 
 the music be quite clear to the teacher theoretically ; 
 he must be able to render it in such a way as will 
 create a correct standard of punctuation in the ear 
 and mind of the pupil, in accordance with which the 
 pupil may be able to conform his future work. 
 
 Far the most effective device for marking the 
 punctuation of music is, the device which is used in 
 good reading : a pause of sufficient length to make 
 clear the separation of -the parts. Such a pause 
 varies in length from the almost imperceptible in- 
 terruption of a caesural break, to the well-deflned 
 pause marking the end of a sentence. In many cases 
 the structure of the music sharply defines the points 
 of division. Long notes, rests, resolutions of dis- 
 cords, cadences, often emphasise the larger divisions 
 of the music into periods and sections. But these 
 natural indications of the articulation are by no 
 means sharply defined, or easy to discover, in all 
 cases. And yet, if music is to be finely rendered, 
 the limit of every phrase and every motive must be 
 clearly marked. The smaller the division of the 
 music, the shorter must be the pause: but just as a 
 fine line of blank verse, though it have no punctu- 
 
136 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 ating sign, cannot be effectively rendered without 
 the cassural break which calls attention to its struc- 
 tural beauty, so likewise is it in music. The smallest 
 motival fragment of a phrase must have its caesural 
 break, to separate it from the phrases which precede 
 and follow, even though this break be so slight as to 
 be almost imperceptible. 
 
 Again, in this matter of articulation, it must be 
 borne in mind, that the hearer has to perceive the 
 separation solely from the sound, as his ear is usu- 
 ally not aided by the sight of the printed notes. 
 
 Examples of caesural pauses : 
 
 ,* ■ Bach, Invention in A minor. 
 
 c) Bach, Fugue in G minor. Id) 
 
 35=:; i ..- nd?: 
 
 Bach, Fugue in B flat. 
 
 In these examples the caesural points are indi- 
 cated, both by the phrasing slurs, and by commas. 
 In this connection special attention may be called to 
 one of the most prevalent errors in practical phras- 
 ing. Those teachers, especially, who are anxious to 
 teach carefully and conscientiously, are the most 
 frequent offenders. This common fault is, to give a 
 
Articulating Phrasing. 137 
 
 special accent or emphasis to the first note of every 
 new phrase or motive in order to call attention to its 
 entry. Once more, let us appeal to the language 
 with which we are most familiar. Does a good 
 reader "raise his voice" at the fi.rst word of each 
 new sentence or fragment of a sentence indicated by 
 the punctuation or the structure of the composition ? 
 Certainly not. For the clear articulation he de- 
 pends almost entirely upon the clear separation of 
 the phrases and sentences. The wrong practice, in 
 music, of accenting the first note of each phrase, and 
 of paying very little heed to the clear separation of 
 the phrases, utterly destroys the beauty of steady 
 rhythm, and substitutes a sort of grotesque system 
 of .ejaculation for an orderly and sequential per- 
 formance. This error cannot be too widely known 
 or too strongly condemned. The normal rhythm 
 should not be disturbed at the entry of a new -phrase 
 or motive. The phrase, as appears in the illustra- 
 tions just given, usually begins on an unaccented 
 note, and if emphasis be needed at all, it should be 
 given, not to the first note of the phrase, but to the 
 normal accent which follows in measure or group. 
 Cassural pauses, such as those indicated in the fore- 
 going examples, are to be almost imperceptible. 
 Where they ajre observed at all the common error is 
 one of exaggeration. The correct duration of the 
 pause is not easy to define in words, but it merely 
 amounts to an instant's hesitation on the last note 
 of the motive, without there being necessarily or 
 usually any break in the legato. 
 
 Note. The reader will fi.nd, fully discussed, the 
 confusion caused by composers using the same curved 
 slur lines interchangeably as legato, and as phrasing 
 indications, in the author's works entitled "Phrasing 
 in Piano-Playing, with Examples" (Ashdown); and 
 "Touch, Phrasing and Interpretation" (Reeves). 
 
138 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 ExpRESssivE Phrasing. 
 
 The second important branch of phrasing is that 
 which treats of the expressive rendering of the frag- 
 ments whose articulation is made clear by right 
 punctuation. At the outset it may be well to point 
 out that in this part of musical interpretation there is 
 room for minor differences of view. When we hear 
 two fine readers of poetry declaiming the same piece 
 do we not often notice slight variations in pace, in- 
 tonation, emphasis, which differentiate the personali- 
 ties of the two readers? And yet both readers may 
 be equally scholarly, intelligent, appreciative, ex- 
 pressive and artistic. So may it be in the expressive 
 rendering of musical phrases. There may be differ- 
 ing shades of tone, of accent, of emphasis, of time; 
 and the varying interpretations may all alike be 
 beautiful. The proper and adequate punctuating of 
 the music is, however, no matter for individual fancy 
 or taste; for on it depends, in large measure, the 
 clear and intelligent exposition of the structural 
 form of the music. But though the expressive inter- 
 pretation of music may differ slightly under the 
 hands of different artists, still, there are many broad 
 principles of expressive phrasing upon which there is 
 general agreement. And the individual modifica- 
 tions of able players are of the delicate and fine 
 kind that belong to the expression of individual 
 temperament, and are developed in the artist uncon- 
 sciously long after he has been thoroughly schooled 
 in the well-established principles of expressive 
 phrasing. And it is these broad, well-established 
 principles, not minor modifications, which are the 
 outcome of individual temperament, that are the 
 
Expressive Phrasing. 139 
 
 proper concern of the teacher and the student. These 
 general principles are cursorily treated under their 
 separate headings throughout the various sections of 
 this chapter. Minute practical directions on many 
 of the elemental factors of this comprehensive sub-_ 
 ject may likewise be found arranged under suitable 
 titles in "The Art of Expression," Chapters IV to 
 VIII. Much valuable information will also be 
 found in Franklin Taylor's " Technique and Expres- 
 sion"; and in other works mentioned at the end of 
 this chapter. Chapter VII of "The Art of Expres- 
 sion" treats in detail of cadential punctuation, the 
 natural separation of phrases, the division of phrases 
 into motives, imitative and melodic phrases, primary 
 motives and the like. 
 
 Enough has now been said to indicate the import- 
 ance of this subject ; to show that without a scholarly 
 knowledge of the structure of music, and a practical 
 knowledge of how to make the parts of that struc- 
 ture clear to the listener, there can be no intelligent 
 interpretation or intelligent teaching; to urge the 
 necessity of beginning this part of the pupil's edu- 
 cation at a very early stage; and to direct attention 
 to right methods of study. 
 
 The student and teacher will find simple, clear, 
 practical expositions of the whole subject of phras- 
 ing, with copious examples, in the text books named 
 in the note on page 137. 
 
 13. MONOPHONIC AND POLYPHONIC MUSIC. 
 
 Slow progress in learning the pianoforte and bad 
 playing are due, not alone to incorrect and ineffec- 
 tive instructions, but largely to the fact that pupils 
 do not listen carefully to what they are doing. No 
 
140 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 matter how clearly you may instruct a pupil, no 
 matter how exactly you may show him what he has 
 to do, the labour will be lost if he does not listen 
 attentively to every note he plays. Possibly the 
 pupil forms a correct general mental conception of 
 what is required to be done from the printed notes 
 as well as from his teacher's directions and illustra- 
 tions; bu'; where he so often fails is, in not listening 
 keenly to make sure that the actual performance 
 coincides exactly with this mental conception. 
 Again and again, after instructing a pupil clearly 
 and accurately upon some point of rhythm, tone- 
 shading or phrasing, and making certain that he 
 understood, have I heard him neglecting those very 
 points upon which I had been so explicit. Upon 
 inquiry I learnt, moreover, from him, not only that 
 his errors were due to no lack of understanding, but 
 that he was not aware of any neglect. By repeated 
 experiments of this kind I discovered that a large 
 proportion of the faults were due to careless listen- 
 ing. Then, by getting the pupil to repeat the pas- 
 sage, and by telling him to give careful attention to 
 the point previously neglected, the error is promptly 
 corrected. In no branch of music is this lack of 
 attentive listening so destructive of all beauty as in 
 melody-playing. Nearly all modern music contains 
 but one part of primary importance, to which, in the 
 rendering, all the other parts should be subservient. 
 This modern, monophonic music is usually made up 
 of chords arranged in grammatical succession. The 
 notes of these chords are sounded, in some cases, 
 together, in other cases, in arpeggioed succession; 
 and they very often form the accompaniment of a 
 melody. One of the chief aims in this monophonic 
 music is, to discover the one part which is of primary 
 importance, to fix the attention upon it as the chief 
 matter, and to give to it the prominence and care 
 
Monophonic and Polyphonic Music. 141 
 
 which are its due. Where a piece of music evidently 
 consists of a melody with a simple accompaniment, 
 some attempt is often made to give the melody 
 prominence. But in cases where any difficulty or 
 obscurity presents itself, where, for example, the 
 melody and accompaniment are both taken by the 
 same hand; where the melody consists of one note 
 in each of a succession of chords; or where a number 
 of notes or chords are played against a single 
 melody note; or where the accompaniment is at all 
 of an intricate character; or where the melody and 
 accompaniment are interwoven so that the melody 
 may be partially hidden — in such cases as these 
 there are commonly many serious faults to be found 
 in the rendering. The accompaniment is played far 
 too loudly; the melody notes are not sounded or 
 sustained so as to be heard clearly above the accom- 
 paniment; and the legato of the melody is con- 
 stantly broken. Now, although every pupil knows 
 perfectly well that the melody is the important 
 thine, and that its prominence should be assured, 
 still, he fails utterly because he does not listen atten- 
 tively and persistently, and persevere with the at- 
 tempt to effect melodic prominence and legato, until 
 he is quite sure that no note can possibly sound 
 indistinct or weak to the hearer. The pupil may 
 not be lacking in knowledge, but without the keen 
 use of his ears the knowledge is useless to him. 
 
 In order to guard against any appearance of this 
 melodic weakness, many modern concert pianists 
 thump out each melody note until every particle of 
 rhythm, of grace, of beauty, is thumped out of the 
 music. ISTo such plan is necessary. What is desir- 
 able and requisite is, to insist, from a very early stage 
 in the child's study, upon sounding each melody 
 note so clearly, and sustaining it so carefully, that 
 it may be heard distinctly until the next melody 
 
142 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 note is sounded. To accomplish this becomes more 
 and more difficult as the number of notes or chords 
 of accompaniment written against each melody note 
 increases; and it will not be successfully accom- 
 plished unless the pupil be persuaded to listen atten- 
 tively to each melody note, with his physical, not 
 his imaginative ears; and to observe that the tone of 
 the accompaniment is so subdued that no note of it 
 is loud enough to drown the dying vibrations of the 
 note of melody to which it belongs. By softening 
 the notes of the accompaniment to the very faintest 
 whisper, all thumping out of melody tones may be 
 avoided, while the melody itself may still stand out 
 prominently and its beauty be elicited by just gra- 
 dations of tone. The more intently the player 
 listens to the melody, the more he concentrates his 
 attention upon it as the important thing, the more 
 prominent will it become, and the more beautiful 
 will be its interpretation. 
 
 Every pupil should be made to learn his melody 
 alone at first, apart from any complication of added 
 accompaniment. Many a time when a pupil has 
 made a fiasco of some Song Without Words for the 
 piano which he wished to play to me, I have bidden 
 him to play me the melody alone. In a large per- 
 centage of cases, he was unable to decide which was 
 melody and which was not. No accompaniment 
 should ever be added by a learner until every note 
 of the melody is perfectly familiar, or until the 
 whole melody can be played through expressively 
 and beautifully. Then, again, it is exceedingly 
 common to find notes of the melody every now and 
 then passed over weakly and carelessly as if they 
 were not regarded as of much importance. Although 
 no note in any kind of music should ever be played 
 without thought and care, doubly is this caution 
 necessary in the case of melody. 
 
Monophonic and Polyphonic Music. 143 
 
 It is not melodic prominence alone, however, that 
 is neglected. The legato of the melody is even still 
 more neglected. Here, again, nothing short of the 
 most attentive watchfulness, both with eye and ear, 
 will guard against this common fault. It is not 
 enough that the pupil be taught to listen to one 
 melody note until the next is sounded; he should 
 be taught at the same time toi watch and feel that 
 he is keeping one melody key depressed until the 
 next is depressed. The usual fault is to make a 
 wrong legato between a melody note and its suc- 
 ceeding note of accompaniment, instead of between 
 the successive melody notes. 
 
 Both the required legato and the melodic promin- 
 ence will be the more easily attained by a judicious 
 use of the pedal. It is, in fact, almost essential to 
 use the pedal, at least for every long note of 
 a melody. Many of our finest players enrich 
 nearly all the melody tones in this way, taking 
 care at the same time not to mingle them one with 
 another. 
 
 Special points may perhaps be made clearer by 
 examples. 
 
 Mendelssohn, Op. 38, No. 0. 
 
 pig 
 
 i=Fh 
 
 ^VW=^^>^- 
 
 
 T 
 
 (i). Here is an example of melody notes whose 
 sound must be sustained effectively against eight or 
 nine notes of accompaniment. The melody tone A 
 flat must continue so that it may be heard by the 
 audience until G is sounded. To accomplish this, 
 it is necessary that the A flat should be sounded 
 
144 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 strongly, that it be sustained at least partially by 
 the pedal and that the accompanying notes should 
 be rendered by the very faintest pianissimo. If it 
 be said once more — "everyone knows all this," it may 
 be replied that the reason that it is not done if it 
 .be known, is partly because the player, seeing the 
 notes of the melody, imagines them to be sounding 
 just as he is thinking of the melodic progression. 
 What is wanted is to hear with the physical ears 
 exactly what is imagined. It is in the failure to do 
 this that the fault largely lies. 
 
 Ex. 2. Chopin, Op. 32, No. 2. 
 [d). [b). wrong. 
 
 i§^ 
 
 zSE 
 
 S 
 
 E3: 
 
 (2). This example may be used as an illustration 
 of one of the commonest faults in the rendering of 
 melody and accompaniment. The A flat, dotted 
 crotchet, should here be well sustained until the 
 sounding of the quaver B flat. There should not 
 only be an absolute legato between these two melody 
 notes, but the F flat in the accompaniment should 
 be sounded so softly that it would be impossible for 
 the hearer to mistake it for a note of the melody. 
 In nine cases out of ten, however, the legato between 
 A flat and B flat is broken; a wrong legato is in- 
 stituted between the melody note A flat and the 
 accompaniment note F flat; and the A flat, on the 
 one hand, is sounded so feebly, and, on the other 
 hand, the F flat is sounded so strongly, that the 
 real progression of the melody is completely 
 obscured. 
 
(a- 
 
 Monophonic and Polyphonic Music. 
 
 Ex. 3. Mendelssohn, Op. 72, No. 2. 
 
 145 
 
 » 
 
 W^WW 
 
 ' b) . wrong. 
 
 Ml^^i^ 
 
 (3). Here, as both melody and accompaniment 
 are taken by the same hand, the difficulty of giving 
 due prominence to the melody is considerable; yet 
 this prominence is essential for a right rendering of 
 the passage. The legato of the melody is, however, 
 broken by most pupils, and for it there is substituted 
 a wrong legato between each melody note and its 
 succeeding note of accompaniment, so that the 
 melodic progression shown at (b) is the one usually 
 heard by the audience. 
 
 Ex.4. 
 
 (J) . wrong. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^y^ir 
 
 11^ 
 
 s 
 
 t=l- 
 
 ^\ 
 
 ^5! 
 
 (4). Where a note of the melody is accompanied 
 by a number of repeated chords, great care must be 
 taken to release the last chord of accompaniment 
 promptly, watching at the same time, to sustain the 
 melody beyond the release of that final chord. The 
 common fault is, to break the legato of the melody, 
 and to substitute a wrong legato between the last 
 chord of accompaniment and the succeeding note of 
 melody, as shown at (b). The essential rule in all 
 cases is, to sustain every melody note carefully 
 
 II 
 
1 46 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 beyond the release of every one of its notes or chords 
 of accompaniment, no matter how many they be. 
 
 Ex. 5. 
 
 ^iip 
 
 (5). This is an illustration of one of the very 
 common difficulties which must be overcome if 
 melody playing is to be effective. Not alone does 
 one hand have often to take both melody and ac- 
 companiment, but both are often contained in a 
 single chord. If the melody is to receive its due 
 prominence the upper note of every chord must ring 
 out, while the lower notes must be played with sub- 
 dued tone. By most pupils, however, all the notes 
 of each chord are struck with equal force, so that 
 although the harmonic progression is clear, there is 
 very little melody to be heard. 
 
 In all the cases illustrated here, much more is re- 
 quired of the teacher than mere direction. He should 
 play each example to his pupil, giving the melody 
 great prominence, and subduing the accompani- 
 ment; he should call the attention of the pupil to 
 the sustained tone of each melody note above all its 
 notes of accompaniment ; he should make the legato 
 of the melody unmistakable. And then he should 
 persistently try to induce the pupil to imitate his ex- 
 amples, in order to make sure that a correct standard 
 is being developed in his mind. 
 
 Every pupil has three essential things to do in 
 order to win success : first, to know rightly what to 
 do; secondly, to think consciously of how it should 
 be done before doing it; and thirdly, to listen in 
 order to hear that he has done it. It is in the last 
 two essentials that so many students fail. 
 
Hidden Melodies. 147 
 
 Hidden Melodies. 
 
 In modern monophonic music, it is not alone in 
 cases where melody and accompaniment are evi- 
 dently distinct and unmistakable, that melodic 
 prominence is required. Nearly every modern piece 
 of music has some melodic significance ; and in much 
 of our romantic music there are fragments of melody 
 every now and then woven into the accompaniment, 
 or deftly hidden in a succession of chords, or in 
 some figured passage. These must be sought out 
 and brought into artistic prominence. Occasionally 
 one finds an editor whose special hobby is hidden 
 melodies, discovering imaginary snatches of melody 
 which he thinks are worth bringing into prominence. 
 Klindworth, for example, is inclined to err thus in 
 his admirable edition of Chopin. And again, there 
 are some concert pianists who do not hesitate to 
 destroy the symmetry of a composition by forcing 
 into undue prominence some snatch of melody, real 
 or imaginary, which they think has been neglected. 
 Critics possessed of more enthusiasm than know- 
 ledge are rather apt to accentuate this error by 
 describing these disproportionate performances as 
 "new readings." 
 
 The proper business of the master is, to point out 
 to his pupil those hidden melodies which were palp- 
 ably intended by the composer to be brought into 
 evidence, and to insist upon a rendering which, while 
 it calls them to the notice of the hearer, will not 
 interfere with the unity of the whole work by giving 
 them disproportionate prominence. 
 
 Nearly all successions of chords require melodic 
 prominence for their highest notes. And nothing is 
 
1 48 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 more common in the rendering of such passages than 
 the monotonous and heavy sound of equal tones 
 throughout all the notes of each chord. Saint-Saens 
 has written a useful study, to be found in the Cotta- 
 Lebert Pianoforte School, for the purpose of 
 developing facility in striking with emphasis any 
 particular note of any chord. Prominence for the 
 upper notes of chords may be produced by leaning 
 the hand towards the side on which the notes requir- 
 ing prominence lie, so that they may be sounded 
 an almost imperceptible shade before the other 
 notes. 
 
 Upon the subject of melodic figures or unwritten 
 themes, half hidden in harmonic progressions, in 
 florid passages or in accompaniments, Klindworth 
 will be found very helpful in the interpretation of 
 Chopin's works, while Germer, Lebert and Biilow 
 help similarly to interpret the works of Beethoven. 
 Franklin Taylor, in his "Technique and Expres- 
 sion," has a most valuable chapter on this most in- 
 teresting subject, and so also has Christian! in his 
 " Expression in Pianoforte Playing." In both these 
 treatises copious examples are given in illustration 
 of the text. 
 
 Imitative Passages. 
 
 Every great composer whose works are intelli- 
 gently and logically developed from simple motives 
 and subjects, varies, modifi.es and elaborates these 
 simple motives and' subjects, so as to construct a 
 consecutive, interesting and artistic whole. The most 
 splendid examples of constructive ingenuity we pos- 
 
Imitative Passages. 149 
 
 sess in our pianoforte literature are to be found in 
 Bach's fugues and Beethoven's sonatas. 
 
 The teacher's business here is, to trace the develop- 
 ment of every part of the composition under study, 
 to show its relationship with its foundation text or 
 theme, and to require of the pupil the rendering 
 which will be most likely to make its genealogy 
 clearly recognisable by the hearer. Imitative pas- 
 sages abound in all these finely constructed works, 
 and in proportion to their importance they must be 
 made prominent no matter in what part they appear. 
 
 Two great aims in pianoforte-playing must never 
 be lost sight of : Erst, the hunting out of melody, 
 the careful tracking of it to its covert, no matter 
 where or how it be hidden, and then bringing it into 
 prominence by subordinating every other part of the 
 music to the elucidation of its beauty; and, secondly, 
 the most thorough study of the construction of the 
 music, so that not alone the unity and symmetry of 
 the whole, but also the detailed beauty and relation- 
 ship of all the parts, may be appreciatively made 
 manifest. 
 
 14. Polyphonic Music. 
 
 The earlier polyphonic music, such as that of 
 Bach, was written upon quite a different principle 
 and requires very different treatment in performance, 
 from modern monophonic music. Whereas the 
 monophonic music usually consists of a succession 
 of chords which may be read vertically, and contains 
 one part which requires special prominence; the 
 polyphonic music consists of a number of melodies 
 
1 50 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 written above or below each other, to be read hori- 
 zontally, and all of equal importance. Thus much 
 is, of course, one of the A B C's of all educated 
 musicians; yet there are, nevertheless, not a few 
 teachers who take upon themselves to instruct pupils 
 in Bach's Inventions and other works of the kind, 
 who have not the remotest notion of the difference 
 between monophonic and polyphonic music. I have 
 myself seen one of the chief pianoforte teachers in 
 an establishment numbering some thousand inmates 
 in one of the great cities of the empire, who had not 
 a glimmering suspicion that there were three equally 
 important, or three distinct melodies, in one of 
 Bach's Three Part Inventions ! Therefore it cannot 
 be deemed superfluous to offer some suggestions 
 upon the subject of how to teach the interpretation 
 of polyphonic music. 
 
