PIANO PRACTICE.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 348, 8 August 1885, Page 4

PIANO PRACTICE.

The following hints are for the benefit of those pianoforte students who do not seem to make much progress, and who are rarelyable to play through a piece to the satisfacsion of themselves or anyone else, and, therefore, get disgusted with everything relating to music because of their want of success. In the first place, I find this generally results from want of method, one day a great burst of practice, then a relapse for, say, a week, only to find on returning to the piano that the greater part of the dexterity acquired has been lost in the interval by the neglect, showing that the want of perseverance is one of the causes of failure. Bad fingering is another reason, and perhaps the following advice may be useful : In trying over any difficult passage select the fingering most suitable. After marking 1 , practice it in that way. How many players ! stumble through a comparatively easy scale passage sinrply because they do not treat it as a portion of a scale, and finger it accordingly. Another reason is the want of thought during practice. This does not consist of sitting down at the instrument and strumming* away for an hour or two in a halfhearted manner, with the thoughts wandering f over the hills and far away.' That method of practising is worse than useless ; it is doing an actual injury, for the vvant of of a good result will give you a distaste for that which you are striving to learn. I will give you my idea of how to practice a piece : First look over it carefully, pass all that is easy in the meantime, but stop if you notice any passage which appears difficult ; try it over, select the best fingering, then repeat it over and over again; now add whatever is necessary to complete the phrase ! and try it with both hands. After you have ' it up to your satisfaction, which should be over the speed required for performance, go on to the next difficulty, and so to the conclusion of the piece. When you have overcome all the points of which you were doubtful at the beginning, try the complete work slowly, giving no attention to anything but time and correct manipulation ; after that, quicken the rate of 6peed, and lastly attend to all the marks of expression. Beware of the abuse of the ' pedal.' This is one of the commonest faults ; recollect that ff does not mean put down the forte pedal, unless it is so marked, and then it should be taken off wherever the harmony changes. Its true use is to sustain the sound, and, to hear the effect of keeping it down, play over a few bars where there is a change of harmony, now stop (still keeping the pedal down), and listen to the disagreeable mixture of sounds. The result v a conglomeration which is an insult to the musically- cultivated ear. In conclusion, I may be allowed to suggest that method,' combined with patience and perseverance, is certain to have a satisfactory result.