Mrs Curwen's Pianoforte Method - A Guide to the Piano

Mrs. Curwen

• Publisher: Pomona Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781528761222
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

Originally published in 1913. A concise and comprehensive step by step instruction book on all aspects of piano playing. Many of the earliest books on music, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Pomona Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

PART I.

THE PRELIMINARY COURSE.

Turning to the pupil’s book (1st Step, 1st Lesson) we see that before the child can do what is required on that page he must have acquired a good deal of preliminary knowledge; for here he makes a beginning in reading music, or sight-playing (Ex. 8, a and b, and Duets 3 and 4). Now sight-playing, even of the simplest tune, requires not only a familiarity with symbols representing certain elementary facts of Pitch and Rhythm, but also the power of realizing these two classes of symbols instantaneously and of doing two things at once. Children are often expected to begin here, and hence their difficulties. We must begin further back. There is a stage in the pupil’s development which precedes the use of symbols; a stage in which he has to investigate for himself (guided by the teacher) these elementary facts. This he does by listenihg, observing with his ears, signs being introduced gradually as the things symbolized are realized. This work is done in the Preliminary Course. No material for it is given in the pupil’s book, except the staff diagrams, and he does not use even these in his earliest lessons; it is all oral teaching.

Pitch and Time are treated separately in the Preliminary Course. When the child is ready for the higher mental process of putting together what he knows of each, dividing his attention between two things, he is ready to begin to read music, but not before.

“How long does this preliminary stage last?” It depends on the age and intelligence of the pupil; on the frequency of his lessons, and how much help he gets between the lessons; and on his previous musical experiences. A bright musical child who can have a daily lesson may pass out of this stage in a few weeks. A less intelligent pupil, or one who is dependent on one lesson a week from a visiting teacher, may take three months, a whole term, over it. “Three months without playing a tune!” Possibly; and yet during that time we can carry out our principle of keeping theory and practice side by side; and we can keep up the pupil’s interest, because all the time he is listening, comparing, judging, doing; using his wits, in fact, the most interesting of all occupations to a child of seven.

The “Lessons” in the following pages are indications of the general lines which, in my judgment, should be followed in the teaching of young children. The general directions are addressed to the teacher; possible questions and answers are given as illustrations, and occasionally an actual lesson to a real pupil is reproduced in full. But I would preface these with a word of warning. Model lessons are most valuable, and few things are more inspiring to a young teacher than listening to a lesson given to a beginner by an expert. But a model lesson slavishly reproduced under all circumstances may be a complete failure, because no two children have identically the same stock of existing ideas. Therefore while the general form of a lesson and the order in which its ideas are to be presented must be decided on beforehand, and adhered to, its actual form, the illustrations used, and so on, may be considerably modified by the discovery of unexpected conditions in the pupil’s mind; and for this the teacher must always be ready.

Young children do better with a short daily lesson than with a longer weekly one. If these books are used in the home schoolroom the topics should be taken at different lessons, pitch one day, time the next, with some hand training every day. But very excellent results have been obtained when a visiting teacher has given a weekly lesson of one hour, the homework being superintended by mother or governess, who must be present at the lesson if her assistance is to be of any use. In a school, the short daily work can be done by a sub-teacher. Without such supervision and help the progress of a First Grade pupil would be very slow with weekly lessons, because some of the processes require two persons; time-dictation, for instance, and all ear-exercises. The Practice Superintendent, therefore, will be taken for granted, or more frequent lessons.

FIRST LESSON.

Aim of the Lesson.—To engage the child’s interest in his new work. To enable him to get at first hand—i.e., by experience—ideas about the pianoforte and about those musical facts which we call Time and Pitch.

(a) PITCH.

Preparation.—A first pianoforte lesson ought to be about the pianoforte itself. To most children it is a familiar object. To some it has always been associated with beautiful music; to others it has been little more than a piece of furniture. Find out what the pupil knows about the pianoforte. He may never have given conscious attention to it, associating it altogether with “grown-up” people. But to-day it stands in a new relation to him; he himself is going to learn how to use it, and this fact alone will kindle a desire to examine it more closely. Examine it together. Encourage him to talk about it. Get at his ideas. He may have few ideas; you must supplement them. He may have wrong ideas; you must set them right. Clear up and set in order the notions already in his mind, that these may be ready to seize upon and assimilate the new facts you are going to place before him.

Method.—The child will at least know where the player sits—before the MANUAL (or KEYBOARD); and that as the player’s fingers touch the DIGITALS (or KEYS) he hears musical sounds. Draw this from him by questions, giving him the names “manual” and “digital,” or “keyboard” and “keys.” Technical terms are among the things that a pupil cannot discover for himself.

Now let us find out where the music comes from. Open the piano. If a grand, this is easy; if an upright, it is troublesome, but quite worth doing for the interest it creates. Let the child describe what he sees. Wires; long and thick wires; short and thin wires. Notice how they gradually become shorter and thinner. Show how the HAMMERS act when the keys are put down. What sort of sound do we hear when a hammer strikes a long thick wire? (Illustrate.) A low, full sound. And when it strikes a short thin wire? (Illustrate.) A high, thin sound. And a wire of middle length? (Illustrate.) Gives a middle sound, not very high or very low, etc. The wires in a pianoforte are called STRINGS.

This height and depth of sounds we call PITCH. Illustrate how the word is used, and use it as often as possible, to fix it. This (touching a high digital) gives a sound of very high PITCH; this (touching a low digital) gives a sound of . . . . . . . . ? and this (touching a middle digital) gives a sound of . . . . . . . . middle PITCH.

Practice.—Ask the pupil to strike a sound of low pitch, middle pitch, rather high pitch, etc. “Now listen while I touch the keys one after another going to the right-hand end of the keyboard, and tell me what you notice about the pitch of these sounds?” (Strike all the sounds from middle C upwards, about two octaves.) “The pitch grows higher and higher.” “And now going to the left?” (Strike from middle C downwards.) “The pitch grows lower and lower.” “Now look inside the pian...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Dedication
• Preface to the Sixteenth Edition.
• A Few Educational Maxims
• Contents.
• Introductory Chapter
• Index to Preliminary Course
• Part I.—Preliminary Course.
• Part II.—First Four Steps.
• Part III.—Fifth and Sixth Steps.
• Appendices.
• Index.