Learn How to Play Piano from Expert

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.

In order to obtain this smooth passage of the thumb in scales, I advise that the wrist always be kept absolutely loose, and that in slow practice, when the thumb is ready to pass, the wrist be raised temporarily from its usually low position to a higher one; also the finger which strikes the last note before the thumb has to pass (in scales it is always the 3rd or 4th finger), should be slightly inclined towards the direction in which the hand is going to travel.

Taking the ascending scale of C major, in the right hand, for example, and illustrating what I want to point out by a diagram thus :

It will be seen that upon the E, which is struck by the 3rd finger, the line underneath is raised and inclined towards the direction the hand has to go, so as to represent the lifting up of the wrist, and the inclining of the finger. The thumb then passes easily underneath the fingers on to the next note F, without any awkwardness. The same movement is repeated further up the scale after the 4th finger, and so on through all the octaves in ascending scales for the right hand. For descending scales, the process is reversed. The wrist is raised when the thumb falls, and the finger which follows it is inclined downwards in the direction the hand has to go.

In the left hand exactly the same process is used as in the right, only the order is reversed, that is to say, the wrist is raised at the thumb, in the ascending scale, and at the 3rd or 4th finger, in the descending one, the inclining position of the fingers being correspondingly observed. In all scales in every tonality, this action of the wrist and fingers should be similar, and the principle of lifting the wrist at the finger before the thumb passes, and inclining the finger in the direction the hand is to travel, greatly facilitates this passage of the thumb, and ensures smoothness and freedom of motion. In fast scales this movement practically disappears, as exaggerated actions only impede swiftness and look ungainly, but a smooth and undulating motion remains, which is elegant and imparts an elastic and supple articulation, and also gives character to the various passages.

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.

Even tone is another most difficult object to strive for in playing scales, for the human hand is physically so constituted that certain of the fingers are weaker than the others, namely, the 4th and 5th are the weak ones, and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd the strong ones. From this fact ensures the natural consequence that the notes struck by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd fingers are liable to be louder and firmer in tone than those upon which 4th and 5th fall.

This weakness can only be corrected by pressure from the forearm transmitted to the fingers, as I have already insisted upon when speaking of the articulation in five-finger exercises. The pressure is here used as an equalizer, in this fashion, that the conscious habit of the pressure having been established by practice, it works upon the mind and forces the performer unconsciously to give an extra compensative pressure to the weaker fingers, according as he detects by his ear that they require it.

This equalizing of the tone by pressure serves again to illustrate how the theory of its administration through the forearm, working upon the fingers, establishes absolute control of the muscles, not so much by its direct action on the fingers as by its indirect stimulus to the mind, which through it becomes conscious that it has work to do, and is alert to command the muscles properly.

Later on it will be seen how vital a part of piano technique this control of the muscles by the mind is, constituting, as it does, the principle upon which is based the imparting of light and shade, gradations of expression and tempo, in fact the life which changes the sounds of the mechanical instrument into music.

Scales should be played every day and in all tonalities. Upon the black notes the fingers may be slightly extended, as it will be found difficult to keep them quite as rounded as on the white ones, owing to the lack of space. Finally, it is important in practicing scales that they should be played absolutely correctly, therefore it is always best to practice each hand separately.

To recapitulate the whole matter and condense it, the principle set up is that all control on the keyboard should be established by the fingers, the hand and the forearm, the wrist remaining entirely supple. This, in my opinion, applies to all finger technique, and is essential for arriving at a completely successful issue.

Care must also be taken not to allow any beating of time by the head or foot, as this may easily degenerate into a nervous trick, and certainly tends to encourage jerky and rigid movements of the body. It is a good plan to make the beginner, after each exercise that he does, lift the hand off the keys and shake it gently from the wrist, so as to ensure that the relaxation is preserved, and that there is no excessive effort or fatigue of the muscles or any cramped action whatsoever. I do not believe in striving to lift the fingers too high off the keys every time when striking each note, because, in a highly complicated mechanical instrument like the piano, every movement must be conserved as much as possible, and naturally any extra effort only tends to lose time, thereby impairing the velocity in fast passages.

Some people think that by teaching that the fingers be lifted very high they can get a clearer and more distinct articulation, but I do not agree with this, as I have always found from my own experience that if the wrist is relaxed, thus allowing absolute freedom to the fingers, they will articulate just as distinctly, and with much added lightness and quality of tone, if not lifted too high.

The most important elemental stage of thus holding the hands in a natural supple position, having been well initiated, by means such as I have just been trying to explain, the pupil will do well to proceed with five-finger exercises of all descriptions, until he has thoroughly mastered the position in question, and it has become a second nature to him to hold his hands thus. With a child beginner of from six to ten, after a month of practising for not more than ten minutes a day, if well watched, the hands, according to my personal experience, should be absolutely in order. The Five-Finger Exercises of Hanon are excellent in this respect for settling the fingers in the right way, and also will keep a child interested in the different groups of notes presented. I know of none better for the purpose of elementary practising.