Master Lessons in Pianoforte Playing; "Letters from a Musician to His Nephew," (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1911 Excerpt: ... tone. This method is known as the stroke-touch. Rightly done, it is the lightest, quickest, and "mosF economical. To secure a given volume of tone, the pressure-touch requires greater flexion of muscle, as well as longer duration of flexion, than the stroke-touch. That is to say, in the pressure-touch the muscle flexes and relaxes more sluggishly""than in the stroke-touch. You will see, therefore, that the whole tend" ency of the pressure-_tojach_isjtoward sluggish action, rather than, as in the stroke-touch, toward quick action and quick relaxation. sT35e6Tthe first laws of life is a properly balanced relon between labo r ancLxesti, between contraction and jdaxatipn. One must offset the other In harmonious or healthful balance. Neither factor in the proposition can be safely overdone for a prolonged period. Too much work and too little rest will soon wear the worker out. Too much rest and too little work will make him weak and lazy. Too much flexion (contraction) and too little relaxation will make piano-playing stiff and slow. Too little flexion and too great relaxation will cause the playing to lack in force and character. In the pressuretouch there is too much and too slow a flexion; too great a proportion of time is given to flexion and too little to relaxation. Consequently, the performance of the pianist whose habitual (that is, predominant, customary, automatic) touch is the pressure-touch, will lack in lightness, speed, power, brilliancy, and endurance. The pressure-touch is not a fluent form of touch. Rapid, delicate passage-work, such as we meet so often in the works of Chopin, Mendelssohn, Liszt, and every other standard composer, cannot be properly played with that touch. I am well aware that some reputable instructor...