 Each individual part should always be studied 
 separately; and when each is thus thoroughly mas- 
 tered, then, when playing all the parts together, each 
 part must receive equal attention, and must be made 
 to sound as if it were a distinct and individual 
 melody played by a separate performer. Fine in- 
 telligence, intense mental concentration, perfect 
 training of the fingers in strength and independence, 
 are indispensable qualifications of success in this 
 difficult task. The art of individualising success- 
 fully, and rendering artistically, diverse and com- 
 plicated melodies simultaneously, is a far greater 
 test of the intelligence, skill and training of a per- 
 former, than the most sensational gymnastic feats of 
 modern virtuosity. There is no training in musical 
 interpretation to compare with this training in poly- 
 phony, for developing intelligence, alertness and 
 mastery over the niceties of fine playing. 
 
 Although complicated music written in many 
 parts is entirely unsuitable for the beginner, still, any 
 
Polyphonic Music. 151 
 
 quick pupil of a year's standing may be initiated 
 into the virtues of polyphonic study. Bach's small 
 preludes may be used at first* These may be fol- 
 lowed successively by the two-part Inventions; 
 Handel's suites; Scarlatti's sonatas; Bach's English 
 and French suites; and after these, the three-part 
 Inventions will lead on to that great volume, most 
 deeply treasured by the most musical minds, Bach's 
 "Woltempirites Clavier," so aptly and so often 
 called the Old Testament of pianoforte literature. 
 
 In polyphonic music more than in any other atten- 
 tion to right fingering is essential. Injudicious 
 fingering is sure to bring about hopeless bungling 
 very promptly. 
 
 After learning each part separately at first, then 
 when some little ease has been attained in playing 
 the various melodies together, it will be found most 
 helpful to an intelligent rendering, to get the pupil 
 to concentrate his attention for some time almost 
 exclusively upon one single part while playing all 
 together, and then upon the next part, and so on. 
 When he has acquired the power of fixing his atten- 
 tion upon any single part, then let him try to listen 
 to two parts at once, then to three parts, until he can 
 at the same moment regard the composition both as 
 a unified whole and as a combination of separate 
 melodies. Since the right hand in modern music 
 usually contains the part requiring especial promin- 
 ence, the more attention must be given to the 
 neglected left hand when practising polyphonic 
 music. And the pupil must watch each separate 
 part, not alone to see that the right notes are played, 
 but to see that no legato in any individual melody 
 is wrongly broken. One of the most common faults 
 
 * Or Riemann's 'Technical Studies in Polyphonic Play- 
 ing " (Steingraber Edition, No. 27). 
 
152 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 is, breaking the continuity of the legato in one part 
 and substituting an incorrect legato with some note 
 of a neighbouring part. Repetitions of the chief 
 subject, moreover, require careful and uniform treat- 
 ment, both in phrasing and nuance, so that they may 
 easily be recognised as repetitions by their similarity 
 to their original model. 
 
 Here again, in teaching polyphonic music, much 
 help may be gained by the use of really scholarly 
 editions. Riemann, Germer, Klindworth and Busoni, 
 are all able interpretative editors of Bach. And 
 where so little in the way of interpretative hints was 
 given by the composer himself, there is the greater 
 need of good guidance upon the difficult subjects of 
 ornamentation, phrasing, especially motival phras- 
 ing, and general expressive treatment. 
 
 Many explicit directions upon the right interpreta- 
 tion of monophonic and polyphonic music may be 
 found in Chapters V and VI of " The Art of Ex- 
 pression"; and for a full exposition of how to play 
 Bach's fugues on the piano, study Chapter III of 
 "Touch, Phrasing and Interpretation" (Reeves). 
 
 15. How TO Teach the Use of the Pedal. 
 
 It is impossible to play even fairly well without 
 the judicious use of the pedal. And yet, in spite of 
 books upon the subject, and in spite of pedal indica- 
 tions on the printed page, how few there are who 
 have any adequate conception of its right use. 
 Beautiful players use it continually, and by its 
 judicious and delicate use they enhance greatly the 
 charm of their playing. For by its right use the 
 tone is enriched and sustained. 
 
How to Teach the Use of the Pedal. 1 53 
 
 On the other hand, the common use of the pedal 
 by those who are not rightly trained, affords a re- 
 markable and unpleasant example of the lack of 
 care on the part of pupils to listen to the exact sound 
 of their own playing. The vulgar name given to 
 this pedal, "the loud pedal," partly explains its 
 abuse. In utter ignorance of its real effect it is in- 
 discriminately used to increase the tone wherever a 
 loud tone is desired. And so, it is not an infrequent 
 thing to hear the discordant jangling together of 
 the notes of a chromatic scale passage by a pupil so 
 deaf to his own performance that he is blissfully 
 unconscious of the horrid din. Therefore, again it 
 may be urged, it is essential that the teacher impress 
 continually upon his pupil the necessity for con- 
 stant and careful listening to the actual sounds pro- 
 duced during his practising. The mental ideal is 
 useless if the actual performance does not corres- 
 pond with it. 
 
 In addition to the misuse of the pedal already 
 mentioned, there is one other ill use of it by pupils 
 whose artistic conscience is deadened by careless- 
 ness. They hope to minimise the bad effect of a 
 half -learned passage, and to escape a breakdown, 
 by blurring the sounds with a prolonged depression 
 of the pedal. Such carelessness cannot be overcome 
 except through the cultivation of a sense of honour 
 and shame in the pupil, and by getting him to 
 realise 'the miserable effect he produces in trying to 
 hide bad work by so ineffective a device. 
 
 From the very first use of the pedal by the pupil, 
 ■the teacher should explain its effects clearly, and 
 insist that it be rightly named. When a single 
 pianoforte key is depressed, the single damper 
 belonging to the strings sounded by the hammer of 
 that key is lifted off those strings. So long as the 
 key is kept depressed the damper remains lifted and 
 
154 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 the note continues to sound until the vibrations of 
 the strings cease. But so soon as the key is released, 
 the damper falls on the strings and promptly stops 
 the sound. What is effected for one single note by 
 the depression of a single key is effected for all the 
 notes at once by the depression of the pedal. When 
 the pedal is depressed all the dampers are at once 
 raised from all the strings quite independently of 
 any key action. And all the notes sounded during 
 this depression of the pedal continue to sound and 
 to mingle their vibrations together, until the pedal 
 is released and the dampers once again fall on their 
 strings. It is evident then, that the effect of play- 
 ing a number of notes in succession with the pedal 
 depressed is very similar to the effect produced by 
 striking the same notes simultaneously. The teacher 
 may easily prove to the pupil that the proper name 
 of the pedal is, "the sustaining pedal," and that its 
 effect is, to sustain tones, not to produce loud tones, 
 by the following forcible illustration. First, strike 
 simultaneously and loudly the eight notes forming 
 one octave of the scale of C major, using middle C 
 as the lowest note of the octave of notes struck. 
 Keep the eight keys depressed together, and ask the 
 pupil to listen to the effect and judge of its quality. 
 His criticism will probably take the form of a 
 grimace and an exclamation of disgust. Next, re- 
 lease the eight keys ; depress the pedal, and while it 
 is depressed, strike the same eight notes in succes- 
 sion with the same force as before; release each key 
 immediately after its note is sounded, while continu- 
 ing to keep the pedal depressed all the time. Again 
 invite criticism of the result from the pupil. He 
 will probably recognise that the effect of both ex- 
 periments is almost identical. Thus you may 
 demonstrate, even to the dullest pupil, that the 
 proper object of the pedal is to sustain tones ; and 
 
How to Teach the Use of the Pedal. 155 
 
 that discordant tones played in succession while the 
 pedal is depressed are quite as objectionable as dis- 
 cordant notes struck simultaneously. 
 
 Here, once more, it may be said : " Surely all this 
 writing about a matter so well known to every 
 teacher is mere waste of words." Yet, however 
 accurate or wide the knowledge of the facts may be, 
 it is palpable, from the prevalence of indiscriminate 
 and wrong pedalling, that this knowledge is not 
 effectively imparted to the pupil. And the main 
 object of this work is, not only to suggest what 
 should be taught, but also to suggest means for 
 making the teaching effective. 
 
 If after the illustration just suggested, the teacher 
 would point out to the pupil whose principle in 
 using the pedal was to gain an increase of tone, that 
 it is simply because he persistently refuses to listen 
 to the dissonant clash of sounds produced by him- 
 self he can tolerate his own performance, he would 
 probably effectually arouse the attention of the 
 pupil and bring about reform in his methods. 
 
 After the rationale of the subject has thus been 
 made clear, some concise and practical directions 
 should follow. For example : " Do not keep the 
 pedal depressed while discordant notes or different 
 harmonies are sounded in succession; and do not 
 interfere with the clear separation of phrases by 
 keeping the pedal depressed while passing from one 
 phrase to the next." 
 
 One of the main sources of the difficulties which 
 the inexperienced student and teacher encounter in 
 this branch of his work is, the carelessness, or ignor- 
 ance, or neglect, or mistakes of composers and edi- 
 tors in indicating the use of the pedal. Pedal direc- 
 tions printed on the pages of the music are usually 
 either wrong, or misleading, or insufficient. How then 
 may the inexperienced. find safe guidance? It is a 
 
156 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 very common thing for a teacher to say to his pupil : 
 "Do not use the pedal here for it is not marked"; 
 or " use the pedal here, for there is a printed direc- 
 tion to do so," and yet the pedal should be used in 
 numberless cases where it is not "marked," and it 
 should not be used in numberless cases where it is 
 " marked." 
 
 The effective use of the pedal presupposes some 
 knowledge of harmony and musical form; and also 
 the knowledge that the object of all good playing 
 is to make the music as played sound beautiful. 
 Fortified by this knowledge, the following few 
 speci&c directions will prove helpful. First, then, 
 the pedal should be used wherever its use makes the 
 music sound more beautiful, whether there is a pedal 
 indication on the printed page or not. But the pupil 
 must watch against the liability of dulling his sense 
 of clear sounds by the blurring effect of a too con- 
 tinuous or overwhelming use of the pedal. Even if 
 gross faults be avoided, the effect of too much pedal 
 is to thicken the tone; it brings to mind, perhaps, 
 the "wooliness" of tone of some German pianos as 
 compared with the clear tones of an Erard, a Broad- 
 wood or a Steinway. 
 
 The legitimate provinces of the pedal are, to 
 enrich and sustain the tones of a melody without 
 mingling or blurring them; to effect a legato in 
 many chord passages otherwise unattainable ; to add 
 brilliancy to many broken chord passages, and to 
 other florid passages where the treble part lies near 
 the top of the piano; and to aid in producing deli- 
 cacy, brilliancy or richness of tone generally. But, 
 let it be repeated, no rules will prove of any value 
 unless the teacher insists on careful listening upon 
 the part of the pupil to the effect of the pedal in 
 each case where it is used; unless he thus develops 
 in the pupil just as critical a sense of discordant or 
 
How to Teach the Use of the Pedal. 1 57 
 
 unmusical effects produced by the pedal as of those 
 produced by the depression and release of the keys. 
 Detailed instructions upon the use of the pedal 
 may be found in Chapter VIII of "The Art of Ex- 
 pression," and in the author's full textbook on the 
 subject, entitled "How to Use the Pedal" (Ash- 
 down), with copious exercises in pedal technique. 
 Special attention should be paid to the chapters on 
 the "syncopated pedal." In nearly all cases the 
 pedal should be depressed, after, not with, the note 
 indicated. 
 
 1 6. Character and Style in Interpretation. 
 
 There is more nonsense talked and written about 
 the emotional significance of music, about its 
 aesthetic import, about the ideas it is supposed to 
 contain, about its expressive interpretation translated 
 into words, than about any other branch of its ex- 
 position. Multitudes of books are published; 
 classes are formed, and lectures are delivered, for 
 the ostensible purpose of giving a general and a 
 detailed exposition of the ideas and emotions sup- 
 posed to be set forth, not alone in various musical 
 compositions as a whole, but also in each sentence, 
 measure or chord, of which these compositions are 
 made up. These elaborate essays and lectures 
 commonly record, in verbose and flowery language, 
 some emotional story, some imaginative description, 
 some detailed analytical programme, purporting to 
 contain a literary transcript of the music. But such 
 aesthetic records shed no light on the music; they 
 add to it no beauty. Even if they were true they 
 could not help any student to play one whit better 
 or to listen the more appreciatively. Such essays 
 and instructions are utterly unpractical, and time 
 
158 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 devoted to them is time wasted. Sober sceptics, for 
 the humour of the thing, have sometimes printed 
 side by side, columns of these detailed interpreta- 
 tions of a single composition by various aesthetic 
 writers. But though these columns furnish quite a 
 bewildering wealth of entirely antagonistic views, 
 still, the kaleidoscopic entertainment goes on, prov- 
 ing the futility of such a scheme of interpretation. 
 Music is not a detailed expression of ideas or emo- 
 tions which are capable of translation into words. 
 If it were so, it would be a useless redundancy in 
 the spheres of art. It is primarily a tone structure 
 of beautiful form and proportion; and secondly, it 
 is characterised by the personal impress of the com- 
 poser's mind and mood. The impalpable spirit of 
 the composer has somehow been infused into the 
 music so as to give it the mark of his personality. 
 .Its very worth as an art consists in the fact that it 
 alone of all the arts is entirely non-material, that it 
 alone is able to catch and to express those finer 
 shades of emotion, those spiritual aspects of per- 
 sonality, which are outside the range of the grosser 
 symbolism of words. So that these interpretative 
 aesthetic sketches are nothing short of futile 
 attempts to deprive music of the very rationale of 
 its existence, by translating its spiritual beauty into 
 material terms. Does not the history of religions 
 illustrate the same tendency of mankind to descend 
 from the less intelligible spheres of the spiritual to 
 the more tangible realms of the material ? 
 
 The emotional characteristics of fine music are 
 vague. If it be said that such and such music is 
 grand, or sorrowful, or sad, or bright, or joyous, or 
 peaceful, this is almost as far as it is possible soberly 
 or wisely to go. To teach style in interpretation, in 
 this sense, cannot be accomplished by the framing of 
 rules, by the issue of directions, by giving detailed 
 
Character and Style in Interpretation. 159 
 
 explanations. These broad emotional characteris- 
 tics of music must be felt to be rightly interpreted. 
 And the education necessary for their interpretation 
 is just the same education of the whole nature that 
 is required for a right appreciation of what is beau- 
 tiful in fine poetry or painting. The finer the 
 general education, the finer the quality of the whole 
 nature, and the greater the familiarity with the best 
 music, the fuller will the powers of appreciation and 
 discrimination probably be. 
 
 The cultivated teacher may do much in this matter. 
 He may urge the pupil to general mental education, 
 and he may persuade him to hear and to play much 
 good music. He may also play to the pupil various 
 preludes and fugues of Bach's, and point out what 
 appears to him to be the general shade of emotion 
 expressed in each. He may illustrate the sublimity 
 of much of Handel's music by typical transcripts 
 from his finest works. In the same way he may call 
 attention to the profound sorrow shown in many of 
 Beethoven's great compositions, the good humour of 
 Haydn, the melancholy grace of Chopin, the pure, 
 colourless beauty of Mozart, the gentle refinement of 
 Mendelssohn. But beyond general counsels to liberal 
 culture, to refinement of character, to imaginative 
 development, to familiarity with great works of art; 
 beyond the habit of drawing the attention of the 
 sttjdent to the general emotional character of the 
 music he is learning ; beyond wise guidance through 
 such a course of music as will familiarise the student 
 with the best works of the great composers, there is 
 little else to be done. For the rest, we must pati- 
 ently await the day when all the detailed instruc- 
 tions of the past will be fused, as it were, together 
 into one harmonious whole. Then, what seemed to 
 the student to be little more than a characterless 
 concourse of notes, will become transfigured by the 
 
160 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 breath of the hfe which is in them. Then will the 
 heart be moved by the grace of the beauty, the force 
 of the imagination, the power of the personality, 
 which seems to speak in the music. When this day 
 dawns, it is time for the performer to throw his 
 whole heart and. soul into the music he plays, and 
 to try to express as powerfully and beautifully as 
 he can what he feels in the music. However careful 
 and systematic the education of a player may be, 
 he need never fear that the routine or conventional 
 character of this education will interfere with the 
 individuality of his playing when the day of 
 maturity has arrived in which he can freely throw 
 himself heart and soul into the music he is rendering. 
 If there be a hopeful individuality, it will be guided, 
 trained and developed, not dwarfed. If there be 
 but little individuality, that little will be benefited 
 by the culture of a liberal education. The strong 
 and emotional individuality needs constant watch- 
 fulness against the error of trying to obtrude itself 
 into all the music played, so as to obscure the ori- 
 ginality and variety of the several composers. The 
 true artist is he whose soul is possessed of the beauty 
 of the music before him, who seeks, not after an ex- 
 position of himself, but after the heart and mind of 
 the composer; whose sympathies go out generously 
 to the varied works he takes upon himself to inter- 
 pret. 
 
 Among many classes of players a few may be con- 
 cisely described for the edification of the student. 
 There is the class whose ideal is technique, who hope 
 to win applause by the brilliancy of their bravura 
 feats, but whose sympathies are small, whose hearts 
 are cold, whose imaginations are not kindled. There 
 are those, again, of strong, masterful, emotional dis- 
 position, likewise narrow in their sympathies, who 
 are for ever giving an exposition of themselves 
 
Character and Style in Interpretation. 16' 
 
 through the medium of the notes of the music they 
 play. These are not so large a class as the former, 
 but although they too win applause, still their way 
 is not that of the true artist. Then there are those 
 who discipline, not alone their hngers, but their 
 natures also — men of strong personality, of wide 
 sympathy, who look with all their heart and soul for 
 the varied beauty in the music they undertake to 
 play, and who try faithfully and earnestly to inter- 
 pret the beauty which they see. These are the true 
 artists. But it should always be remembered that 
 however excellent a man's intentions may be, how- 
 ever perfect his technique may be, however beautiful 
 the quality of tone may be which he is able to elicit 
 from the piano ; still, in his interpretations of great 
 musical compositions, he must ever be bound and 
 tied by the limitations of his own personality. So 
 it is that it is wellnigh impossible to find a combina- 
 tion of those talents, sympathies and mechanical 
 equipments, in one single artist, which are necessary 
 for the ideal interpretation of the varied music of 
 the great composers. The sympathies of different 
 players may be limited to the music of one or 
 another composer or school. But the greatest tests 
 of any player are, the finest works of Bach, Beet- 
 hoven and Chopin. And the study of these works 
 will prove the most valuable education in style for 
 the student. 
 
 \j. Some Useful Works on Interpretation. 
 
 J. Alfred Johnstone, "The Art of Expression in 
 Pianoforte Playing" (Weekes). 
 
 Franklin Taylor, "Technioue and Expression" 
 (Novello). 
 
 12 
 
162 The Art o{ Teaching. 
 
 KuUak, "Esthetics of Pianoforte Playing" 
 (Schirmer). 
 
 J. Alfred Johnstone, "How to Use the Pedal" 
 (Ashdown). 
 
 Marx, "Beethoven's Pianoforte Works" (Clayton 
 Summy). 
 
 Kullak, " Beethoven's Piano Playing '' (Schirmer). 
 
 Reinecke's "Letters on Beethoven's Sonatas" 
 (Augener). 
 
 Goodrich, " Theory of Interpretation " (Presser). 
 
 Riemann, "Catechism of Pianoforte Playing" 
 (Augener). 
 
 Christiani, "Pianoforte Esthetics" (Harper; 
 Reeves). 
 
 J. Alfred Johnstone, "Phrasing in Piano-Play- 
 ing, with Examples " (Ashdown). 
 
 Statham, " My Thoughts on Music and Musicians " 
 (Chapman). 
 
 J. Alfred Johnstone, " Touch, Phrasing and Inter- 
 pretation" (Reeves). 
 
 Dannreuther, "Musical Ornamentation " (Novello). 
 
 Harding, " Musical Ornaments " (Weekes). 
 
 Fowles, "Musical Graces" (Vincent Co.). 
 
 Weitzmann, "History of Pianoforte Playing" 
 (Schirmer). 
 
 Parry, "The Art of Music." 
 
 Parry, "The Oxford History of Music." 
 
 Niecks, "Dictionary of Musical Terms " (Augener). 
 
 Stainer and Barrett, "Dictionary of Musical 
 Terms" (Novello). 
 
 Hiles, "Dictionary of Musical Terms." 
 
 Grove, "Dictionary of Music and Musicians" 
 (Macmillan). 
 
 Hanslick, "The Beautiful in Music" (Novello). 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Suggestions for Teaching Fingering, 
 
 Reading, Accompanying and Memorising, 
 
 and Ear-Training. 
 
 I. Fingering. 
 
 Not one of the labours of the teacher is at once more 
 necessary and more tedious than that of training 
 pupils to use appropriate fingering. "Original sin" 
 is not a more troublesome virus for setting people 
 wrong than the natural propensity of the untrained 
 puoil to use, in nearly every case, the most hope- 
 lessly awkward fingering which could be conceived. 
 If, for example, there is a passage which lies easily 
 within the compass of the five fingers, some finger is 
 sure to be chosen for the beginning of the passage, 
 which will make it impossible to reach the remaining 
 notes without some awkward 3,nd unnecessary side 
 motion of the hand. Yet without the most careful 
 and assiduous training in appropriate methods of 
 fingering, the technical difficulties of the student 
 will be vastly increased, every new piece will occa- 
 sion fresh superfluous labour, and fluent reading 
 will be wellnigh impossible. The tediousness of 
 
 163 
 
164 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 the work of teaching fingering lies in the fact that, 
 for a long time, no more interesting power is called 
 into play than the patience needed for continued 
 and untiring insistence. The method is " line upon 
 line," correction upon correction, the same fault to 
 be put right a hundred times in the same way. There 
 is no royal road ; there is no pleasant road. 
 
 The teacher is not left to his own ingenuity, either, 
 in these days, to supply the requisite fingering. 
 Modern editors supply all that is needed in this 
 matter in the majority of cases. And generally, it 
 is far better to use well-fingered music for young 
 pupils than to trust to rules. Rules for fingering 
 are so vague, so general, and so beset by exceptions, 
 that they may wisely be left until the mental powers 
 of the student have developed considerably. Then 
 perhaps it may be well to try to create interest and 
 thoughtfulness and resource by explaining some of 
 the main principles upon which good fingering is 
 based. But if the patient plodding, if the ceaseless 
 vigilance, be shirked ; if this part of the pupil's edu- 
 cation be not thoroughly carried out from the very 
 beginning, the chances are exceedingly small that 
 the lost ground will ever be recovered in after years. 
 
