An Epitome of the Laws of Pianoforte Technique - Being a Summary Abstracted From "The Visible and Invisible" - A Digest of the Author's Technical Teachings

Tobias Matthay

• Publisher: Classic Music Collection
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781528766678
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music Theory & Appreciation

This vintage book contains a guide to the rules and general principles of playing the piano. Originally taken from Matthay's digest "The Visible and Invisible", it offers the new player a summary complete with simple explanations and expert tips. "An Epitome of the Laws of Pianoforte Technique" is highly recommended for those with an interest in either the piano or pianoforte, and it would make for a fantastic addition to musical collections. Contents include: "Introduction", "Preamble", "The Problem of Pianoforte Training", "The Problem of Education in the Art of Tone-Production", "The Problem of Muscular Education", "The Final Problem: The Union of Execution With Conception", "Conclusion, and Summary", 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.

Section V

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL DETAILS OF TOUCH

— How to use your finger, hand, and arm:

The Finger:

1. Never try to hit the key down. Instead bring the finger gently upon the surface of the Key, and when you reach this surface exert the finger (maybe quite vigorously) during key-descent, to the extent you feel the key needs for each particular Tone.

2. There are two possible modes of finger-use: —

(a) You can use a folding-inwards or gripping exertion, or —

(b) You can use an opening-out or unfolding exertion and you can supply both without any corresponding movement whatever. See Section IX, “Bent v. Flat Finger-use.”

3. The CONDITION of the Upper-arm and Elbow is compelled to be in sympathy with these two opposite forms of finger action.¹

The Hand:

1. To enable the finger to do its work effectively, you must exert the hand downwards upon it at the knuckle during each momentary act of tone-production, as pointed out in ¶¶11 and 12 of this Section. This, however, does not necessarily imply any movement whatever of the hand itself.

2. As you cannot exert the finger vigorously against the key without this corresponding exertion of the hand, you also cannot exert your hand upon the key without the corresponding exertion of the intervening finger.

3. When you exert both finger and hand you may move either the finger only, or the hand only, during key-descent. Therefore, one of these exertions will then be entirely hidden from view.

4. Thus, in all normal playing by finger-movement (or so-called “finger-touch”) you must always back-up your finger exertion by a hand-exertion, delivered for each note individually, although this hand-exertion may remain quite invisible.

The Arm:

1. This matter is bound to seem complex at first sight, but is perfectly simple once it is grasped.

Without mastery of it, there cannot be any real understanding of the rationale of Technique.

2. To enable finger and hand to have their proper basis, you must (as shown) back-up the hand exertion by some form of Arm-use — some particular condition or state of the arm.

3. There are SIX WAYS you can thus apply the Arm: —

4. Four of these are OPTIONAL, being determined by the desired tone. These four are applied only during the moment of key-descent — to enable the finger and hand to do their work effectively.

5. Whereas two are COMPULSORY, and constantly needed, whatever the nature of the passage.

6. The Four Optional and Momentary Forms of Arm-Use:

I. THE WEIGHT OF THE WHOLE ARM, relaxed only during key-descent.

II. THE WEIGHT OF THE FORE-ARM ONLY in place of whole-arm weight.

III. A DOWN-EXERTION OF THE FOREARM; but in conjunction with the loosened upper-arm and lastly

IV. THIS SAME DOWN-EXERTION OF THE FOREARM, but here in conjunction with a FORWARD-DRIVUEN UPPER-ARM.

NOTE. — This No. IV is a type of technique carefully to be shunned in forte!

7. Singing-tone, chords, etc., demand the use of No. I — here you must momentarily release the whole arm (either fully or less fully) as felt necessary for the particular tone.¹

This triple combination of arm-weight, finger and hand exertion needed for singing tone, lends itself to the distinction between “Weight-initiated” and “Muscularly-initiated” touch, and is one you must also learn to recognize. If you think of Weight-release the musical result will be rounder and fuller than when you think of the implied Finger-and-hand exertions.

NOTE. — This is more a psychological than a physical distinction, but none the less real, musically, for all that. See “Act of Touch,” Chapter XX, etc.

8. Lighter effects need only No. II — here release only Forearm Weight.

9. For greater tone than can be provided by the full Weight-basis (No. I alone), No. III is needed — here you must exert the Forearm downwards in addition to the full release of the Upper-arm, with its free elbow.

10. Never use No. IV instead for loud tones — i.e., never, for fortes, exert the Upperarm forwards while you exert the Forearm downwards.

NOTE. — This Forward-drive of the Upper-arm, given very gently indeed, may however occasionally be appropriate for light “dry” effects. But in fortes this forward-driven Upper-arm and down-forced Forearm (with its rigid Elbow) is responsible for all those harsh, noisy, dull, thuddy effects one so often hears, even from otherwise quite good artists. It is not only destructive of all natural beauty and control of utterance, but is also most injurious to the instrument itself. Avoid it!

11. The Two Compulsory Forms of Arm-use are:

(A) THE POISED ARM, and —

(B) THE ROTATIVE FOREARM.

12. (A) THE POISED ARM is used for all passages, but is applied either Continuously, or Intermittently.

(B) THE FOREARM ROTATIVE CONDITIONS must be applied correctly to every note, whatever the Touch-form used.

13. The Poised Condition of the Whole Arm:

This is a freely-balanced, self-supported, floating or buoyant state (or condition) of the whole arm. It is used in the two ways: —

(a) Intermittently, and —

(b) Continuously. Thus: —

14. (a) INTERMITTENTLY, the poised arm is applied in-between the sounding of all the notes in passages which require the arm during key-descent in one of the four ways mentioned in ¶a6.

In this case the arm reverts to its poised condition instantly on the completion of each separate act of tone-production, both in loud and soft passages, and both in Legato and Staccato.

15. (b) CONTINUOUSLY, the poised arm is needed, without break, for the duration of each phrase in most Agility passages.

It forms the Basis of Arm-vibration touch, and also “The Act of Resting,” both in Staccato and in “Artificial Legato.” See Sections VIII, XI, and XII.

16. This continuously poised arm may, moreover, be either used in its FULLY-POISED or in a SLIGHTLY LESS poised condition. Thus: —

(a) When fully-poised (or self-supported) none of its weight reaches the keybeds — and you “rest” at the surface-level of the keyboard.

(b) When slightly less than fully-poised, enough weight may be allowed to rest on the keybeds (and there passed on from keybed to keybed) to form “Natural” Legato-resting, and also for “Passing-on” or “Weight-transfer Touch.” (See Sections VIII and XI, for Legato and Staccato, and Section XII for Weight-transfer Touch.)

NOTE. — In playing the louder swirls of “Passing-on” touch, the arm may be released a little more to provoke crescendi; and even with “Arm-vibration” touch it may be a little less than fully-poised in rapid forte passages, without such weight reaching the keybeds after all. Anything beyond this (still light)...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Tobias Matthay
• Contents
• Foreword to Epitome
• Section I
• Section II
• Section III
• Section IV
• Section V
• Section VI
• Section VII
• Section VIII
• Section IX
• Section X
• Section XI
• Section XII
• Section XIII
• Section XIV