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"Am I Playing It Fast Enough?" by Harold Mynning

This seems to be the principal worry of many piano students. I do not, of course, dispute the fact that it is important to play certain pieces fast. Otherwise one cannot get the desired effects. Still, it is a bad habit to try to play a new piece fast from the beginning. It only causes serious delays. Faults creep in that are not noticed and then are hard to eradicate. And worst of all, it ruins clearness, that virtue that perhaps more than anything else enables us to tell the artist from the novice.

Dear students: when you take up the study of a new piece, do not worry about whether or not you are going to be able to play it fast enough. Play it slowly and correctly and let it work itself up. Remember what the great pianist, Harold Bauer, said, "If one catches the spirit of the music, it doesn't make much difference whether or not it is played a few degrees faster or slower."

About this article

This article, written by Harold Mynning, was taken from the May 1923 issue of "Etude Musical Magazine."

Emily Sigers
emily@thepianopages.com