Scan 12
Musical Courier 1892-09-07: Vol 25 Iss 654, 1892
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1The Deppe Method.
2(Read before the M. T. N. A. at Cleveland.)
4"You must practice five finger exercises," says the teacher. "Yes," replies the scholar, and that is the end of it. The teacher does not prescribe any definite exercises or take the trouble to see that they are done. The scholar occasionally reflects in a vague kind of way, "I must practice some finger exercises. What exercises? Well, I suppose any of those things in the instruction book will do. All finger exercises are the same." Then he adds in his own mind, "But I practiced those things years ago, and they never did me any particular good; I won't bother with them to day, but I'll just go at my new piece." Thereupon the subject is dismissed or relegated to future consideration.
6Ludwig Deppe was not one of those easy going teachers. His ideal of technical finish and perfection was such that he made the attainment of it by his pupils the subject of unremitting attention and study. Not that he was a mechanical teacher only; on the contrary, his musical conception was of the highest order and his ideas of expression were as clear and as remarkable as his principles of technic. But he would not work unless the tools were in order, and he would not cut without first sharpening the knife. A stiff wrist, weak, insecure and unequal fingers were an abomination to him, and to eliminate these bad qualities, so common to all pupils, was his first care. To accomplish this he began at once to train the hands of his scholars by means of thirteen finger exercises, each of which had a definite object, and it is my intention to-day to bring these exercises to your attention.
8One great merit of Deppe's exercises is they can be played as well by children as by older pupils, and are equally useful to all. I begin my own practice with them every day, playing them once through to strengthen the fingers and limber the wrist before proceeding to heavier studies. During the first conversation I had with Deppe in Berlin he told me it was his object to found a school of piano playing, and surprised me very much by saying that up to the present day no school of piano playing has existed. What he meant was that in piano playing no particular way of doing anything had ever been decided upon and recognized as the true method, as has been the case in singing and in violin playing. Everybody knows that in singing the Italian method is universally conceded to be the true one, because the Italians have a natural instinct, strengthened by years of experience, for tone production. There is also a school of violin playing, and all good teachers of the violin teach the principles of its technic in a particular way. But when it comes to the piano there are no fixed laws, and each teacher goes his own way. Now, there is no reason why there should not be a logically developed system for forming a fine piano technic which, if rightly followed out, will enable the player to obtain the results he aimed at in the shortest possible time.
10This Deppe claims to have done, and fourteen years of constant teaching of his ideas has only increased their value in my opinion, and I wish that all teachers would examine them. "The proof of the pudding is most emphatically in the eating." I think they would find, as I have done, that it makes all the difference in the world in knowing how to teach from a consciously artistic standpoint and of getting to the bottom of things.
12What is the first thing to be taught in playing? It should be, as in singing, the formation of the tone, and for this the proper position of the hand is necessary. All teachers agree upon the general rule that the fingers should be curved; but there is a difference of opinion as to the height of the wrist, some holding it low and others high.
14The proper position of the wrist is dependent upon the height of the seat used. And here I must protest against high stools. Deppe advises a low seat; that is, a seat which will bring the wrist on a level with the knuckles. The seat must vary with the size of the player, of course, a child requiring a stool, while a chair would be high enough for a grown person. For myself, I have an ordinary chair cut down an inch. Deppe used to say: "You may have the soul of an angel, but if you sit too high your tone will be hard and unmusical, because you cannot sink with the wrist."
16Too high a seat not only affects the quality of the tone, but it makes the position of the player awkward and unhealthy, as it rounds the shoulders, hollows the chest and causes him to bend forward and often to nod the head in striking chords or octaves in a most unbecoming fashion. Liszt was very severe with his pupils on this point of playing with the head and he never permitted it. We have just had in Paderewski the most striking illustration of an erect and graceful position at the piano. He used a chair, which was rather low, and he was thus enabled to sit up straight and throw out his chest and was entirely free from that painful bending over and head movement. As Deppe used to say: "When it looks pretty it is right," and hence I recommend pianists to observe the beauty of Paderewski's position at the piano. Adele Aus der Ohe is another illustration of the same thing.
