Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1896 — PLATING THE PIANO. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PLATING THE PIANO.

MEW AND INTERESTING THEORY IS ADVANCEa Prominent Instructor Saxo the Study of Anatomy, Physiology and Knowledge of Acoustics Is Necessary for a Thorough Mastery of the Pianoforte. Hinte to Pianists. H. A. Kelso, of Handel Hall, Chicago, •resents a new theory of piano playing •aaed upon principles of anatomy, physijology, acoustics and psychology, and in Ign exhaustive article which he has pubthed on the subject undertaken to show w piano playing 'may be reduced to a jacientitic basis. He advises the study of (anatomy, that the teacher may learn to Idevetop a good “piano hand” of physljology that we mar learn the fundamental amuses which operate in velocity playing. (We learn, he says, to avoid and successfully treat weeping sinews and musileian’a cramp. By the understanding and E (plication of the laws governing muscle nervation we learn to control and huiind the potent force termed 'tnervou* (energy. Misdirected nerve energy causes [physical disease and disorders nature’s [interua 1 arrangements; sickness is the result. Misdirected nerve energy makes [sickly piano players and unhealthy music jb the result. Extracts from hia article (follow:’ i Better modes of developing the power »f memorizing and of preserving untouchiod the pupil’s individuality, are the revolt, of psychological study. That we mbonld study acoustics “goes without saying." as we cannot know too much of

» wonnd .Pedal management, tonal colorling and the science of harmony are all , (better understood through a knowledge of ithe properties of acoustics. A knowledge !®f the anatomy of the hand, wrist, fore and upper arm gives the student greater facility in individual muscular control. lln consequence of the control thus gained. the whole arm becomes more expressive. A crisply-leggiero effgfit can best

fce produced by energizing the muscles of the upper arm and those of the fingers, while relaxing the wrist musdles. This is a very important point, and is simply the application of the mechanical principle of the resistance being equal to the iorce of the blow. The outer side of the hand is naturally ■weaker than the inner side, yet it is just *s essential a factor in playing. The melody and fundamental bass notes are most frequently, played with the weakest fingers; hence the necessity of building *p the outer region of the hand. A development of the pronator muscles in the forearm renders possible a good position of the hand for playing octaves, arpeggios, scales,, chords and trills with the fourth and fifth fingers. Rolling octane playing is dependent upon a separated control of the supinator and pronator muscles from those of the fingers. Speed requires the shortening of the latent period of the muscle, and this can be accomplished only by taking up the slack of the (tendons. The..principal muscle concerned in producing a crisply staccato effect with finger action is the extensor, as upon ■ttis muscle depends, the brevity of tone.

Bis elevating the wrist, curving the second Unger, and depressing it at the knuckle joint, the finger is infcthe best possible position for producing the effect. of velocity playing is • subjwr&rgi'eot interest to the practical piano teacher. In some persons rapidity •f movement is natural, the muscular tisane is very irritable and exercises of speed do not demand great effort. In others •the mnseles,, although energetic, obey the order* of the wHi with considerable slowfcew. A _great expenditure of nervous energy Unnecessary- to obtain a rapid movement Illustrations of these differ«nee* may be noticed in the gymnasium, In fenciggj -boxing.isowing, walking, and 4n piano playing. Pfluger is authority for the statement that when a nerve is stim«tated by action of the will or otherwise, «W stimulus received- by tije peeve ia«M*aes in intensity as it reac&es the nousgJJßp The Three attributes of tone are force, |>il had quality. Force Is dependent

upon the amplitude of the vibration*. Pitch ia dependent upon the vibrational number —the greater the number the higher the pitch. From these facta we deduct principles of atndy which are practicable to an'intelligent student of piano playing. The overtones of tones sounded in the upper registers are of snch great vibrational number that the ear fails to establish a definite pitch for them. Then, again, the waves of such tones are so short that they vanish almost immediately after sounding; therefore the pedal, which permits the tone to be re-enforced, may be used more freely in the upper register than in the middle or lower. One tone sustained by the pedal in the middle is equal In intensity to about four in the upper register, it is possible by a jdelicate manipulation of the pedal to obliterate the discordant harmonies in the upper, without losing an organ point in