 Further, there is no part of his work which so 
 stamps the hopeless pupil as the persistent neglect 
 of the appropriate fingering fully marked on his 
 music. A teacher may patiently correct a pupil 
 time after time during the lesson; during the lesson 
 he may insist that every note is played by the ap- 
 pointed finger ; he may urge the necessity for right 
 fingering and the folly of neglect or carelessness; 
 but in not a few cases he might as well, to use a 
 homely Irish phrase, be "whistling jigs to a mile- 
 stone." This hopeless condition may generally be 
 traced to the fact that due attention to right finger- 
 ing was not made an essential part of the pupil's 
 
Fingering. 1 65 
 
 training from the very beginning of his career. 
 Whatever else be left for a future stage in a pupil's 
 education, time, accent, variety of tone, and, above 
 all, right fingering, should be regarded as indis- 
 pensable from the very start. 
 
 It may be as well to explain, so soon as the pupil 
 can appreciate explanations, that three of the most 
 important uses of good fingering are to preserve the 
 legato in legato passages ; to attain ease, fluency and 
 neatness in execution; and to help to make the 
 phrasing of the music clear. The first of these — the 
 preservation of the legato — is far the most important 
 factor in the evolution of fingering. 
 
 At first the pupil learns, by the practice of five- 
 finger exercises, the wisdom of avoiding unnecessary 
 side-movements of his hand while playing, with the 
 most convenient fingers, the adjacent notes which his 
 fingers cover. This practice accustoms him to the 
 use of the most convenient and natural finger for 
 each of the five notes covered by his five fingers; it 
 accustoms him to avoid unnecessary contractions of 
 his fingers, as well as unnecessary changes of the 
 position of his hand. After this preliminary study, 
 his first chief troubles in fingering will be with ex- 
 tensions and contractions, as well as with changes 
 of hand position by the lateral movement of the 
 thumb, as in scales and arpeggios. Passages cover- 
 ing a larger interval than five adjacent notes — pas- 
 sages involving skips of some extent — are executed 
 by an extension of the hand ; and it is of practical 
 service to remember that the thumb should generally 
 be one of the fingers used in compassing the skip 
 Thus : 
 
1 66 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 But the technical exercises whose right fingering 
 is perhaps of the greatest importance are scales, 
 broken chords and arpeggios. For upon these a 
 great proportion of the passage-work in nearly all 
 music is based. The fingering of these may possi- 
 bly be simplified, for the convenience of the teacher, 
 by rules ; or rather his memory may perhaps be 
 helped by rules. Probably the surest road to accur- 
 acy is, to tcTich these technical exercises in the 
 groups of which the fingering is the same, and to 
 continue the practice of one single group before 
 proceeding to the next, until a mistake in fingering 
 is impossible. Thus, in scales, C, G, D, A and £ 
 major and minor might be grouped together as the 
 scales fingered in the right hand ascending, and in 
 the left hand descending, by i, 2, 3 ; i, 2, 3, 4, alter- 
 nately. The exceptional fingering of two scales 
 beginning with a white note is easily remembered : 
 B major and minor, left hand ascending, begin with 
 4, not 5 ; and F major and minor, right hand de- 
 scending, begin with 4, not 5. Then with regard to 
 scales beginning on a black note. Begin with the 
 third finger in the left hand and with the second 
 finger in the right hand, ascending ; and begin with 
 the third finger in the right hand and with the second 
 'finger of the left hand descending. The exceptions 
 are : Left hand ascending, in B flat and E flat 
 minors, begin with second finger; in F sharp major 
 and minor begin with fourth finger. Right hand 
 descending, in F sharp and C sharp majors, begin 
 with second finger; and in B flat major and minor 
 begin with fourth finger. Another important rule 
 with certain exceptions is this : follow with the 
 thumb on the first white note after beginning on a 
 black note. The important exceptions are : left 
 hand descending, in E flat harmonic minor, use 2, 
 3, I ; in B flat harmonic minor use 2, 3, 4, i. 
 
Fingering. 1 67 
 
 There are certain mistakes in the fingering of 
 scales so common that they should be guarded 
 against with especial care. For example, in the 
 scales of B flat, E flat and A flat major, left hand 
 ascending, the fourth finger is very often not used 
 as it should be for E flat, A flat and D flat respec- 
 tively. And many pupils forget that the thumb 
 should not follow the first black note in the scales 
 of E flat and A flat harmonic minors, left h^nd 
 descending. 
 
 When all the scales have been so thoroughly prac- 
 tised with the usual fingering that there is no chance 
 of a single mistake, the very advanced student 
 should then practise all the scales with exactly the 
 same fingering which is used for the scale of C. 
 Franklin Taylor's rules for the fingering of major 
 scales in double thirds and sixths are so simple and 
 convenient that they may be quoted : 
 
 Scales in thirds: use the little finger but once in 
 each octave. Right hand, sharp scales as far as 
 five sharps have the little finger on the fifth degree. 
 Left hand, sharp scales as far as five sharps have 
 the little finger on the note A. Right hand, flat 
 scales as far as six flats have the little finger on the 
 note G. Left hand, flat scales as far as five flats 
 have the middle finger on the sixth degree. 
 
 Example of fingering, right hand ascending : 
 
 34534343 
 
 12312121' , " • 1 ,, r 
 
 Scales in sixths : use the middle finger once in 
 each octave. 
 
 Right hand, sharp scales as far as five sharps 
 have the middle finger on the sixth degree. Left 
 hand, sharp scales as far as six sharps have the 
 middle finger on the note G. Right hand, flat 
 scales as far as six flats have the middle finger on 
 the note A. Left hand, flat scales as far as five 
 flats have the middle finger on the fifth degree, 
 
168 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 It is of even greater importance that in the case 
 of scales to teach broken chords and arpeggios in 
 groups, for the purpose of fingering. Both the 
 groups and their fingering will be found in Chapter 
 II of this work. 
 
 Some teachers and pupils prefer to use the third 
 instead of the fourth finger in such arpeggios as 
 D major, first position, left hand, or F minor, second 
 position, right hand, where the interval between the 
 first two or the last two notes is a major third, and 
 one of the notes is black. This seems a mistake; 
 for the invariable use of the fourth finger not only 
 makes for the greater accuracy derived from uni- 
 formity, but it also strengthens what is commonly a 
 weakly used finger. 
 
 The preservation of a close legato, especially in 
 melody and in polyphonic music, is so important 
 that special pains must be taken to gain tlae ease 
 which is required. Various devices of fingering are 
 needed for many awkward passages. Of these de- 
 vices, the most important are sliding from one note 
 to the next with a single finger, usually from a 
 black to a white key; and changing fingers on a 
 single key in order to leave a convenient finger free. 
 No wide success in playing is attainable where the 
 pupil is not thoroughly well trained in the use of 
 these two devices. Bach's fugues and Mendels- 
 sohn's "Lieder ohne Worte" provide ample material 
 for such practice as it required. And the teacher 
 will find that some regular practice on the organ or 
 harmonium is most useful for developing facility 
 in the attainment of legato in awkward passages. 
 
 Some counsel on the subject of fingered editions 
 of music, where eminent authorities differ so widely, 
 may prove acceptable. The older schools of 
 players, teachers and editors based all their finger- 
 ing on the principle of technical convenience and 
 
Fingering. 1 69 
 
 graceful hand movement. To this school Czerny 
 and Kohler belonged. For the sake of fluency, 
 they avoided complicated changes of Angering 
 where they could be avoided; and for the sake of 
 gracefulness they restricted very considerably the 
 use of the little finger and thumb on the black 
 keys. 
 
 The modern school of players, teachers and edi- 
 tors, of which Liszt, Tausig, Rubinstein, Riemann 
 and Hermann Scholtz, are examples, appear to 
 favour complications and to value before all things 
 else the clear exposition of the phrasing of the 
 music. They do not seem to regard deeply either 
 gracefulness of hand position or the avoidance of 
 complicated changes of finger. They commend the 
 frequent use of the thumb and little finger on black 
 keys; and they have organised and developed a 
 wide system of finger changes, especially in the case 
 of repeated figures of three or four notes or chords, 
 as well as in the execution of mordentes, shakes and 
 turns. Another principle of their school is this : 
 "If the phrasing of a passage requires that certain 
 notes should be very definitely separated, the best 
 fingering, other circumstances permitting, will be 
 one by which they cannot possibly be connected." 
 
 It is not always easy for reformers, full of en- 
 ftiusiasm for their reforms, to remember that such 
 reforms as these are but a means to an end, not an 
 end in themselves. Fingering should be neither a 
 puzzle nor a playtoy, out of which confusing com- 
 binations are to be made. Its real objects should 
 never be forgotten : technical convenience and ease 
 in making clear the structural beauty of the music. 
 The best fingering is therefore that by which these 
 ends are most effectively attained with the least 
 trouble and in the shortest time. Leschetizky's sug- 
 gestion is not amiss : " A fingering is good if it is 
 
1 70 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 easy, provided that the effect be not in an}.' wise 
 marred." The difficulty of the teacher consists, 
 therefore, in making a judicious selection in finger- 
 ing. By adhering closely to the old school he is 
 likely to miss some aids to clear phrasing; while 
 by adhering closely to the modern school he is likely 
 to add to the difficulties of the pupil. Perhaps the 
 safe course would be to steer clear of the extremes, 
 represented on the one side by Kohler, and on the 
 other by Scholtz; and to adapt the fingering, in 
 cases of difficulty, to the needs of the individual 
 pupil. 
 
 As to the confusion caused by using two sets of 
 numbers to represent the fingers, it is to be hoped 
 that editors and publishers will soon come to some 
 decision that will end the difference between " Eng- 
 lish" and "Foreign" fingering. . 
 
 Some Useful Works on Fingering. 
 
 "The Art of Expression," Par. 17. 
 
 Franklin Taylor, " Primer of Pianoforte-Playing," 
 Chapter III (Macmillan). 
 
 Franklin Taylor, "Technique and Expression," 
 Chapter III (Novello). 
 
 Riemann, "Catechism of Piano-Playing," Par. 30 
 (Augener). 
 
 Gordon Saunders, "The Art of Phrasing," Part 
 II (Hammond). 
 
 Kullak, ".(Esthetics of the Pianoforte," Chapters 
 V-IX (Schirmer). 
 
 J. Alfred Johnstone, "The Royal Method for 
 Scales and Arpeggios" (Allan). 
 
Uses and Abuses of Reading and Memorising. 171 
 
 2. Uses and Abuses of Reading and 
 Memorising. 
 
 If we were to form a hasty judgment from our 
 common observation of the cases where an excel- , 
 lent reader of music seems incapable of memoris- 
 ing; and, on the other hand, of the cases where the 
 player, to whom memorising appears to have become 
 a second nature, seems incapable of reading music 
 fluently, we might be inclined to conclude that 
 fluent reading and facile memorising were two in- 
 compatible accomplishments. And the possessor of 
 one of these attainments is apt to be more envious 
 of the possession of the accomplishment he lacks 
 than proud of his own. The public, who are not 
 skilled in the subject, regard each accomplishment 
 as a special gift, not easily acquired in the course 
 of education. As a rule, these so-called gifts are 
 simply the result of hard, persevering, careful work. 
 Whether the case be that of a genius or of a person 
 of mediocre talent, his remarkable accomplishments 
 are, in nearly every instance, largely due to work 
 — work so intense, so severe, so continuous, so care- 
 ful, as to be quite beyond the inclinations of the 
 average man. 
 
 Reading and memorising in music call into play 
 quite different faculties; and there may be more 
 taste and aptitude in any given case for the one 
 than for the other. The reader must possess natural 
 quickness of eye and mental alertness; his business- 
 is to take in and comprehend as much as he can see 
 at a single glance. For his purpose the fleeting im- 
 pression received from a rapid glance is sufficient; 
 
172 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 and practice soon develops the quickness of eye and 
 the mental alertness required. 
 
 On the other hand, the memoriser is not at all 
 anxious to develop quickness of sight or the mental 
 alertness necessary for comprehending in a moment 
 so much as can be seen at a glance. He rather 
 avoids this rapid, sketchy method as being dia- 
 metrically opposed to his desires. What he wants 
 . is to get a fixed impression in his mind and a fixed 
 habit in his fingers, by reiteration continued until 
 the aid of the printed notes is no longer required. 
 While the reader tries to develop those faculties 
 which produce their best result by the most rapid 
 and effective attention to the printed page, the aim 
 of the memoriser is, on the contrary, to withdraw 
 his attention therefrom as soon as possible. That 
 many students should be efficient at but one of these 
 accomplishments is, then, not to be wondered at, 
 when we reflect upon the opposing methods needed 
 for the attainment of each. The habits which de- 
 velop the one are likely rather to weaken aptitude 
 and power for the other. But efficiency in either, if 
 examined into, will usually be found to be the re- 
 sult of hard work, and deficiency' equally the result 
 of neglect. Both of these accomplishments are, 
 however, so valuable to the student that they should 
 be cultivated assiduously and from the very begin- 
 ning of the pupil's career. No one who is not a 
 fluent reader can ever hope to become a widely edu- 
 cated musician, except by endless labour ; nor can 
 he be a generally useful musician unless he is able 
 to give efficient service as an accompanist at a 
 moment's notice. But, on the other hand, so fas- 
 cinating does the habit of desultory reading become 
 to the fluent reader, that in many cases it is impos- 
 sible to persuade him to devote time and care to the 
 
Uses and Abuses of Reading and Memorising. 1 73 
 
 study and practice necessary to enable him to give an 
 accurate and artistic rendering. So commonly is care- 
 lessness a characteristic trait in the fluent reader that 
 the experienced teacher usually hails, with dread, 
 such an addition to his lists. You can no more easily 
 convert him to patient and accurate study than you 
 can convert the desultory novel-reader to an accur- 
 ate study of the classics. On the other hand, to 
 an incapable reader of music, the labour of picking 
 out the notes of a piece takes away all pleasure 
 from the exercise. He cannot play rapidly enough, 
 or with sufficient correctness, to appreciate the beauty 
 of the composition. He is therefore inclined to 
 shirk reading as an irksome and irritating toil ; or 
 to regard the time spent in reading as time lost from 
 steady practice. 
 
 The delusion that any intelligent pupil cannot 
 become expert at both reading and memorising is 
 as absolutely unfounded as it is widespread. The 
 very fact that the reading powers of every average 
 pupil do develop to some extent, neglected as they 
 are, is proof enough that they would develop far 
 more with regular practice. If we reflect upon the 
 slow growth of a child's power in learning to read 
 the language with which he is constantly familiar- 
 ised by conversation and by study, it will then seem 
 matter for small surprise that fluent reading in the 
 complicated and unfamiliar language of music is 
 not to be attained without some fair proportion of 
 time and study. 
 
 So, too, in the case of memorising, there is no need 
 for special or peculiar endowments. On the con- 
 trary, music is more easily memorised than verse 
 because its memorisation is helped by the habit and 
 familiarity of the fingers in practising the notes 
 and the eyes in watching the keys. It is easy to 
 prove, even to the most distrustful pupil, that he 
 
1 74 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 can both read and memorise. Get him to do both 
 for you during his lesson. Let him read one single 
 measure of the music; if he cannot do thus much, 
 then his first business is to learn his notes and their 
 time values; but if he can read even one single 
 measure slowly, then point out to him that constant 
 study and practice, such as he devotes to the cultiva- 
 tion of his technique, for example, will bring further 
 ease and speed. Again, get him to learn off for 
 you one single measure of a simple melody ; if he 
 accomplishes this successfully let him add a second 
 measure. Suppose that after learning one measure 
 correctly he assures you that he cannot learn two 
 measures, show him his absurdity by asking him 
 to point out the particular note at which his 
 memory fails. Thus, by the simple experiment of 
 doing it, each pupil may promptly convince himself 
 that he can memorise or read. The expert reader 
 is usually one who spends most of his spare time, 
 and who has from early years spent most of his 
 spare time, in reading all the music he can End. 
 And the expert memoriser is usually one who began 
 young to cultivate the habit of committing his music 
 to memory. 
 
 3. Special Suggestions for Teaching Reading. 
 
 From the very first lessons one fourth of the time 
 of each lesson should be spent in going over fresh 
 notes : that is, in playing at sight. The pieces so 
 read need not afterwards be learnt. There is more 
 educational virtue in taking the very young pupil 
 
Special Suggestions for Teaching Reading. 175 
 
 through a good deal of fresh music than in getting 
 him to labour long, and probably in vain, trying to 
 learn a few pieces thoroughly. Very thorough 
 learning is far more likely to be useful after a few 
 preliminary yeajs of more or less cursory study. For 
 some years each fresh piece taken for reading may 
 be gone over three times. Right notes may be the 
 chief aim during the first reading; at the second, 
 time and rhythm may be added; at the third, some 
 attempt, however crude, should be made to interpret 
 the general character and expression of the piece. 
 During the first year or two, a beginner, when read- 
 ing, will probably find matter enough in the notes, 
 fingering, time and rhythm to occupy his attention 
 fully. But so soon as is possible he should be urged 
 more and more to mental alertness, and to bear in 
 mind that the more he aims at the more he will 
 probably accomplish. 
 
 Not alone during the lesson should much time be 
 devoted to the practice of reading fresh music. A 
 fair proportion of the daily practice hours should 
 also be set apart for this important work. In the 
 case of very young pupils fifteen minutes daily may 
 suffice; after some fair progress has been made this 
 may be increased to half an hour; and for a long 
 period an hour daily is little enough to devote to 
 reading, both with a view to greater facility and to 
 a liberal acquaintance with the pianoforte classics. 
 While in the case of young or backward pupils, the 
 attention of the teacher during the lesson will be 
 taken up chiefly with notes, fingering, time and 
 rhythm, the reading lesson of the expert pupil will 
 be devoted chiefly to valuable interpretative hints. 
 And although reading may at first seem tedious to 
 the pupil who has, as it were, to^ spell out his words 
 laboriously; still, it is the duty of the conscientious 
 teacher to insist that it be not neglected for a single 
 
1 76 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 day. Before very long the season of due reaping 
 will arrive, when what had been a weary task 
 will become, to the pupil of taste, a daily 
 pleasure. 
 
 4. Concise Hints for Reading and Ear 
 Training. 
 
 ( I ). Choose at first very easy music : that is, 
 music constructed upon a single harmonic basis with 
 but little time complication, few accidentals and 
 well within the technical abilities of the pupil. 
 
 (2). Insist upon the habit, on the part of the 
 pupil, of counting aloud in a strong, clear voice, 
 until some sense of time has been cultivated, but not 
 longer. This counting may be accompanied by beat- 
 ing with the foot or the use of a metronome. On no 
 account allow the pupil to shirk his proper labours 
 of explaining the correct counting himself for each 
 piece, and then doing his own counting; for thus 
 only will he become qualified to do this important 
 work for himself during his practice hours when 
 he cannot be dependent on the help of his teacher. 
 Let the tempo chosen be sufficiently slow to allow 
 of accurate time being kept. 
 
 (3). Before any playing begins, let the pupil ex- 
 plain the time signature and mention the sharpened 
 or flattened notes belonging to the key of the piece; 
 and make sure that proper rhythm is always asso- 
 ciated with time, both in the counting and playing. 
 
 (4). See that appropriate fingering is always 
 used. In order to guard against the habit of using 
 wrong fingering when the pupil was practising read- 
 ing by himself, it would be well to choose always 
 
Concise Hints for Reading and Ear Training. 177 
 
 carefully fingered editions of the music set for 
 practice. 
 
 (5). Train the pupil to the habit of always look- 
 ing a little ahead of the notes he is actually playing 
 and taking in as much of what he sees as he can in a 
 single glance. At first, while playing the last beat 
 of one measure, he could glance forward to the first 
 beat of the next measure. As his powers both for 
 attending to what was actually being played and 
 for apprehending what was about to be played, 
 developed by practice, the pupil would soon gain the 
 power to glance ahead for one or two measures and 
 to form an idea of the sound of what was about to 
 come. 
 
 5. Note on Ear Training. 
 
 (6). In this section of the work the term "read- 
 ing" has been adopted, since that is the term in 
 most common use. It might perhaps be better to 
 encourage the use of the two terms "reading" and 
 "playing at sight"; the former simply for the ex- 
 ercise of looking over the printed notes and from 
 them trying to form a correct idea of the sounds 
 they are intended to represent; the latter, as associ- 
 ated with the performance on some instrument of 
 what is seen. Some system by which the power of 
 reading in the first of these senses may be developed 
 is very desirable. No intelligent playing at sight 
 can very well be accomplished unless the player can 
 form some fairly correct notion, from a glance at 
 the printed notes, of the sound of what he is about 
 to play. And it is because of the inability of the 
 
 13 
 
178 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 average pupil to realise the sound from mentally 
 reading the notes, that the playing at sight com- 
 monly done is so far from adequate or intelligent. 
 Exercises in writing out music from hearing the 
 notes played over will be found to be some help in 
 developing this power of grasping the sound of 
 notes from looking at them. This subject is now 
 receiving some of the attention its importance de- 
 serves; and for the purpose of training the ear some 
 very useful textbooks are now published. "Ele- 
 mentary Ear Tests, How to Learn and How to 
 Teach Them," by the author (Weekes); and "Ear 
 Training," by Dr. Sawyer (Weekes), may be named. 
 
 Reading. 
 
 (7). Never allow the pupil to stop to correct a 
 single mistake, or to pick up a note missed. Whether 
 he stumbles, whether he plays wrong notes, whether 
 he omits notes altogether, teach him to go straight 
 ahead supported by the steady swing of the rhythm. 
 Thus, and thus alone, will he acquire the power of 
 so gracefully hiding his errors that they will not be 
 noticed. There are few habits more irritating in a 
 player than that of calling attention to every 
 stumble he makes by vain attempts at correction; 
 and it is quite as ineffective as trying to pick up 
 dropped specimens of the letter h. Though the 
 essence of careful practising is, to correct every error, 
 the same method means ruin to any chance of facility 
 in reading. One of the most effectual helps in this 
 part of the pupil's work is the practice of reading 
 duets, or accompanying some instrument or voice, 
 for in practice of this kind there is no time for cor- 
 recting errors, and so the pupil gets into the habit of 
 
Ear Training. 1 79 
 
 going steadily on with his playing, hiding defici- 
 encies as gracefully as possible. 
 
