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The Soul of the Piano

admin — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 08:52:26 +0000

I now come to the loud or sustaining pedal, which Rubinstein aptly called “the soul of the piano.” It certainly is the best friend the pianist has at his disposal for helping him to overcome the material drawbacks of the pianoforte’s constitution, and without it no legato playing or prolongation of tone would be possible at all.

Of course, there are two pedals on the modern pianoforte, even sometimes three, but the soft one is only used, as its name implies, for deadening the sound. The loud pedal, as it is called, is the real important factor, and when I speak of the pedal in future as a general term, it is always to this one that I am referring. The name “loud pedal” is really a misnomer, as its function is rather to sweeten the sound and render it more open, and also to add brilliance to the tone rather than actual loudness. If the pedal is a good friend it can also be the worst possible enemy if badly employed. Nothing is more terrible than the general blur cast over everything by the pedal when it is applied without expert knowledge. A few simple rules about how it should be used are as follows.

I have already mentioned that the pedal must be changed on different harmonies; it should also never be taken directly on the first beat of the bar to obtain the best results, but in syncopation with that beat, as in the example below.

Perfect your Hand Technique

admin — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 14:48:58 +0000

In fact, the keyboard ought never to be struck hard at all in legato passages or in melody of any kind. On the contrary, the keys must be caressed with a sort of almost stroking movement, to obtain the requisite tone-values. And in connection with this there is another thing to which I attach great importance, namely, that the hand in its attitude on the keyboard should reflect in some degree the spirit of the music.

For instance, it would not be natural to hold the hands as formally when playing Chopin as in the performance of sixteenth century music. Again, in a vivacious piece the hands should look sprightly and full of energy, while in slow cantabile movements they should present a soft and sinuous appearance. For even the fact of the hand looking hard and stiff during playing will assuredly affect the sound adversely, and rob it of beauty of quality.

All these things are intimately connected with the preparation of a fine touch upon the piano. The word “touch,” as a musical term, signifies really the mode by which the fingers attack the keyboard. For the great difficulty to be contended with on the piano when it is necessary to produce a singing tone lies in this, that by its mechanical composition, if once a key is struck upon the instrument, no further modification of the sound-quality is possible. No vibrato or mellowing of the tone can be afterwards applied as on stringed instruments; with the piano, all is over when the ringer has once fallen and the hammer has struck the strings.

Therefore anything that can be done to sweeten the tone must be attempted before the striking of the note. By this I mean that an infinitesimal time should elapse between the action of lifting the finger to strike and the definite falling of the finger upon the key. Touch must be thus prepared in the playing of all melody and singing passages with a slow pressing movement of the hand and fingers. This caressing touch could not, of course, be employed in rapid difficult passages, where direct quick blows of the fingers are indispensable in order to save time. In such cases, and in the higher development of technical brilliance, no more lifting of the fingers is necessary than is compatible with distinct articulation.

Rules of Interpretation

admin — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:42:14 +0000

As far as the general rules of interpretation are concerned, I will give a few which appertain to what might be called the syntax of music. Such are the following. An ascending passage should be played with a crescendo, a descending passage with a diminuendo. The pedal must be changed according to the harmonies, in order to blend the tones, and to enable notes to be held on which the fingers could not manage without its assistance. Rhythm, too, as distinct from time, must be clearly marked, so as to indicate where accents ought to fall, and to create atmosphere. Music played without true rhythm will always sound colourless and insipid. Time should also be well defined, that it may preserve the general form of the composition.

Skilful use of all these means makes up the art of interpreting, and it is for the mentality of the pianist to employ them in their varying degrees, to mould them, combine them, and dispose of them, and thus invest the whole work with the pulsating breath of actuality. No doubt there must exist in the interpreter a natural good taste which will govern his outlook, and this can only spring from a sound musical instinct trained by education, and by hearing great artists perform. For it goes without saying that there are no absolute rules about interpretation. There can but be some broad outlines of style and taste to stimulate the imagination of the student, and help him in his task.

As I have already pointed out, the interpretations of the masterpieces of music by great artists become established as traditions. Still the personal thought of the performer should make its influence felt in the rendering of all music, even of the most classical type, if that rendering is to be of any -real value and interest, only this personality has to conform to the general dicta of the style. Thus it will be found that no two fine artists will interpret a piece in the same way. There may be a thousand differences of expression in their particular performance, and each of them equally correct. This fact only illustrates how imagination and colour may be infused into interpretation in much variety. For great musical compositions may well be compared to beautiful landscapes, which are ever changing in colour and effect through the action of atmospheric conditions. On no two days does the country look alike, yet its composition and outline remain fixed, everlasting.

It is told of Beethoven that he played over one of his own compositions to a talented pupil in order to give him some idea of the interpretative side, and then asked the student to play the same piece again. This was done, and the master complimented him, remarking that although it differed greatly from the original, it was decidedly better.

