Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-09-03

the pedal, by releasing the finger from the
Key slowly, thus damping the tone grad
ually. Many beautiful effects may be
produced by this use Of the pedal.
All movements of the body are either
natural, habitual or hereditary. In GER
tain states of consciousness we bring into
play certain muscles just as naturally as
water seeks its lowest level. 1t is for this
reason that pupil is sometimes taught
to play Il passage with widely differing
movements of the hand and arm by DIFF
ferent teachers. Thus it not infreuuently
happens that an instructor scatters
broadcast over the land, through his MI
pills, peculiar mannerisms which he in
lerited from his ancestors. 1t may readily
be seen that this is radically wrong, and
that such would not be the case were all
teaching based on philosophic principles.
In playing the piano habits will neces-
sarily be formed, and movements based
on the natural laws of expression of the
body are more easily acquired, and, when
acquired, enable lis to express musical
thoughts more clearly and more forcibly
than habits formed at hap-hazard. Tech
mic, as applied to piano playing, is the
power to express musical thoughts This
involves not only the ability to play the
proper notes with correct fingers, but re-
quires such control of the muscles and
nerves that all gradations of tonal color
ing may be expressed. Piano playing has
been compared to an electric current-tha
musical thought emanates from the brain,
passes through the nerves which move
the muscles to be used, the finger strikes
the key, the hammer strikes wire, which
in its turn produces tone, the ear con-
veys the tone back to the brain, thus
completing the circuit. Weak or slug
gish muscles, therefore, not readily yield
ing themselves to the nervous stimulus
flowing from the brain, will break the cir
cult, and the musical phrase will fall short
of the ideal conception.
In piano playing the purely mental in
tel!ectual phrase finds its expression in
the circumscribed movements Of the fin
gers and hand, using the knuckles or wrist
as the center Of motion. Passages from
Bach's "Fugues and Inventions admira-
bly, illustrate this statement. an emo
tional phrase demands more freedom of
movement, which the firmness of the el-
bow-the emotional center-and length
of the forearm readily supply. Climaxes
and passionate outbursts of musical feel
ing demand the added strength and wider
swing through space of the entire arm
from the vital center of the shoulder.
From technical standpoint | classify
all music under five general heads-oc-
taves, Chords arpeggios, scales and en-
bellishments-and these are again subdi-
vided. Octaves are of five varieties,
namely, legato, staccato, broken, inter
locking and deceptive. Chords are either
broken or solid. In order to play an ar
peggio properly it must be taught in ten
or twelve different ways, and the pupil
will then understand how to correctly
practice all arpeggios. | usually teach
the principles Of arpeggios before at
tempting scales, as the movements of the
arm, wrist and fingers are very much the
same in both, and are more easily compre-
hended in the former than in the latter.
Under the head of embellishments | in
clude all varieties of trlls, mordents and
appogaturas.
l consider the wrist the distributing
center for the energy of the upper and
forearm. 1t is impossible for the nerv-
GUS stimulus from the brain to be properly
conducted to the finger tips when the
many tendons that pass through the wrist
are tense. Almost every pupil beginning
the study of the piano has some uncon-