Piano Playing Part 12

[Sidenote: _The Conditions Which Dictate Speed in Playing_]

How fast or slow should Schubert-Liszt's "_Auf dem Wa.s.ser zu singen_" be played? What modern parlour pieces would you recommend after Bendel's "Zephyr"?

Even if I did believe in metronomes, as I do not, I could not indicate speed for you or for anybody, because it will always depend upon the state of your technique and the quality of your tone. For modern parlour pieces I suggest the two volumes of Russian piano music published by G.

Schirmer, New York. You will find pieces of various degrees of difficulty there from which you may select what suits you best.

[Sidenote: _To Work Up a Fast Tempo_]

Which is the best way to work up a fast tempo?

The best help is to hear the piece or part which you have in mind played quickly by another person, for this aids you in forming the mental concept of it, which is the princ.i.p.al condition to which all ability is subject. There are, however, other ways which each one of us must find for himself: either by a gradual increase of speed until you reach your individual maximum or by starting at once at full tilt, even though some notes should drop under the piano and then be picked up in subsequent repet.i.tions. Which of these two or any other ways is best for you no one can tell; your musical instinct will guide you if you follow it cautiously.

[Sidenote: _The Best Way to Work Up a Quick Tempo_]

Is it ever a waste of time to practise a piece over and over again for months as slowly as a beginner and with utmost concentration? After having done so and gradually working up a tempo, I then find I cannot play so fast as I want to. Is it not wise to begin all over again as slowly as possible? I prefer to work this way, but have been told that one gets "stale," studying the same music for a long time.

Do you advise practising with or without the pedal?

Slow practice is undoubtedly the basis for quick playing; but quick playing is not an immediate result of slow practice. Quick playing must be tried from time to time, with increasing frequency and heightened speed, even at a temporary loss of clearness. This loss is easily regained by subsequent returns to slow practice. After all, we must first learn to think quickly through the course of a piece before we can play it quickly, and this mental endeavour, too, will be greatly aided by occasional trials in a quicker tempo. As for getting "stale," a variety of pieces is necessary to preserve the freshness of each one.

Regarding the pedal, I suggest that you use it judiciously from the very beginning of the study of a new piece; though never in finger exercises.

[Sidenote: _Watch Your Breathing_]

What is the purpose of a.s.sociating breathing with piano playing, and to what extent should it be practised?

Breathing is as important in piano playing as in all physical exertion, and more so when we speak of pieces that entail the use of great muscular force; for this causes a quickening in the action of the heart; respiration naturally keeps step with it, and the result is often a forcible breathing through the mouth. Players resort to open-mouth breathing in such cases because they cannot help themselves. If, at the last spurt of a bicycle race, we should call to the wheelmen, "Breathe through the nose!" we could not wonder if our advice remains unheeded.

This open-mouth breathing, however, need not be learned; it is the self-help of nature. I recommend breathing through the nose as long as possible. It is more wholesome than mouth-breathing, and it refreshes the head more. When physical exertion becomes too great then you will neither need nor heed my advice or anybody's; your nature will find its own line of least resistance.

[Sidenote: _Take a Month's Rest Every Year_]

Must I keep up my practice during my Christmas holidays of a month?

If you have worked well on your development during the spring, summer, and autumn it will be to your advantage to stop your practising entirely for a month. Such a pause renews your forces as well as the love for your work, and you will, upon resuming it, not only catch up quickly with what you may think to have missed, but you will also make a quick leap forward because the quality of your work will be better than it could be if you had persisted in it with a fatigued mind. In a tired condition of mind and body we are very apt not to notice the formation of bad habits, and since "to learn means to form correct habits of thinking and doing" we must beware of anything that might impair our watchfulness as to bad habits. The greatest persistence cannot turn a bad habit into a virtue.

MARKS AND NOMENCLATURE

[Sidenote: _The Metronome Markings_]

What is the meaning of M. M. = 72 printed over a piece of music?

