'^ I i t '' i A, 1 > /" '1 'iT ':'/ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY MUSIC LIBRARY Cornell University Library MT 220.M43 The act of touch in all its diyersitv :a 3 1924 021 634 567 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/cu31924021634567 PIANOFORTE TONE-PRODUCTION BY TOBIAS MATTHAY THE ACT OF TOUCH IN ALL ITS DIVERSITY. An analysis and synthesis of Pianoforte Tone-Production. THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF PIANOFORTE PLAYING. Being an extract from the author's "the ACT OF TOUCH." Designed for school use, and in- cluding two new chapters, DIRECTIONS for LEARNERS AND ADVICE TO TEACHERS. SOME COMMENTARIES ON THE TEACHING OF PIANOFORTE TECHNIQUE. A Supplement to "the ACT OF TOUCH " and " FIRST PRINCIPLES." LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. LONDON, NEW YORK, TORONTO, BOMBAY, CALCUTTA AND MADRAS THE ACT OF TOUCH IN ALL ITS DIVERSITY AN ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS OF PIANOFORTE TONE-PRODUCTION TOBIAS M.ATTHAY FELLOW AND PHOFESSOR OF THE KOTAL ACADBMV OF MUSIC, LONDON, ETC. NEW IMPRESSION LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON E.C 4. NEW YORK, TORONTO BOMBAY, CALCUTTA AND MADRAS 1924 COPYRia JLC, 1903, BY LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. Firat Edition Dcoeinbor 1908. Reprinted May 1905 Reprinled September 1911 „ Februai-y 1914 „ June 1916 „ July 1919 „ April 1921 „ July 1924 Made in Cfreat Britain ^0 MS FELLOW WORKERS AT THE PIANOFORTE STUDENTS, ARTISTS, AND TEACHERS ' There can be no effect without a cause." PREFACE. Ability to understand and feel Music, and ability to com- municate such perceptions to others by means of an instru- ment, are two totally distinct accomplishments. They have often been confused, owing to the fact, that it is impossible to achieve a really satisfactory musical performance without their happy combination. To become pianoforte players, we must learn Music, and must acquire Taste, but we can only succeed in expressing what we feel, musically, by means of tlve. physical act of Icey- depression. In short, the purely physical act of playing consists solely of an act of Touch,^an act of Tone-production. All the gradations of Agility (fleetness of finger). Duration (staccato and legato), as well as all the contrasts of Tone-in- flection depend solely and directly on the nature of this act ; and it is therefore upon our expertness in the Aet of Touch that the whole superstructure of Pianoforte-playing rests. The Art of Touch may indeed be concisely defined as : com- mand over tJie Means of Ex2}ression. This Art thus forms the very Foundation (the Elements or Budiments) of Pianoforte-playing; and it can no more be a " gift " (as so often supposed) than is the art of articulate Speech itself ; for it can be acquired by every person of average intelligence. Its precise place in the scheme of Piano- forte Education need not here be further dilated upon, since Vm PREFACE. Part I. is devoted to that purpose ; and the reader is referred to the Summary of this Part, on page 40. A performer can indeed prove himself to be musical only to the extent of his command over touch variety. It is the constant flow of note to note touch-inflections that forces one to realize that a performer is a sentient being. And it is just this Art of Touch, that will for ever defy mechanical imitation ; and will for ever render the simplest performance, coloured by human fingers, immeasurably'' superior to the most com- plex one obtained by mechanical agency, however perfect the machine. Although it is only thus, by perfecting himself in the Art of Touch, that the player can obtain the means of expressing his musical sensibilities, yet until within quite recent years the paramount necessity of studying this problem had not be- gun to dawn upon teachers, artists, and students. As the true fundamentals of this Art remained practically unrecognized, no serious attempt could be made to give direct instruction in it. True, it was recognised that the musically endowed evinced a " finer touch " than did others less endowed ; but this, it was assumed, was owing solely to some occult influence over the keyboard, the possession of which enabled the favoured ones to produce tone of a better quality and of finer gradations ;— and there is some half-truth in this, for it is certain that the possession of a musical ear, and a strong wish for musical expression, will undoubtedly compel the player to experiment at the keyboard, until he does sooner or later discover for himself at least smne of the mechanical Means that will conduce to success. True, also, that the more serious teachers have insisted upon the necessity of good quality and variety of Touch. But even the greatest, so far, have relied almost exclusively upon empirical method » PKEFACE. ix or upon tlie force of Example. Or they have insisted upon what is after all a