18In addition to moving the fingers Deppe advises holding the wrist on a level with the knuckles and turning it out sufficiently to enable the fourth finger to rise freely and to press the key squarely down without playing on the side of the finger, as must be the case when the wrist is not turned out. The wrist must be so supple that it can turn without throwing out the elbow in a triangular position to the body. The thumb must be curved, so as to enable it to rise freely from the hand and to press the key down with the side of its first joint. The first joints of the other fingers should be firm and perpendicular to the key. This is most important in tone production, since the strength of the tone must come from the firmness of the fingers, combined with the looseness of the wrist.
20FIRST EXERCISE.
22The object of the first Deppe exercise is to teach the pupil how to produce a firm, singing and penetrating tone by the natural power of the fingers, without any forcing or jarring, and with no stiffening of the wrist or arm muscles. In practicing this exercise it is extremely hard to tell at first whether one's wrist is stiff or not. It can be detected, however, by feeling the under part of the wrist of the hand which is playing with the fingers of the disengaged hand. By doing this it will at once be felt if the muscles are hard and tense, like whipcord, or whether they are relaxed and easy. The exercise is played by the right hand upon the notes, G above the staff, treble clef, A, B, C and D, respectively, with the thumb, second, third, fourth and fifth fingers. On the left hand the exercise is upon the notes G on the first line (bass clef), A, B, C and D, the little finger being on G. I have made up my mind that on account of the weakness of the fourth finger and its being confined by a tendon, one is less likely to stiffen the wrist on raising it, and one can give it more power by letting the fifth finger rise with it, instead of holding it down on the key. Deppe, however, did not teach this. He allowed all the fingers to rest lightly upon the keys, feeling them, but not pressing them down, except the finger that was playing.
24To get a good, firm tone, raise the finger and hold it a second in the air. Then let it fall on the key and press it down, leaving it there while one could count four beats slowly, the first joints being perpendicular to the keys and the rest of the hand quiet. Repeat four times.
26It is my experience always at the first lesson that a pupil can scarcely produce an audible tone, and the hand is continually twitching and the wrist stiffening with the muscular effort. In one week's practice the hand is entirely changed, and the ear becomes so cultivated that the tone develops round, full and pure, and the wrist is easy. This once attained, a long step has been made, and the teacher has something to build on.
28SECOND EXERCISE.
30The pupil, having now learned to form one tone properly, may take up two tones, and learn to connect and yet take them up promptly. This is the trill principle. Begin with the fifth finger and lift it in the air, keeping it curved. Then let it fall on its key, and as it does so let the fourth finger rise and pass it on its way. The movement must be simultaneous in both fingers and they must pass each other like two buckets in a well—when one is down the other must be up—and vice versa. The tones should slightly overlap, but not cover each other, like the scales of a fish. Count two slow beats to each finger. There should be no break in a trill. It should have the effect of a warble, and in order to produce this result, after practicing it in slow movement as above shown, in playing a trill rapidly feel both notes at the same time.
32THIRD EXERCISE.
34To get independence of finger, practice the broken third. Keep the fingers not in use quiet and do not allow them to raise in sympathetic movement from the keys. Observe the same principle as in practicing the trill in letting the fingers pass each other on the way, like two buckets in a well, and lifting them promptly.
36FOURTH EXERCISE.
38To strengthen the fingers after practicing the broken third, play the third simultaneously, repeating four times and counting four slow beats each time.
40FIFTH EXERCISE.
42Then practice the trill in thirds, counting two beats to each third. This is on the same principle as the first two exercises, only it is in double notes instead of single ones. It gives increased independence and strength.
44SIXTH EXERCISE.
