The San Francisco call., 1904-04-13
4rpcggl0 SfHdy.
BY ANTCE TERHUNE.
fGong Wrfterl

Before bringing TO a close my series
OF music talks it would seem best to
give a few practicS suggestions in re-
gard TO advanced arpeggio study for
the pupil.
We have already dealt with the or
binary methods Of studying the arpeg-
gio. but there are other arpeggio forms
Of much wider range which our pupil
will find Of infinite value as time goes
on. and these il is my purpose TO eX-
plain 20 YOU to-day.
Let the pupil start on c, two octaves
below the middle of the piano. Placing
the fifth finger Of his left hand upon
this note he ascends by way Of a
',diminished' chord-that is, he strikes
i fat. then G fiat. A and then again.
in this way he goes up the scale Tor
four octaves, using his first finger
Ghumb) in place Of the fifth on Z
as he begins each group. The fourth
finger is to be used on E fat the third
on G fat and the second on A. Thus
the scale runs c. Z fat G fiat. A. {,
J. fat. G fat, A. for four Octaves. When
the c at the TOP of the fourth octave is
reached il is struck by the fifth finger
Of the right hand instead Of the thumb
of the left. as would naturally be sup
posed. The right hand in this, way
picks UP the thread of motion and
travels down the piano over the same
notes used by the left hand in ascend
ing. The fifth finger, as mentioned
above. starts on c. the fourth takes A.
the third G fat, the second E fat and
the first finger c each time until the
student is finally carried back to the
point from which he started.
This arpeggio should be practiced
with the metr0nome. if possible, as it
IS much easier to acquire a steady,
even swing and 10 increase. the tempo
in proper ratio II the metrOnome does
the counting. so to speak.
Every c should be strongly accented,
sud the exercise should be played a
number of times IN succession before
finally stopping on the lower c.
The fingers must be raised very high
and the notes struck with great firm
ness in the slower forms of the eXer-
else, but as the pupil increases the
tempo he must play more lightly, en-
phasizng only the accented notes,
which are 10 be used as pivots on
which 10 swing the whole phrase.
After the pupil has played the ex-
ercise four times, in a moderate
tempo. with the accent as described
above, he must stop for a moment on
c. relax, and then begin again. This
time the accent must come on the sec
ond note in the group. This arpeggio
form is excellent for study, as it brings
the accent on the fourth finger in each
hand
The fourth finger is always the
weakest in an arpeggio, and unless it
is under very good control will be
apt to slight the notes allotted TO it
IN a rapid arpeggiO Of ordinary form.
The accenting process does away
with any tendency to slight notes,
however, and the value of practicing
arpeggiOs in this way win at once be
seen.
Next the accent must be moved up
one note, bringing it on @ fiat. Each
form must be practiced a certain num-
Der of times, after which the pupil
must move the accent up one note.
He must continue doing this until he
finds himself where c becomes the
accented note once more.
As he progresses he viii find the
Gated, but it viii not trouble him if
he works il out exactly according to
the rules I have laid down for the
first three forms. If he can realize
that the accent simply moves up the
piano. while the exercise is stationary,
and that though this brings apparently
a shortage Of notes at the upper end
of the arpeggio, they all catch up at
j ,t-f1f IA s1,1.
The principle is really just like that
Of the old game Going TO Jerusalem -
which every one has, / am sure, played
in his or her childhood. In this game,
it will be remembered, there is al
ways one chair less than the number
Of people who play the game, and as
each time one chair is removed, thus
making it necessary for one person to
leave the ranks, those left out all con-
gregate at one side of the room. So
while the number marching around
the chairs becomes steadily smaller
the company of people standing at the
other side Of the room becomes pro-
pOrtionately larger until finally all are
together again
This is the best imaginable smile for
the arpeggio form as have just given
il to you, for as the notes at the top
grow fewer they seem to congregate
at the bottom, while the exercise, los
ing no rhythm by the changing Of the
accent, goes on and on. being swung
back and forth on the ever prominent
accent.
After the pupil has conquered all the
dificulties in this form of the arpeggiO
he must take the next
In this form the second finger
changes half a tone making the notes
10 be played c, E fat, G fat, A fat
and c.
This is TO be treated exactly as the
first exercise, with the accent creep
ing gradually upward as before.
After this comes another form. In
this the second finger goes back to its
first position on A natural, and il is
the third finger that changes. lowering