Music Trade Review
Issue: 1922 Vol. 75 N. 18 - Page 7
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OCTOBER 28,
THE MUSIC TRADE
1922
REVIEW
OS1
frgwwmirarMraffiCT^^
The Possibility of Using the Player-piano as an Aid in the Technical Study
of Pianoforte Music, and also in the Study of the Manual Playing of the
Piano, Is Now Being Clearly Demonstrated by Several New Developments
The announcement by the Q R S Music Co.
of a new edition of music rolls devoted to
teaching the technique of the piano keyboard
reminds one that the idea of utilizing the pos-
sibilities of the player-piano definitely as an aid
in technical musical study has been in the minds
of the more far-sighted men of the industry
for a number of years. If one's memory is not
at fault, a complete system of elementary piano
study by means of music roll and keyboard
combined was worked out some twelve or more
years ago. But the idea has never been com-
pletely developed and those who have toyed
with it has soon found that it is a great deal
more elaborate and complicated than they had
supposed when first it appealed to them. Never-
theless, the capacity of the player-piano in re-
spect of musical expression is so very great
that it is impossible for musicians to ignore the
facts. From time to time, therefore, proposals
have been made for bringing the music teacher
and the player-piano closer together. Now that
a serious effort is again being made to supply
teachers with proper music roll teaching mate-
rial, the time is propitious for considering what
may be the most natural and valuable function
of the player-piano in such work.
Music vs. Technique
The mistake which has been commonly made
by musicians when considering the player-piano
and its place in the musical world is well illus-
trated in the reply which a woman musician
made some years ago to a letter from Ernest
Newman, the eminent music critic, who had
written an article favorable to the player-piano's
pretensions. This lady could not understand
how musicians like Mr. Newman could pos-
sibly recommend the player-piano, which "per-
mitted ignorant people to run through the most
complicated modern works when they ought to
be learning to play the Bach Inventions." The
lady was irritated because she had become
accustomed to confusing music with piano play-
ing and could not see that there is no virtue
in the keyboard as such. She assumed, of course,
that to deprive a student of the rigors and
terrors of five-finger exercises was to deprive
him or her of the only possible means to music
appreciation. Take away the keyboard, she
assumed, and you take away musicianship.
Of course, the notion is grotesque, although
it is very widely held. In point of fact, there
is not the least reason why one should not be
a musician without ever having seen a piano
keyboard. The keyboard constitutes merely the
means, and very imperfect means, for making
effective use of the strings and hammers of the
piano. Now, the player-piano and its rolls con-
stitute together other and in some ways far
more effective means to the same end.
The Only Fair Objection
But it will be said that the player-piano and
its rolls do not teach the user of them to read
music or to understand its notational and rhyth-
mic structure, even though they may make him
familiar with a great deal of music and perhaps
even allow him to acquire a sense of harmonic
beauty. The objection requires to be discussed
seriously, for it is the one objection which has
any merit, so far as we can see.
Musical notation is very imperfect. It is cer-
tainly incapable in its present form of indicating
interpretation. Thanks to the universal adop-
tion of the equal temperament, the composer
can indicate pitch and tonality accurately. But
he cannot possibly give more than the very
slightest indications of how he wishes to have
his music reproduced. On the other hand, the
present system of notation does lend itself fairly
well to indications of rhythm, although it gives
no picture of these, but only a system of signs,
which, so far as they go, are accurate and can
be read by those who will learn how.
Now, the music roll needs only two features
in addition to those it already possesses to be
able to surpass the printed notation in every
respect. The perforations have the enormous
advantage of presenting to the eye a concrete
definite picture of the rhythmic pattern of the
tune and of its harmonies. It has the further
advantage of representing accurately to the eye
in actual picture form the relative duration
values of the sounds. In these important re-
spects it is far superior to the printed notes.
It, however, lacks any precise indications of
pitch, and so is unable to give the musician an
adequate mental representation of the music.
Furthermore, it is, as usually manufactured,
bare of all indications of the rhythmic pulse of
the music, owing to the absence of phrasing and
bar lines.