46Now comes a most important principle, that of the scale. Lift the little finger and let it fall on its key, and as it does so let the weight of the hand rest on that finger poised lightly, as in learning to write. Let the other fingers rise above their keys about an inch and be all ready to fall when their turn comes. Now, as the fourth finger falls, lift up the fifth. As the third falls lift up the fourth and so on till you come to the thumb. Now the hand is poised on the thumb, and all the fingers are in the air. In order to return stretch a little from the thumb to the forefinger, and as you let the forefinger fall on its key turn slightly outward and upward with the wrist, so as to allow the middle finger to fall on its key. Turn the wrist in the same manner on the middle finger, which will give great weight and strength to the otherwise weak fourth finger, and so on back to fifth. By practicing the scale in this manner one will greatly aid the fingers with the wrist, and great suppleness, evenness and strength will be secured.
48In practicing the scale do not turn the thumb under, but turn the wrist outward until the thumb falls into place, and then stretch at once to the second finger without throwing the hand out of position. By turning out the wrist one practically lengthens the thumb, which is one of the great difficulties in the way of playing the scale on account of its shortness in comparison with the other fingers. One must avoid throwing out the elbow, which must be held down, in an easy and natural position. To do this one must not sit too high, as a high seat throws out the elbow. In a low seat the fingers must work a great deal more, as they are not assisted by the arm, and it is much easier to turn the wrist out and to bring the thumb on its key. "Let your elbow be lead and your wrist a feather" was Deppe's command.
50SEVENTH EXERCISE.
52After the scale principle comes the drop note exercise, which leads up to chord playing, for if you can come down on a single note correctly you can do so on a whole chord. The drop notes are practiced on the black keys, as being more difficult to hit than the white ones. The hand must be raised high over the keys with a perfectly loose wrist and then let fall without any resistance, and the finger comes down with the whole weight of the arm upon the key it aims for and at once takes its curved position, with the first joint firm and perpendicular, as in the five finger exercises. The wrist must sink and turn a little outward, so as to give the finger a sure hold on the key. In taking up the hand the wrist must be quite loose and the hand must hang from it passively.
54EIGHTH EXERCISE.
56After the drop note exercise comes the trill on the black notes, which is done by holding down the thumb upon C on the third space (treble clef) in the right hand, and trilling with the fifth and fourth fingers on B flat and A flat, then with the fourth and third on A flat and G flat, finally with the third and second on E flat and D flat. In the left hand one holds down the thumb on E on the third space (bass clef) and trills with the fifth and fourth fingers on G flat and A flat, with fourth and third on A flat and B flat, and on third and second on D and E flat.
58NINTH EXERCISE.
60A good exercise for turning out the wrist is that of a scale in triplets played by the third, fourth and fifth fingers only. This is also of value in lifting the fourth finger and strengthening it. Turn the wrist outward on each note, as in scale practice, the right wrist to the right in running up the keyboard and the left wrist to the left in running down it.
62TENTH EXERCISE.
64The principle of the broken octave depends upon stretching from the thumb and turning out the wrist until the fifth finger is carried over to its key in a curved position. As the thumb is the strong finger and the little finger is the weak one, it is obvious that the advantage must be given to the latter. The little finger must be curved to strike strongly, hence the thumb must do the stretching. Broken sixths are played on the same principle.
66The last exercises are those of chord and octave practice. In playing these the hand should be raised high above the keyboard and let fall without any resistance on the chord or octave. The wrist should sink in order to prevent the touch from being hard and wooden, while the fingers hold the keys firmly. The hand should be taken up exactly over the keys and kept extended (as in asking a blessing), and with curved fingers as far as possible. There is quite a little knack in letting the hand fall so, but once mastered the chord sounds much richer and fuller.
68Having learned the above exercises in the proper way, we have now mastered the A B C of piano technic, and it is only necessary to carry out these principles in studying scales, etudes and pieces in order to perfect it. The time occupied in practicing these exercises should be twenty minutes daily. Ten minutes for each hand. They are published by S. W. Straub & Co., 243 State street, Chicago, and may be ordered from them. The exercises once learned should be practiced by heart, that the whole attention may be concentrated on the position of the hands.
70AMY FAY.
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