INGER ACTION

The question of lifting the fingers seems to be one on which various
opinions are held. Some pianists, like Godowsky for instance, will tell
you they do not approve of raising the fingers--that the fingers must be
kept close to the keys. It is noticeable, however, that even those who
do not speak favorably of finger action, use it themselves when playing
passages requiring distinctness and clearness. Other players are rather
hazy on the subject, but these are generally persons who have not gone
through the routine of teaching.

The accepted idea of the best teachers is that at the beginning of piano
study positive finger movements must be acquired; finger action must be
so thoroughly grounded that it becomes second nature, a very part of the
player, something he can never forget nor get away from. So fixed should
it become that no subsequent laxity, caused by the attention being
wholly centered on interpretation can disturb correct position,
condition, or graceful, plastic movement.

"For passage work I insist on finger action; the fingers must be raised
and active to insure proper development. I think one certainly needs
higher action when practising technic and technical pieces than one
would use when playing the same pieces before an audience."--Clarence
Adler.

Alexander Lambert speaks to the point when he says: "I teach decided
finger action in the beginning. 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 acquire 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 clear
touch. In the middle stage he has secured enough finger control to play
the same passages with less action, yet still with sufficient clearness,
while in the more or less finished stages the passage may be played with
scarcely any perceptible motion, so thoroughly do the fingers respond to
every mental requirement."

It is this consummate mastery and control of condition and movement that
lead the superficial observer to imagine that the great artist gives no
thought to such things as position, condition and movements. Never was
there a greater mistake. The finest perfection of technic has been
acquired with painstaking care, with minute attention to exacting
detail. At some period of his career, the artist has had to come down to
foundat