POWER WITHOUT EFFORT

“How do I teach them to acquire power with little effort?  Relaxation is the whole secret.  Your arm is really quite heavy, it weighs considerable.  Act on this principle then:  let the arms fall with their full weight on the keys, and you will have all the power you need, provided the fingers are rounded and firm.  That is the other half of the secret.  The finger joints must be firm, especially the third joint.  It stands to reason there can be no power, no brilliancy when this joint is wavering and wobbling.

“I teach arched hand position, and, for children and beginners, decided finger action; the fingers are to be raised, in the beginning, though not too high.  Some teachers may not teach finger action, because they say artists do not use it.  But the artist, if questioned, would tell you he had to learn finger action in the beginning.  There are so many stages in piano playing.  The beginner must raise his fingers in order to acquire finger development and a good, clear touch.  In the middle stage he has secured enough finger control to play the same passage with less action, and still perform it with sufficient clearness; while in the more finished stage the passage may be played with scarcely any perceptible motion, so thoroughly do the fingers respond to every mental requirement.

“Sometimes pupils come to me who do not know scales, though they are playing difficult compositions.  I insist on a thorough knowledge of scales and arpeggios, and a serious study of Bach.  I use almost everything Bach ever wrote for the piano; the Two and Three Part Inventions, French and English Suites, Well-tempered Clavichord, and the organ Preludes and Fugues, arranged by Liszt.”

XXIV

FANNIE BLOOMFIELD ZEISLER

THE SCOPE OF PIANO TECHNIC

Each year, as Mme. Bloomfleld Zeisler plays for us, we feel the growth of a deeper experience, a clearer insight into human nature, a broader outlook and grasp on art and life.  Such a mentality, ever seeking for truth and the sincerest expression of it, must continually progress, until—­as now—­the greatest heights are reached.  Mme. Zeisler is no keyboard dreamer, no rhapsodist on Art.  She is a thoroughly practical musician, able to explain as well as demonstrate, able to talk as well as play.  Out of the fulness of a rich experience, out of the depth of deepest sincerity and conviction the artist speaks, as she plays, with authority and enthusiasm.

[Illustration:  With sincerest good wishes Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler Chicago Dec 30 14]