Sunday, December 30, 2018

Paderewski on the best way to study the piano

Here is a fascinating article from Newnes' fortnightly 'The Strand Musical Portfolio' journal, apparently written specially for it.  I'm not sure of the publication date, but I would guess from the adverts in it that it probably appeared somewhere between 1910 and 1920.

The Best Way to Study the Piano

[This article by the great pianist was very carefully prepared. It was told by him to an interviewer, who transferred the thoughts to paper. ‘Then M. Paderewski went carefully over the manuscript. The article may, therefore, be said to represent M. Paderewski’s exact views on piano playing, prepared under the most careful conditions. ]


The first requisite to becoming a really good pianist is talent. I will say this, however: that, given good tuition, anyone with the ability to work, and application to it, can learn to play; but it will not be artistic. Nearly everyone has talent for something, and the great point is to discover that talent, to give it a fair trial in cultivation, and to stick to its development. If your talent is not for music, then find out in what branch it lies. Money—and time, which is still more precious, as it can never be regained—-will be saved, the whole life turned into another channel, and its usefulness will be greatly increased.

But lack of energy or inclination for hard work must not be confounded with lack of talent. There are many with talent who are too lazy to work; such would not make success in any art, no matter how great their aptitude. For this there is no excuse: any-one can develop energy.

The first quality for tie piano student is a natural musical gift, and then for its cultivation the energy for hard work, and the important requirement of a good, thorough teacher. In this last the responsibility of a choice rests with parents whose indifference or lack of insight may wreck the best prospects.

The sane, healthy way to study the piano is to apply one’s thought to the work, laid out methodically by the teacher, for a certain length of time every day. That length of time depends entirely upon the future that the student may decide upon. If he or she takes up music as a professional, four hours daily should be given to study; if as an amateur, two hours is enough. In both cases the divisions of time devoted to practice should not be less than one hour.

The fault most general, not only with girl students but with professionals, is the sitting at the piano as a pastime instead of working seriously. There is no instrument that offers such inducement to idle away time as the piano. Instead of taking the study of it as a very earnest one, many fall into the way of looking upon it as an amusement, idling away hours in passing agreeably from one thing to another. These misspent hours end in a smattering of knowledge and a certain amount of faulty fluency, of no solid use when it comes to practical application.

Of course, in playing the piano the fundamental factor is technique, but that word technique includes everything. It includes not dexterity alone, as many mistakenly think, but also touch, rhythmic precision, and pedalling. That combination is what I call technical equipment.

I consider it my duty to say why I mean that true technique comprises everything. There are good artists who have only one or two of those factors of it that I have named. They may have good facility and strength, but no rhythm, and no knowledge of how to use the pedals. In this class it would be easy to find many great artists whose incomplete command of all that goes to make technique would confirm what I have said. Again, some have all but the beautiful tone. The true technique is not made up of one or more of its necessary factors, but it must comprise them all, and each demands its special training and study: dexterity, rhythm, correct pedalling, and tone.

In speaking, then, on the subject of piano-playing, what should first be considered are these very factors of technique and how to get them.

The length of time to be devoted daily to finger dexterity depends upon what stage of technical development the student is in. For those who have the fingers already prepared, naturally less time is required, and more may be given to the study of pieces. But, no matter what stage of progress the student has reached, one hour daily of this branch of technique is indispensable.

First, begin your study each day with the five-finger exercises and the scales. Play them slowly, very legato, and with a deep touch, giving particular attention in the scales to the passing of the thumb under the hand and of the hand over the thumb. The real secret of playing rapid, brilliant scales is this quick, quiet passing of thumb and hand, and by it many difficulties may be avoided.

The position of the hand in this is of great importance. In playing up the scale with the right hand, and in playing down the scale with the left, the part of the hand toward the thumb should be held considerably higher than the part toward the little finger. Thus, by raising the inner part of the hand next to the thumb, and dropping the outer part next to the little finger, there is more room for the thumb to pass under the fingers unobstructed and easily.

In coming down the scale with the right hand, and in going up with the left, the position of the hand should be reversed—that is, hold the hand lower toward the thumb, and higher toward the little finger. By observing this position you will already be partially prepared for the passing of the fingers over the thumb, and have also, as in the case of the first position mentioned, a shorter distance to go to strike the keys.

These positions of the hand are of utmost importance not only in scales, but also in acquiring fluency in arpeggios, and in passage-playing of all kinds.

With many the quality of tone is inborn, and connected with a natural sense of musical beauty. This depends, too, in great measure upon the construction of the hand and fingers. People with thick fingers have a natural tone, and consequently little difficulty in developing a beautiful touch. Others will have to work a great deal under good direction before they acquire that same beautiful tone. In the latter case the practising of slow passages with a deep touch, and without lifting the fingers very high, is most important. At the same time each separate tone should be listened to and its quality noted. The position of the hand in training depends on its natural construction, and requires individual treatment. For instance, in training, the strong hand with the thick fingers may be held even, with the knuckles down, while the weak hand with long fingers should be held with the back ball-shaped or arched, with the knuckles up.