mere accompaniment of good touch, i. e. : Position and Movement — thus placing " the cart before the horse." True it is, moreover, that the necessity of ra- tionally studying this problem has lately made itself keenly felt, especially in America. How pressing this need is, be- comes only too painfully evident, when one has to teach those who have already formed wrong muscular-habits, and when one is compelled to witness the ineffectual struggles of many even of the musically endowed in the Examination-room, and Concert-room, who, were they not thus handicapped by faulty habits (acquired through ignorance of these Eudiments) could give free vent to the powers of perception and imagination evidently latent in them ! Obviously the only way to succeed in the attempt ration- ally to learn and teach the Act of Touch in all its immense va- riety, is, first to discover through Analysis how the successful players obtain their effects, and then to test such Analysis, by observing whether the act of touch, built up in accordance with such analysis, does give the anticipated tonal-results. Having thus determined the structure of all varieties of touch, and the permits to Agility, we ought then to be in a position directly to help ourselves and others towards their acquisition. The Means of Touch-variety or Key-treatment having thus been analysed, it follows that all who will take the trouble to master the subject— all who will take the trouble to under- stand the requirements of Key and Muscle, and will take the trouble to form these into physical and mental habits— will be able to acquire the language of Expression. Everyone may thus be enabled to gain power of Agility and Colouring ; and even the musically endowed, may, by directly acquiring a tone-palette (or Touch-palette) thus save years of time, which X PREFACE. would otherwise be wasted in futile experiments, and in form- ing bad habits. As I have now for a great number of years applied such Analysis and Synthesis of Touch in my daily work of teaching, doing so always with increasing directness, and mainly; as- cribe such success as I have had as a teacher (and my pupils, also, as teachers) to the resulting ability to point out tlie im- mediate causes of the observed faults, and the direct means of their correction— io the ability to show explicity how to command the physical fulfilment of each interpretative and technical detail, I have long been urged to render this knowledge more widely accessible, and the present little work is the result. In endeavouring to place the many unfamiliar facts and new ideas before the reader, there was however this dilemma to face : that innumerable prejudices and fallacies would have to be combated, and that to do this would render the treatise too elaborate for the Schoolroom ; whereas, to limit it to direct information in its concisest form (as required for the School- room) might render its teachings liable to misconception, and unacceptable to the prejudiced. To overcome this difficulty, the work has been laid out in four Parts, as follows :— Part I, is purely introductory, and purposes to show the relation the study of Touch bears to the general problems of Pianoforte-education. This is followed by the practical Parts, II to IV. Part II, " The instru- mental aspect of Key-treatment," demonstrates the nature of the mechanical difficulties to be overcome,— what are the re- quirements of the key, and how the key must be treated for each kind of effect. Part III, " The muscular-aspect of Key. treatment," exhibits the muscular difficulties of the problem, and their solution— the muscular means we must adopt, to ful- fil the key's requirements. Finally, Part IV deals with the PREFACE. XI positional aspect of the subject — the postures and movements which must, or may, accompany correct key-treatment. Each of these practical Parts consists first of a Preamble, giving a general idea of the matter to be dealt with, followed by a num- ber of chapters, providing explanatory details ; each of these chapters being followed by a KECAPrruLATiON, and each of the Parts again by a Summaby ; the concluding chapter of the work, moreover, giving a Glossary of the whole. A system of Notes accompanies the text, and Appendices, which follow each Part, give further opportunity for detailed instruction. In this way, the close enquirer may obtain full information in the chapters, while the less advanced student can bo re- ferred to these Recapitulatories and Summaries. These, in fact, form a work complete in itself, — a digest or extract, de- signed for school use. This Digest or Extract, is in- tended for publication in a separate form later on, to render it more easily available for such purpose. The work, it will be seen, is entirely explanatory. It has nothing to do with any particular system of exercises or stud- ies, etc. The Student can apply its teachings at any stage of his