This reminds me of Tchaikovsky, who was asked, after conducting a composition of his own, why he did not do so in the same way as he had once done before. “My friend,” the master replied, “if you ever see me conduct this again, it will be different still. It is merely a matter of mood.”

Another detail which it is necessary for the student to bear in mind is that technical passages ought never to be played as if they were of purely digital dexterity, as this method makes of such passages only hard, uninteresting interludes of display, wearisome to the listener and of no value musically. All technical passages, even the most difficult ones, should be considered as embroideries of the main harmonies; in fact, they are the rhetoric of the composition.

Melody also should not be knocked out with unbalanced enthusiasm to the entire detriment of the accompaniment, nor should any two notes of a melody be given with exactly the same tone colour, for this will create monotony of sound. Every single tone should be on a general scale of gradation, each having its own place in the scheme of chiaroscuro; because the mechanical tone of the piano itself, with which we are dealing, makes it imperative that every device to conjure up perspective and charm should be brought into service, and above all typewriting effects of precise striking must be strenuously avoided.

Learn More on Individual Chord Playing

admin — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:19:39 +0000

And now for a few words about individual chord playing, as it is so important to discover the right way to produce a fine and noble sound when striking these. The first essential here is to find how to obtain strength without hardness of touch. Strength there must be, of course, tempered by judgment, for without it the pianist will be unable to give out enough and graduating increase of tone when necessary. For especially in a dramatic piece where one often meets with an ever-growing crescendo of tone culminating upon a given point, if the performer lacks accumulative force he cannot achieve this effect, and so the piece may end in an anti-climax and the whole artistic meaning of the work be missed.

Now one way to produce strength of tone is to throw the hands down on the chords by lifting them high above the keys before striking. I do not advocate this, as it is so uncertain, and disaster may easily overtake the player at any moment by his falling upon the wrong notes. For it needs great precision of eye to strike many notes together correctly from a height.

How, then, can extra force be applied without sacrificing the accuracy of notes or the tone quality? With abrupt chords I find the following method efficacious, namely a quick contraction of the forearm, accompanied by an action of the fingers, as though they were trying to dig themselves into the keys.

For final chords at the end of a great passage, the same digging of the fingers and contraction of the forearm should be supplemented by a motion of the hand turning round upon the notes with a sort of jerk, as if it was trying to lock or unlock a key in a door. The fingers at the same time having finished their digging action should contract slightly towards the palm of the hand. Passages ending with a single note that has to be struck with great power or vehemence can also be manipulated by this same action of the hand, which I call the “lock-the-door motion.” It is most effective in adding extra strength when necessary, and even in pianissimo chords, where distinctive accent is required, it will be found to apply successfully, though with these, of course, the turning and contraction of the hand will only amount to a slight pressure abruptly administered.

In general, I advise that with all chord playing, whether in abrupt individual cases or in successions of legato chords, the strength and volume of tone should be produced by concentrated pressure from the forearm. For thereby will the pianist draw from his instrument a deep and resonant sound, and avoid hard blows that recall the wood and iron elements of its constitution which it should always be his first aim to make his audience forget.

Scales in Thirds with Fingerings Marked

Chromatic Thirds

Practising Octaves on Piano – Part 2

admin — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 14:50:09 +0000

It must always be remembered, of course, that the device is only a creation of the imagination and must in no wise be allowed to become evident or interfere with the proper rhythm. But as a mental measurement it will always facilitate the negotiating of rapid jumps correctly and continuously. The last passage in the Concerto in C minor of Saint-Saëns for piano and orchestra, also serves to illustrate the method of reducing the difficulty by this calculation of the mind.

Passage from C minor Concerto of Saint-Saëns to illustrate the mental device of
considering the Octaves in groups of threes, as indicated by the lines below,
though the sound of the rhythm must remain in 3/4 time.

Still more hard than so-called simple octave technique is that where intermediate notes between the octaves have to be struck together with them, as in successive progression of rapid chords, such as are to be found in the opening cadenza of Liszt’s E flat Concerto. (Picture 1) This starts with a tremendous sequence of grand chords in C major, which is extremely difficult to play accurately, and can only be mastered by unceasing practice. In such a passage the wrist should be kept loose and the intermediate notes (in the chord of C major it is the second finger on G) should be struck with rather a stiff finger, so as to form a sort of point of support, the thumb and 5th fingers, however, falling loosely on the two octave notes, C and Octave C. The hand should be arched and form a cup-like position. Thus :

Showing position of hand when playing Octaves
with intermediate notes.

