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    Commentaries on the Teaching of Pianoforte Technique - A Supplement to "The Act of Touch" and "First Principles"
    Commentaries on the Teaching of Pianoforte Technique - A Supplement to "The Act of Touch" and "First Principles"
    Commentaries on the Teaching of Pianoforte Technique - A Supplement to "The Act of Touch" and "First Principles"
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    Commentaries on the Teaching of Pianoforte Technique - A Supplement to "The Act of Touch" and "First Principles"

    By Tobias Matthay

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    “Commentaries on the Teaching of Pianoforte Technique” is a 1910 guide to playing the piano by Tobias Matthay. Written as a supplement to Matthay's definitive books "The Act of Touch" and "First Principles", it contains further information on some of the more detailed areas and complicated techniques. This volume is highly recommended for those who have read Matthay's previous works and will be of utility to intermediate players and students. “Contents include: The Principle of Forearm Rotation”, “Arm-vibration, etc.”, “On Pianissimo Playing”, “The Merging of the Three Species of Touch-Instruction”, “The use of Bad Touch-forms”, “The Artificial Legato-element”, “The Distinction between Fore Arm and Whole Arm Weight and Movement”, etc. Tobias Augustus Matthay (1858 – 1945) was an English pianist, composer, and teacher. He was taught composition while at the Royal Academy of Music by Arthur Sullivan and Sir William Sterndale Bennett, and he was instructed in the piano by William Dorrell and Walter Macfarren. Other notable works by this author include: “The Act Of Touch In All Its Diversity: An Analysis And Synthesis Of Pianoforte Tone Production” (1903), “The First Principles of Pianoforte Playing (1905)” and “Relaxation Studies” (1908). Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWhite Press
    Release dateOct 16, 2020
    ISBN9781528766876
    Commentaries on the Teaching of Pianoforte Technique - A Supplement to "The Act of Touch" and "First Principles"

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      Book preview

      Commentaries on the Teaching of Pianoforte Technique - A Supplement to "The Act of Touch" and "First Principles" - Tobias Matthay

      SOME

      COMMENTARIES

      ON THE TEACHING OF

      PIANOFORTE TECHNIQUE

      NOTE I

      THE PRINCIPLE OF FOREARM ROTATION

      This matter is often so badly misunderstood, in spite of all I have said, that I feel some additional directions are here most desirable. Splendid pioneer workers¹ have published books in Germany since the publication of my Act of Touch in 1903, but even these are quite vague and in fact mis-instructive as to the function and process of the rotary-exertions of the forearm, or lower-arm, and although they prove themselves sufficiently alive to the enormous importance of this function, the true facts of the case have not been understood.

      They, in fact, make so grave a blunder as to teach that the forearm rotation is to be employed to roll the continuously resting and fully released Weight of the whole arm from finger to finger! Nothing more misleading and harmful could well be conceived. Like so many others, they have only gone by the look of the thing, and have quite failed to grasp that these same rotary exertions can quite well be applied without in the least showing any movement in consequence of such rotary application of force. Also, they seem quite to have failed to realize that the very first and most vital law of all technique is, that each tone must be produced as a distinct and separate muscular act (except in the solitary and rare case of passing-on touch) if there is to be any ease as regards Agility, or any accuracy musically. To pass-on or roll Weight (beyond pp power) from key to key, as they suggest, would indeed have the same evil influence as persistent practice (and bad practice) on the organ, or on click-instruments, or on entirely dumb keyboards. Instead of our being prompted to learn most carefully to adjust each and every touch-action to the precise requirements of each note, musically and physically, and learning to guide each key-descent with a musical purpose, instead of all this, it is certain we should acquire carelessness as regards tone-variation, an unmusical dead-level way of progressing over the keyboard, accompanied by a poor tone; and we should besides be wearing down the key-adjustments of our Piano, just as any mechanical Piano-player does, owing to its not relaxing the full force of its fingers until each note duration has been fully fulfilled.

      The fact of the matter is, that while there is not necessarily a change in the rotary exertion from note to note, it is quite certain that every note we play does depend on an accurately adjusted rotary action (or exertion) of the forearm; it depends as much on this element as it does on the other three elements of Touch—Finger-exertion, Hand-exertion, and release of Arm-weight. There cannot be any good technique without constant care in respect of these rotary adjustments, just as there cannot be any good playing without constant alert attention to key-resistance before and during descent. In fact, insistence upon the laws of Rotation will probably correct without further trouble many of the worst faults one meets with—in the way of rigid elbow, down-pushes from the shoulder, etc., since these faults become almost impossible if we insist on freely executing constant reversals of the rotary actions and inactions. Even a beginner should never be allowed to proceed without clearly understanding the function of this rotary-adjustment, and how it applies to every finger he uses; and it is far more easy for him to learn it then, than later on, when wrong notions have been formed which are then difficult to eradicate.¹ Clearly it is impossible merely to bring the hand into its playing position (palm downwards) without the intervention of this very same rotary-action on the part of the forearm; for the natural position of our hand and arm at rest is with the thumb-side of the hand turned upwards. We are therefore compelled to exert the forearm rotarily, to bring our thumb upon the keys, and to render our hand-position level. The exertion used is indeed a very slight one, and as we are so accustomed to it, it easily passes unnoticed, as also does the fact, that so long as we keep our hand in that position (palm downwards) so long also we must continue a slight rotary exertion towards the thumb—unless we support the hand on the keyboard by our little finger, etc. The often-supposed weakness of the little finger and fourth finger also vanishes (as I have before insisted upon) as soon as we learn to relax the rotary exertion towards the thumb which turns our hand into its level position preparatory to playing, and learn to replace that rotary exertion (towards the thumb) by one towards the little finger, when we wish to use

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