progress, since it applies in all cases, whatever the system of teaching or exercises adopted in other respects. The Artist can learn from it the reason of his greater or lesser success technically, and how further to improve his powers of Expression. The Teacher will find it useful at every step ; and finally the Critic can find in it a basis for his technical opinions. This work may presently be followed by an extra Part — Part V, giving certain exercises for acquiring Muscular-dis- crimination, which have been found useful in direct teaching. Coming now to the end of the years of labour expended on this little volume, the late Professor Tyndall's words recur Xn PREFACE. to me : " The ease with which an essay is read, is often a meas- ure of the laboriousness witli which it has been written ; " — and in concluding', I can only express the hope that my read- ers may find some measure of correspondence between my labour in this instance, and its result ! I must also here take the opportunity of thanking the many kind friends who have encouraged me in my self-im- posed task, and to acknowledge the valuable help given me in the revision of the proofs, etc., by Mrs. Kennedy-Fraser, of Edinburgh, and others. Tobias Matthay. Hampstbad, London, July, 1903 RECOMMEND A TION. In studying this work, each of the four Parts should be taken in the following order : I. The Preamble to each Part. II. The Contents of each chapter. III. The Summary of each chapter. IV. The Text of each chapter, v.ith re-study of the Reca- pitulatories. V. The Recapitulatory or Summary of each Part, to con- centrate the knowledge acquired. VI. The student should afterwards constantly refer to the Eecapitulatories, whenever he perceives technical difficulties between himself and his interpretative intentions. The reader may here be warned against a mistake often made, viz. ; the assumption, that an author must needs be in the wrong, because a reader fails to understand the facts dealt with ! Granted, that it is wrong to accept any teachings unless one's reason is convinced of their truth, nevertheless it is still more deeply wrong, to be convinced that such teachings are untrue, because they happen, perhaps, to be in complete op- position to doctrines faithfully clung to for years ! Only by a rigid analysis of facts can we hope to eliminate untruth, and the author begs for such test, convinced as he is that the facts here stated become only the clearer, the more they are subjected to examination. CONTENTS. PART L— INTRODUCTORY. CHAPTER I. PREAMBLE. PAGE The absurdity of attempting to teach Pianoforte Playing, witliout teaching the Elements of ' ' Toucli ". — Comparison of Empiric with Kational, or Direct, methods of teacliing. — Practice unprofitable, unless it tends towards the acquisition of Variety in Touch, through the formation of correct habits. — Only by a preliminary practical understanding ot the Laws of Tone-production can this be ensured. — Such understand- ing insufficient by itself, the rules of procedure must be fixed into Mental-Muscular Habit. — The form of Attention a fully-trained Artist gives during the act of performance, must hence widely differ from that required from a Learner. — Comparison ot the Accidental with the Rational methods of attaining Touch. — The Highly-talented may happen to discover correct forms ot tone-production, the Less-talented will probably fail. — Tone-production discovered by accident is easily forgotten ; whereas, this is not liUely, once the facts are understood. — The rational method ot acquiring Tone-production premises know- ledge of the laws that govern it. — The formation of correct habits of Touch is ensured, when we understand what Treatment the Key re- quires for each different kind of sound, and the nature of the Mus- cular-Conditions by means of which such Key-treatment can be fulfilled. — Three stages of acquaintanceship are possible with regard to Tone-production, viz.: (a) Ability to obtain the effects from the in- strument, while ignorant of the processes adopted ; (b) Understand- ing the nature of these processes, how key and limb have to be treated for each effect ; (c) Perception of the reason for such treat ment t XT! CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. THE PROBLEM OF PIANOFORTE TRAINING. I Successful Performance consists in the combination of two distinct proc- esses : the mental act of Musical Perception, and the physical act leading to its Execution. — The first process implies Musicianship ; the second, Executantship. — Neither avails, unless Attention is forthcom- ing from both sides during the act of performance. — Musicianship has a dual aspect : the Emotional, and the Intellectual ; both sides must be trained. — Emotional training permits us lo fed Music ; Intellectual training permits us to see the Musical Shapes through which Feeling is expressed.