Music Trade Review
Issue: 1920 Vol. 71 N. 26 - Page 5
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
DECEMBER 25,
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1920
The Art of the Player-Pianist
Illlllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
nun
meant, but perhaps the word "accent" is best and musical tones, and indeed the- one cannot
be separated from the other. A melody without
of all.)
Now, what we call "rhythm" has much to do rhythm would, of course, be a mere succession
with this natural falling of the accents in music. of sounds without shape or meaning. A melody
Music, after all, is no more than a highly poetic may be described as a succession of musical
form of speech, more highly organized and less sounds which have definite shape, and which
articulate than ordinary speech, and in speech appeal to the feelings as conveying some mu-
the fall of the accents is easily apparent as soon sical value. In a word, a melody is a thought
2—MUSICAL EXPRESSION
as one listens to the conversation of an animated expressed in musical tone.
This is not to be an abstruse treatise, although party of young people, for instance, talking
In order to be a tune at all, then, the sounds
its title may lead some innocent reader to be- about anything which interests them.
which compose it must hang together in some"
lieve it is something like that. On the other
Rhythm becomes apparent even where there way so as to give a shape to the whole, a shape
hand, however, it is to be comprehensive, and are no sharp accents. For instance, in a military which stays in the memory and which one can
before we have finished we shall have made a march one notes how the music exactly divides reproduce at any time through the voice, an
pretty thorough excursion into the realm of itself according to the steps of the marchers. instrument or, by means of notation, on paper.
musical thought. By the term musical thought By counting one—two, one—two with the steps
The simple tune mentioned above has definite
we mean, of course, all that is comprised in the of the marchers one finds that the music divides shape and is a fine example of simplicity and
expression of ideas in musical form, whether itself into groupings of equal length correspond- directness. Three times the first simple melod}
externally in the way of performance or inter- ing to the counting. Sound a drum to mark is repeated and the third time it is specially
nally in the way of actual composition. The the beat of a company of marchers and you emphasized. Then a closing melody is worked
journey will not be dry or tedious. It will, in have the perfect example of sim|ple rhythm, out corresponding to the closing line of the
fact, if we take it rightly, be both interesting that is to say, of the recurrence according to a verse. This closing tune finishes up and rounds '
and amusing.
regular plan of any series of events, simple or off the complete melody, making it a complete
No man has ever been able to adduce any complex. Rhythm may be the simplest or the structure which memory can carry and which
explanation at once plausible and able to resist most complex idea imaginable; but in every case will maintain its identity amongst any number
critical investigation of the beginnings of music. it corresponds to what we have described.
of its fellows.
A thousand explanations have been devised.
When we speak of the various dances which
Now, melody is the second element to be
Nearly all of them have been either fantastic or are so popular we know what we mean by the recognized by man in his search for musical
obscure. The reader may frame his own hy- three-step or waltz, the two-step and the one- expression. Melody, of course, means the com-
pothesis with the complete certainty that no one step. These are all examples of various rhythms. bination of definite tones with the idea of
who has gone before him has done anything A march is an example of four-beat rhythm, a rhythm. All civilizations, as has been said, have
much better than his own is likely to be. He waltz of three-beat rhythm, and so on.
had melody. And most of what we read about
may rhapsodize about the whistling of the winds,
Rhythm is the foundation of all music. I t is ancient music refers to melodic music only,
the murmuring of the stream and the whisper-
more fundamental than melody or anything that is, to music which, no matter how many
ing of the reeds on the banks thereof. He may
else. It lies at the basis of all musical idea instruments or voices might be employed in
think what he pleases, but he is not likely to,
and is at once the easiest to grasp and the most expressing it, consists of the rhythmic accented
find out anything very startling about the origin
'
important of all the elements. In order to melody and of nothing, else. •
of musical expression. After all, even if we
obtain a mastery of the player-pianist's art one
The First Lesson
cannot tell much of how man first came to ex-
must have a clear notion about rhythm, and we
The player-pianist must leapi what melody
press his feelings in tones, we can at least tell
shall give special attention to this as we go is; but he must learn this in -a rather definite
something of the process by which he developed
along.
manner. He must learn his facts without resort
this expression. The origin of music may be a
to the medium of notation, but solely through
Rhythm
is
the
earliest
of
all
elements
in
mystery, but its natural history is fairly clear.
the medium of the ear. In other words, he must
musical
expression.