What Music Rolls Can Indicate
There is no mechanical difficulty in devising
means for showing the bar divisions and for
indicating the phrasing. If these two simple
points were attended to the musicians' objec-
tions to the music roll would be reduced to one
point, and this point one which has already
been solved by the ingenious combination of
perforations with staff lines invented by Mr.
Carroll Brent Chilton, under the name Audi-
script.
Therefore it may fairly be said that there is in
reality nothing standing between the music roll
and a more perfect musical notation than has
ever yet been devised. Once put into practice
the improvements which have been worked out
already and we can successfully meet every
objection the musicians can make, besides show-
ing them that we have definite advantages of
our own which they cannot in any other way
obtain.
The position of the music roll, then, as an
aid in the study of music appreciation, is secure.
Can it be practically worked out so as to obtain
alike the adherence of musicians and the pur-
poses of musical education?
Sound Before Note
The actual work of learning to control the
muscles of the fingers, wrist and arm so as
to manipulate the keyboard successfully is, of
course, not in the least a musical task. It is
physiological in its basis and can well be taught
on a dumb keyboard. But the co-ordination of
hand and brain, the linking up of the thought
with the action, is something which can very
easily and well be assisted by the use of the
player-piano. The modern teacher of piano tells
his pupils to form a mental picture of the tone
which is to be sounded, to think the sound be-
fore an attempt is made to reproduce it. Here
the player-piano is immensely useful. If a pupil
can watch the motions of the keys and simul-
taneously hear the rhythmic and tonal values
of the music accurately set forth he will find
the otherwise puzzling successions of printed
notes immediately interpreted to his thought,
and from the start will have a better idea of
how the notes translate themselves into sound.
One of the greatest difficulties teachers have to
encounter is the difficulty of beginning with the
young pupil. Modern methods, in fact, try to
impart the sound before reading begins, but
the groping and imperfect methods to this end
which alone are possible without the player-
piano give way at once when the pneumatic
instrument is introduced. A whole scheme of
rapid and easy mastery over the fundamentals
(Continued on page 8)
J
I £et
ft
so bluelhruandthruwhenthetoscomea turn -ble-in£ downfiomthe trees.
The Bi& Boston Fox Trot Hit
When The Leaves
Come Tumbfin^Dovm
HEAR IT
NOW!
OCTOBER 28,
THE MUSIC TRADE
1922
REVIEW
OS1
frgwwmirarMraffiCT^^
The Possibility of Using the Player-piano as an Aid in the Technical Study
of Pianoforte Music, and also in the Study of the Manual Playing of the
Piano, Is Now Being Clearly Demonstrated by Several New Developments
The announcement by the Q R S Music Co.
of a new edition of music rolls devoted to
teaching the technique of the piano keyboard
reminds one that the idea of utilizing the pos-
sibilities of the player-piano definitely as an aid
in technical musical study has been in the minds
of the more far-sighted men of the industry
for a number of years. If one's memory is not
at fault, a complete system of elementary piano
study by means of music roll and keyboard
combined was worked out some twelve or more
years ago. But the idea has never been com-
pletely developed and those who have toyed
with it has soon found that it is a great deal
more elaborate and complicated than they had
supposed when first it appealed to them. Never-
theless, the capacity of the player-piano in re-
spect of musical expression is so very great
that it is impossible for musicians to ignore the
facts. From time to time, therefore, proposals
have been made for bringing the music teacher
and the player-piano closer together. Now that
a serious effort is again being made to supply
teachers with proper music roll teaching mate-
rial, the time is propitious for considering what
may be the most natural and valuable function
of the player-piano in such work.
Music vs. Technique
The mistake which has been commonly made
by musicians when considering the player-piano
and its place in the musical world is well illus-
trated in the reply which a woman musician
made some years ago to a letter from Ernest
Newman, the eminent music critic, who had
written an article favorable to the player-piano's
pretensions. This lady could not understand
how musicians like Mr. Newman could pos-
sibly recommend the player-piano, which "per-
mitted ignorant people to run through the most
complicated modern works when they ought to
be learning to play the Bach Inventions." The
lady was irritated because she had become
accustomed to confusing music with piano play-
ing and could not see that there is no virtue
in the keyboard as such. She assumed, of course,
that to deprive a student of the rigors and
terrors of five-finger exercises was to deprive
him or her of the only possible means to music
appreciation. Take away the keyboard, she
assumed, and you take away musicianship.
