Piano Mastery | Page 6

into the mysteries and master technic as the means to the end, and no
one requires exhaustive preparation more than the executive musician.
The person who would fence, box or play baseball must know the
technic of these things; how much more must the pianist be master of
the technique of his instrument if he would bring out the best results.
"At the very bottom and heart of this subject of mastery lies

Concentration: without that, little of value can be accomplished.
Students think if they sit at the piano and 'practise' a certain number of
hours daily, it is sufficient. A small portion of that time, if used with
intense concentration, will accomplish more. One player will take
hours to learn a page or a passage which another will master in a
fraction of the time. What is the difference? It may be said one has
greater intelligence than the other. The greater the intelligence, the
stronger the power of concentration.
"If a pupil comes to me whose powers of concentration have not been
awakened or developed, I sometimes give him music to read over very
slowly, so slowly that every note, phrase and finger mark can be
distinctly seen. Not being used to thinking intently, mistakes occur, in
one hand or the other, showing that the mind was not sufficiently
concentrated. It is the mind every time that wins. Without using our
mental powers to their fullest extent we fail of the best that is in us.
"In regard to technical equipment and routine, I do different work with
each pupil, for each pupil is different. No two people have the same
hands, physique or mentality; so why should they all be poured into the
same mold? One student, for example, has splendid wrists and not very
good fingers. Why should I give him the same amount of wrist practise
that I give his brother who has feeble wrists; it would only be a waste
of time. Again, a pupil with limited ideas of tonal quality and dynamics
is advised to study tone at the piano in some simple melody of Schubert
or Chopin, trying to realize a beautiful tone--playing it in various ways
until such a quality Is secured. The piano is a responsive instrument
and gives back what you put into it. If you attack it with a hard touch, it
will respond with a harsh tone. It rests with you whether the piano shall
be a musical instrument or not.
"A student who comes to me with a very poor touch must of course go
back to first principles and work up. Such an one must learn correct
movements and conditions of hands, arms and fingers; and these can be
acquired at a table. Along with these, however, I would always give
some simple music to play, so that the tonal and musical sense shall not
be neglected.
"Of course I advise comprehensive scale practise; scales in all keys and
in various rhythms and touches. There is an almost endless variety of
ways to play scales. Those in double thirds and sixths I use later, after

the others are under control. Arpeggios are also included in this scale
practise.
"I have said that Concentration is the keynote of piano mastery.
Another principle which goes hand in hand with it is Relaxation.
Unless this condition is present in arms, wrist and shoulders, the tone
will be hard and the whole performance constrained and unmusical.
There is no need of having tired muscles or those that feel strained or
painful. If this condition arises it is proof that there is stiffness, that
relaxation has not taken place. I can sit at the piano and play forte for
three hours at a time and not feel the least fatigue in hands and arms.
Furthermore, the playing of one who is relaxed, who knows how to use
his anatomy, will not injure the piano. We must remember the piano is
a thing of joints; the action is so delicately adjusted that it moves with
absolute freedom and ease. The player but adds another joint, which
should equal in ease and adjustment the ones already there. On the
other hand a person with stiff joints and rigid muscles, thumping
ragtime on a good piano, can ruin it in a week; whereas under the
fingers of a player who understands the laws of relaxation, it would last
for many years.
"This principle of relaxation is exemplified in the athlete, baseball
player, and others. They have poise and easy adjustment in every part
of the body: they never seem to fall into strained or stiff attitudes, nor
make angular or stiff movements. Arms, shoulders, wrists and fingers
are all relaxed and easy. The pianist needs to study these principles as
well as the athlete,