 (8). So soon as the pupil is capable of appreci- 
 ating the fact, explain to him that good reading 
 does not consist simply in striking the notes, but in 
 the right rendering of the music. After training his 
 ear to appreciate pitch, rhythm, tone variety; after 
 showing him, both by illustrations as well as by his 
 own experience in playing, something of the style 
 and character of various musical forms, such as 
 marches, gavottes, nocturnes; then urge him to try to 
 form some mental conception of the style or charac- 
 ter of the piece he is about to play, and to express 
 that character in his rendering. Induce him to try 
 always to make the piece he is playing sound as beau- 
 tiful as he can ; to try to elicit some music from it. 
 
 In order to convince your pupil the more effec- 
 tively that good reading does not consist entirely or 
 chiefly in merely striking the notes, illustrate the 
 effect of adopting a like course in the reading of a 
 piece of poetry. Gabble over the words, regardless 
 of metre, punctuation, emphasis, sense, feeling, intelli- 
 gence, and even the most obtuse student will readily 
 admit that this can hardly be called reading at all. 
 
 (q). For the purpose of developing quickness of 
 eye, it is advisable to get the pupil to spend a por- 
 tion of the time set apart for reading in simply 
 trying to strike the notes in time, as fast as he can. 
 Spite of the drawbacks mentioned in the preceding 
 paragraph, spite of neglected expression, spite of 
 stumbling, wrong notes and notes omitted, it is 
 worth while spending a little time every day reading 
 over notes at a fast pace. For only thus is it possi- 
 ble to develop that quickness of eye which is re- 
 quired to enable one to read rapid music. 
 
 (lo). How to choose suitable music for practice 
 in reading, especially at a reasonable cost, is a difii- 
 
180 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 culty in the path of many teachers. The first essen- 
 tials are easy pieces, short pieces and plenty of 
 variety. The simpler and more melodious, or the 
 more strongly marked in rhythm, the music which is 
 at first chosen, the better will the results prove. For 
 the purposes of the yoimg pupil, Gurlitt's music is 
 very suitable. A great many books of his short 
 pieces are published by Augener ; and a special cata- 
 logue contains a large list of these pieces classified 
 in degrees of difficulty. Krug is likewise a fertile 
 composer and transcriber of pieces suited to the 
 needs of the immature reader. After these, the 
 sonatinas of Lange, Dussek, Kuhlau, Reinecke, 
 Clementi, may be recommended. These may be in- 
 terspersed with albums of marches, gavottes, minuets. 
 Gurlitt's opus numbers 130, 219, 224, 205, 74, loi, 
 104; Krug's Album, "Lieblinge der Jugend"; 
 Germer's "School of Sonatina Playing"; Litolff's 
 "Classics for the Young"; Scharwenka's "Album 
 for the Young"; and Neustedt's "Bluettes" and 
 "Pensees" may be suggested as something like the 
 kind of pieces suitable for youthful readers. 
 
 As to the expense, that is lessening year by year 
 with the issue of numbers of pieces in book form at 
 a low price. But there is undoubtedly room still for 
 the publication of a few volumes of short and varied 
 pieces, arranged in order of progressive difficulty, 
 each volume containing a couple of hundred pieces 
 specially selected for the purposes of pupils who 
 wish to practise sight-reading. Economy may at 
 present be indulged by re-reading a fairly liberal 
 course of works at considerable intervals. 
 
 Note. The attention of the student is specially 
 called to the following new works by the author : 
 "Eighty Graded Pieces for Sight Reading" 
 fWeekes); "Album of Attractive Pieces" (Allan); 
 "Elementary Sight Reading Album" (Allan). 
 
Accompanying. 1 8 1 
 
 6. Accompanying. 
 
 (ii). Part of the time prescribed for reading 
 should, wherever possible, be spent in accompanying 
 and in the playing of pianoforte duets. As has 
 already been stated, time and rhythm are more 
 easily observed in duet-playing; and in all music 
 where two or more performers take part, the tempta- 
 tions or the opportunities to stop at a stumble or a 
 wrong note are greatly lessened hy the desire to keep 
 with your fellow-player. In accompanying a soloist, 
 mental alertness and quickness of eye are further 
 stimulated by the necessity to watch the notes of the 
 soloist and by having to listen to and follow his 
 lead. 
 
 Concerning the art of playing accompaniments, 
 there is little to be said except to remind the student 
 that his business is to be sympathetic, intuitive and 
 quick to follow the dictates of sympathy and in- 
 sight. The part of the accompanist is to listen care- 
 fully to the soloist, to feel by intuition how his 
 singing or playing is going to lead, to follow that 
 lead and to sacrifice his own ideals if need be, while 
 at the same time collaborating with the soloist so as 
 to help his performance and make it the more beau- 
 tiful. The two bad accompanists are those who 
 obtrude their accompaniment so as to call attention 
 from the solo to it; and those who lag so feebly, so 
 timidly, so unsympathetically behind, as to give no 
 emotional or artistic support to the soloist. The 
 perfect accompanist is he whose performance is so 
 completely in harmony with the solo that the listener 
 never thinks of distinguishing between the one and 
 
182 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 the other. Long practice, thoughtful care and 
 anxious watchfulness are essential preliminaries to 
 the attainment of this ideal. 
 
 These cursory suggestions on reading and accom- 
 panying may be supplemented from other works on 
 teaching; but what can be said is of small practical 
 value compared with what is to be accomplished by 
 steady, careful practice. When a pupil says to me : 
 " I would give anything to be able to play as a great 
 player I once heard " ; I add, " except the work." 
 
 You will often meet excellent readers among those 
 whose work has not been aided by rules and sug- 
 gestions. Their main rule of procedure was to read 
 every piece of music they could lay hands on, in 
 season and out of season. There is many a poor 
 reader, again, who is acquainted with all the aids 
 available towards acquiring this accomplishment, 
 but who cannot be induced to put them into practice. 
 So is it in the world of letters. There are many 
 cultivated readers who gain their cultivation by 
 spending their leisure in a wide course of desultory 
 reading for the love of it; while, on the other side, 
 there are many uncultivated students conversant 
 with the most approved and up-to-date methods of 
 learning, who yet lack the one thing needful — real 
 love impelling them to work. Will, work, enthusi- 
 asm, are the chief essentials to success in this part 
 of musical education, at all events; lucid sugges- 
 tions as to the best methods of work perhaps lessen 
 the difficulties somewhat. 
 
Memorising. 1 83 
 
 7. Memorising. 
 
 Memorising is also mainly a matter of steady 
 work, and of work undertaken from a very early 
 stage in the pupil's career. But whereas reading 
 should occupy a considerable portion of the time of 
 the lesson and of the time set apart for practice, 
 memorising requires but a very small portion of 
 either. Its great advantages are that it saves the 
 labour of carrying about books of music; that music 
 played from memory is much more impressive to 
 the hearer; and that the performer is able to give his 
 whole attention, with far more freedom and far less 
 restraint, to the interpretation of the music. 
 
 There are various methods of memorising music. 
 The commonest is that of the happy-go-lucky stu- 
 dent who depends almost entirely upon his faculty 
 of touch. He trains his fingers so perfectly in the 
 path of a piece, that once started, they will, almost 
 without an effort of the mind, go through mechanic- 
 ally to the end. This muscular or finger-memory is, 
 unfortunately, not altogether reliable; and where a 
 breakdown occurs the case is often hopeless. Strange 
 to say, Paderewski is reported to depend upon this 
 method of memorising. There is little doubt that 
 in many cases it is far the easiest method. But how 
 few players there are who practise so persistently as 
 Paderewski in order to ensure themselves against a 
 breakdown? Yet this method has its advantageous 
 side. For more than one great pianist, when his 
 mental or intellectual memory failed him in the 
 midst of a performance, saved the position by ceas- 
 ing to try to think at all, and letting his fingers run 
 along of their own accord. This muscular or finger- 
 
184 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 memory is best adapted for brilliant passages con- 
 structed upon a scale or arpeggio basis or upon the 
 repetition of a certain florid pattern or figure; and 
 especially for those rapid passages whose certain 
 execution is only attained after much practice. 
 
 A second plan is to learn the notes of the music 
 by heart, a few measures at a time. Writing the 
 notes out after trying for some time to learn them 
 often helps to fix them securely in the mind. This 
 method may be aided by the impressions received 
 by the fingers during practice; or it may be under- 
 taken, as von Bulow undertook it, without playing 
 at all, just as one would learn off the words of a 
 piece of poetry or of an oration. A modification of 
 this plan is to try to fix in the mind a picture of the 
 pages of the music from which the practice is done. 
 And then, with the help of the faculty of touch, this 
 mental image carries one successfully through, even 
 though each individual note may not be fixed in the 
 mind so distinctly and surely as to enable the 
 student to write a fair copy of .the piece. In all 
 cases of intellectual memory, the senses of touch, 
 sight and hearing, of course, contribute some share 
 to the total result, even though the proportions may 
 be different in different cases and different indi- 
 viduals. 
 
 There is little doubt that by far the most perfect 
 method of memorising consists in a studious com- 
 bination of the three methods suggested, suiting the 
 proportions of the various methods to the needs of 
 the particular case. The notes should be committed 
 to memory, measure by measure; and, as an aid, 
 some music should be copied out from memory day 
 by day. In addition to this plan, the student should 
 try to form in his mind's eye as clear and distinct a 
 picture of the pages of the music as he can; and, 
 thirdly, by dint of constant practice, he should train 
 
Memorising. 185 
 
 his fingers so perfectly in the figures of the com- 
 position that they could run on of their own accord 
 in case of any lapse of mental grasp of the com- 
 position. 
 
 A careful analysis of the form of each composi- 
 tion into its structural parts, and a careful observa- 
 tion of its logical development, and its coherent 
 unity, will be found helpful in attaining a firm 
 mental grasp of the whole. In addition to this 
 grasp of the general structural outline of the com- 
 position, subjects for helpful study will be found in 
 the modulations of the piece, as well as in the har- 
 monic basis of all the brilliant figured passages and 
 the patterns upon which these passages are modelled. 
 
 A very important duty of the teacher is, to see 
 that the pupil is not allowed to forget pieces 
 formerly memorised, by continual neglect of them 
 in favour of newer pieces. Each week some of the 
 older pieces should be re-heard, so that the reper- 
 toire of the student may constantly increase. Besides 
 this recapitulation, the teacher should also require a 
 periodical comparison of the memorised pieces with 
 the printed notes, in order to make sure that mean- 
 time there have been neither alterations nor omis- 
 sions. This caution is of the utmost importance 
 since, in some well-known schools of music, it was 
 found that the indiscriminate practice of memoris- 
 ing without the most careful and regular revision 
 and comparison was productive of far more harm 
 than good. 
 
 Memorising should be practised regularly every 
 day; and each week the teacher should hear some 
 fresh composition played by heart. If any part of 
 a pupil's education is left entirely to his own care it 
 is almost certain to be neglected. 
 
 Unlike reading, memorising is an accomplishment 
 very easily and very quickly gained by steady prac- 
 
186 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 tice, especially if it be begun early in the pupil's 
 career. The best time of the day for practice in 
 memorising is the morning, when the mind is fresh. 
 
 Much has been written on the subject. Rules of 
 varying degrees of complication have been devised 
 as aids; but the time spent upon these essays and 
 rules would probably produce better results if spent 
 in the exercise of memorising itself. While there is 
 no doubt some interest in a psychological analysis 
 of the various processes by which memorisation is 
 accomplished, the practical value of the discussion 
 will, I think, be found to be inconsiderable, if for no 
 other reason, because each pupil usually adopts in- 
 stinctively that method or combination of methods 
 best suited to his own case. 
 
 Guidance is perhaps desirable as to a wise pro- 
 gressive choice of music to be memorised. As in 
 reading, the easiest pieces to memorise are simple 
 melodies with simple accompaniments; then simple 
 airs with simple variations; then brilliant pieces of 
 a rondo type, of simple construction and founded 
 on a simple harmonic basis. After these, the pupil 
 may go on through a course of easy marches, 
 gavottes and other pieces of a simple and regular 
 form, to the easier works of Mendelssohn, Weber, 
 Haydn and Mozart. Later on, the compositions of 
 Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann, will lead to the 
 complicated contrapuntal polyphony of Bach. 
 
 The most excellent work yet published upon this 
 subject is that by Dr. Shinn (Vincent Company), 
 entitled "Musical Memory and its Cultivation." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 General Suggestions for Teaching 
 Elements of Music, Harmony and Form. 
 
 I. Elements. 
 
 " These are not practical subjects." There are 
 many pupils who have such a rooted objection to 
 any theoretical part of musical study that it is no 
 easy matter to induce them to apply themselves 
 effectively to this necessary part of their education. 
 Although the subjects just named may not be as 
 apparently and directly practical as technical exer- 
 cises, studies and pieces; still, their relation to the 
 practical aspect of musical performance is so close 
 that any great success as a player is almost impos- 
 sible without their knowledge. No teacher should 
 therefore allow his pupils to grow up ignorant of at 
 least the rudiments of these theoretical subjects. 
 
 Fortunately, the colossal ignorance which formerly 
 existed, even upon the subject of "The Elements of 
 Musical Knowledge" is now largely dissipated 
 
 187 
 
1 88 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 through the influence of numerous test examinations 
 by various public examining bodies, as well as 
 through the influence of a host of treatises published 
 on this subject. Yet, in spite of all this, the mistake 
 is still commonly made of not beginning to give 
 theoretical instruction from the very start of the 
 pupil's course ; and not going on systematically with 
 it as the practical instruction proceeds. A few 
 minutes at each lesson, a few questions set for home 
 exercises each week, would cover the whole ground 
 in a short time, and save the pupil from the dis- 
 ability and disgrace of ignorance. In many cases 
 where this elementary instruction is given to the 
 pupil, the subject is neglected after the prescribed 
 course has been once completed. The memory of 
 the average pupil is, however, so short that careful 
 recapitulation at regular intervals is quite as needful 
 as the original instructions. With regard to the 
 practical bearing of the elements of music on play- 
 ing : How much smoother is the path of the pupil 
 who understands thoroughly the relative time value 
 of notes, the key and time signature, the meanings 
 of musical terms, the right methods of interpreting 
 the chief ornaments and kindred matters ? But the 
 instruction given must be real, live, explanatory in- 
 struction, of such a kind as will appeal to and en- 
 lighten the pupil. Teaching elements of music by 
 rote is of no more practical value than the mechani- 
 cal school teaching of English grammar so often 
 given, whose fruit is the breaking of every rule of 
 good speaking and good writing so soon as the 
 school precincts are left. 
 
 The relative values of notes should be explained 
 so clearly and effectively that the quavers of a piece 
 of music will, the moment they are seen, be played 
 twice as fast as its crotchets; that the extent of each 
 beat will be guaged at once even though it be min- 
 
Elements. 1 89 
 
 utely subdivided and disposed in complicated 
 groups; that, in fact, all relative note lengths may 
 be comprehended with such clearness as will prevent 
 all blundering when learning a piece. Time signa- 
 tures should be so taught that they will immediately 
 convey to the mind of the pupil the idea of definite, 
 well-marked rhythms, as well as of measures con- 
 taining a definite number of beats of a certain 
 definite note value. Key signatures, scales and 
 arpeggios, should be so taught that each one will 
 promptly recall to the mind and fingers a definite 
 succession of tones containing certain sharps or flats. 
 Thus the ordinary habit might be avoided, of 
 blundering along from measure to measure picking 
 out each note as if it were an isolated specimen. So 
 likewise, in the case of musical terms, it is not 
 enough to teach their meanings as an exercise of the 
 memory. Every term should be made to convey 
 some clear, definite meaning, which must be put into 
 practice promptly each time it is met with as a 
 direction on the music. In all these matters, rules 
 and explanations may be committed to memory; 
 test questions may be set on paper and given to the 
 pupil to work out; but the teaching which stops 
 there is, as a general rule, unproductive. In addi- 
 tion to all this, the pupil's practical knowledge and 
 efficacious use of the rules acquired should be tested 
 constantly at the piano. Thus will the labour of 
 reading and interpreting musical notation be 
 greatly shortened. 
 
 Lack of clearness and simplicity are besetting 
 sins of many writers on musical subjects, and of 
 many teachers of music. But it should always be 
 borne in mind that no word, phrase, direction or ex- 
 planation, can be of any possible benefit to a pupil 
 unless its meaning is perfectly clear, first to the 
 teacher, and then to the pupil. Vague terms and 
 
190 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 obscure phrases should therefore be rigorously ex- 
 cluded from the teacher's vocabulary. When, for 
 example, "smoothly" is given as the meaning of the 
 term legato in some book, explain to the pupil that 
 such a definition is meaningless, and that even if it 
 did happen to mean anything, that meaning would 
 be utterly wrong. Legato simply means the sustain- 
 ing of one sound until the next begins; in the case 
 of the piano, it means that one key is to be kept 
 depressed until the next is depressed. What this 
 has to do with "smoothness" would not be very 
 easy to discover. Again, if there be a direction to 
 play a given passage with a "broad" touch or a 
 "liquid" touch, prove the utter absurdity of this 
 direction to your pupil by a clear explanation of the 
 limits and the possibilities of touch. You will find 
 it very easy to convince him, by the reiterated strik- 
 ing of a single tone, that touch is neither "broad" 
 nor " narrow," neither " liquid " nor " solid," but that 
 tones may simply be loud or soft, long or short. 
 
 If your pupil tells you that stringendo means 
 "urging on," or that con moto means- "with motion," 
 tell him that you want nothing but clear, simple ex- 
 planations, which have some definite and practical 
 meaning. All music is played with motion, and is, 
 in a sense, urging on. Stringendo, however, means, 
 that the pace of the music is to be quickened; and 
 con moto means, that the music is to be taken at a 
 fairly rapid rate. If, again, you are told that 
 allargando means "broadly," or that dolce means 
 "sweetly," do not rest content until your pupil gives 
 an explanation that will show definitely how the 
 passages marked thus should be played. Let him 
 understand that allargando usually means, a little 
 slower, a little louder, and a little marcato; and that 
 dolce usually means softly. 
 
 Let one of the lessons in the elements of music be. 
 
Elements. 1 9 1 
 
 that affectation or obscurity or words without a 
 clear, definite meaning, are enemies of real know- 
 ledge, and should never be tolerated for a moment. 
 Note. The student is advised to use the author's 
 textbooks on the subject of this section : " The 
 Royal Road to Rudiments of Music" and "Ques- 
 tions on the Royal Road to Rudiments" (Weekes). 
 
 2. Harmony. 
 
 Here, too, in this theoretical subject, harmony, 
 there is much to be found that is of practical value 
 to the pianist. Harmony is the grammar of chord 
 structure and chord progression. Its knowledge 
 enables the player to recognise chords the moment 
 he sees them, however broken or disguised in form 
 they may be, without the labour of spelling out their 
 separate notes; it enables him to recognise the vari- 
 ous cadences of the music, and so to discover its 
 structure and punctuating points; it enables him to 
 reduce to their simplest form, and therefore to read 
 with far greater ease, florid or brilliant passages of 
 all kinds ; and it enables him to render more intelli- 
 gently and forcibly many typical chord progres- 
 sions. Its effects, in short, are much the same as the 
 effects of a knowledge of spelling, grammar, sound 
 and sense, to a reader of poetry. 
 
 During the technical study of the pupil at the 
 arpeggios of different chords, he should be taught 
 to observe and recognise their notes as the notes of 
 the principal chords of which most music is made up, 
 sounded in succession. He should be required to 
 recognise and to name these chords under their vari- 
 
192 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 ous guises, as they occur in his pieces. Even a very 
 little of this analysis, undertaken regularly, will 
 materially help the pupil in his reading ; will enable 
 him to play, with the confidence begotten of fami- 
 liarity, many passages which before were laboriously 
 spelled out ; and will help to guide him to an intelli- 
 gent use of the pedal. So, too, if the various musi- 
 cal cadences — the full close, the half close, the in- 
 terrupted and plagal cadences — be so learnt that 
 they will be at once recognised in each piece played, 
 the knowledge thus gained will make reading easier, 
 phrasing clearer and the whole rendering more 
 intelligent. 
 
 Valuable as is the study of harmony on paper, 
 what is of far greater importance for the pianist is, 
 that practical study which will enable him to hear 
 mentally what he sees. He should learn to recog- 
 nise chords and cadences by their sound, and should 
 memorise their sound. 
 
 If the pupil is ambitious, and is willing to ac- 
 quaint himself with all the chief chords and typical 
 chord progressions commonly used in music, by 
 working out figured basses, by writing them out 
 from hearing them sounded on the pianoforte, and 
 by analysing the harmonic basis of the music he 
 plays, he will soon find his labour repaid, by in- 
 creased facility, by finer insight, by stronger con- 
 fidence, by scholarly power. He will feel that he is 
 no longer an outsider, but an initiated member of 
 the musical craft. Compare the declamation of 
 Milton's verse by a scholar, with that by a lad who 
 had to spell the words before he could pronounce 
 tiiem, who knew nothing of grammar or the structure 
 of a sentence, and you may thus appreciate in some 
 degree the value of a knowledge of harmony to a 
 player. 
 
Form. 193 
 
 3. Form. 
 
 Of greater practical importance, if possible, than 
 the knowledge of harmony, is a knowledge of the 
 structural form of music. While harmony is speci- 
 ally helpful for acquiring facility in reading, and 
 judgment in the use of the pedal; form is one of the 
 elemental factors whose knowledge is necessary to 
 intelligent interpretation. Everything taught to the 
 pupil on the subject of analytical phrasing is a step 
 in the right direction. The student who gains fami- 
 liar knowledge, both of the broad structural outline 
 and the minute motival development of the com- 
 position he is studying, whether it be sonata, fugue, 
 rondo or other form, is the student whose educa- 
 tional equipment fits him to play, not alone with in- 
 telligence, but with a clear and logical grasp of his 
 whole subject. This knowledge gives him the 
 power, otherwise unattainable, of presenting the 
 p?irts of a composition, not as incoherent and unre- 
 lated fragments, but so as clearly to set forth the 
 unity and beauty of the whole. 
 