the lower register, which sometimes of necessity must be sustained by the pedal. A point which is of equal importance with the manner of striking is that of the manner of leaving the keys, for upon this hingea the entire system of legato octave playing. Wide skips, such ns a bass note and its chord, and broad intervals either in the accompaniment or melody, may be made to sound legato without the use of the pedal, by releasing the finger from the key slowly, thus damping the tone gradually. Many beautiful effects may be produced by this use of the pedal. All movements of the body are either natural, habitual or hereditary. In certain states of consciousness we bring into play certain muscles just as naturally as water seeks its lowest level. It is for this reason that a pupil is sometimes taught to play a passage with widely differing’ movements of the hand and arm by different teachers? Thus it not infrequently happens that an instructor scatters broadcast over the land, through hia pupils, peculiar mannerisms which he’ inherited from his ancestors. It 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 necessarily be formed, and movements based on the natural laws of expregibn of the body are more easily acquired, and, when acquired, enable us to express musical

thoughts more clearly and more forcibly than habits formed at hap-hazard. Technic, ns 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 requires such cent/o} of the muscles and nerves that nil gradations of tonai coloring may he expressed. Piano playing has been compared to an electric current—the musical thought emanates, from the, brain, pnsses through the nerves which move the muscles to be used, the finger strikes the key, the hammer strikes a wire, which in its turn produces a tone, the enr convoys the tone back, to the brain, thus completing the circuit. Weak oy sluggish muscles, therefore, not.readil.v yielding themselves to the nervdus stimulus flowing from the brain, will, break the circuit, and the musical phrase will fall short of the ideal conception. In piano playing the purely mental intellectual jihrase finds its -expression in the circumscribed movements of the fingers and hand, using the knuckles or wrist ns the center of motion. Passages from Bach’s “Fugues and.-Inventions’’ admirably, illustrate this statement. An emotional phrase demands more freedom of movement, which tile firmness of the eiboV—the emotional center— and length of the’ forearm .readily supply. Clitnaxes and passionate outburst's of musical feeling demand the added strength and wider swing through space of. the entire arm from the vital center of the shoulder. From a teShnicil'-standpoint I'classify all under five general ..heads—octaves, chords, arpeggios, embellishments—and theae-asg|fr||jsin subdivided.. 'Octaves are varieties, namely, legato, staccato, broken, interlocking and deceptive. Chords'are either broken or soljd. In order to play an arpeggio properly it most be taught in ten or twelve different ways, and the pupil,, will then understand haw- ko edfrectly practice all arpeggios. I usually teach the principles of arpeggios before ■ attempting scales, as the movements of the arm, wrist and fingers are vary much same in both, and are more easily comprehended in the former than in the latter. Under the head of embellishments I imelude all varieties of trills, mordents and appogiatnras. I consider the wrist the distributing centerffor the energy. 9! the upper andforearm. It is impossible for the aervpus stimulus from the brain to.be properly conducted to the fingfer tjpg when the many tendons that pass through the wrist are tense. Almost every pupil beginning the study of the piano has some unconscious mannerism dr trick peculiar- td hitn- * J| *clf of using tfee agAits- of expression. Before eradicating these bad habits and ,building up-those which are correct,' n certain condition of passivity or relaxs-

tloo must ba achieved, just as tbe potters’ clay must be rendered soft and plastic before it can be modeled into the desired forms. 1 1 find for .this purpose the Delsarteair exercises known as relaxing or devitalizing of inestimable value to the beginner and advanced student alike. We can utter so many words with one breath, and when that is exhausted we must draw upon the reservoir—the air—for another supply. We can play a rapid succession of notes with a given supply of nerve energy, and when that is exhausted we must draw upon the reservoir —the brain —for another supply. This necessity of our physical natui* is the basis of rhythm, and if the regularly recurring inclination to build up the waste is unheeded, health and strength will be impaired. Do not wait until a sensation of weariness is felt before renewing the energy, as we should no more play with exhausted strength than speak with exhausted breath. While conscious technic kills expression, the very core of the true system of technical expression is embodied in Hamlet’s advice so the players, “Suit the action to the word,” which, freely adapted, may bo made to read, “Suit the technical interpretation to the musical thought” Copyrighted.

MOVEMENT IN STACCATO OCTAVE PLATING, NO. 1.

MOVEMENT IN STACCATO OCTAVE PLAYING, NO. 3.

MOVEMENT IN STACCATO OCTAVE PLAYING, NO. 2.