In the training of the hand a great fault is very common, not only among amateurs, but even among professionals, and that is the bending out of the first joints of the fingers where their cushions touch the key. Such a position of the finger, its point bent out, makes the getting of a good tone impossible. Students and teachers should pay great attention to the “breaking down” of the last joints of the fingers; it is a difficulty that must be settled in the very beginning. I even go so far as to say that those whose finger-joints “break down” should not play the piano unless they have energy enough to correct the fault, and it can be corrected.

The ability of producing a legato may be acquired by two means: First by careful fingering, and second, by the use of the pedal. In the first case the quick, careful passing of the thumb under the fingers is the practical factor, always studying slowly, with a deep touch, and listening closely to the binding together of the notes. In the second case the judicious use of the pedal is the aim.

As a hint to amateurs, I would say that it is a mistake to be afraid to use the pedal in playing scales. In quick scales the pedal may be most effectively used to give brilliance and colour, but only under a certain rule. Use it on the unimportant notes—that is, on the central portion of the scale—but never on the important or closing notes. By this plan you give brilliance and colour to the quick, passing notes leading up to the climax; then, by shutting the pedal off, the final and important notes ring out with an added value, clear, firm, and effective.

It would take a volume to tell all about the pedal, but these two things are the fundamental principles of its uses to work upon, and need a very careful application. Change the pedal with every change of harmony. In playing the lower notes on the keyboard its change should be still more frequent, because of the slow vibrations and the thickness of the tone in that part of the instrument.

The manner of holding the wrist should be individual, according to the need of the pupil, and must be decided by the teacher. Some play quick octaves and staccato passages by holding the wrist very high, while others employ a method exactly the opposite. Facility in octave-playing is not a matter of strength, for often players who have quick movement in octaves have not much strength. Of course, there are exceptions, such as Rubinstein, who had wrist fluency, lightness, and endurance.

One of the most important things in piano-playing is relaxation, thoroughly natural ease of attitude, and absolute absence of stiffness or rigidity in sitting at the instrument. Before the study of technique is begun, ease of attitude in the player must be fixed by the teacher. Poses and nervous movements cannot be too zealously guarded against. Many professionals might well practise before a mirror to observe themselves. The effect of even beautiful playing is spoiled by grimaces and restless bodily movements.

Only too many think that they display a vast deal of feeling if they make frequent ritardandi and long pauses on single notes. I would call this over-sentimentalism simply the abuse of rhythm. The only way to avoid this is to keep as strictly as possible to the rhythm and the tempo. Nothing is to be gained by such affectation but distortion of the composer’s ideas. Under this same head comes the exaggeration of the rubato, so deplorably frequent in the playing of Chopin. This springs from the same mistaken notion that it adds feeling and character. The only remedy of the fault is to stick closely to both rhythm and tempo.

I am a believer in discipline. As long as a student is enjoying the advice of a teacher he should follow his directions absolutely. Anyone who would insist upon his own interpretation should not have a teacher. If he thus imposes upon the teacher, and he gives in, the loss is the student’s. A teacher, of even a small reputation, represents a system, and it is of the greatest importance in any kind of work to have a system.

As technical studies I recommend Czerny’s Opus 740, and Clementi’s “Gradus ad Parnassum,” in the Tausig edition. The Czerny is pure technique, and the Clementi is extensive and  brilliant. These, together with some special finger exercises by the teacher, suited to the individual need of the pupil, will, for a considerable time, be quite sufficient in the way of purely technical studies. Afterward the “Wohltemperirte Clavier” by Bach, indispensable in training the independence of the fingers and the tone, should be taken up, and in due course the studies by Chopin.

I do not believe in the clavier as a help to the student, because by it he loses the possibility of controlling his playing. Its help will be not for him, but for his neighbours — it will keep him from disturbing them.

It is only by playing the scales with strong accent, and the slower the better, that precision and independence of the fingers are acquired. First play the scale through, accenting the notes according to the natural rhythm. Then, as in speech, let the accent fall upon the weak note instead of upon the strong one, and play the scale, accenting every second note; afterwards place the accent upon every third note, then upon every fourth. This gives absolute command of the fingers, and is the only way to acquire it.

The piano is so rich in literature for the student at every stage of his advancement that a book would be required to give a list of all the works open to selection. To give a partial catalogue would only mean to slight a vast number of works equally worthy of mention.

I shall confine myself to naming some composers who, in the general run of study, would be of advantage to the student, and yet are neglected. First of all I should advise Mozart, because, with our modern nerves and excitement, it becomes difficult to play with calm and simplicity. And these are the qualities that are required by Mozart.

Of neglected older composers one of the greatest of them all is Mendelssohn, whose “Songs Without Words” are of such admirable use in acquiring a singing quality of tone, and whose style of writing for the piano is of the best. Then, too, for brilliancy of technique I should advise Weber.


For advanced pianists I would recommend the playing of Moszkowski among the modern composers. His compositions from the pianistic and pedagogic point of view are perfect, and it is my conviction that it is scarcely possible to imagine a more perfect “clavier Satz” than Moszkowski gives us.