The
African
savage
beats
And it is this we need to know rather than the
go direct to his melodies, hearing them repro-
on
a
drum
rhythmically
for
hours
at
a
time,
other.
repeating over and over some simple rhythmic duced on his player-piano in perfect mechanical
The Three Elements
pattern as, for instance, ...—• . . . — ...—, correctness, before he can begin to analyze them
In the first place, if we try to analyze the using these dot and dash symbols to represent and make them his own. That is why the
elements into which music falls we shall find short and long strokes respectively, as is done player-pianist must from the,, first grasp the
that these are respectively Rhythm, Melody in representing the long and short signals of
fact that the melodic element in music is punctu-
and Harmony. Take the simplest tune that the telegraphic code. Simple patterns like this ated,- and, as it were, endowed with value, by
can be imagined, such a tune, for instance, as are characteristic of the simplest and most bar- its emphases, its accents. He must think of a
"We Won't Go Home Till Morning." Whistle baric music. As music becomes more artistic, melody as he would think of speech, as, that is
this to yourself. After you have gone over this civilized and sophisticated its rhythmic patterns to say, a punctuated, stressed, intelligent ut-
two or three times you will perceive that cer- become more and more complex. Yet much of terance of thought; not indeed of the vulgar
tain facts about it stand out before your mind. the greatest music is built on the simplest pat- articulate thought of the spoken word, but of the
One of these facts is that you unconsciously put terns. The .. .—• pattern itself is the founda- emotional, inarticulate, but more powerful
certain emphases at certain points in the tune. tion of Beethoven's entire wonderful symphony thought which_ rises to the surface of conscious-
If you then hum over the tune with the words in C minor.
ness too highly charged with values to be com-
these points of emphasis will become more and
One of the principal requirements of «the prehended within the limitation of words.
more obvious. For instance, you will probably
player-pianist is a quick recognition of the When one has learned to express the sounds
emphasize the points of the tune somewhat like
rhythm of a piece, from which recognition will of a musical melody with the same intelligence
this:
flow also the ability to place the accents or wherewith one expresses the words of a spoken
We won't go home till morning.
emphases rightly and effectively.
or written thought, stressing where stress is
We won't go home till morning
We won't go home till mor-orning
Melody
due,
suppressing here, emphasizing there, •
Till daylight doth appear.
so that a true message is conveyed by it to
Next after rhythm comes the element of
the italicized syllables showing where the
stresses, emphases or accents fall. (Any one of melody, or tune. Every civilization has had a every sympathetic hearer, then he is rendering . t
the three words may be used to describe what is music founded on the combination of rhythm music rightly and well.
The following is the second in a series of articles by Wil-
liam Jiraid White. The aim of the series is to teach the
salesman and the music lover the secrets of playing the
player-piano artistically, a secret apparently known to few,
but which can readily be imparted to anyone who is inter-
ested in music and is willing to give the player-piano a
fair trial. At the present time, when it is more than ever
necessary to attack the selling problem from the stand-
point of demonstration, this series should be extremely
valuable.
•llllJIIIIIIIIHIilllllllUllltllllllllllUIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIl
niiiiiiiiiiiiiuiMJiimiHiiiiiMiiiiiiitJiiiiiiiMiia
STANDARD PLAYER ACTIONS
i
STANDARD PNEUMATIC A C T I O N C O .
