The First Principles Of Pianoforte Playing
An online tutorial

Designed For School Use, And self learners, Including Two New Chapters Directions For Learners And Advice To Teachers

By Tobias Matthay, Published By Bosworth & Co. Ltd London, Circa 1905

About This Book

This little work is issued to render the teachings of "The Act of Touch" better available for the School-room and Class­room, and as a Text-book for Examinations. It is intended as an Introduction to the subject. The supreme importance of early training in this subject— the mechanism of playing—need not be further dilated upon here, since it has been proved that Agility itself, and all those contrasts of Tone and Duration which enable us musically to express ourselves through the Pianoforte, depend immediately on the proper fulfilment of the laws of Touch, the polemics of which have been amply dealt with in "The Act of Touch." This "Introduction" consists of the promised "Extract" from the original work, from which I have drawn the Preface and a selection from its Recapitulatories and Summaries. To these selections I have added two new and important Chap­ters : "Advice to Teachers and Self-teachers," and "Directions and Definitions for Learners." This last Chapter roughly covers the whole ground. It is intended for those beginning the study of Touch, and I have endeavoured to couch it in language simple enough to fit it even for children. Its study—accompanied by constant experiment at the keyboard—should be followed by the perusal of the "Extract"; taking this in the following order: (1) the final Summary and Conclusion; (2) the Summaries of the four Parts; and (3) the Recapitulatories of the Chapters of each of these Parts. Constant reference to the "Directions for Learners" should accompany subsequent Practice. Students sufficiently earnest and intelligent to desire more detailed information should follow this, by study of the "Advice to Teachers," and of "The Act of Touch" itself; first referring to the "Contents" of its Chapters, and finally to the text of these. The flattering reception accorded to the parent work leads me to hope that this, its offspring, may prove even more di­rectly helpful alike to Teacher and Pupil. The promised extra Part, "Relaxation—Exercises in Muscular-discrimination," is also in preparation. The second Edition is a reprint of the first, except that some slight misprints have been corrected, and some addi­tions made to pages 1, 126, 129, etc.

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