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Archive for the ‘On Fingering and Memory’ Category

Pianoforte technique might almost be said to be divided into two schools.

The one seems as if it were exactly adapted to suit the peculiar powers of the instrument, and is that which, having been greatly modernized by Chopin, culminated in the genius of Liszt. The passage writing of both these pre-eminent composers for the piano are unsurpassed as pure pianoforte technique both as regards ex- pression, effectiveness and brilliancy.

It is advisable for the purpose of memorizing, as well as for the general mastery of a piece, to learn it bit by bit, taking eight bars or so at a time. Constant reiteration is bad, for it only fatigues the brain without producing the requisite impression. It is better to play something once or twice over, carefully noticing each detail and then stop to digest it. A good way is to learn each hand's part separately by heart so as to visualize it mentally with such distinctness that the student can, if required, play any given bar by itself and be able to commence unhesitatingly at any point in a piece when asked to do so. Sometimes it is effective to study a piece in the evening, then go to bed and think the music over mentally, note by note, and chord by chord, as if really performing it, and afterwards sleep.

Having done this, the student, upon going fresh to work next morning, will often find that the new piece of the evening before returns clearly to his mind as if it was already a familiar old friend.

No one need be downhearted if the power of learning by heart does not come immediately. For nearly everybody can obtain it in a considerable degree by training, though some people no doubt have a natural talent for it that scarcely seems to need exercising at all to keep it vigorous. Certainly the pianist who possesses by nature a good memory and has also trained it carefully can arrive at the most incredible rapidity in learning music by heart. To wit, Van Bulow, the great pianist, of whom the story is told that he learnt the whole of Tchaikovsky's Variations in F Major for the piano in the train between St. Petersburg and Moscow, and played them by heart at a concert the same evening when he arrived!

No doubt the more musical talent a man possesses, the easier he will learn music by heart, and the longer he will retain it. It is equally certain that temperament, though one of the greatest enhancements of talent, is to some extent prejudicial to reliability of memory during public performance in the following way. The temperamental player loses himself in the beauty of his music. He 'imagines that he is improvising, he feels as if what he is playing is really the expression of his own soul. Suddenly the dream vanishes ! He awakes to actuality and finds that he is still playing a certain part of a set piece by a certain composer ! He is perhaps bewildered by the sudden cold douche of consciousness. He realizes his surroundings, he falters, he forgets what comes next!

Rubinstein, greatest of pianists, suffered terribly from this kind of lapse of memory, which he put down entirely to being carried away by his temperament. Still, better the temperament of Rubinstein than the exactitude of the pianola! However, the student is not by any manner of means a Rubinstein, and what was forgiven to his commanding genius cannot be conceded to the ordinary mortal! Therefore the temperamental player will find in his public performance that memory will generally be a source of anxiety to him. But this anxiety ought to be more than compensated for by the reflection that memory can be acquired by patience and reasoning power, while true temperament can never be even simulated, but is a gift of God. The music of Bach is most admirably adapted for developing a precise memory. For in his compositions are to be found the most complicated forms of polyphonic writing, where the mind must be always on the alert to distinguish the many different parts with each their individual workings.

The Harmonic memory is that which comes from acquiring the knowledge of the combinations of sounds, development of progressions, modulations, and general musical construction of a composition. This kind of memory can be obtained by dissecting the music into so many periods, subdividing it into harmonic sections, figuring out the various changes of tonality and thus stamping upon the mind a clear perception of the form of the music.

The Ocular or Visual memory is generated by the impression made on the brain by the written pages of music as transmitted to it by the eyes. These get accustomed to seeing the various notes and lines in certain places on the pages, and in definite dispositions in the different periods of the piece, and the reflection of their vision on the inner eye of the brain remains after the actual visible written page of music has been removed.

The third kind of memory, the Mechanical one, comes from the fingers, which from continual mechanical practice and repetition of passages during study, take the habit of playing the groups and progressions of notes almost unconsciously. This last is certainly the most unreliable of the three memories ; because, if by inadvertence the pianist takes only once in a passage a different finger from the one his hand is accustomed to, it may put him completely out, and a breakdown can ensue if he has not got the other memories to aid him to retrieve his momentary lapse.

Therefore, like everything mechanical, this finger memory is not to be solely depended upon without the help of the other two, in fact I call it sometimes the Auxiliary memory only. In any case, whichever of the three modes of memory fail, the others can come to the rescue, therefore all three must be cultivated as much as possible.

Correct fingering is also a help to memory. And memory is a most important asset to the modern pianist, as it is now the fashion for him to have to play everything in public by heart. It will, therefore, not be out of place here, if after speaking about fingering I now turn to consider a few points in connection with the faculty
of memory.

For the pianist, then, especially, will memory always be a serious study as he has so much to remember at once, and often it is of such a complicated nature. Also he must be of much greater accuracy in his memory than, for instance, the singer or the actor.  For the actor can often substitute one word for another without
unduly disturbing the sense, while the singer has the accompaniment to support and remind him if he forgets for a moment. But with the pianist everything depends on the correctness of the text, both from the standpoint of his getting through his performance, and from that of the enjoyment of his audience.

Now the more logical the composition is, the easier it is to learn  by heart. Therefore the works of Bach and Beethoven are never so hard to remember as those of the modern composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Scriabine, etc. The former, being built up on general principles of structural symmetry that quickly impress themselves on the brain, are much easier to memorize than the latter, that depend more on atmosphere and harmonic colouring and therefore possess a less definite outline to fix in the mind.

Most people have their own way of learning by heart on the piano. I myself find it is a good plan to look upon memory as divided into three distinct parts of the same faculty, each one being able to supplement the others in case of lapse or failure of one of them. These three I distinguish severally as the Harmonic, the Ocular, and the Mechanical memories.

They may, of course, have to make certain modifications in places upon the lines I have just pointed out in my remarks on the different strength of the fingers, etc., and also because they will have to discover what suits their individual hands best. For it is only reasonable that a hand which can easily stretch the length of
twelve notes must needs finger differently from the one that can only reach the distance of six with difficulty! The latter, it is hardly necessary to say, is at a disadvantage, as he has to change fingers
so much more frequently than the former with his superior length of hand.

change the fingers from 5 to I, or from I to 5, on the same note while still holding it down, so as to be ready to proceed to the next note without a break in the sound ; but this can only be used when the tempo is of a very moderate speed. This substitution of fingers is a very effective way of producing legato octaves without using the pedal at all, but it is only possible for hands with a long elastic stretch. Sometimes it may be advisable to divide a passage so that it is spread over both hands, if by so doing greater brilliancy, rapidity or smoothness can be obtained.

In general, unless such a disposition of the passage is specially marked by the composer, its use must be left to the discretion of the teacher or the ingenuity of the student. For there can be no fixed rule about the employment of such divisions; expediency and successful effect are the motives for their introduction.