PIANO PRACTICE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9092, 23 November 1907, Page 3

PIANO PRACTICE.

(" Sydney Morning Herald.")

The golden rule concerning practising is to work while you work. One hour's real work at the piano will advance a studeut more than six hours of strumming. There is such an inducement when at the piano to idle away time that hours become unconsciously misspent. Without proper practice a good technique can never be acquired, and without a good technique no player can hope *yo reach professional or even a good amateur standard. Technique includes not dexterity alone, as many mistakenly think, but also (according to Padereweki) touch, rhythmic precision, pedalling and tone. Authorities do not agree on the necessity for scales, but most great player* practise them. Many composers, 6uch as Beethoven and Chopin, embody scales in their works. The Sonata Pathetique contains the harmonic minor scale of C many time_, and if one knows 0 minor fluently in sixths and tenths, some of the work in Chopin's best and most difficult Ballade is already done. The real secret of playing rapid, brilliant scales is the quick quiet passing of thumb and hand. In playing up the scale with the right hand, says Paderewski, and down the scale with the left, the part of the hand toward the thumb should be held considerably higher than the part toward the little finger. There is thus more room for the thumb to pass under the fingers unobstructed and easily. So much value has always been attached to •smooin playing that at one time the thumb was never used on the black notes. It was Christopher Emanuel Bach who (at the end of the seventeenth century) invented a new system of fingering to include the thumb. Tecnnique, of course, advanced enormously afterwards. In Bach's time the pedal had not been invented, and the use of the pedal has brought about a great change in modern playing. It is a mistake to be afraid to use it in playing scales. It should be used on the unimportant notes, that is, on the central portion of the scale, but never on c_ie important or closing notes. By this plan you give brilliance and colour to tlie quick passing notes leading up to the climax; then, by shutting the pedal off, the final and important notes ring out with an added value, clear, firm and effective. Of course, in playing pieces and studies the pedal should be changed with every change of harmony, it should be changed oftener in the lower notes, because of the. slower vibrations, and the thickness of the tone. Chromatic scales in contrary motion (three octaves), starting with both thumbs on middle N C; five finger exercises in contrary motion (thumbs held down) ; consecutive sixths, minor major, and repeated in pairs; detached octaves played from the wrists; and arpeggios form excellent exercises. Half an hour of these, played from memory, and " varied to taste," form a most satisfactory basis for acquiring a good technique. A gocd touch is necessary to achieve tonal " quality." With some it is inj born — connected with a natural sense lof musical beauty. People with thick fingers have a natural tone. What. is called a " fat touch " is much admired, especially in Beethoven's Adagios. Germans have an inborn sense of rhythm, but English students nearly always have to count, while they play concerted music. Many Australians resemble Germans in the quickness with which they learn phrasing, and are able to dispense with counting. If a student finds any difficulty in playing in, correct time, 6he should practise with a metronome, but always remember to play to her counting, not count to her playing. In playing a standard piece it is always best to keep to the rhythm and tempo, and not exaggente such directions as "ad libitum," and " a piacere."^ In Beethoven an eighth of a beat is an eighth of a beat; with Chopin and soriie of the moderns tempo rubato adds to the effect, but needs to be used artistically. Nothing advances the student so quickly as to learn music that is too hard for her. Rubinstein's six studies offer magnificent practice; Beethoven's sonatas, and Bach's well-tempered clavier are indispensable in training the independence of the fingers and the tone. Chopin's studies, Liszt's rhapsodies and Grieg's ballades should be learned. They should not be played outside^ the practice room. " Study something hard, but don't play it out," is a good rule. An advantage in studying well-known and difficult pieces is that they are sure to be played by competent artiste in public, and the student will enjoy and understand their performance better when familiar with the notes. The beginner mirrht study Mozart's easy pieces, with their calm and simple style, and Mendelssohn's " Songs Without Words " to acquire a singing quality of tone.