 From a very early stage in the pupil's education, 
 the study of form may be begun. So soon as the 
 child is able to play short pieces, elementary in- 
 struction should be given him regarding the division 
 of music into its phrases, sections, periods and the 
 longer sentences made up of periods. Knowledge 
 of this kind will guard him against the error of 
 supposing that a piece of music is simply a fortuit- 
 ous succession of notes set down at the caprice or 
 the unfettered genius of the composer ; it will accus- 
 
 14 
 
\U The Art of Teaching. 
 
 torn him to look upon musical composition's as bfe'iitt-- 
 tiful structures of intelligently and carefully 
 ■arranged proportions. And to make this view clear 
 in the rendering, it must first be clearly grasped in 
 the mind. 
 
 As the student's education in formal structure 
 advances, part of every lesson should be devoted to 
 a careful analysis of the form of the work under 
 study. Even if at hrst this analysis be but general, 
 it should explain clearly the subjects, bridge-pas- 
 sages, episodes, modulations, development sections, 
 codas and the like. Later on, imitative passages 
 and all the various modes of thematic development, 
 should be closely analysed, and every modification 
 or development should be traced to its source. After 
 this, a complete motival examination of the whole 
 composition should be undertaken, so that its logical 
 coherence and total evolution from its embryonic 
 origins may be made manifest. There is no other 
 part of musical study which brings to light so many 
 delicacies of expression, beauties of imitation, neat- 
 nesses of arrangement, formerly hidden from the 
 view. This study is so practical that it is a very 
 rare thing to hear an intelligent exposition of any 
 fine musical work whose formal construction is not 
 clear to the player. 
 
 Once again, imagine a man, ignorant of the Eng- 
 lish language, ignorant of the structure of verse, nay, 
 ignorant of the extent of a single verse or a single 
 sentence, attempting to declaim "the grand har- 
 monies of Milton's 'Paradise Regained.'" If by 
 diligent practice he was lucky enough to gain some 
 fluency in the enunciation of the words, still, how 
 crude, how unintelligent, how uninspired by the 
 graces of form and the delicacies of expression 
 would his recital sound in the ears of a scholar ! In 
 like manner does ignorance of musical form differ- 
 
Form. 195 
 
 entiate the crude performance of the illiterate from 
 the cultivated exposition of the musical scholar. 
 
 The most splendid of all musical forms yet in- 
 vented is the sonata form; and the most intellectual 
 and complicated is the fugue. The student who 
 acquires a minute familiarity with the structure of 
 Beethoven's sonatas and Bach's " Woltempirirtes 
 Clavier," may feel a just confidence that, whatever 
 be the faults of his interpretations, they will not be 
 lacking in coherence, lucidity and intelligence. 
 
 Whereas in former years it was not always easy 
 for a teacher who lived at a distance from the great 
 centres of musical activity, to fi.nd systematic and 
 simple guide-books on this branch of musical know- 
 ledge, there is no excuse now for neglect. In the 
 case of Beethoven's sonatas and Bach's fugues, not 
 only has Novello, in his series of educational 
 primers, published a detailed analysis of every 
 sonata and every fugue, by which even the most un- 
 intelligent student may readily comprehend the 
 broad structural outline of these works; but Rie- 
 mann also, in his editions of these works, has sup- 
 plemented this general outline with a minute motival 
 analysis. Upon musical form generally, there are 
 now published a host of admirable treatises. The 
 names of a selection of these is appended to this 
 chapter. 
 
196 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 4. Some Useful Works on the Subjects 
 Treated in this Chapter. 
 
 I. Elements of Music. 
 
 Johnstone, "The Royal Road to Rudiments" 
 (Weekes). 
 
 Johnstone, "Questions on Rudiments" (Weekes). 
 Fisher, "The Candidate in Music" (Curwen). 
 Jopling, "150 Questions" (Weekes). 
 Dicks, "Handbook of Examinations" (Novello). 
 
 2. Harmony. 
 
 Mansfield, "The Student's Harmony" (Weekes). 
 Mansfield, "Supplementary Exercises and Melo- 
 dies to ' The Student's Harmony ' " (Weekes). 
 Prout, "Harmony," sixteenth edition (Augener). 
 Macpherson, "Harmony" (Williams). 
 Macfarren, "Rudiments of Harmony" (Cramer). 
 Macfarren, "Six Lectures on Harmony." 
 Stainer, "Primer of Harmony" (Novello). 
 
Form. 197 
 
 3. Form. 
 
 Johns'one, "Phrasing, with Examples" (Ash- 
 down). 
 
 Johnstone, "Touch, Phrasing and Interpretation" 
 (Reeves). 
 
 Johnstone, "The Art of Expression" (Weekes). 
 
 Prentice, "The Musician" (Curwen). 
 
 Cornell, "Musical Form" (Presser). 
 
 Harding, "Analysis of Beethoven's Sonatas" 
 (Novello). 
 
 Iliffe, "Analysis of Bach's Fugues" (Novello). 
 
 Jadassohn, "Form" (Breitkopf and Hartel). 
 
 Prout, "Form; Applied Forms; Fugal Analysis" 
 (Augener). 
 
 Bannister, "Lectures on Musical Analysis" (Bell). 
 
 Shedlock, "The Sonata" (Methuen). 
 
 Hadow, "Sonata Form" (Novello). 
 
 Parry, " The Art of Music." 
 
 Anger, "Musical Form" (Vincent). 
 
 Holmes and Karn, "Analysis." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 General Suggestions for Effective Work 
 
 at the Lesson ; and for the Wise Direction 
 
 of the Pupil's Practice. 
 
 I. The Lesson. 
 
 The extent of the work undertaken and the pro- 
 portion of time devoted at the lesson to each divi- 
 sion of the work, must depend chiefly upon the 
 needs, the desires and the capabilities of the indi- 
 vidual pupil. A large number of eminent teachers 
 agree, however, that the principal divisions of the 
 work of most pupils should be undertaken system- 
 atically and in a uniform order. An order which 
 may be found generally useful is this : technical 
 exercises, studies, pieces, memorising, reading and 
 revision. Instructions upon elements of music, har- 
 mony and form may be interspersed at appropriate 
 
The Lesson. 199 
 
 moments. Such an orderly and uniform plan will 
 be likely to induce similar orderliness in the course 
 of the student's practice. Dr. Carl Reinecke sug- 
 gests that the lesson be divided intO' three equal 
 parts, one third to be devoted to technical instruc- 
 tion, one third to studies and pieces, and one third 
 to reading. Such a division, even if generally 
 approved, may require considerable modification to 
 adapt it to the needs of any individual pupil. 
 
 Number and Length of Lessons. 
 
 The general queston of the number and length of 
 the lessons to be given depends on so many varied 
 factors that very definite guidance is not easy to 
 offer. For the very young pupil a short lesson of a 
 few minutes, perhaps ten minutes daily, would be 
 most suitable; or two to three lessons weekly of ten 
 to fifteen minutes each would suffice, if the child's 
 practice were carefully supervised. For the average 
 schoolgirl, who regarded music as a pleasant accom- 
 plishment, not as part of a liberal and serious educa- 
 tion, one effective lesson of half an hour each week 
 should suffice. Or again, the same time would prob- 
 ably be found sufficient for any pupil whose daily 
 hours' for practice were few and who therefore could 
 not undertake any very extended course of musical 
 study. A really good teacher may give as much 
 useful instruction in one weekly lesson of half an 
 hour as can possibly be assimilated by any pupil of 
 average ability engaged upon a limited scheme of 
 
200 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 study. In the case of an ambitious pupil whose 
 work had reached an advanced stage, and whose 
 course of study was fairly wide, a weekly lesson of 
 an hour seems to the earnest teacher to glide by 
 bsfore all that is needful can be told. But, as a 
 rule, very long lessons, that is, lessons of more than 
 half an hour, are both wearisome to the teacher and 
 valueless to the pupil : and lessons of less than half 
 an hour are, as a rule, too short to allow of any very 
 effective instruction. 
 
 2. Reiterated Insistence. 
 
 In the early stages of the pupil's tuition, each 
 fresh lesson should begin with renewed insistence 
 upon a right position of the hand and the right 
 action of the fingers. However careful a teacher 
 may be, there are few cases in which, for a con- 
 siderable time, he will not have to correct some fault 
 of position, or to urge the pupil to more effective 
 finger action. It is a very general rule that what 
 the teacher neglects to insist upon repeatedly, the 
 pupil neglects to do or to practise; or that whenever 
 the teacher's attention is relaxed, the pupil offers him 
 the flattery of imitation, and there is retrogression 
 instead of progress. Alertness, energy, care, 
 enthusiasm, hard work on the part of the teacher, 
 beget like virtues in the pupil. An inexperienced 
 teacher is often apt, after he explains clearly to a 
 pupil how one thing should be done and sees that 
 the pupil does it rightly, to leave that matter as 
 
Reiterated Insistence. 201 
 
 completed and proceed to some fresh point. Yet 
 there are few pupils whose work, in each detail and 
 from the very beginning, does not require constant 
 revision for some years. So long as there is progress 
 or improvement to be attained in any part of the 
 work, for so long does it require the revision of a 
 competent teacher. And so far from continuous in- 
 sistence upon the most minute attention to detail 
 proving irksome to the pupil, it is the one thing that 
 transforms the simplest technical exercises from 
 drudgery into interesting work. The pupil who 
 aims to do each thing a little better every day, and 
 who is shown clearly how to effect the improvement, 
 is the pupil who is almost always interested and pro- 
 gressive. But if the impetus of the teacher's alert- 
 ness, energy and enthusiasm, be lacking ; if the pupil 
 be left to the initiative of his own disposition, the 
 chances are that he will promptly feel the tedium of 
 mechanical practice and cease to advance. 
 
 3. Mental Alertness and Concentration. 
 
 Another of the most important parts of a teacher's 
 work at the lesson is, to foster in the pupil the newly- 
 formed habit of thinking intently upon, and listen- 
 ing intently to, what he is doing; in order that he 
 may produce each tone exactly in the right way, and 
 judge whether it is exactly the tone which is desired. 
 
 The teacher who has a thorough knowledge of his 
 
 work, who stimulates his pupil to this fruitful alert- 
 
 • ness, who thus induces his pupil to think before he 
 
202 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 acts, to act in the most efficacious method possible, 
 and to listen carefully to the result of his action, is 
 the teacher who must succeed. No such teacher can 
 "take things easy" for a moment. The easy moment 
 of the teacher is the moment in which the seed of in- 
 attention and carelessness drops into the mind of 
 the pupil. There are teachers who " give lessons " 
 all day long; but no virtue from them enters into 
 the pupil. More than a modest day's work of really 
 effective teaching is beyond the endurance of any 
 man. The mental effort, the will force, needed to 
 stimulate the pupil to exert his utmost powers of 
 mind and heart at his work, is of itself no light 
 strain on the vitality of a teacher. But he who 
 spares himself at the expense of his pupil is not fit 
 to teach. 
 
 The notion, which has had great vogue in days 
 gone by, that teaching consisted principally in 
 listening to a pupil playing a portion of work set 
 for practice, and then appointing a further portion 
 for future practice, has fortunately so completely 
 dropped out of fashion that it is simply mentioned 
 here as an historical curiosity. 
 
 4. Order of Subjects at Lessons. 
 
 When the necessary instructions on hand-position 
 and finger-action has been given, all elementary, or 
 rather, foundation exercises should be revised; and 
 fresh means for stimulating and for increasing the 
 efficacy of the work, should be set before the pupil. 
 Scales, arpeggios, broken-chord passages, special 
 exercises for counteracting special finger weaknesses. 
 
Order of Subjects at Lessons. 203 
 
 chord and octave work, should follow. In each divi- 
 sion of the work something fresh should be added 
 each week, whether it be fresh matter or fresh stimu- 
 lus to more efficient study. It is a fatal mistake to 
 fail in keeping steadily before the pupil, in. each 
 part of his work, an ideal far above his attainments. 
 So soon as an ideal is reached, and there is no pros- 
 pect beyond, interest flags, practice becomes 
 mechanical, progress ceases. 
 
 If studies are used, or if some technical school be 
 appointed for practice, this should next call for 
 attention at the lesson. The notes, rhythm, marks 
 of expression, should all receive careful attention. 
 If the character of the study be chiefly technical, 
 then the teacher must insist that it be made effective 
 for purposes of technique. Whether it be intended 
 to improve finger or wrist action, or to teach skips, 
 passage work or chord progressions, it must be 
 played with absolute note correctness, and with such 
 force and speed as will insure the result intended. 
 And it is important to urge the pupil to attain effi- 
 ciency in each exercise as quickly as possible, in 
 order that a wide range of technical work may be 
 covered without loss of time. Again, the pupil to 
 be successful must realise that merely going through 
 finger exercises, scales, arpeggios or other technical 
 exercises, for a few repetitions, is generally waste of 
 time. Every technical exercise should each day be 
 diligently practised — no matter what the number of 
 repetitions involved — until some definite improve- 
 ment has been attained. The muscles which are not 
 worked each day to the point of fatigue and a little 
 beyond, at each technical exercise, are the muscles of 
 a stagnant or non-progressive pupil. 
 
 As regards pieces, there is one part of the teacher's 
 work upon which there is considerable difference of 
 opinion. Some authorities advocate the plan of re- 
 
204 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 stricting attention to a few pieces until they are 
 thoroughly well learnt; while others recommend that 
 a great deal of music should be gone through each 
 year, even though its rendering fall far short of what 
 is desirable. There is little doubt that in the case of 
 very young children finished performance is not, as 
 a rule, to be expected. As has been suggested in a 
 former chapter, more progressive educational results 
 will therefore probably be attained by half learning 
 many pieces, than by continued practice for a long 
 time at a single piece or a few pieces. Of course it 
 is not meant that any work done should be careless 
 work ; let it be thorough so far as it goes ; but rather 
 than await speed, correctness, certainty and polish, 
 pass on to something fresh. Though perhaps useful 
 in the case of elementary pupils, if this system be 
 exclusively employed for very long, it is likely to in- 
 duce habits of practice, and to form ideals of excel- 
 lence, far from what is desirable. There is a vast 
 difference between half learning and thoroughly 
 learning a piece of music. Every student who has 
 once been at the labour of learning even a few diffi- 
 cult and rapid compositions, so that he could, from 
 memory, play them through at the required speed, 
 with ease, correctness and polish, will appreciate the 
 greatness of the gulf that is hxed between half 
 learning and artistic workmanship. This more or 
 less finished performance may take a year, two years, 
 three years, not of consecutive work on the same 
 piece, but of severe and careful practice undertaken 
 and persisted in for considerable periods, with short 
 intervals of change at some other study. When 
 once a student is persuaded to attain a hne standard 
 of excellence he generally takes pride in trying to 
 reach at least as fine a standard in the future. Half- 
 done work annoys him. Yet there is danger in the 
 exclusive employment of this system of patient, 
 
Order of Subjects at Lessons. 205 
 
 strict, toilsome study at a few pieces. What is 
 gained in polish and accuracy is lost in breadth of 
 view and in development of musical intelligence and 
 taste. During the larger part of the student's 
 career, his wisest course lies in a combination of both 
 methods. While one or more compositions may be 
 allotted for continuous practice and minute study 
 until artistic finish in the rendering is attained; on 
 the other hand, fresh compositions should succes- 
 sively be appointed for cursory study and practice 
 during each week or fortnight, even though they 
 cannot be played with ease, accuracy or finish. In 
 this way the student will gain breadth of culture, 
 larger insight, and will far more readily enter into 
 the spirit of works of a varied character. 
 
 5. Apportioning the Lesson Hours. 
 
 Special difficulties must be made easy by special 
 suggestions; and the faults of each pupil must be 
 met by some effective remedy. These faults and 
 weaknesses are so varied in character and require- 
 ments that, in many uttses, it becomes necessary to 
 make a special apportionment of the lesson to suit a 
 particular case. It happens not infrequently that a 
 pupil who has been taught carelessly or by an ignor- 
 ant teacher, requires to spend some months, or if 
 needs be, a year, at the exclusive labour of attaining 
 some adequate technique by some effective method. 
 In such a case, other subjects, both at the lesson and 
 practice, must await the improvement of the tech- 
 nique. Again, where time is not properly under- 
 
206 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 stood, or is uneven, a whole lesson may wisely be 
 devoted occasionally to playing through all tech- 
 nical exerciseSj studies and pieces, to the beat of the 
 metronome, concentrating the whole attention upon 
 the accurate time of the performance. Or where the 
 sense of rhythm is weak, an occasional lesson may 
 well be spent at rhythm exclusively, when exaggera- 
 tion of the normal rhythm may be required during 
 the pupil's playing, in order to create in his mind a 
 strong sense of rhythm, and an adequate idea of the 
 importance of the subject. -In all cases, directions 
 alone are useless. Not only must the required point 
 be illustrated by the teacher, but it must be put 
 rightly into practice by the pupil during the lesson. 
 For otherwise it is quite impossible to be certain that 
 the tuition given is effective, and ground may be lost 
 during a week's wrong practice. Where fingering 
 has been neglected, it may be allotted half the time 
 of each lesson until some improvement is effected. 
 Then again, if a pupil contract a habit of stumbling, 
 time must be spent trying to induce him to practise 
 more and more slowly until he reaches a rate of speed 
 at which he is certain of accuracy. During the first 
 few years of the pupil's educational course, at all 
 events, it will be wise to go carefully over the notes 
 and fingering of each fresh study or piece under- 
 taken, in order to avoid the risk of having wrong 
 notes and wrong fingering practised for some time 
 preceding a lesson. 
 
 As technical faults lessen and technical ability in- 
 creases, the proportion of time devoted at the lesson 
 to this branch of the work may be shortened, and the 
 more time may be devoted to interpretation. For 
 while the instructions on technique are comparatively 
 few in number, though not to be effectively utilised 
 without great labour; the details of interpretation 
 are endless, and must occupy the great proportion of 
 
Apportioning the Lesson Hours. 207 
 
 tlie time of each lesson, especially as the attainments 
 of the pupil advance. But at no point of the career 
 is it wise to neglect the most careful revision of the 
 technical work. 
 
 Left hand practice is very commonly shirked, 
 either from ignorance or carelessness. If in any 
 case the teacher discovers signs of weakness there, 
 he should make it a point to test the work of the 
 left hand separately from time to time. 
 
 The reading of some fresh music should be heard 
 at every lesson; and as the skill of the pupil in- 
 creases, interesting opportunities for explaining 
 nice points of interpretation become more numerous. 
 
 If revision of pieces formerly learnt be neglected 
 by the teacher, he will soon find that they are for- 
 gotten rapidly, and that the repertoire of his pupil, 
 instead of increasing regularly, will, as a rule, 
 become miserably scant. If it were not thought de- 
 sirable to require some of this revision at each 
 lesson, one or two lessons in each month might be 
 set apart for re-hearing old pieces and pieces 
 memorised. 
 
 Theoretical instructions on practical lines should 
 form a part of every lesson. 
 
 Whatever arrangement be made for the apportion- 
 ing of the time of the lessons, care should be taken 
 that no branch of the study is overlooked. If it be 
 found that it is impossible to do any justice to all 
 the divisions of study during a single lesson, then 
 one lesson might be devoted to technique, one to 
 interpretation, and one to reading, revision, memor- 
 ising and theoretical instructions. 
 
 Whatever be the method adopted, it is only by the 
 utmost care on the part of the teacher; by never 
 ceasing vigilance; by a high sense of duty; by 
 thorough knowledge of every detail of his work ; by 
 understanding how to impart instruction clearly and 
 
208 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 systematically; by the patient correction of faults; 
 by the constant elevation of the ideals of the pupil; 
 and by stimulating the enthusiasm of the pupil 
 through the power of his own genuine enthusiasm, 
 that any real success is to be attained. 
 
 6. The Practice Hours. 
 
 Judicious advice upon the most effective use of the 
 time appointed for practice is quite as important a 
 part of the teacher's work as any instruction given at 
 the lesson upon the rendering of the music. And 
 yet how seldom are thought, care or counsel, bestowed 
 upon this important subject ! Few pupils have 
 themselves any intelligent idea of the wisest division 
 of their practice hours; few know what methods of 
 practice are likely to attain the best results. In 
 every case therefore the teacher should give the most 
 explicit directions for effective methods of practice; 
 he should do his utmost to ensure the carrying out of 
 these directions ; and in addition to this, he should 
 periodically fill up a time-table of practice (e.g., 
 "Pupils' Daily Practice Time-Table"), (Weekes) for 
 each pupil, stating, not only the total number of 
 hours required for daily practice, but also the propor- 
 tion of time which must be set apart for the practice 
 of each specific subject or division of the work. An 
 archangel's instructions would prove futile if the 
 practice were left to the care of itself or were rele- 
 gated to the tender mercies and judgment of the 
 ordinary pupil. 
 
Directions for Effective Practice. 209 
 
 7. Directions for Effective Practice. 
 
 (a). The quality rather than the quantity of the 
 practice is of the utmost importance. 
 
 (b). The first opportunity after each lesson 
 should be taken by the pupil to recall, and to put 
 into practice, every instruction given by the teacher 
 during the lesson. If even this one suggestion could 
 be effectively enforced, double the quantity of far 
 more excellent work would be accomplished. 
 
 (c). Impress upon the pupil that he must not only 
 concentrate his whole attention on each thing he 
 attempts to do, but that he must also continue the 
 practice of each part of his work until he can do it 
 somewhat better than when he began. If it is a tech- 
 nical exercise, he should continue the practice until 
 he has gained more independence, flexibility, power, 
 ease and accuracy ; if a piece, until the notes, the 
 phrasing, the shading, of some portion, have been 
 rendered more perfectly. In order to prove to the 
 pupil the necessity for thoughtfulness and vigilance 
 in practice, play over a scale for him carelessly ; then 
 repeat it immediately afterwards, either equalising 
 every tone or illustrating some rhythm, giving 
 special attention to the action of every finger, and 
 making it plain that every movement and every tone 
 correspond with some definite intention in the mind. 
 Ask the pupil to observe carefully the difference 
 between the two. Again, when he makes a mistake 
 in rhythm, or fails to produce a forcible tone in some 
 technical exercise, or uses incorrect finger-movements, 
 or commits some other fault, say to him : " At the 
 moment you committed that fault were you thinking 
 
 15 
 
210 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 of the particular thing you should have done ?" He 
 will promptly answer that he was not. By persis- 
 tent asking of this question at each fault committed, 
 and then by getting the pupil to repeat the passage 
 thinking of the point previously neglected, you will 
 soon prove to him that practice is effective only in so 
 far as each finger-movement is definitely and accur- 
 ately directed to the accomplishment of a specific 
 result by a watchful brain. An alert and watchful 
 habit, both at the lesson and during practice, is one 
 of the chief essentials of success. If you secure it, 
 all the rest will follow; if you fail to secure it, the 
 best that can be looked for is hopeless mediocrity. 
 Therefore it is well to be pertinacious in urging the 
 pupil to mark that the brain directs every movement ; 
 that the eye watches every action of the fingers; that 
 the ear listens intently to every tone. 
 