— Executantship similarly has a dual aspect : one, imply- ing Artistic Judgment, and the other, implying Command over the Art of Tone-Production. — Artistic-judgment comprises : (a) Famili- arity with the possible Instrumental effects ; (b) Judgment, as to their appropriate Application ; and (c) Keenness of Pulsational-Sense, of perception of Time-lapse. — Command over Tone-Production in- volves special training for the particular instrument ; it Implies Abil- ity to draw from it every effect dictated by our Musicianship, and our Artistic-sense .... ...... CHAPTER III. THE PROBLEM OF EDUCATION IN THE ART OF TONE-PRODUCTION. The Art of Tone-production comprises the production of all possible Sound-effects from the instrument : those of Tone-Quantity; those of Tone-Quality ; those of Continuance ; it includes also the attainment of Agility.— The laws of Tone-Production apply equally to everyone, gifted and non-gifted. — Certain endowments render easier the acquisi- tion of Agility ; these are distinct from those which constitute a large Pianoforte- Voice. — Even the smallest natural Piano-voice, when prop- erly produced, is capable of far larger volume of tone, and its mod- ifications, than is generally supposed possible.— " Stiff " fingers and wrists also indicate faulty habits, rather than natural incapacity.— Facility in Tone-production rests on knowledge and physical attain- ments, in two distinct directions : Instrumental education and Muscu- lar Education.— The Key-treatment required for each kind of sound must be understood j and the muscular Conditions consummating each shade of treatment must be forthcoming 31 CONTENTS. XVU CHAPTER IV. THE PROBLEM OP MUSCULAE EDUCATION. rAOE Consists of two steps. — ^We must learn to discriminate the right muscu- lar-conditions from the wrong ones ; we must then learn to apply these correctly-discriminated Conditions to the Keyboard, both as regards amount and duration. — The First step in Muscular-education can be carried out apart from the Pianoforte keyboard. — It is a pro- cess of Elimination of not-required activities. — The result is Freedom of action. — The needful muscular activities and inactivities produce two distinct classes of effects ; Visible effects, in the shape of move- ments, and Invisible effects in the shape of stresses and tensions. — The mode of imparting the Visible actions ; also, the Invisible actions. — Warning not to overlook ultimate Object, Sound excita- tion, during such process of Muscular-education. — The Second step in muscular-education demands a keyboard, and that of a good instrument. — We must here learn to time the muscular-act both to commence and to cease at the right moment — We must learn to gauge the intensity of the Muscular-act in obedience to the needs of the Key, before, during, and after its descent . . . .25 CHAPTER V. THE PINAL PROBLEM : THE UNION OP EXECUTION WITH CONCEPTION. The completion of the act of Tone-production arises at a definite point in Key-descent, and at a definite moment of Time ; herein lies the means of Union. — This Union is accomplished, by timing a muscular- act, of requisite intensity, to culminate the mechanical operation upon the key in absolute correspondence with the degree and time which our conception of the Musicdemanda for each note. — Execution fulfils Conception, when Key-arrival ' ' at Sound " corresponds with the musi- cally-iHtejideti moment of tone-excitation.— Only through the Ear can we be promptly enough notified of the moment when the act of " Touch " is consummated : the moment of transition from Silence to Sound.— Alertness of Ear, hence, the final and most important problem of Executive-education. — Final definition of the Four Ele- ments which together constitute the Act of Attention required in per- formance. — Warning not to forget the ultimate Object in endeavour- ing to fulfil the Means. — Even Attention itself must not be given for its own sake. — In performance, our consciousness must always be a supreme desire to perceive Music, for the sake of communicating it . 30 Xviii CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. OOKCLUSION, AND SUMMARY. PAGE Realization of the components of Pianoforte Education will enable us to locate each fault. — This will enable us to correct each fault separately, the quickest and surest way. — It will enable us the better to Prac- tise, Criticise, Play, and Teach 37 Summary, a Table, giving the relationship of the various components of Pianoforte Education 40 APPENDIX TO PART I. Note I. On Listening ..... Note II. On lihythm ..... Note III. As to Gymnastics .... Note IV. Piano-talent ..... Note V. As to Self-consciousness and Narvoxisness Note VI. Musical Feding 40 41 42 42 43 43 PART II.