The M stands for "metronome," the other for the name of its inventor, Maelzl. The figures indicate the number of beats a minute and the note shows what each beat represents--in this case a quarter note. The whole annotation says that the average speed of the piece should admit of seventy-two quarter notes being played in a minute. I advise you, however, rather to consult the state of your technique and your own feeling for what is musically right in deciding upon the speed of the piece.

[Sidenote: _The Personal Element and the Metronome_]

In Chopin's Prelude No. 15 is the movement in C-sharp minor to be played in the same tempo as the opening movements, or much faster? How should the 6-8 and 9-8 movements of Liszt's Dance of the Gnomes be metronomized?

The C-sharp minor movement should not increase in speed, or only very little, because it rises to a considerable height dynamically, and this seems to counteract an increase of speed. As to the metronoming, I would not bother about it. The possibilities of your technique must ever regulate the speed question in a large degree. Tempo is so intimately related with touch and dynamics that it is in a large measure an individual matter. This does not mean that one may play andante where an allegro is prescribed, but that one person's allegro differs slightly from that of another person. Touch, tone, and conception influence the tempo. The metronome indications are to be accepted only with the utmost caution.

[Sidenote: _Metronome Markings May Better Be Ignored_]

How fast, by metronome, should the minuetto of Beethoven's Sonatina, opus 49, Number 2, be played?

If you possess an edition of Beethoven that has no metronome marks you have been singularly fortunate, and I would not for the world interfere with such rare good luck. Consult your technique, your feelings, and have confidence in your good sense.

[Sidenote: _There are Dangers in Using a Metronome_]

How should one use the metronome for practising? I have been warned against it, as my teacher tells me one is liable to become very stiff and mechanical by the persistent use of it.

Your teacher is eminently right. You should not play with the metronome for any length of time, for it lames the musical pulse and kills the vital expression in your playing. The metronome may well be used as a controlling device first, to find the approximate average speed of a piece, and, second, to convince yourself that, after playing for a while without it, your feelings have not caused you to drift too far away from the average tempo.

[Sidenote: _The Real Meaning of Speed Terms_]

What is the meaning of the words Adagio, Andante, and Allegro? Are they just indications of speed?

They serve as such; though our musical ancestors probably selected these terms because of their indefiniteness, which leaves a certain margin to our individuality. Literally, Adagio (_ad agio_) means "at leisure."

Andante means "going" in contradistinction to "running," going apace, also walking. Allegro (a contraction of _al leg-gie-ro_) means with "lightness, cheerful." Primarily these terms are, as you see, indications of mood; but they have come to be regarded as speed annotations.

[Sidenote: _A Rule For Selecting the Speed_]

As the words "largo," "allegro," etc., are supposed to indicate a certain rate of speed, can you give a rule so that a student who cannot have the aid of a teacher will be able to understand in what time he should play a composition?

If the metronome is not indicated you have to consult your own good taste. Take the most rapid notes of your piece, play them rapidly as the general trend of the piece will aesthetically permit, and adjust the general tempo accordingly.

[Sidenote: _How Grace Notes Are Played_]

How are the grace notes played in these measures from Chopin's Valse, opus 42, and when are grace notes not struck simultaneously with the base?

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Grace notes and their chiefs--that is, those notes to which the grace notes are attached--should ever be played with one and the same muscular impulse. The time occupied by the grace notes should be so minimal that it should not be discernible whether they appear simultaneously with the base note or slightly before it. In modern music it is usually meant to precede the ba.s.s note, though the good taste of the player may occasionally prefer it otherwise.

[Sidenote: _Rests Used Under or Over Notes_]

What is the meaning of a rest above or below the notes of the treble clef?

The rests you speak of can occur only when more than one voice (or part) is written in the same staff, and they indicate how long the entrance of the other voice is to be delayed.

[Sidenote: _What a Double Dot Means_]

What does it mean when a note is double-dotted, like:

[Ill.u.s.tration]

I thought first it was a misprint, but it seems to occur too frequently for that.

As the first dot prolongs the note by one-half of its own value, so does the second dot add one-half of the value of the first dot. A half-note with one dot lasts three-quarters, with two dots it lasts seven-eighths.