 8. Slow Practice. 
 
 (D). Whatever else be neglected or omitted, slow, 
 practice, from the beginning to the end of the edu- 
 cational career, should always be insisted upon. No 
 beginner is able to co-ordinate brain and finger- 
 movement rapidly : so that if the fingers move in 
 rapid succession they must outrun the guidance of 
 the brain and fall into errors. Until the mind is 
 trained to move rapidly and to guide the movements 
 of the muscles while moving rapidly, all rapid play- 
 ing is not only useless but injurious, because it is a 
 training in habits of carelessness. The moment the 
 fingers outrun the ability of the brain to define the 
 
Slow Practice. 2 1 1 
 
 action of each finger and the tone of each note, that 
 moment the practice is so much waste time. And in 
 the case of the more advanced pupil, slow practice 
 is required for the purpose of gaining greater force 
 of finger and for training his fingers to habits of 
 unerring accui'acy. 
 
 Constant rapid practice is one of the surest roads 
 to stumbling, unevenness and failure. Even after a 
 study or a piece has been learnt, the brilliant finger 
 passages or the rapid chord and octave passages 
 should, now and again, be selected for careful slow 
 practice. And though the student has acquired not 
 a little brilliancy in his technique, he should per- 
 severe in the habit of alternating slow and rapid 
 practice during his technical study. While playing 
 technical exercises slowly he should strike every note 
 fortissimo, using high and rapid finger action; and 
 then, when playing them at a fast pace, he might 
 sometimes play them fortissimo, sometimes pianis- 
 simo with all muscles relaxed, and sometimes with 
 varied shades of tone. 
 
 g. Difficult Passages. 
 
 (e). In no point does the method of the average 
 pupil contrast more strongly with that of the real 
 artist than in his practice of difficult passages. The 
 everyday pupil plays his piece straight through, and 
 then straight through again, besto\^ing as much, or 
 rather as little, attention upon passages of special 
 difficulty as upon the easiest parts of the piece. Thus 
 the easy parts remain easy and the difficult parts 
 remain difficult; and the hearer is irritated by 
 
212 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 stumbling or slipshod work, even if a total break- 
 down is avoided. The player who wins artistic suc- 
 cess adopts a plan quite the opposite of this. After 
 a few careful readings of the piece he discovers all 
 the passages which present special difficulties to him; 
 these he selects for almost exclusive study. He con- 
 tinues his practice of these difficult passages day by 
 day, week by week, if need be, until they become as 
 easy as the easiest measure of the piece. 
 
 When Paderewski is on tour, curious people who 
 wish to hear him practise often stand at the door of 
 his room expecting to be treated to an extra display 
 of musical iriterpretation outside the concert hall. 
 As a rule, after waiting wearily till their patience is 
 exhausted, they depart, disappointed and astonished. 
 Yet all the time they were watching one of the great 
 secrets of his success. They heard short passages of 
 music repeated, times beyond count, first with one 
 hand, then with the other. They heard some of the 
 persevering application which conquers difficulty; 
 they heard the careful repetition of some expressive 
 phrase until every tone was produced exactly as the 
 player intended. Such careful, persevering, system- 
 atic work is one of the surest marks of genius, and 
 the only road to success as a pianoforte-player. The 
 teacher who has succeeded in persuading a pupil to 
 adopt this method of practice; who has convinced 
 him that it is absolute waste of time to keep repeat- 
 ing easy passages until the difficult passages have 
 been conquered; who has induced him to persevere, 
 if needs be, for a thousand repetitions of a passage, 
 to attain certainty and accuracy; he is the teacher 
 who has accomplished by far the greatest and the 
 most fruitful of his tasks. And it should be borne 
 in mind that there are very few pieces in which there 
 are not some short portions of exceptional difficulty. 
 With the counsel to repeat these passages there 
 
Difficult Passages. 2l3 
 
 should also be an urgent caution against repeating 
 them carelessly ; for by careless repetition faults are 
 only made the more hopeless. 
 
 (f). Many other detailed directions on the sub- 
 ject of effective practice may be found in " The Art 
 of Expression," Chapter I. 
 
 lo. Hours of Practice. 
 
 One of the first necessary directions to the pupil 
 is to set apart an equal portion of time for each 
 day's practice. Increased practice on one day will 
 not compensate for practice neglected on any other 
 day. 
 
 In prescribing the suitable amount of time to be 
 spent daily in practising, consideration must be given 
 to many circumstances, such as the age, strength, 
 leisure, ambition and standard of the pupil. An 
 hour each day may, in any case, be safely regarded 
 as the minimum likely to effect any fair progress; 
 and six hours a day should prove a maximum if the 
 practice be thoughtful and effective. 
 
 In the case of a child who is engaged on elemen- 
 tary work, one hour, well and wisely used, should 
 ensure good progress. But the endurance, the powers 
 of attention and concentration of a child are gener- 
 ally so weak that it is far better to divide this prac- 
 tice into two parts of half an hour each. After a 
 year or two the ordinary school pupil may increase 
 his time of practice by a second hour. One hour 
 during the morning and another during the after- 
 noon is more likely to prove effective than two hours' 
 continuous work. As the student becomes qualified 
 to undertake work of a senior standard he will find 
 
m The Art of Teaching. 
 
 tnree hours little enough for the attainment of suc- 
 cess. There may be phenomenal geniuses whose 
 abilities enable them to accomplish as much in one 
 hour as the average human being can accomplish in 
 five or six, but these suggestions are not intended 
 for their case. Though the hours already mentioned 
 may prove generally suitable to the needs of the 
 amateur, a larger proportion of time should be set 
 apart by the serious student for his daily practice. 
 Perhaps he may find the following hours more likely 
 to suit his purpose. Let him begin with one hour a 
 day; after six months addhalf anhour; add another 
 half hour at the end of the first twelve months ; and 
 then increase the amount of the practice by an addi- 
 tional half hour every six months until the maxi- 
 mum of six hours is reached. 
 
 In every case the hours of practice should be 
 broken up; and no pupil should usually spend more 
 than two hours consecutively at the pianoforte. 
 
 II. Suggestions of Eminent Teachers for 
 Division of Practice. 
 
 It may prove useful first to quote the views of 
 eminent teachers on this subject, and then to explain 
 the plan which seems to me the most advisable. 
 
 Dr. Riemann. 
 
 Dr. Riemann recommends that an hour be broken 
 into two halves for morning and afternoon prac- 
 tice; one and a half hours, into two three-quarter 
 
Suggestions of Eminent Teachers for Practice. 21 5 
 
 hours; three hours, into two hours for morning and 
 one hour for afternoon practice; four hours, into 
 either two hours for morning and two hours for 
 afternoon, or into three divisions of one, two and 
 one hours. He advises, furthermore, that the prac- 
 tice begin with technical exercises — "one finger, two 
 hnger, five finger exercises, scales, arpeggios, pro- 
 gressions" successively, not necessarily all on the 
 same day, and that one third of the whole practice 
 be spent on technique; the second third on etudes 
 of an expressive or intellectual character; and the 
 remaining third on the study of "actual works of 
 art." 
 
216 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Franklin Taylor. 
 
 An Hour and a Half. 
 
 Finger exercises, scales, etc. . 25 
 Study ... . . ' 15 
 Old study already learnt . 10 
 Sonata or other piece . . . 30 
 Playing over piece already learnt, or sight- 
 reading . . .10 
 
 Total 90 
 
 Four Hours . Morning Two Hours. 
 
 Technical work . 
 Study . . . 
 Two old studies 
 Sonata or concerto 
 
 30 
 30 
 20 
 40 
 
 Total 120 
 
 Afternoon. 
 
 Finger exercises . . . . . -15 
 
 Study ... ... . 15 
 
 Smaller piece (variation or caprice) ■. . 30 
 
 Sonata, or revising a piece already learnt . 30 
 
 Sight-reading or playing from memory . 30 
 
 Total 120 
 
Suggestions of Eminent Teachers for Practice. 217 
 
 Felix Le Couppey. 
 
 Two Hours Daily in Two Divisions : First 
 Division. 
 
 MINS 
 
 Exercises . . -30 
 
 Study ... -30 
 
 Second Division. 
 
 Scales . 15 
 
 Piece . . . . . 45 
 
 Three Hours Daily in Three Divisions : First 
 Division. 
 
 Exercises 
 Study . 
 
 Second Division. 
 
 30 
 • 30 
 
 Scales 
 Piece . . 
 
 Third Division. 
 
 15 
 45 
 
 Scales and exercises . . . 
 
 Reading easy music . . 
 
 As the teacher directs . . 
 
 , . . 15 
 
 , . 15 
 
 ■ 30 
 
 Four Hours in Three Divisions : First Division. 
 
 Exercises . . . . . . 30 
 
 Studies ... 45 
 
2 18 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Second Division. 
 
 Scales 
 Piece 
 
 
 Third 
 
 Division. 
 
 
 ■ 30 
 . 60 
 
 Re-learning 
 Reading 
 
 old 
 
 piece 
 
 
 
 30 
 30 
 
 Five Hours in 
 
 Four Divisions: 
 
 First Diz 
 
 ■ision. 
 
 Exercises 
 Study 
 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 60 
 
 
 
 Second Division. 
 
 
 
 Scales and 
 Pieces . . 
 
 exercises 
 
 
 
 30 
 60 
 
 
 
 Third 
 
 Division. 
 
 
 
 Re-learning 
 Reading 
 
 old 
 
 piece 
 
 
 
 30 
 30 
 
 Fourth Division. 
 As the teacher directs . . .60 
 
 Pauer. 
 
 One Hour. 
 
 Technical exercises, scales 10 
 
 Study . . -IS 
 
Suggestions of Eminent Teachers for Practice. 219 
 
 Classical piece 
 A lighter piece 
 
 Four Hours. Morning. 
 
 25 
 10 
 
 Total 60 
 
 lechnical exercises, s 
 
 cales 
 
 30 
 
 Studies .... 
 
 
 30 
 
 Sonata or concerto 
 
 
 40 
 
 Lighter piece 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 Total 120 
 
 
 Afternoon. 
 
 
 Technical exercises 
 
 
 . 20 
 
 Studies 
 
 
 . 20 
 
 Sonata or concerto 
 
 
 30 
 
 Repetition of former 
 
 pieces 
 
 20 
 
 Memorising or reading . 
 
 30 
 
 Total 120 
 
 The Cotta Pianoforte School. 
 Two Hours. 
 
 Technical exercises 
 New pieces 
 Revision . . 
 
 30 
 60 
 30 
 
 Total 120 
 
220 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Five Hours for Morning and Afternoon. 
 
 WINS. 
 
 Technical exercises . . ... 60 
 
 Etudes ... . . . .90 
 
 New pieces ... . . 90 
 
 Revision and reading ... 60 
 
 Total 300 
 
 Gordon Saunders. 
 
 One Hour. 
 
 Technical exercises . . . .10 
 
 Scales . ... .... .... 10 
 
 Study . . IS 
 
 Piece . .... 20 
 
 Old piece . . 5 
 
 Total 60 
 One Hour and a Half. 
 
 Technical exercises 
 
 10 
 
 Scales . . . • 
 
 10 
 
 Study ... .... 
 
 Piece 
 
 . . 15 
 . . 25 
 
 Old piece or study 
 Memorising . ... 
 Reading 
 
 . . . 10 
 
 . . . 10 
 
 10 
 
 Total 90 
 
Detailed Graded Time-Tables. 221 
 
 12. Detailed Graded Time-Tables. 
 
 My own preference is for a much more detailed 
 time-table than those already quoted. Young 
 pupils, especially, are very apt to pass carelessly by, 
 or to devote too short a time to, important branches 
 of their study in which they are weak. The follow- 
 ing specimen time-tables are suggested as the result 
 of a wide experience. It is, of course, to be dis- 
 tinctly understood that no single prescription is 
 suitable for all cases. The standard of proficiency 
 in the various divisions of work is so different in 
 different pupils, that the time-tables must be modi- 
 fied by the teacher in every case to meet the require- 
 ments of the individual pupil. One may read well ; 
 another, badly : scales and arpeggios may be a 
 strong or a weak point, and so on. 
 
 The time-tables are arranged in five grades, as 
 well as for hours of varied length. 
 
 The skeleton cards ready for the directions of 
 the teacher, may be had in quantities from Weekes 
 and Co. at a very small cost. 
 
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CHAPTER VII. 
 
 General Guidance on the Choice of Music ; 
 
 with some Hints upon 
 Educational Editions of Pianoforte Classics. 
 
 I. Graded Guides now Published. 
 
 The choice of suitable music for pupils at various 
 stages of advancement is often a cause of perplexity 
 to the inexperienced teacher. There was some 
 ground in years gone by for a little perplexity, 
 when published guides were rare; but now so much 
 grading of music has been done, that it would seem 
 almost sufficient to mention some of the most useful 
 guides, to note their relative values, and to explain 
 their scope. 
 
 (A). No teacher can fail to make wise selection 
 who accepts for the pieces of his choice the graded 
 lists named in Ridley Prentice's "Musician." This 
 work is published in six books comprising six de- 
 
Graded Guides now Published. 225 
 
 grees of progressive difficulty. In each book also 
 the lists are progressive. Each grade includes about 
 one hundred compositions, and is intended to con- 
 tain a course sufficient for two years' work. Short 
 analyses of the form of many of the pieces is added. 
 
 (b). W. S. B. Mathews has published, through 
 Presser, of America, a work in three parts, entitled 
 "Studies in Phrasing," which contains a total of 
 about fifty pieces, graded, fingered and interpreta- 
 tively annotated. 
 
 (C). Breitkopf and Hartel, the great Leipzig 
 publishers, now issue a carefully graded list en- 
 titled "Music Guide, a Classified Catalogue," giving 
 the names of a multitude of pieces of an excellent 
 character. The variety offered for selection is wide ; 
 and the graded compositions, to be numbered by 
 thousands, are arranged in six steps of progressive 
 difficulty. 
 
 (d). Augener, also, in his Catalogue No. X, pro- 
 vides a " Guide to the Selection of Pianoforte Pieces 
 for Teaching Purposes; Arranged in Steps accord- 
 ing to the Degree of Difficulty." 
 
 Many other publishers are now adopting a similar 
 plan. 
 
 (E). W. H. Webbe has published, through For- 
 syth, as a separate "Appendix to the Pianist's 
 ABC Primer and Guide," a very large list of pieces, 
 both classical and popular, arranged in steps of 
 progressive difficulty. A little more classification 
 would add considerably to the practical value of 
 this list. 
 
 (f). Carl Reinecke, in a little pamphlet pub- 
 lished by Presser, entitled "What Shall we Play?" 
 tells a lady friend, in a series of letters, what music 
 he considers most suitable for a drawing-room edu- 
 cation. 
 
 (g). Marmontel, the celebrated teacher of the 
 
 i6 
 
226 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Paris Conservatoire, has given a great deal of labour 
 and care to the issue of a graded list of works suit- 
 able for teaching purposes. This list is published 
 by Heugel as " Marmontel's Vade-Mecum of a Pro- 
 fessor." 
 
 (h). The Associated Board of the Royal Aca- 
 demy and the Royal College of Music every year 
 select and arrange, in fi.ve steps of progressive diffi- 
 culty, some twenty-four studies and twenty-four 
 pieces for their system of local examinations. 
 Although, upon the whole, these selections are rather 
 of an educational than a popular type, what is 
 pleasant is often mingled with what is profitable. 
 The complete lists for ten years offer an extensive 
 range and plenty of variety; each book is published 
 by Augener at the modest price of one shilling; and 
 the teacher who accepts such guiding counsel as may 
 be found in this course is not likely to stray far 
 from the path of wisdom. 
 
 2. Concise Classified and Graded Lists of 
 Educational Music. 
 
 (a). Short pieces of varied character for young 
 pupils: Gurlitt's compositions, Opp. 179, 210, 140, 
 74, 2ig, 130 and 172; Krug, " Lieblinge der Jugend"; 
 Remecke, "Children's Album"; Kullak's "Child 
 Life." 
 
 (b). Easy sonatinas. Gurlitt; Lange; Reinecke; 
 Dussek; Clementi; Kuhlau. 
 
 (C). Short varied pieces for junior pupils. Ger- 
 mier, rondos; Hiinten, rondos; Neustedt, "Bluettes" 
 and "Pensees"; Litolff, "Classics for the Young"; 
 
Classified and Graded Lists of Educational Music. 227 
 
 Schumann, "Album for the Young"; Novello, 
 School Marches; Mendelssohn, Christmas Pieces; 
 Scharwenka, "Album for the Young"; Litolff's and 
 Augener's Albums of Marches, Gavottes, Minuets; 
 Schytte's Albums; the easier numbers of Mendels- 
 sohn's "Lieder ohne Worte." 
 
 (d). Sonatas in progressive order. Haydn 
 Mozart ; Kohler, Sonata Studies ; Clementi ; Dussek 
 Scarlatti; Hummel; Schubert; Beethoven; Weber 
 Brahms; Schumann; Chopin. 
 
 (e). Polyphonic music in progressive order. 
 Bach's Small Preludes; his English and French 
 Suites; Plandel's Suites; Bach's Inventions, Two and 
 Three Part; Scarlatti's Compositions; Bach's "Wol- 
 tempirirtes Clavier." 
 
 (f). Varied compositions for intermediate and 
 senior students. Hummel's Compositions; Mendels- 
 sohn's " Lieder ohne Worte " ; Mozart's and Beet- 
 hoven's Variations ; Grieg's " Lyrische Stiicke " ; 
 Chopin's Waltzes, Mazurkas, Nocturnes; Brahms's 
 Hungarian Dances, arranged ; Moszkowski's Spanish 
 Dances; Bargiel's Compositions; Scharwenka'a 
 Polish Dances; Edward German's Dances from 
 " Henry VIII " and " Nell Gwynne " ; Schubert's Im- 
 promptus and other pieces; Weber's miscellaneous 
 pieces ; Gade's short pieces ; and Heller's " Taran- 
 telles" and other short pieces. 
 
 (g). Various compositions for advanced students. 
 Chopin's Ballades, Polonaises, Impromptus, Studies, 
 Preludes and Scherzos; Liszt's Rhapsodies; 
 Brahms's compositions; and the more difficult works 
 of Bach, Weber, Mendelssohn, Rubinstein, Schu- 
 mann. 
 
 (h). Beethoven's sonatas graded. As many young 
 teachers experience some trouble in arranging Beet- 
 hoven's sonatas in an approximate order of tech- 
 nical difficulty, guidance on this point is offered 
 
228 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 here. It will, of course, be borne in mind, however, 
 that the same difficulties do not present themselves 
 to every student, so that there cannot be one fixed 
 rule for all. 
 
 Op. 49, No. 2; Op. 49, No. I ; Op. 79; Op. 14, No. 
 I ; Op. 14, No. 2; Op. 2, No. I ; Op. 10, No. i ; Op. 
 10, No. 2; Op. 13; Op. 10, No. 3; Op. 26; Op. 7; Op. 
 28; Op. 2, No. 3; Op. 31, No. 2; Op. 22; Op. 27, No. 
 2 ; Op. 27, No. I ; Op. 31, No. 3 ; Op. 2, No. 2 ; Op. 31, 
 No. i; Op. 54; Op. 78; Op. 90; Op. 81A; Op. 53; 
 Op. 57; Op. loi ; Op. no; Op. in; Op. 109; Op. 
 106. 
 
 (l). Mozart and Haydn graded. Many of the 
 more interesting pianoforte compositions of Mozart 
 and Haydn are carefully arranged in order of pro- 
 gressive difficulty in the Cotta Edition. Pauer, also, 
 in his "Pianoforte Primer," gives a graded list of 
 the sonatas of Mozart, Beethoven, Weber and 
 Schubert 
 
 Mendelssohn's "Lieder ohne Worte" 
 Graded. 
 
 9, 4, 48, 6, 44, 12, 41, 22, 38, 16, 14, 28, 35, 33, 47, 
 25, 2, 31, 27, 42, 37, 40, 8, 19, 20, 1, 10, II, 26, 7, 36, 
 29, IS, 13, 21, 39, 45, 34, 30, 32, 43, 3, 17, 46, 18, 24, 
 23. 5- 
 
Popular or Light Pianoforte Pieces Graded. 229 
 
 3. Popular or Light Pianoforte Pieces 
 Graded. 
 
 When selecting music for the pupil, there is one 
 point which should never be overlooked, and that 
 is consideration, to some extent, of the pupil's likes 
 and dislikes. If there is any study in the world 
 for whose success good will is essential, it is music. 
 And exclusive insistence upon what is distasteful, 
 however educational in itself the music may be, will 
 not be very likely to bring forth satisfactory results. 
 Therefore, if possible, let the choice of music include 
 something that the pupil likes. Many teachers err 
 in confining the work of pupils to compositions 
 which they consider to be of a strictly classical or 
 highly educational standard. Whereas a judicious 
 admixture of some music of a popular character, 
 provided that it be fairly good of its kind, will 
 often.be much more likely to develop the taste of 
 the pupil and induce him to advance to what is 
 better, than an exclusively classical regimen. 
 
 The following graded lists contain the names of 
 a very few "popular pieces" which may prove use- 
 ful for admixture, on account of their palatableness. 
 From the many hundreds of thousands of similar 
 pieces already published endless lists of the kind 
 might be compiled. This particular list pretends Ito 
 no special claims except that the music selected will 
 be found, upon the whole, to be bright, lucid, often 
 sparkling, and at all events, pleasing to the average 
 taste. 
 