— KEY-TREATMENT FROM ITS INSTRU- MENTAL ASPECT. CHAPTER VII. PREAMBLE : THE MAIN INSTRUMENTAL FACTS. The Pianoforte consists of two distinct portions, the instrument proper, and the set of machines provided to excite it into sound. — The Sounding-board with its strings forms the instrument proper. — The Key with all its appurtenances forms the exciting Tool. — This only serves to transmit Speed to the string. — Sound can only be excited by giving Motion to the Key, nothing else forms Tone-production. — The application of Energy must be so Timed during key-descent, as to culminate coinoidently with the moment that tone begins to appear. — Hitting or Striking the key is as fallacious as Pressing it upon its bed. — We must realise the key's weight and resistance through the finger- tip, and must overcome this resistance so as to aim the hammer-end of the key against the string. — Thus used, the key forms but a me- chanical elongation of the finger. — The act of aiming involved in cre- ating String-speed by means of the hammer-end, includes thi'ee points : (a) the full key-speed intended must be reached as the sound arises ; (b) the Energy applied must cease at that moment ; (c) the CONTENTS. Xix PAGE manner of its application must be determined — suddenly applied energy creates " brilliant " tone, harsh and non-carrying; gradually applied energy creates " sympathetic " tone, singing and carrying. — IHie first lesson of key-treatment is, that every note must be musically intended as to Time and Tone ; the second lesson is, that the culmina- tion of each key-descent must be made to coincide with such in- tention 47 CHAPTER VIII. THE INSTRUMENT. The outer Case contains tho sounding-board, the strings and frame and the Mechanism, or " action." — Description of the Sounding-board. — The Strings and Frame. — Description of the components of the Mech- anism — Firstly : A compound Lever, to facilitate the transmission of speed to the string — its resemblance to a see-saw, since all speed trans- mission-power vanishes with the key's full depression — Secondly : Tho Escapement, to allow the hammer to fall away from the string tho moment that tone-production is completed. — The Repetition contriv- ance — Thirdly: The Check, to prevent rebound of the hammer^ Fourthly : The Damper, to stop the sound when the key is released — Fifthly : The Dampar-Pedal, which raises all the dampers simultane- ously— Correct Pedalling — The Sostenonte pedal— jS/xt/iJi/.' The Una Corda pedal and its substitutes. — Recapitulation . . . .52 CHAPTER IX. ON BOUND. The physical nature of Sound. — Concussions travel through the air as areas of alternate compression and rarefaction. — We are unable to Iden- tify air-concussions individually when repeated more frequently than about sixteen per second. — Beyond that speed they blur into a contin- uous ear-impression. — Tlie sensation of Noise arises when the ear-im- pression is derived from an irregular sequence of impacts. — We hear a Musical-note when the continuous ear-impression arises from a reg- ular sequence of impacts. — The Pitch of a note depends on the com- ponent number of impacts that form such ear-impression ; the ear counts these component impacts and delivers the result as a musical- sensation ; tho higher the number, the higher the note. — Loudness de- pends on the intensity of the individual air-disturbances, the more violent the vibrations llie louder is the sound. — A sound wave reaching us may be simple in its structure, or compound. — Thence arises the sensation of difference in the Quality of the sound, a powerful means of expression 64 XX CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. THE STHINO, ITS BEHAVIOUR DtJRINa THE TAEIOUS FOBMS OP TOKE-PRO- DUCTION. PAOK We create sound from the Pianoforte by causing a String or set of strings to move. — Tlie string, in moving, beats the air, and is said to vibrate. — The length, tension and thickness of the string determines how of- ten per second it will be comiDellcd to complete its vibration. — The actual Speed with which the string moves must not be confused with this rate of vibration. — The sounding-board, owing to its large surface, magnifies the effect of the string-movements for our ear. — The string is set in motion by the hammer reaching it, and slightly driving it out of its place of rest. — The hammer shares its speed and momentum with the string during this moment of contact. — The string is then left free to continue in gradually decreasing movement, unless checked by the damper's descent. — The act of tone-production ceases with the first outward swing, of the string. — Each act of tone-production is therefore of exceedingly short duration, never taking longer than it does in the shortest Staccato. — It is quite distinct from the act of retaining the Key depressed, whence arises Tenuto and Legato. — Loudness depends upon the extent of ground covered by the string during each vibra- tion. — The string's vibrations are necessarily completed during the same period of time, whether these vibrations are ample or small in extent ; the string must hence be made to move /as