658 - 652
•aiiiilllllllllllllllilllllliiiilirillliillllllllMiiiimiigi
WEST 52 ^STREET
NEW
YORK
CITY
SiNiimiiiiiriiriiiiiiniiiriiiiiiiiuiiniiiiHiiiiiiii
DECEMBER 25,
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1920
The Art of the Player-Pianist
Illlllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
nun
meant, but perhaps the word "accent" is best and musical tones, and indeed the- one cannot
be separated from the other. A melody without
of all.)
Now, what we call "rhythm" has much to do rhythm would, of course, be a mere succession
with this natural falling of the accents in music. of sounds without shape or meaning. A melody
Music, after all, is no more than a highly poetic may be described as a succession of musical
form of speech, more highly organized and less sounds which have definite shape, and which
articulate than ordinary speech, and in speech appeal to the feelings as conveying some mu-
the fall of the accents is easily apparent as soon sical value. In a word, a melody is a thought
2—MUSICAL EXPRESSION
as one listens to the conversation of an animated expressed in musical tone.
This is not to be an abstruse treatise, although party of young people, for instance, talking
In order to be a tune at all, then, the sounds
its title may lead some innocent reader to be- about anything which interests them.
which compose it must hang together in some"
lieve it is something like that. On the other
Rhythm becomes apparent even where there way so as to give a shape to the whole, a shape
hand, however, it is to be comprehensive, and are no sharp accents. For instance, in a military which stays in the memory and which one can
before we have finished we shall have made a march one notes how the music exactly divides reproduce at any time through the voice, an
pretty thorough excursion into the realm of itself according to the steps of the marchers. instrument or, by means of notation, on paper.
musical thought. By the term musical thought By counting one—two, one—two with the steps
The simple tune mentioned above has definite
we mean, of course, all that is comprised in the of the marchers one finds that the music divides shape and is a fine example of simplicity and
expression of ideas in musical form, whether itself into groupings of equal length correspond- directness. Three times the first simple melod}
externally in the way of performance or inter- ing to the counting. Sound a drum to mark is repeated and the third time it is specially
nally in the way of actual composition. The the beat of a company of marchers and you emphasized. Then a closing melody is worked
journey will not be dry or tedious. It will, in have the perfect example of sim|ple rhythm, out corresponding to the closing line of the
fact, if we take it rightly, be both interesting that is to say, of the recurrence according to a verse. This closing tune finishes up and rounds '
and amusing.
regular plan of any series of events, simple or off the complete melody, making it a complete
No man has ever been able to adduce any complex. Rhythm may be the simplest or the structure which memory can carry and which
explanation at once plausible and able to resist most complex idea imaginable; but in every case will maintain its identity amongst any number
critical investigation of the beginnings of music. it corresponds to what we have described.
of its fellows.
A thousand explanations have been devised.
When we speak of the various dances which
Now, melody is the second element to be
Nearly all of them have been either fantastic or are so popular we know what we mean by the recognized by man in his search for musical
obscure. The reader may frame his own hy- three-step or waltz, the two-step and the one- expression. Melody, of course, means the com-
pothesis with the complete certainty that no one step. These are all examples of various rhythms. bination of definite tones with the idea of
who has gone before him has done anything A march is an example of four-beat rhythm, a rhythm. All civilizations, as has been said, have
much better than his own is likely to be. He waltz of three-beat rhythm, and so on.
had melody. And most of what we read about
may rhapsodize about the whistling of the winds,
Rhythm is the foundation of all music. I t is ancient music refers to melodic music only,
the murmuring of the stream and the whisper-
more fundamental than melody or anything that is, to music which, no matter how many
ing of the reeds on the banks thereof. He may
else. It lies at the basis of all musical idea instruments or voices might be employed in
think what he pleases, but he is not likely to,
and is at once the easiest to grasp and the most expressing it, consists of the rhythmic accented
find out anything very startling about the origin
'
important of all the elements. In order to melody and of nothing, else. •
of musical expression. After all, even if we
obtain a mastery of the player-pianist's art one
The First Lesson
cannot tell much of how man first came to ex-
must have a clear notion about rhythm, and we
The player-pianist must leapi what melody
press his feelings in tones, we can at least tell
shall give special attention to this as we go is; but he must learn this in -a rather definite
something of the process by which he developed
along.
manner. He must learn his facts without resort
this expression. The origin of music may be a
to the medium of notation, but solely through
Rhythm
is
the
earliest
of
all
elements
in
mystery, but its natural history is fairly clear.
the medium of the ear. In other words, he must
musical
expression.
