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Page 66
More artists of the piano came within my vision, Mehlig, Joseffy, Mason,
and others. As I listened to their performances it was brought to me
more clearly than ever that each master played the piano in the manner
which best suited himself; at the same time each and every player made
the instrument utter tones and effects little dreamed of by the ordinary
learner. What was the secret? Was it the manner of moving the keys, the
size of hand, the length of finger, or the great strength possessed by
the player? I had always been taught to play slowly and carefully, so
that I should make no mistakes; these great pianists had wonderful
fearlessness; Rubinstein at least did not seem to care whether or not he
hit a few wrong notes here and there, if he could only secure the speed
and effect desired. Whence came his fearless velocity, his tremendous
power?
ESSENTIALS OF PIANISM
Little by little I began to realize the essentials of effective piano
playing were these: clear touch, intelligent phrasing, all varieties of
tone, all the force the piano would stand, together with the greatest
delicacy and the utmost speed. These things the artists possessed as a
matter of course, but the ordinary student or teacher failed utterly to
make like effects, or to play with sufficient clearness and force. What
was the reason?
In due course I came under the supervision of various piano pedagogues.
To the first I gave implicit obedience, endeavoring to do exactly as I
was told. The next teacher said I must begin all over again, as I had
been taught "all wrong." I had never learned hand position nor
independence of fingers--these must now be established. The following
master told me finger independence must be secured in quite a different
fashion from the manner in which I had been taught, which was "all
wrong." The next professor said I must bend the finger squarely from the
second joint, and not round all three joints, as I had been doing. This
so-called fault took several months to correct.
To the next I am indebted for good orthodox (if somewhat pedantic) ideas
of fingering and phrasing, for which he was noted. The hobby of the next
master was slow motions with soft touch. This course was calculated to
take all the vim out of one's fingers and all the brilliancy out of
one's playing in less than six months. To the next I owe a comprehension
of the elastic touch, with devitalized muscles. This touch I practised
so assiduously that my poor piano was ruined inside of a year, and had
to be sent to the factory for a new keyboard. The next master insisted
on great exactness of finger movements, on working up velocity with
metronome, on fine tone shading and memorizing.
THE DESIRE FOR REAL KNOWLEDGE
Such, in brief, has been my experience with pedagogues and teachers of
the piano. Having passed through it (and in passing having tried various
so-called and unnamed methods) I feel I have reached a vantage ground
upon which I can stand and look back over the course. The desire to know
the experience of the great artists of the keyboard is as strong within
me as ever. What did they not have to go through to master their
instrument? And having mastered it, what do they consider the vital
essentials of piano technic and piano playing? Surely they must know
these things if any one can know them. They can tell, if they will, what
to do and what to avoid, what to exclude as unnecessary or unessential
and what to concentrate upon.
The night Rubinstein's marvelous tones fell upon my childish ears I
longed to go to him, clasp his wonderful hands in my small ones and beg
him to tell me how he did it all. I now know he could not have explained
how, for the greater the genius--the more spontaneous its
expression--the less able is such an one to put into words the manner of
its manifestation. In later years the same impulse has come when
listening to Paderewski, Hofmann and others. If they could only tell us
exactly what is to be done to master the piano, what a boon it would be
to those who are awake enough to profit by and follow the directions and
experiences of such masters.
In recognition of the strength of this desire, months after a
half-forgotten wish had been expressed by me, came a request by _Musical
America_ to prepare a series of interviews with the world famed pianists
who were visiting our shores, and also with prominent teachers who were
making good among us, and who were proving by results attained that they
were safe and efficient guides.
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