230 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Grade I (Elementary). 
 
 I, 
 
 2. 
 
 3- 
 
 4- 
 5- 
 6. 
 
 ?• 
 
 8. 
 
 9- 
 lo. 
 II. 
 
 12. 
 
 13- 
 
 14. 
 
 15- 
 16. 
 
 17- 
 18. 
 ig. 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 23- 
 
 24- 
 25- 
 
 26. 
 
 27- 
 
 28. 
 
 Chanson de Chasse 
 
 Berceuse ... 
 
 Cavatina 
 
 Feuillet d'Album 
 
 Karcarolle 
 
 ABC Waltz 
 
 Serene Morning 
 
 Tlie Fair 
 
 Hunting Song 
 
 Waltz 
 
 Fairy Bark 
 
 Good-night Nocturne 
 
 Convent Chimes 
 
 Operatic Gems, Faust ... 
 
 „ ., La Gazza Ladra 
 
 „ „ William Tell ... 
 
 „ ,, Massaniello 
 
 Christmas Cards 
 
 Album of Sixteen Pieces 
 
 Good-bye Nocturne 
 
 Fairy Snowdrop ... 
 
 Playfulness 
 
 Fairy Boat 
 
 Le Depart 
 
 The Mill 
 
 Rigoletto 
 
 The Truant's Return 
 
 Dance des Marionettes 
 
 A. Gueliani (Schott). 
 
 GurlittjOp loi, N0.3. 
 
 N0.8. 
 
 No. 19. 
 
 No. 11. 
 Smallwood. 
 Millward. 
 Felix Gautier. 
 
 G P. Moore. 
 
 , , 
 Millward. 
 
 If 
 Lange. 
 Bonheur. 
 Streabog. 
 
 Jensen, Op. 17, No. 3. 
 Krug. 
 
 Lange, Op. 78, No. 7 
 Wachs. 
 
 Grade II. 
 
 Hymn du Soir 
 Edelweiss ... 
 Fur Dich ... 
 Blumenlied 
 Longing ... 
 An der Wiege 
 
 Newell. 
 Lange. 
 
Popular or Light Pianoforte Pieces Graded. 231 
 
 7. O Frage Nicht 
 
 8. Die Liebelle 
 
 g. Iin Ahnenschloss ... 
 
 10. Almroschen 
 
 11. Dein Eigen 
 
 12. Gondellied 
 
 13. Marche Komaine 
 
 14. Nine Pianoforte Pieces 
 
 15. Villette 
 
 16. A Fragment 
 
 17. Napoli (Tarantella in A minor) 
 
 18. Immer Wieder 
 
 ig. Evening Shadows 
 
 20. Sylvia Gavotte 
 
 21. Magic Rill ... 
 
 23. La CharmeuE.e (Gavotte) 
 
 23. La Bohemienne (Waltz)... 
 
 24. Polka Elegante 
 
 25. Le Cor de Chasse 
 
 26. Badinage 
 
 27. Pomponette . . 
 
 28 Serenade des Anges 
 
 29. Tarantella 
 
 30. Spring Blossoms (Mazurka) 
 
 31. Errinerung... 
 
 32. Mignonne ... 
 
 33. Sur le Lac , 
 
 34. Hammock Song 
 
 Lange. 
 
 Oesten. 
 
 Gounod. 
 
 G, P. Moore. 
 
 Smallwood 
 
 Mendelssohn. 
 
 Mattel 
 
 Vanderwell. 
 
 Millward. 
 
 Delibes. 
 
 Sivrai. 
 
 Bachmann. 
 
 Kirchner, Op 409 
 
 M. Watson. 
 
 Von Wilm, Op. 133- 
 
 Durand, Op 80. 
 
 Kinkel 
 
 Claudet. 
 
 Dorn. 
 
 Lange. 
 
 Kullak, Op. 118. 
 
 Kirchner 
 
 T. F. Dunhill. 
 
 Grade III. 
 
 I. 
 
 The Wandering Maiden 
 
 Lange. 
 
 
 2. 
 
 Herzlied (Rosen ohne Dornen) 
 
 J, 
 
 
 3- 
 
 Minuetto 
 
 Chaminade, Op 
 
 23 
 
 4 
 
 Danse Ancienne 
 
 Op. 
 
 75- 
 
 5- 
 
 Heart's Ease 
 
 Bendel. 
 
 
 6. 
 
 Funeral March of a Marionette 
 
 Gounod. 
 
 
 7- 
 
 Sylphes 
 
 Bachmann. 
 
 
 8. 
 
 Tarantella in A minor 
 
 Pieczouka. 
 
 
 9- 
 
 Gavotte 
 
 Durand, Op. 84. 
 
 
232 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 10. First Waltz 
 
 11. Husarenritt 
 
 12. 11 Bacio 
 
 13. Mozart's Minuet and Trio in E flat 
 
 14. Adieu 
 
 15 The Mermaid 
 
 16. Valse Viennoise ... 
 
 17. Tarentelette 
 
 18. Kitornelle ... 
 
 19. Gavotte in G major 
 
 20. Gazelle 
 
 21. Stille Liebe 
 
 22. Peasants Dance ... 
 
 23. Humoreske ... 
 
 24. Tarantelle ... 
 
 25. Humoreske 
 
 26. Talon Rouge (Gavotte) ... 
 
 27. On Music's Softest Pinions 
 
 28. The Trout 
 
 29. Le Soir 
 
 30. Scarf Dance 
 
 31. Salut d Amour 
 
 32. Nadia ... ... 
 
 33 Fascination Waltz 
 
 Durand. 
 
 Spindler. 
 
 Arditi. 
 
 Schulhoff. 
 
 Dussek. 
 
 Heller. 
 
 G. P. Moore. 
 
 )) 
 Chaminade. 
 Handel-Sivrai. 
 Wollenhaupt. 
 Lange. 
 Ketelby. 
 Von Wilm. 
 Lebierre. 
 Dvorak. 
 Beaumont. 
 M endelssohn- Lange. 
 Schubert- Lange. 
 Schytte (Augener, No. 
 8440a). 
 Chaminade, Op. 54. 
 Elgar. 
 Wachs. 
 
 
 
 Grade IV. 
 
 
 I. Feu FoUet (Irrlicht) 
 
 
 Lange. 
 
 2. Hortensia ... 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 3. Wanderstunden, 
 
 No. 
 
 2, Allegretto 
 
 
 in Dflat... 
 
 
 ... 
 
 Heller 
 
 4. La Fileuse ... 
 
 
 
 Strealbog, Op. 91. 
 
 5. Pierette 
 
 
 ... ... 
 
 Chaminade, Op. 41. 
 
 6. Lolita 
 
 
 ... 
 
 Op. 54. 
 
 7. Danse Pastoral 
 
 
 
 I Op. 37, 
 
 8. Callirhoe ... 
 
 
 
 
 9. Fourth Waltz 
 
 
 
 Durand, Op. 90. 
 
 10. Second Waltz 
 
 
 
 
 Op. 86. 
 
 II. Babillage ... 
 
 
 
 
 Op. 81. 
 
Popular or Light Pianoforte Pieces Graded. 233 
 
 13. Sous les Bois 
 
 13. La Campanella 
 
 14. Castagnettes 
 
 15. Dances from Henry VII 
 
 Nell G Wynne 
 
 16. Marguerites au Rouet ... 
 
 17. War March of the Priests 
 
 18. Tarantella in A flat 
 ig. Harlequin ... 
 
 20. Mazurka 
 
 21. Pas de Charge 
 
 22. Les Couriers 
 
 23. Grande Valse 
 
 24. Romance D'Avril 
 
 25. Chanson Erotique 
 
 26. Prelude 
 
 27. Coquetuela Mazurka 
 
 28. Le Baladine 
 
 I and 
 
 Durand, Op. 78. 
 
 Egghard. 
 
 Ketten. 
 
 Edward German. 
 
 Ketten. 
 
 Mendelssohn. 
 
 Heller 
 
 Mistowski. 
 
 B. Godard. 
 
 Mattel. 
 
 Ritter. 
 
 Mattel. 
 
 Stanford- Barton. 
 
 Egghard. 
 
 De Beaupuis, Op. 34. 
 
 Larregla. 
 
 Lysberg. 
 
 Grade V. 
 
 I 
 
 Rossignol 
 
 
 Liszt. 
 
 2. 
 
 Shadow Dance 
 
 ... 
 
 MacDowell. 
 
 3- 
 
 Witches Dance ... 
 
 ... 
 
 n 
 
 4- 
 
 Valse de Concert 
 
 ... 
 
 Wieniawski. 
 
 5- 
 
 Transcription of Lutzow's Wile 
 
 1 
 
 
 Chase 
 
 
 Kullak. 
 
 6. 
 
 On Wings of Music 
 
 ... 
 
 Mendelssohn-Heller. 
 
 7- 
 
 La Fontains 
 
 ... 
 
 Mayer. 
 
 8. 
 
 Au Bord de la Mer 
 
 ... 
 
 Smetana. 
 
 9- 
 
 La Chevaleresque 
 
 
 B. Godard. 
 
 10. 
 
 Caprice Russe 
 
 
 G. P. Moore. 
 
 II. 
 
 Moorish Dance ... 
 
 ... 
 
 i» 
 
 12. 
 
 Spanish Dance ... 
 
 
 5» 
 
 13- 
 
 Maori Dance 
 
 ... 
 
 )1 
 
 14. 
 
 Waltz Caprice 
 
 
 Rubinstein. 
 
 15- 
 
 Polka de Concert 
 
 ... 
 
 Bartlett. 
 
 16. 
 
 En Courante 
 
 ... 
 
 . Godard. 
 
 17- 
 
 Caprice Espagnol 
 
 ... 
 
 Moszkowski, Op. 37 
 
 18. 
 
 Tarantelle Tenezia e 
 
 Napoli .. 
 
 Liszt. 
 
 19 
 
 Elfen Tanz 
 
 ... 
 
 MacDowell. 
 
 30. 
 
 Propos de Bal 
 
 
 
 Sauer. 
 
234 
 
 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 21. 
 
 Minuet 
 
 22. 
 
 Caprice pur les Airs 
 
 
 d'Alceste da Gluclc 
 
 23. 
 
 Chant Polonaise, No. i 
 
 24. 
 
 Album 
 
 25- 
 
 Rigaudon 
 
 de Ballet 
 
 Paderewski. 
 
 Saint-Saens. 
 Liszt-Chopin. 
 Tchaikovsky (LitolfF 
 Edition). 
 Raff. 
 
 Grade VI. 
 
 I. 
 
 Campanella 
 
 Liszt. 
 
 2. 
 
 Le Papillon 
 
 Lavallee. 
 
 3- 
 
 The Spinning Wheel 
 
 Stojowski. 
 
 4- 
 
 Transcription, Overture to Tann- 
 
 
 
 hauser... 
 
 Liszt. 
 
 5. 
 
 11 Moto Perpetuo 
 
 Weber Brahms. 
 
 0. 
 
 Invitation to Waltz 
 
 Weber-Tausig. 
 
 7- 
 
 Islamey, Oriental Fantasia 
 
 Balakirev. 
 
 8. 
 
 Transcription of Wagner's Wal- 
 
 
 
 kureniitt 
 
 Tausig. 
 
 9- 
 
 Rhapsodies Nos 6, 8 10, 12 ... 
 
 Liszt. 
 
 10. 
 
 Impromptu in A flat 
 
 Glazounov. 
 
 II. 
 
 Ballade in G minor 
 
 Brahms. 
 
 12. 
 
 Rhapsody in G minor 
 
 Op. 79, No. 2, 
 
 13- 
 
 Hungarian Dance in F sharp 
 minor 
 
 ») 
 
 14. 
 
 Barcarolle in G major ... 
 
 Rubinstein. 
 
 15- 
 
 A Midsummer Night's Dream ... 
 
 M endelssohn- Liszt. 
 
 16. 
 
 La Lucciola 
 
 Leschetitzky. 
 
 17- 
 
 Reflets dans lEau 
 
 Debussy. 
 
 18. 
 
 Rigaudon ... '. 
 
 Hinton, Op. 23, No. i 
 
 19. 
 
 Study in D flat 
 
 Liszt. 
 
Suggestions upon the Choice of Teaching Editions. 233 
 
 4. General Suggestions upon the Choice of 
 Teaching Editions of Classical Music. 
 
 It is not very long since there were few, if any, 
 of the classics of the pianoforte, annotated so as to 
 prove really helpful to the teacher and student. As 
 a rule bald reprints of the first published text were 
 issued. If alterations or additions were introduced, 
 these were commonly unreliable as to text, erroneous 
 as to phrasing and not very judicious as to finger- 
 ing. Scholarly teachers and critics have now- 
 changed all that, and most of our great pianoforte 
 classics may be obtained in editions, as illuminating 
 in their interpretative comment, as they are reliable 
 in their text, admirable in their phrasing and wise 
 in their fingering. As different editors often under- 
 take their work from entirely different points of 
 view, some hints to guide the choice of the teacher 
 or student may prove acceptable. The objects of 
 these suggestions are, to state first, what editions 
 are the most reliable and at the same time the most 
 helpful to the teacher; and secondly, what is the 
 primary intention of each edition. 
 
 (A). Bach's Woltempirirtes Clavier. 
 
 There is a notion prevalent among certain teachers 
 that "Kroll's Edition" of this work is the best; why, 
 they are not very sure; but they feel convinced that 
 it should be recommended for all students and all 
 requirements. As a matter of fact "it" is one of 
 
236 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 the most useless editions a teacher can have. His- 
 torically, it is interesting as the first important con- 
 tribution to the textual criticism of Bach; but even 
 in its own narrow sphere it is now antiquated. KroU 
 edited " the 48 " twice within a few years. His first 
 issue is published in Peters's edition. Its text is of 
 doubtful authenticity in many cases ; its phrasing is 
 valueless or rather non-existent practically; any 
 hints of use' for fingering have been adopted by 
 better editions; and its interpretation of ornaments 
 has not even the merit of being consistent. In no 
 point is it of any real value to the teacher. The 
 other Kroll edition is published by Breitkopf and 
 Hartel as Volume XIV of the Bachgesellschaft edi- 
 tion of Bach's complete works in fifty volumes. This 
 edition of "the 48" is purely a critical text; and it 
 is, in this respect, a considerable advance on the 
 Kroll-Peters edition. Annotations of all kinds are 
 omitted, such as fingering, phrasing; and where this 
 is so, these splendid compositions probably appear, 
 to the inexperienced student, as so much of the pro- 
 verbial "double-Dutch." Even the textual re- 
 searches of Kroll, collated in this edition, have been 
 largely superseded by the scholarly labours of Hans 
 Bischoff, who has issued through Steingraber, the 
 whole of Bach's compositions for the clavichord. 
 This edition has, moreover, the advantages of useful 
 fingering, metronomic indications and a little sug- 
 gestive phrasing. 
 
 Textual Editions. 
 
 If therefore a reliable text is the primary object 
 of the teacher he may find a fairly safe course in 
 
Textual Editions. 237 
 
 using either the Kroll-Bachgesellschaft edition, or 
 
 better, the Bischoff-Steingraber edition, or best o£ 
 all, both of these in combination. 
 
 Phrasing Editions. 
 
 If there is any music for whose right interpreta- 
 tion the student needs every possible help, it is the 
 music of Bach. For Bach left his music more bald 
 of annotation or comment than most hve-finger ex- 
 ercises Bjre left in these days. And as the chief 
 point of difficulty is, the phrasing, that edition 
 whose grasp of the phrasing is the most scholarly, 
 and whose exposition of it is the most lucid, is the 
 edition most likely to help the teacher. Riemann i& 
 the great modern exponent of phrasing. 
 
 For the advanced student and the really progres- 
 sive teacher his editions are beyond value. But 
 perhaps his annotations are too minute, as well as 
 too superficially complicated in appearance, to 
 attract those whose desires do not go much beyond a 
 fairly general knowledge. But it is a great mistake 
 for any teachers of position to decry Riemann'smost 
 valuable work, at least until they do him and them- 
 selves the justice of weighing it with the utmost care. 
 
 For the minute exposition of the motival structure 
 of the music, there are no editions to compare with 
 those of Riemann, notwithstanding a few extrava- 
 gances which are almost sure to appear in the work 
 of an apostle of a fresh method. For the general 
 purposes of the average student, however, by far the 
 most lucid and instructive editions are, the Germer- 
 Litolff and the Klindworth editions. Both of these 
 editions are cheap, well printed and abundantly 
 
238 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 supplied with scholarly phrasing annotations, marks 
 of expression, fingering, metronomic indications and 
 the interpretation of ornaments. These are added 
 to a text sufficiently reliable for all ordinary pur- 
 poses. Of the two editions, some may prefer the 
 interpretations of Germer, others those of Klind- 
 worth; but no teacher need be ashamed to impart 
 the instructions contained in either ; and any student 
 whO' has assimilated the scholarship contained in 
 both has arrived at a stage when he may safely dis- 
 pense with leading-strings and consult his own 
 matured judgment upon points of detail. 
 
 Summary of Bach Editions. 
 
 For text : Bischoff and the Bachgesellschaft edi- 
 tions. 
 
 For minute motival phrasing : Riemann. 
 
 For general interpretation : Germer or Klind- 
 worth. 
 
 (b). Editions of Beethoven's Sonatas. 
 
 Here, again, the phrasing indications of the com- 
 poser were not made sufficiently clear in the original 
 publications, to furnish quite safe guidance for the 
 average teacher or student. 
 
 Here a word of caution is necessary. Some 
 teachers of ability, forgetful of the minute instruc- 
 
Editions of Beethoven s Sonatas. 239 
 
 tions by which they gained their own knowledge, 
 fall into the error of affecting or expressing con- 
 tempt for the carefully annotated editions of emin- 
 ent scholars and teachers. A little reflection would 
 show them that such an attitude is neither more nor 
 less than a contemptuous depreciation, not alone of 
 the very art of teaching which they profess, but also 
 of the means by which they gained their own know- 
 ledge. Let them ask themselves, what are their own 
 instructions to students more than annotations made 
 by men less learned than the critics whom, mis- 
 takenly, they neglect or despise? 
 
 Beethoven Textual Editions. 
 
 Breitkopf and Hartel publish two useful editions 
 of Beethoven. The one is purely textual; the other, 
 "The Teachers' Folio Edition," is carefully revised 
 by Carl Reinecke. This edition should be used in 
 conjunction with his "Letters to a Lady'' published 
 by Augener. The Steingraber edition, as indeed is 
 the case with all the editions of that firm, is valued 
 for its textual accuracy. 
 
 Phrasing Editions. 
 
 Riemann, through Simrock, has issued an edition 
 which shows the same minute analytical scholarship 
 and skill which are to be found in his edition of' 
 Bach's fugues. 
 
240 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 Dr. Lebert, for the earlier works, as far as Op. 53, 
 and Von Bulow, for the remaining pianoforte works, 
 have issued in the famous Cotta edition, a splendid 
 commentary upon Beethoven. Fingering, phrasing, 
 metronomic indications, variations of tempo, orna- 
 mentation, form and copious interpretative foot- 
 notes, all conjoin to make this work more valuable 
 to the teacher and student than many courses of 
 lessons from less competent sources. Unfortunately, 
 Lebert had not gained a scholarly insight into the 
 subject of minute structural phrasing and again and 
 again therefore he falls into errors common to all 
 those editions whose scholarship, in this respect, is 
 not based on the researches of Riemann. In spite of 
 this drawback, however, various publications in the 
 Cotta edition, originally intended for the benefit of 
 the students of the Stuttgart Conservatorium, are 
 deserving of great commendation, especially in view 
 of the fact that they were among the earliest pion- 
 eers of educational editing of the pianoforte classics. 
 
 But, upon the whole, here, as in the case of Bach, 
 there is no edition of Beethoven's sonatas equal to 
 that of Germer, for the purposes of the general 
 student. He has a genius for instructive editing, 
 and as he has evidently studied and assimilated 
 Riemann's work, he embodies its best fruit in his 
 editions. And this he does in a form less compli- 
 cated, and therefore more lucid to the ordinary 
 learner, than Riemann's own works. As with Bach's 
 fugues, here too, he adds metronomic suggestions, 
 fingering, interpretation of ornaments, copious 
 phrasing signs, judicious guidance regarding the ex- 
 pressive give-and-take in note lengths, together with 
 interesting comments on each sonata. Germer is not 
 only a scholar, he is also an appreciative interpreter 
 of fine music. He is a teacher who has evidently 
 systematised his able principles, and who knows 
 
Phrasing Editions. 241 
 
 how to present them lucidly. His editing through- 
 out keeps to a high and fairly uniform standard. 
 Teachers are therefore quite safe, nay, wise, in 
 using any of his editions of classical music. 
 
 The Klindwoxth edition of Beethoven is disap- 
 pointing. It shows few signs of care, of erudition, 
 of individuality; and in its phrasing it simply 
 copies the errors of its predecessors. So, too, of the 
 new edition just published by Charles D'Albert, and 
 that by Buonamici : both these editors render their 
 editions practically valueless to the young teacher 
 and student by ignoring the analytical researches of 
 Riemann and Germer, and reprinting the phrasing 
 errors of former editions. As to the objections of 
 some editors to do what they call "interfering with 
 the originals," it would be an exceedingly simple 
 plan to place their additional connotations in 
 brackets or in some special type. And with regard 
 to setting the phrasing slurs right no apology is 
 now needed for so obviously sensible and useful a 
 work. Liszt's edition of Beethoven is of little or no 
 value; but the Epstein edition, published by Cranz, 
 is admired by many teachers for its accuracy. 
 
 Summary of Beethoven Editions. 
 
 For text : Breitkopf and Hartel's Critical Edition 
 and the Steingraber Edition. 
 
 For minute structural phrasing : Riemann. 
 
 For general interpretation : Germer and the Cotta 
 Edition. 
 
 17 
 
242 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 (c). Editions of Chopin. 
 
 Klindworth is the editor far excellence of 
 Chopin's works. He has called the attention of the 
 student to many of the hidden melodies interwoven 
 with Chopin's harmonic progressions and accom- 
 paniments; he has suggested rhythmical divisions 
 for many of those irregular groups of notes with 
 which Chopin so often adorns his melodies; and he 
 has given many useful hints upon the subject of 
 fingering. His various annotations prove a helpful 
 guide to many a student. And in spite of occa- 
 sional excess in all these virtuous endeavours, there 
 are few students scholarly enough or genius 
 enough, to ignore his help with safety. 
 