The
African
savage
beats
And it is this we need to know rather than the
go direct to his melodies, hearing them repro-
on
a
drum
rhythmically
for
hours
at
a
time,
other.
repeating over and over some simple rhythmic duced on his player-piano in perfect mechanical
The Three Elements
pattern as, for instance, ...—• . . . — ...—, correctness, before he can begin to analyze them
In the first place, if we try to analyze the using these dot and dash symbols to represent and make them his own. That is why the
elements into which music falls we shall find short and long strokes respectively, as is done player-pianist must from the,, first grasp the
that these are respectively Rhythm, Melody in representing the long and short signals of
fact that the melodic element in music is punctu-
and Harmony. Take the simplest tune that the telegraphic code. Simple patterns like this ated,- and, as it were, endowed with value, by
can be imagined, such a tune, for instance, as are characteristic of the simplest and most bar- its emphases, its accents. He must think of a
"We Won't Go Home Till Morning." Whistle baric music. As music becomes more artistic, melody as he would think of speech, as, that is
this to yourself. After you have gone over this civilized and sophisticated its rhythmic patterns to say, a punctuated, stressed, intelligent ut-
two or three times you will perceive that cer- become more and more complex. Yet much of terance of thought; not indeed of the vulgar
tain facts about it stand out before your mind. the greatest music is built on the simplest pat- articulate thought of the spoken word, but of the
One of these facts is that you unconsciously put terns. The .. .—• pattern itself is the founda- emotional, inarticulate, but more powerful
certain emphases at certain points in the tune. tion of Beethoven's entire wonderful symphony thought which_ rises to the surface of conscious-
If you then hum over the tune with the words in C minor.
ness too highly charged with values to be com-
these points of emphasis will become more and
One of the principal requirements of «the prehended within the limitation of words.
more obvious. For instance, you will probably
player-pianist is a quick recognition of the When one has learned to express the sounds
emphasize the points of the tune somewhat like
rhythm of a piece, from which recognition will of a musical melody with the same intelligence
this:
flow also the ability to place the accents or wherewith one expresses the words of a spoken
We won't go home till morning.
emphases rightly and effectively.
or written thought, stressing where stress is
We won't go home till morning
We won't go home till mor-orning
Melody
due,
suppressing here, emphasizing there, •
Till daylight doth appear.
so that a true message is conveyed by it to
Next after rhythm comes the element of
the italicized syllables showing where the
stresses, emphases or accents fall. (Any one of melody, or tune. Every civilization has had a every sympathetic hearer, then he is rendering . t
the three words may be used to describe what is music founded on the combination of rhythm music rightly and well.
The following is the second in a series of articles by Wil-
liam Jiraid White. The aim of the series is to teach the
salesman and the music lover the secrets of playing the
player-piano artistically, a secret apparently known to few,
but which can readily be imparted to anyone who is inter-
ested in music and is willing to give the player-piano a
fair trial. At the present time, when it is more than ever
necessary to attack the selling problem from the stand-
point of demonstration, this series should be extremely
valuable.
•llllJIIIIIIIIHIilllllllUllltllllllllllUIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIl
niiiiiiiiiiiiiuiMJiimiHiiiiiMiiiiiiitJiiiiiiiMiia
STANDARD PLAYER ACTIONS
i
STANDARD PNEUMATIC A C T I O N C O .
658 - 652
•aiiiilllllllllllllllilllllliiiilirillliillllllllMiiiimiigi
WEST 52 ^STREET
NEW
YORK
CITY
SiNiimiiiiiriiriiiiiiniiiriiiiiiiiuiiniiiiHiiiiiiii
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