Of course, the notion is grotesque, although
it is very widely held. In point of fact, there
is not the least reason why one should not be
a musician without ever having seen a piano
keyboard. The keyboard constitutes merely the
means, and very imperfect means, for making
effective use of the strings and hammers of the
piano. Now, the player-piano and its rolls con-
stitute together other and in some ways far
more effective means to the same end.
The Only Fair Objection
But it will be said that the player-piano and
its rolls do not teach the user of them to read
music or to understand its notational and rhyth-
mic structure, even though they may make him
familiar with a great deal of music and perhaps
even allow him to acquire a sense of harmonic
beauty. The objection requires to be discussed
seriously, for it is the one objection which has
any merit, so far as we can see.
Musical notation is very imperfect. It is cer-
tainly incapable in its present form of indicating
interpretation. Thanks to the universal adop-
tion of the equal temperament, the composer
can indicate pitch and tonality accurately. But
he cannot possibly give more than the very
slightest indications of how he wishes to have
his music reproduced. On the other hand, the
present system of notation does lend itself fairly
well to indications of rhythm, although it gives
no picture of these, but only a system of signs,
which, so far as they go, are accurate and can
be read by those who will learn how.
Now, the music roll needs only two features
in addition to those it already possesses to be
able to surpass the printed notation in every
respect. The perforations have the enormous
advantage of presenting to the eye a concrete
definite picture of the rhythmic pattern of the
tune and of its harmonies. It has the further
advantage of representing accurately to the eye
in actual picture form the relative duration
values of the sounds. In these important re-
spects it is far superior to the printed notes.
It, however, lacks any precise indications of
pitch, and so is unable to give the musician an
adequate mental representation of the music.
Furthermore, it is, as usually manufactured,
bare of all indications of the rhythmic pulse of
the music, owing to the absence of phrasing and
bar lines.
What Music Rolls Can Indicate
There is no mechanical difficulty in devising
means for showing the bar divisions and for
indicating the phrasing. If these two simple
points were attended to the musicians' objec-
tions to the music roll would be reduced to one
point, and this point one which has already
been solved by the ingenious combination of
perforations with staff lines invented by Mr.
Carroll Brent Chilton, under the name Audi-
script.
Therefore it may fairly be said that there is in
reality nothing standing between the music roll
and a more perfect musical notation than has
ever yet been devised. Once put into practice
the improvements which have been worked out
already and we can successfully meet every
objection the musicians can make, besides show-
ing them that we have definite advantages of
our own which they cannot in any other way
obtain.
The position of the music roll, then, as an
aid in the study of music appreciation, is secure.
Can it be practically worked out so as to obtain
alike the adherence of musicians and the pur-
poses of musical education?
Sound Before Note
The actual work of learning to control the
muscles of the fingers, wrist and arm so as
to manipulate the keyboard successfully is, of
course, not in the least a musical task. It is
physiological in its basis and can well be taught
on a dumb keyboard. But the co-ordination of
hand and brain, the linking up of the thought
with the action, is something which can very
easily and well be assisted by the use of the
player-piano. The modern teacher of piano tells
his pupils to form a mental picture of the tone
which is to be sounded, to think the sound be-
fore an attempt is made to reproduce it. Here
the player-piano is immensely useful. If a pupil
can watch the motions of the keys and simul-
taneously hear the rhythmic and tonal values
of the music accurately set forth he will find
the otherwise puzzling successions of printed
notes immediately interpreted to his thought,
and from the start will have a better idea of
how the notes translate themselves into sound.
One of the greatest difficulties teachers have to
encounter is the difficulty of beginning with the
young pupil. Modern methods, in fact, try to
impart the sound before reading begins, but
the groping and imperfect methods to this end
which alone are possible without the player-
piano give way at once when the pneumatic
instrument is introduced. A whole scheme of
rapid and easy mastery over the fundamentals
(Continued on page 8)
J
I £et
ft
so bluelhruandthruwhenthetoscomea turn -ble-in£ downfiomthe trees.
The Bi& Boston Fox Trot Hit
When The Leaves
Come Tumbfin^Dovm
HEAR IT
NOW!
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