 Mikuli's edition claims the merit of adhering 
 closely to Chopin's own fingering and phrasing, if 
 indeed this can be altogether called a merit. Spiedel, 
 in the Cotta edition, makes an elaborate defence of 
 his text, fingering, phrasing and metronomic indica- 
 tions; and Kullak does very useful work in his edi- 
 tion published by Schlesinger (Weekes). His 
 flowery esthetic comments could, however, be 
 omitted with great advantage. 
 
 With regard to the Chopin text, no edition can 
 rightly claim absolute accuracy. Chopin's own 
 hopeless carelessness and inconsistency make accur- 
 acy impossible; while with regard to interpretative 
 comment, there appears to be still room for an edi- 
 tion containing full, enlightening notes upon many 
 traditions of great players. For in the cases of both 
 Chopin and Schumann there are so many important 
 "traditional renderings" which the inexperienced 
 
Editions of Chopin. 243 
 
 teacher and student may not easily discover from 
 the notation, that enhghtening comment, if it were 
 possible to give it, would be a great boon. 
 
 (D). Editions of Other Composers. 
 
 In the case of other composers it will be sufficient 
 to name the most useful editions. And as a general 
 note of guidance it may be borne in mind that Rie- 
 mann's editions are all remarkable for their minute 
 analysis of the phrasing and their careful exposition 
 of the motival structure; Breitkopf and Hartel's and 
 Bischoff's editions, are specially valuable for their 
 textual accuracy; while the Cotta publications, the 
 Germer editions, and some of the editions of Klind- 
 worth and Kullak, are carefully phrased and in- 
 structively annotated for teachers. 
 
 Mozart's concertos, arranged : Reinecke and the 
 Cotta Edition. 
 
 Mozart's sonatas : G. P. Moore, Riemann, Germer, 
 Cotta. 
 
 Schumann: Nicode, Bischoff, Kullak, Clara 
 Schumann. 
 
 Mendelssohn : Kullak, Germer and the Cotta 
 Edition. 
 
 Haydn : Riemann and the Cotta Edition. 
 
 Handel : Bischoff (Steingraber). 
 
 Note. All the works published in the "Imperial 
 Edition" of Allan and Co., which are edited by 
 Stanford-Barton, are phrased with the utmost care 
 and in the clearest manner. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Concluding Summary of Essential 
 Points of View requiring Special Emphasis, 
 
 I. A Genuine Love for Music. 
 
 No teacher who does not love music for itself, and 
 who does not also, love his work as a teacher, can 
 justly hope for any great success. Doubtless much 
 of the technique of the art of piano-playing may be 
 taught, and taught effectively, by one who, though 
 not a musical enthusiast, has mastered the essentials 
 of the subject both by careful study and by careful 
 practice. But this is a very small part of the whole. 
 Without a genuine love for music there cannot exist 
 in the mind and ear of the teacher a high standard 
 of beautiful interpretation. Without this inspiring 
 love there will, of a certainty, be a deadness in his 
 own interpretations of music; and if his interpreta- 
 tion be dead, those of his pupils will be decidedly 
 more dead. Without this inspiring love of music 
 for its own sake the performances of both pupil and 
 teacher will surely call to the mind of the hearer 
 Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones. It is far 
 too common a mistake in music teaching to remem- 
 ber the teaching and to forget the music. And this 
 is the radical reason why we hear so much "sound- 
 ing brass " and so many " tinkling cymbals " far and 
 wide among the homes and haunts of piano pupils. 
 
High Standards of Musical Interpretation. 245 
 
 2. High Standards of Musical Interpretation 
 IN THE Mind of the Teacher. 
 
 There must be fixedly in the mind and ear of the 
 successful teacher of music good standards of inter- 
 pretation of all the music he undertakes to teach. 
 The musical interpretation of each composition must 
 be immovably fixed in his mind and ear. He must 
 know exactly how each composition should sound 
 when well played ; he must know so surely that no 
 wrong interpretation could upset his standard. He 
 must be able to recognise and to produce beautiful 
 tone; and he must be able to play with beautiful tone 
 and beautiful interpretative power to his pupils. It 
 is not necessary that he should be virtuoso enough to 
 play a great deal of difficult music; but he must be 
 able to play some pieces, however small they may be, 
 musically and beautifully. If he has not these quali- 
 fications he may be mediocre, but he can never excel 
 as a teacher of music. 
 
 I have known many teachers who were careful 
 students of system and method in their teaching, 
 many who read books upon technique and interpreta- 
 tion, and who have a genuine desire to impart educa- 
 tional instruction to their pupils, but who, at the same 
 time, had not the remotest notion of how a Beethoven 
 sonata, a Chopin ballad or a Grieg lyric should 
 sound. In spite of all their study, therefore, the per- 
 formances of their pupils were nothing short of 
 absurd. They were such performances as one would 
 expect from some vulgar person who hoped to pose 
 as a gentleman in a punctilious and fashionable com- 
 pany from a careful study of books of etiquette, 
 
246 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 There is something more in music than can be learned 
 by rule ; and to perceive this something, love for the 
 music is essential. No rules of etiquette culled from 
 a book can make a gentleman. The standard of 
 gentlemanlikeness must be in the mind. 
 
 The fact is that the majority of pupils have not in 
 their minds and ears any standards to apply to their 
 attempted musical performance at all. They have 
 no standards of tone, with its qualities and grada- 
 tions; no standards of rhythm; no standards of 
 musical expression. Their minds and ears are a blank 
 as to standards when they come to learn. Andverb.il 
 instructions can never create standards. No verbal 
 explanation can make the pupil whose ear is a blank 
 realise the sound of beautiful tone. Music consists 
 of sounds, and the sounds must be made for the pupil 
 so that his ear can discern them, if right standards 
 are to be cultivated in him. Here lies the necessity 
 for the teacher to be able to play some music beauti- 
 fully and musically. Unless the pupils have exam- 
 ples of musical interpretation, and plenty of them, 
 given for the purpose of materialising the verbal in- 
 structions they get, they can never attain to right 
 standards; and therefore, however much "teaching" 
 they have, they can never hope to play musically. 
 
 3. The Aim in Playing should be to Play 
 Beautifully. 
 
 It is music, after all, that is the concern of the 
 teacher and the pupil. And it should never be for- 
 gotten that the matter of primary importance is to 
 make the music played sound musical and beautiful. 
 Any instruction which leaves this essential element 
 
The Aim in Playing should be to Play Beautifully. 247 
 
 out of account, or delegates it to a secondary posi- 
 tion, is sure to be barren of good results. 
 
 And this primary ambition to make the music 
 sound beautiful will, if kept steadily in view by both 
 teacher and pupil, work wonders. It will concentrate 
 attention on beautiful tone and beautiful interpreta- 
 tion; it will prove that no rule of technique or inter- 
 pretation can safely over-ride this foundation princi- 
 ple of beauty. It will soon prove that any pre- 
 scribed quality of tone, any expressive annotation, 
 any use of the pedal, any suggested effect, which 
 militates against beauty, is to be abjured; and that, 
 contrariwise, any effect which makes for, beauty is 
 good whether it is supported by rule or not. 
 
 In order to foster in the minds and ears of both 
 teacher and pupil good standards of interpretation, 
 it is very necessary to hear much good music. This 
 is an essential part of the training. The teacher 
 should play to his pupil ; and the pupil should spare 
 no opportunity of hearing good music well played 
 whenever and wherever he can. For it is as impos- 
 sible to become a cultivated interpretative artist by 
 laboriously learning to play a few pieces of music as 
 it would be to become a cultivated litterateur by 
 committing to memory a few elegant extracts from a 
 few writers. To play well it is necessary to hear a 
 great deal of music and to know a great deal of 
 music intimately. And not only so, but the wider 
 the range of any person's education, the fuller will 
 probably be his appreciation of the beauty of music, 
 and the finer will his playing become. Narrowness 
 of the appreciating nature is fatal to any fine inter- 
 pretative conceptions of art. 
 
248 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 4. Learn to Play Simple Pieces Well. 
 
 Much of the slipshod work of pupils; many of the 
 failures to play in an artistic and finished style, are 
 due to the ambition to attempt what is far beyond the 
 powers of attainment. -Without any fluency of tech- 
 nique, without any adequate training in the princi- 
 ples of musical interpretation, many pupils are con- 
 tent to hammer and hack away at music whose artis- 
 tic performance implies the utmost technical finish 
 and a highly-developed musical intelligence. And 
 the great difficulty is to persuade young and imma- 
 ture enthusiasts that this attempt to dash through 
 what is too difficult for their powers will not advance 
 them one whit in their desire to play well. Many a 
 time a pupil has come to me saying that she is an ad- 
 vanced player and that she wishes to learn some diffi- 
 cult pieces of Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Schu- 
 mann, Liszt. Upon testing her I usually found that 
 her finger training had not advanced to the stage 
 when she could play a simple scale passage with 
 evenness and fluency, and that unaided she could not 
 make any intelligent attempt to interpret one of the 
 little lyrics in Schumann's "Album for the Young." 
 But, coming as an " advanced " pupil to do advanced 
 work, she was utterly impatient of the labour required 
 to do elementary work well, and she looked down 
 with lofty scorn upon the humbler but wiser student 
 — the "beginner," who worked patiently to lay the 
 foundations which would eventually lead to success. 
 
 Beethoven's view of this matter is the only one 
 worth a moment's consideration : " Perfection should 
 be the aim of every true artist." The simplest com- 
 position played well, played so as to arrest the atten- 
 
Learn to Play Simple Pieces Well. 249 
 
 tion of the educated hearer and to please him; 
 played so as to sound beautiful, is worth all the 
 dashing failures at ambitious difficulties which are to 
 be heard every day in a thousand studios and homes. 
 And if a pupil can play even half-a-dozen simple 
 pieces faultlessly, artistically, musically, he has set 
 up in his mind and ear a standard of work which, if 
 he continue to be an earnest student, will henceforth 
 never fail him. His future is a future for hope. But 
 if a pupil cannot be schooled to the accuracy, the 
 delicacy, the artistic finish required for this difficult 
 accomplishment, then, however slap-dash and brilli- 
 ant he may appear to be in the eyes of the ignorant, 
 his career will be a failure and his performances will 
 be the scorn of those who know. 
 
 Ruskin was an artist to the heart's core; he knew 
 wnat beautiful work was, and what it cost the doer, 
 and he says : " In my past experience of teaching, I 
 have found that precision is of all things the most 
 difficult to enforce on the pupils. It is easy to per- 
 suade to diligence, or provoke to enthusiasm; but I 
 have found it hitherto impossible to humiliate one 
 clever student into perfect accuracy." The labour of 
 doing finished work is enormous, and it requires in- 
 finite patience. So Sir Joshua Reynolds, censuring 
 the impatience of youthful impetuosity, says that 
 " labour is the only price of solid fame " ; and one 
 may add to this the remark of Paderewski that 
 "genius and drudgery walk hand in hand." Yet the 
 word drudgery is hardly right; for whatever is 
 drudgery falls short of being the best work; and 
 whatever is done with all one's mental might and 
 with the constant aim of effecting some improvement, 
 is no longer — not for a single moment — drudgery. 
 
250 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 5. The Necessity for Thinking and Listening. 
 
 The real difficulty of the teacher is not to tell the 
 pupil things he does not know, but to convince him 
 that it is useless to know if he does not consciously 
 act in accordance with his knowledge. This sounds 
 such a simple truism that the careless reader might 
 be inclined to pass it by with the casual observation, 
 "Oh, of course!" But rest assured that, however 
 true, lack of success in imparting an inward convic- 
 tion of this fact to the pupil is the source of half the 
 failures of the average teacher. 
 
 Mental alertness is alien to the ordinary learner. It 
 has to be stimulated constantly and effectively. It 
 has to be stimulated until the pupil is able to think 
 consciously, when he is studying a composition, of 
 how each note should be played, and is able to check 
 the result of his thought by actually hearing that the 
 thing is done. As Ruskin says of drawing : "When- 
 ever you take a pen in your hand, if you cannot count 
 every line you lay with it, and say why you made it 
 so long and no longer, and why you drew it in that 
 direction and no other, your work is bad." And so 
 in music, if you cannot say exactly how each note 
 should be played, and tell why you played it in that 
 way and no other, your work is bad. 
 
 The teacher who can induce his pupil to concen- 
 trate his attention upon the thing to be done so that 
 it will, with certainty, be done, is the successful 
 teacher. If the pupil, for example, be induced 
 before playing a note, to ask himself whether it 
 should be long or short, loud or soft, legato or stac- 
 cato, he has laid the foundations for success. 
 
The Necessity for Thinking and Listening. 251 
 
 The three essential things to be done, are, to know, 
 to think and to hsten; and the toilsome task for the 
 teacher is to see that the latter two are effectively 
 accomplished. 
 
 6. What Effective Practising Really Means. 
 
 One result of the failure to induce pupils to think 
 intently upon what they are doing, is that what is 
 called "practice" consists simply in going mechani- 
 cally over the notes again and again, repeating the 
 same mistakes. And it is this mechanical repetition 
 of mistakes that takes up the time for learning and 
 becomes a bar to progress. Effective practising 
 means going over and over a passage or composition 
 absolutely correctly, until the habit of this right 
 doing becomes confirmed. The habit of repetition 
 without making a single mistake will accomplish 
 more in a month than the ordinary habit of repeating 
 mistakes will accomplish in a year. There is only 
 one road to rapid success ; it is this : to play each 
 note exactly right always. The business of the 
 teacher is to show exactly how it should be played ; 
 and the business of the pupil is to think intently on 
 the right and to listen intently so as to con&rm the 
 result of his thought. Practising is not for the pur- 
 pose of making mistakes and then hearing of them 
 afresh at a future lesson. It is for the purpose of 
 becoming habituated to the right doing of the thing, 
 so that if it be necessary to increase the speed of the 
 playing it will still be right; and it is for the pur- 
 pose of cultivating ease in playing. It is necessary 
 to practise in order that the habit of playing a thing 
 correctly will become so fixed that the player can 
 
252 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 always and with confidence be sure of a correct per- 
 formance. On the day that any pupil can be induced 
 to determine that he will never repeat a fault, his 
 success is assured. 
 
 Besides this, the teacher should instruct the pupil 
 as to the object of taking lessons. It would seem 
 that this object is often entirely lost sight of. The 
 object of the lesson is to impart to the pupil some 
 knowledge of which he was ignorant; it is not to 
 keep telling him again, day after day, the thing he 
 does know. Garcia says that he never, during two 
 years' instruction, had to tell Jenny Lind the same 
 thing even twice. She knew that the object of the 
 lesson was to learn something new. Any pupil who 
 can be made effectively to realise this, and to act 
 upon the realisation, will learn with ease and 
 rapidity. The teacher must be ready to spend much 
 vital energy in trying to arouse his pupil to the state 
 of mental alertness which will enable him to regard 
 his lesson as a time for learning, and not as a time 
 for hearing again and again the same things 
 neglected or forgotten through utter inattention. 
 
 7. How TO Avoid the Dreary Dullness of 
 Commonplace in Playing. 
 
 The average performance of the average pupil 
 suffers from a dead level of monotony. It is too 
 often without enlightening contrasts in tone, in rhythm, 
 in time, in expression. It reminds one of a child's 
 picture painted all over with a dull tint of grey. Or 
 it reminds -me of my own boyish efforts at carpentry 
 when I was unable to use, so as to produce beauti- 
 fully sharp-cut lines, the saw, the plane and the 
 
How to Avoid the Dullness of Commonplace. 253 
 
 chisel. All the outlines of my amateur furniture 
 were dull, the surfaces were not finely smooth; the 
 angles were not sharply defined; the lines were not 
 absolutely true. And so, when I compared my work 
 with the finished labour of the artist, with its true 
 lines, its sharp angles, its smooth surfaces, I found 
 that it was tinted all over with the dullness of com- 
 monplace. So it is in music. And therefore the 
 special attention of the teacher should be devoted to 
 the cultivation of certain sharp contrasts which will 
 far more than repay his labour by the air of distinc- 
 tion they will add to the playing of his pupils. 
 
 (A). First, he must ever insist upon getting over 
 the dead level of mezza-forte in tone. Even at the 
 risk of exaggeration, let the pianissimo be far softer 
 and the fortissimo far louder. Let the crescendos 
 and diminuendos be not alone something that the 
 pupil sees with his eye and imagines to be in his play- 
 ing because he sees the sign on the music page ; but 
 something so clearly apparent in the sound of his 
 playing that every hearer, who never sees the printed 
 sign on the page at all, can be absolutely sure of 
 what is intended from the sound itself. Many of 
 the defects in playing are due to the fact that the 
 pupil, seeing the signs, imagines that they are as 
 apparent to the hearer, who has ears only, as they are 
 to him with both eyes and ears. Hence the lack of 
 sharpness in his contrasts. The right way to learn is 
 to play, not to your eyes but to your ears, and thus 
 put yourself on the same level as your audience. 
 
 (b). Legato and staccato are generally as little 
 sharply defined as contrasts of tone. The pupil 
 must listen, and hear that his legato tones are well 
 connected; and that, on the contrary, his staccato 
 tones are sharp and crisp. Unless he hears this 
 difference sharply defined with his own ears, he may 
 rest assured that his hearers cannot hear it at all. 
 
254 The Art of Teaching. 
 
 (C). The difference between the lengths of notes 
 is too often not sharply defined. Long notes, especi- 
 ally where they are of an emphatic character or 
 important by reason of melodic or rhythmical value, 
 will gain in expressive effect by an infinitesimal 
 addition to their length. The common fault is to 
 rob them of a shade of their length, and to hand 
 over the robbed portion to the next short note, thus 
 making for a dead level of monotony. 
 
 (d). The same dead level is heard in the lack of 
 clearly defined rhythm. Unless the rhythm of each 
 piece is running in the ear of the player so that 
 nothing can upset it ; and unless that rhythm is made 
 so clearly, yet not obtrusively, perceptible in his 
 playing, that the hearer cannot fail to perceive its 
 influence on the music, the whole performance will 
 lack unity, coherence, backbone, and will be marred 
 by the dull shade of the commonplace. 
 
 Watch, therefore, constantly, that your pupil ob- 
 tains as many as possible of the delicate but sharp 
 contrasts which raise the performance out of the 
 common rut and give it an air of distinction. 
 
 8. Summarised Conclusion of General Coun- 
 sels FOR the Teacher. 
 
 (a). Study your own work carefully, thoroughly 
 and in minute detail. Never rest satisfied with your 
 present knowledge, but advance persistently, remem- 
 bering that in your case stagnation is practically 
 synonymous with retrogression. Look for, review 
 critically and use any fresh light that may arise. 
 The non-progressive teacher cannot hope to win in 
 the race of progress or to fulfil his duty as he ought. 
 
Summarised Conclusion of Counsels for Teacher. 255 
 
 (b). Be thorough and systematic in your teaching. 
 The more you demand of your pupil the greater will 
 be his achievement. The more you insist upon 
 accuracy in every detail, the nearer will he approach 
 to artistic success. The more you stimulate him to 
 mental alertness and concentration, the greater will 
 be his capacity for rapid and effective work. The 
 more orderly and systematic your instruction, the 
 more orderly and systematic will all his study be. 
 
 (C). Aim at being absolutely clear and unaffected 
 in all your instructions. Explain your points in 
 simple, intelligible language; make quite sure that 
 your pupil understands your explanations ; and then 
 see that he carries them out in every detail. Elimin- 
 ate cant words and phrases of every kind from your 
 vocabulary, no matter how fashionable they may be, 
 or how fashionable the teacher who affects them may 
 be. And remember that the first step towards lucid 
 explanation is, a thorough mastery of the meaning 
 of the subject by yourself. 
 
 (d). Bear in mind that careful, patient, insistent 
 teaching, is your part of the foundation of successful 
 playing, whether it be the playing of an amateur for 
 pleasure's sake, or of a professional player for his 
 livelihood. And therefore, whatever else you may 
 neglect during the early years of the pupil's educa- 
 tion, never neglect to insist upon thoughtful and 
 effective technique, good fingering, steady and strong 
 rhythm, even time, varied tone shading, intelligent 
 phrasing and appropriate style. 
 
 (e). Do not expect to develop in the pupil a taste 
 for fine music very rapidly. Use tact in this part of 
 your work, remembering that it is wiser to induce the 
 pupil to like what is pleasant and popular, if only it 
 be good music in any sense of the word, than to dis- 
 gust him by too severe and exacting demands. 
 
 (f). Wherever possible, get your work as a teacher 
 
256 The Art of Teaching, 
 
 periodically tested by competent outside judges, in 
 order to gain a reasonable assurance that there is no 
 retrogression in your work. The teacher who neglects 
 this wise precaution very often finds himself left 
 behind by those who keep an eye on the forward 
 march of educational methods. And tests of a desir- 
 able kind are now easily found when so many trust- 
 worthy and capable public bodies are conducting 
 courses of examination from year to year. 
 
 (g). Try to model your own taste in music upon 
 those standards acknowledged by the voice of the 
 world to be the greatest. While avoiding narrowness 
 of taste, do not fear to measure the work of new com- 
 posers by comparison with that of the live " sleeping 
 kings " of the world of music : Bach, Hardel, Haydn, 
 Mozart and Beethoven. This method of critical self- 
 education will give you a sense of proportion in your 
 judgments which will preserve you from much error 
 and will make your counsel valuable. 
 
 (h). Do not train your pupils to be unintelligent 
 imitators, by teaching simply through illustrations. 
 Teach rather by principles, and urge your pupils to 
 develop their own mental resources by applying the 
 principles they learn. 
 
 Do not spare yourself. Though you expend all 
 your best energies, try as far as you are able to 
 stimulate your pupil to enthusiasm. An example of 
 watchfulness, alertness, earnestness and enthusiasm, 
 in the teacher, is the best begetter of like virtues in 
 the pupil. All through life, earnest, accurate and 
 conscientious work, is valuable, not alone, even in the 
 case of music teaching, for the musical fruit it bears, 
 but also as a power to develop that most precious of 
 all possessions, a noble character. 
 
 By toil is the way upward, upward therefore toil. 
 
 Printed by The New Temple Press, Norbury Crescent, S.W. 
 
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