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Page 46
EACH PUPIL A DIFFERENT PROBLEM
"Each pupil presents a different problem as to physical formation of
hand and body, intelligence and talent. Those who are the most talented
do not always prove the most satisfactory students. They grasp the
composer's ideas quickly enough, it is true, so that sometimes in a few
days, they can take up a difficult composition and clash it off with
such showy effect as to blind the eyes of the superficial listener; but
these students are not willing to work out the fine points of the piece
and polish it artistically. Neither are they willing to get right down,
to the bed rock of technic and work at that seriously and thoroughly. If
this course is suggested they grow restive, think they are being held
back, and some times prefer to study with a more superficial teacher.
The consequence is they never really amount to anything; whereas if
these same players possessed perseverance along with their talent they
could become great artists. I would rather have an intelligent, earnest,
serious pupil, who is obedient and willing to work, than a very gifted
pupil. The two seldom go together. When you find both in one person, a
marvelous musician is the result, if assisted by the right sort of
training.
HARMONY STUDY
"One thing a teacher should insist upon, and that is that the pupil
should study harmony. He should have a practical working knowledge of
keys, chords, and progressions. There may be no need for him to study
orchestration or composition, but he must know the foundation and
structure of the material of music. My pupil must be familiar with the
various chords of the scale and know how to analyze them, before I can
make clear to him the rules of pedaling. Without this knowledge, my
words about the use of the pedals are as so much Greek to him. He must
go and learn this first, before coming to me.
ACCORDING TO RULE
"Experience counts for much with the teacher, but much, more with the
pianist. The beginner must go according to rule, until he has thoroughly
mastered the rules. He must not think because he sees a great artist
holding his hands a certain way at times--turning under his unemployed
fingers for octaves perhaps, or any other seeming eccentricity, that he
himself is at liberty to do the same things. No, he must learn to play
in a normal, safe way before attempting any tricks. What may seem
eccentric to the inexperienced student may be quite a legitimate means
of producing certain effects to the mature artist, who through wide
experience and study knows just the effect he wants and the way to make
it. The artist does many things the pupil should not attempt. The artist
knows the capabilities of his own hand; his technic is, in a certain
sense, individual; it should not be imitated by the learner of little or
no experience. If I play a chord passage with high wrist, that I may
bring out a certain effect or quality of tone at that point, the
thoughtless student might be under the impression that a high wrist was
habitual with me, which is not true. For this reason I do not give
single lessons to any one, nor coach on single pieces. In the case of
the interpretation of a piece, a student can get the ideas of it from
hearing it in recital, if he can grasp and assimilate them.
ON INTERPRETATION
"Interpretation! That is a wide subject; how can it be defined? I try to
arouse the imagination of the student first of all. We speak of the
character of the piece, and try to arrive at some idea of its meaning.
Is it _largo_--then it is serious and soulful; is it _scherzo_--then it
should be blithe and gay. We cannot depend on metronome tempi, for they
are not reliable. Those given in Schumann are generally all wrong. We
try to feel the rhythm of the music, the swing of it, the spirit of it.
In giving out the opening theme or subject, I feel it should be made
prominent, to arrest attention, to make it clear to the listener; when
it appears at other times in the piece, it can be softened or varied.
Variety of effect we must have; but whether a passage is played with
decreasing or increasing tone, whether this run is soft and the next
loud, or vice versa, does not matter so much as to secure variety and
individuality. I may look at it one way, another player an opposite way.
One should be broad-minded enough to see the beauty of each
interpretation. I do not expect my pupils to copy me or do things just
as I do them. I show them how I do it, then leave them to work it out
as they see it.
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