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THE MUSIC TRADE
FEBRUARY 25, 1922
REVIEW
^^
The Fact That the Piano Contains Three Distinct Registers Must Be Borne in
Mind at All Times by Those Who Are Attempting to Develop the Funda-
mental Rules Which Will Be the Basis of the Art of Player Composition
In the learned articles on composition for the
player-piano which appeared some months ago in
the Player Section, Dr. Schaaf called attention
to the fact that the piano, as a tone-producing
instrument, may be regarded, for the purposes
of the pneumatic playing mechanism, as three
instruments in one. That is to say, there are
three distinct registers in the piano, three dis-
tinct regions, each of which possesses a tone
quality of its own, and each of which, further,
can be treated by and of itself. Now, of course,
this fact has always been known to piano makers
in a vague sort of way. The art of the tone-
regulator has always been devoted to bringing,
so far as possible, the three distinct registers of
tonal value into one, and the effort of pianists
has been to blend these differences still further.
In fact, a great deal of the current theory of
piano playing as developed by writers like Tobias
Matthay has been directed toward the discovery
oi methods for producing a similarity of tonal
value throughout the compass of the piano.
Despite the as yet uncharted territory through
which it has to travel, it is probable that the
progress of music-pneumatic engineering will at
length bring about a delicacy of control com-
parable with that which pianists now obtain more
oi less successfully through special training of
their hands. But for present purposes it is suffi-
cient to say that a master player-pianist, with a
sufficiently delicate instrument under his feet,
can obtain what touch-values he requires in any
part of the keyboard, so that he is inferior to
the manual pianist chiefly in his inability, save
tc a limited degree, to differentiate between values
in adjacent simultaneous tones. The differen-
tiating power ascribed to the manual pianist is
indeed more theoretical than practical, since it
is possessed by very few, at least to any per-
ceptible degree. Indeed, a great deal of the
alleged "hardness" of player-piano music can be
traced more to imperfect understanding of the
principles of arranging than to any other cause.
But of this more at some other time.
The point immediately at issue is that the
player-piano mechanism, if taken by itself with-
out regard to the skill of the person who plays
it, treats all regions of the piano in the same
manner, and so develops the existence of the
three registers, bass, tenor and treble. This being
the case, it remained for someone to point out
that, so far from our bewailing a fact we could
neither avoid nor ignore, it would be the part
of wisdom to seize upon the conditions revealed
and turn them to proper esthetic account.
In fact, the player-piano should be treated as
possessing these three registers, and the art of
the composer for the player-piano, or the ar-
ranger of the music for it, should be devoted to
making the best use of the differences in tonal
value thus revealed, and to turning them to ac-
count for the purpose of obtaining full, satisfying,
developed and rich arrangements.
The Upper Treble
In studying a number of pieces which Dr.
Schaaf has composed for the player-piano we
have been struck with his recognition of the
upper treble section of the piano as a field in-
viting to the musical explorer. It is not, of
course, remarkable that the composer of piano
music should have neglected this region, for the
demands of ten-finger playing are exacting. The
spaces between the right and left hands must be
relatively narrow, for otherwise the music will
sound "all top and bottom." The upper region,
therefore, finds itself reduced to a subordinate
position, almost entirely devoted to ornamental
passage work and almost entirely neglected in
its harmonic-melodic aspects.
Natural as this is with the ten-finger piano
music, it is quite absurd in considering player-
piano music. If one listens to well-written or-
chestral music one is struck by the fact that whole
passages may be devoted to the working out of
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parts in the higher regions with a harmonic
framework devised from material gathered in the
same region. With the player-piano, when the
upper treble region is treated richly and elabo-
rately, along with counter passages in the other
two registers, it emerges in a tone color, and
with a rich power, quite novel and hitherto quite
unknown.
It would be a highly valuable study to write
a series of experimental pieces in the upper treble
register, upwards from two octaves above middle
C. It would be found that thick harmonies and
intelligible clear-sounding melodies can be writ-
ten in this register, which have a novel and fasci-
nating power of their own and which do not in
any way resemble the bare treatment of the
region in ordinary piano music.
The tonal value of the upper treble region thus
treated is very high. It is not necessarily cutting
or tinkly, but may be full and rich, when the
music is sounded at piano or pianissimo. But it
chiefly excels in the razor-like sharpness which
enables it to cut through the most elaborate tone-
mass and to prominentize a melody or a section
o:' an elaborate piece of contrapuntal writing in
the most wonderful way.
The Low Bass
On the other hand, the low bass region has
been quite as badly neglected in another way.
The difficulty of handling rich chords in the low
bass has led to its employment mainly for yield-
ing the roots of chords which are sustained by
means of the damper-pedal. But of rich chordal
treatment, and especially of elaborate motion,
there has been very little in piano music.
Of course, it must be admitted that the nature
oi the musical sounds produced by the bass
strings of the piano is not exactly favorable to
elaborate rrtotion, for the tendency of those sounds
is to be tubby and vague in outline. Yet the
fact remains that if we substitute for the exces-
sive reliance on damper-pedal effects, which is the
present main resource in piano music, a treat-
ment of the region on its own merits, without
much use of damper-pedal and with understand-
ing of the individuality of the tonal value of the
region, a new and valuable feature of player-
piano music emerges. Richness of foundation,
elaboration of internal development and irresist-
ible sense of power are the features of this region.
The Tenor Section
The tenor section of the piano is, of course, the
one which we all know best and treat most easily.
Yet for this very reason it is the one most taken
for granted, and has besides suffered the most
from unintelligent treatment. The other regions
can never be brought level with it, and when,
as in the case of player-piano music, this leveling
is neither possible nor necessary it can be treated
for itself and not as if it alone constituted the
singing part of the piano. The function of the
middle region is to extend the melodic regions
below and above itself and to act as a filler-in
and bridger-over of the gaps which would other-
wise exist between the other regions, which can
never be fully treated without the existence of
this nexus between them.
The player-piano as an individual musical in-
strument is only now beginning to be understood
and appreciated. The study of its three registers
is a necessary preliminary to any systematic de-
velopment of its beauties.
NEW YORK
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