The stiffening of the intermediate finger must be very slight and almost imperceptible; in fact, here again it should be little more than a mental impression. I give the fingering which I use in the afore-mentioned passage in chords out of the Liszt concerto, in the hope that it may help some who may be struggling with that particular cadenza. (Picture 1)

For very rapid octave scales with intermediate notes, it is of assistance, instead of striking the middle note with the finger in its natural position, which interferes here with speed, to strike it upon the key with the first phalange joint of the finger, as in the following passage out of Saint-Saëns C minor Concerto. Thus :

Showing intermediate note taken
with phalange joint to help speed.

Extract from Saint-Saëns C minor Concerto.

The above is a passage where the intermediate notes between the Octaves can be struck with the whole of the first phalange joint of the finger instead of with the tip of the finger simply. This is a device for facilitating speed, and can only be used in the right hand.

But this last is a technical hint for helping rapidity, to be used only by those who have already reached a considerable stage of virtuosity and also possess a wide stretch of the hand, and it should in no case be adopted by the student even of advanced technique! I merely mention it as a curious instance of the little ingenuities that can make the greatest difficulties become possible.

What are termed broken octaves are also continually to be met with, especially in adaptations of pieces from orchestral scores and in the works of Beethoven and Mozart. These have to be played with great skill if they are to sound really well and make a good effect, therefore they must be patiently studied. For practising them I advise using the 1st and 5th fingers with equal strength, the wrist being kept stiff and the hand oscillating to and fro as if it and the fingers were made of one piece with the forearm. There are excellent studies for the development of broken octave technique in Czerny’s “Kunstfertigkeit.”

Picture 1
Extract from Liszt’s Concerto in E flat, showing fingering of opening Cadenza.

Practising Octaves on Piano – Part 1

admin — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:49:40 +0000

I now come to Octave Technique for which every sort of studies have been and continue to be written. Now the real octave wrist, combining great strength with high nervous tension and suppleness, is a gift of nature, like the capacity for playing staccato bowing on the violin. But those who do not possess the power can develop it to a limited extent. There are several methods of playing octaves, one being with a loose wrist and the 5th finger slightly stiffened. This is a good way for octaves in a slow tempo, but when speed is required it can only be secured by nervous contraction of the arm, the wrist being kept stiff meanwhile. To accomplish this needs much muscular strength, as the advantage of the loose wrist has to be discarded, and whenever the rapidity of the tempo increases, the stiffening of the wrist must increase also.

As far as the practice of octaves go, I do not think merely playing them in scales is efficacious, and, as I have already said, there are so many studies devised on this most difficult branch of piano technique that it is best to work with them. Those of Kullak are, I find, especially excellent. It is very unwise ever to work at octave playing for more than ten minutes at a time, as it is so fatiguing and may injure the arm if overdone. But there are ways of helping oneself to relieve exhaustion during long sequences of octaves. Some of these devices are useful for all, though generally each player finds out means for himself according to the structure of his own particular muscles.

To illustrate what I mean by these helps against fatigue, I will give an example from the A flat Polonaise of Chopin. The great octave passage in the second part for the left hand lasts 34 bars, which is a tremendous length, as all pianists know, and the strain may become almost unbearable.

Extract from the A flat Polonaise of Chopin, showing
Octave passage in left hand, which lasts 34 bars.

Here it is a considerable relief to think of the passage as in a semi-circular motion from left to right.

Above illustrating the mental device of placing each
group of four Octaves as component parts of half a circle.

Again, in the enormously difficult octave passage for the right hand in the Sixth Rhapsody of Liszt, it will be found to be of assistance to keep changing the position of the wrist from being high to becoming low.

First position of hand with wrist held high in Octave playing

This very small action of the wrist gives respite for a second from the tension, and sets the momentum of the nervous contraction going again.

Second position of hand in Octave playing,
with wrist held low to give relief from fatigue.

This same movement can apply to most continuous octave sequences of any length, provided they are in scale-like progressions, or in the form of reiteration. But for octaves which move in arpeggi, this same action would not answer, because here the mind has to be occupied with the matter of judging the distances, or I should rather say, feeling them. For all jumps are very uncertain quantities, and no eye judgment can be possible where a high rate of speed has to be obtained. Therefore in arpeggio-like octave passages only a mental device will be of any help in the difficulty. This contrivance is to imagine the octaves in groups of threes in the mind, no matter what the rhythm is in which they are written. I take an example out of the Hungarian Fantasie of Liszt for piano and orchestra to show the idea.

