s wasted, but talent, energy, and sometimes that jewel in the crown of
success--"ambition."

A CASE IN POINT

An illustration of one means of wasting time is well indicated in the
case of some pedagogs who hold to old ideas in piano-playing simply
because they are old. I believe in conservatism, but at the same time I
am opposed to conservatism which excludes all progressiveness. The world
is continually advancing, and we are continually finding out new things
as well as determining which of the older methods will prove the best in
the long run. All musical Europe has been upset during the last quarter
of the century over the vital subject of whether the pressure touch is
better than the angular blow touch. There was a time in the past when an
apparent effort was made to make everything pertaining to pianoforte
technic as stiff and inelastic as possible. The fingers were trained to
hop up and down like little hammers--the arm was held stiff and hard at
the side. In fact, it was not uncommon for some teachers to put a book
under the armpit and insist upon their pupils holding it there by
pressing against the body during the practice period.

H. Ehrlich, who in his day was a widely recognized authority, wrote a
pamphlet to accompany his edition of the Tausig technical studies in
which this system is very clearly outlined. He asserts that Tausig
insisted upon it. To-day we witness a great revolution. The arms are
held freely and rigidity of all kind is avoided. It was found that the
entire system of touch was under a more delicate and sensitive control
when the pressure touch was employed than when the mechanical "hitting"
touch was used. It was also found that much of the time spent in
developing the hitting touch along mechanical lines was wasted, since
superior results could be achieved in a shorter time by means of
pressing and "kneading" the keys, rather than delivering blows to them.
The pressure touch seems to me very much freer and I am emphatically in
favor of it. The older method produced cramped unmusical playing and the
pupil was so restricted that he reminded one for all the world of the
new-fangled skirts ("hobble-skirts") which seem to give our ladies of
fashion so much difficulty just now.

The American pupils who have come to Germany to study with me have been
for the most part exceedingly well trained. In America there are
innumerable excellent teachers. The American pupil is almost always very
indu