ou strive first of all to get the poet's
meaning as expressed in his phrases and in his sentences; you do not try
to mumble a few words in an arbitrary manner. The pupil who never gets
over the habit of playing in measures, who never sees the composer's
message as a whole rather than in little segments can never play
artistically. Many students fail to realize that in some pieces it is
actually misleading to count the beats in the measure. The rhythm of the
piece as a whole is often marked by a series of measures, and one must
count the measures as units rather than the notes in the measures. For
instance, the following section from a Chopin Valse, Opus 64, No. 1
(sometimes called the _Minute Valse_), may best be counted by counting
the measures thus:

[Illustration]

Every pupil knows that the first beat in each ordinary measure of
four-quarter time carries a strong accent, the third beat the next
strongest, and the second and fourth beats still weaker accents. In a
series of measures which may be counted in fours, it will be found that
the same arrangement often prevails. The pupil will continually meet
opportunities to study his work along broader lines, and the wonderful
part of it all is that music contains so much that is interesting and
surprising, that there need be no end to his investigations. Every page
from a master work that has been studied for years is likely to contain
some unsolved problem if the student can only see it right and hunt for
it.

QUESTIONS IN STYLE, INTERPRETATION, EXPRESSION
AND TECHNIC OF PIANOFORTE PLAYING

SERIES XIII

MAX PAUER

1. Define technical ability.

2. Describe some useless technical tricks.

3. Do great pianists devote much time to writing upon piano technic?

4. State the evils of too much discipline.

5. How may machine-like playing be avoided?

6. State how faults are most frequently developed.

7. Why must one seek to avoid conventions?

8. Should music be studied by phrases or measures?

9. Play the Chopin Valse Opus 64, No. 1, indicating how it may best be
counted.

10. Where must the student find his problems?

[Illustration: S. V. RACHMANINOFF]

S. V. RACHMANINOFF

BIOGRAPHICAL

Sergei Vassilievitch Rachmaninoff was born at Novgorod, Russia, April
1st, 1873. At the Moscow Conservatory he was placed under the
instruction of Siloti who had been one of the favorite Russian pupils of
Franz Liszt. This master imparted a very facile tec