Extract from “Hungarian Fantasie” of Liszt,
showing difficult Octave passages.
Note : The lower bridging lines indicate the mental
measurement of the Octave passages
in Triplets. The upper lines

Use Mental Concentration – Part 2

admin — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:24:19 +0000

Thirds should be worked with pressure of the finger on the top note, that is to say, in the third of C and E the pressure should be on the E, in the third of D and F on the F, and so on up the scale. (Picture 1) In continuing the scale, after having struck C, with the 1st finger or thumb (taking the right hand ascending), the finger is raised and D is approached with the 2nd finger. The 1st finger on the C is taken off very abruptly, almost as if it was on a spring hinge, whilst the top note E is held by the 3rd finger, which becomes slightly stiffened and is kept down after the lower one has been raised. (Picture 2 and 3) The bottom note of the third might almost be 3/4 of the value of the top note by the way it should be released, practically equivalent to the following example :

Example to show holding on of top note in Third Scales after lower note has been released.

though it will not be distinguishable in the sound of the rhythm. This method is, of course, only for slow practice; the action will disappear in fast tempi, but what will remain is a clearness of outline on the upper notes of the thirds, which is the object to be achieved. The wrist should be held higher than in ordinary scales, where it is kept low, except at the passage of the thumb. But by holding the wrist somewhat elevated in third scales, it ensues that the pressure of the top fingers is accentuated.

Although it be held higher than in single note scales, the wrist must still be kept absolutely relaxed, and the pressure must be obtained through the forearm acting direct upon the fingers. When the 5th finger is arrived at, it should be placed on the key on the side or ball of the finger, the wrist being meanwhile raised even a little more, and the hand inclined in the direction upwards to which it is proceeding. (Picture 4)

Descending, a similar inclined position is taken by the thumb. (Picture 5)

In the left hand it is the thumb in the ascending scale, and the 5th finger in the descending one which assumes the position.

At the end of this chapter on page 60 I give what I find the best fingering to be used for simple third scales, and also for chromatic scales in thirds.

Picture 1
Position of hand upon commencement of Third Scales

Picture 2
Position showing the raising of the lower finger whilst
the upper one is slightly stiffened and held on.

Picture 3
Position of hand in Third Scale after the progression from the
1st Third to the next one has been accomplished.

Picture 4
Right hand ascending assumes the above inclined position in
passing from the 5th and 3rd fingers to the 3rd and 1st.

Picture 5
Right hand descending, showing inclined position of the hand when
passing down from the thumb and 3rd fingers to the 5th and 3rd.

Use Mental Concentration – Part 1

admin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:26:11 +0000

Well, I will start from the first third in the scale of C major, which will be C and E. Next come D and F, and in attempting to pass rapidly from the first third to the second one a difficulty will be immediately encountered. This is the ungovernable tendency of each finger to run apart from each other, and refuse to pull together at all. A purely mental difficulty though is this, and it can be overcome by training the mind, and accustoming it to govern the hands and fingers in complete independence one of the other. In fact I am convinced that in general, technical facility and control can only be obtained by great mental concentration, and not merely through mechanical practice.

That is why some people are able to learn to play a scale in thirds in an hour quite decently, because they possess the necessary power of brain, while others who may have quite as much musical talent will never master one at. all though they work six hours a day at it! I do not mean to say by this that thirds do not require an enormous amount of study, because of course they do, only to be successful the practice must be accompanied by much concentrated brain effort. Therefore one of the principal efforts of a good pianoforte teacher should be to stimulate in every possible manner the mental faculties of his pupils.

Strive to Play Piano in a Pianistic Style

admin — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:13:57 +0000

To commence then with the study of passages in thirds: A great many people seek to play these in what I term a “player-pianistic style” instead of a “pianistically plastic” one. By this I mean that they make a point of striking both the notes that compose thirds together with exactly the same pressure of tone, thus giving no doubt an absolutely mechanical precision to double note progressions, but thereby taking away from them, in my opinion, all their melodic character and charm. For I maintain that all passage playing, whether it be in thirds, sixths, or single notes, should necessarily preserve a melodic outline,”I otherwise it degenerates into mere sequences of notes for the display of agility and loses every musical significance.

For whereas some regard elaborate passages as entirely mechanical embellishments, the earnest musician will realize that this is not often the case; on the contrary, close analysis will almost always prove them to be intricate and reasoned embroideries of melody.

Now in single note passages it is easy to obtain some sort of musical contour, because the brain has only one line to develop. But with double notes this is all far more complicated, especially as the melodic ideal remains to be achieved here, just as much as in the simpler case. And hard enough as it is to accomplish satisfactory results with only one finger to think of, what is to be done when two are having to be managed at once?

Advanced Technique – Pianoforte

admin — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:17:15 +0000

I propose here to discuss briefly the higher or advanced technique of pianoforte playing as is to be found in the study of Thirds, Sixths and Octaves. Of course this is really a highly complicated subject about which innumerable books and treatises have been written without nearly exhausting all the material for discussion to which it gives rise. But the few remarks that I am going to make now are chiefly intended for the practical help of working students, and I shall confine myself more or less to explaining one or two of the methods which I personally find useful in mastering the difficulties that occur in these complex stages of virtuosity. For as modern pianoforte technique requires great development of double note playing and such-like independence of the fingers, so it must be the aim of every student to discover the easiest and shortest cuts which may bring him to proficiency in this branch of his art.