“Paderewski is a very remarkable teacher.  There are teachers who attempt to instruct pupils about what they do not understand, or cannot do themselves:  there are others who are able to do the thing, but are not able to explain how they do it.  Paderewski can both do it and explain how it is done.  He knows perfectly what effects he wishes to produce, how they are to be produced, the causes which underlie and bring them about; he can explain and demonstrate these to the pupil with the greatest exactness and detail.

“As you justly remark the quality of tone and the variety of tonal gradations are special qualities of Paderewski’s playing.  These must be acquired by aid of the ear, which tests and judges each shade and quality of tone.  He counsels the student to listen to each tone he produces, for quality and variety.

CLEARNESS A MUST PRINCIPLE

“The player, as he sits at the piano, his mind and heart filled with the beauty of the music his fingers are striving to produce, vainly imagines he is making the necessary effects.  Paderewski will say to him:  ’No doubt you feel the beauty of this composition, but I hear none of the effects you fancy you are making; you must deliver everything much more clearly:  distinctness of utterance is of prime importance.’’ Then he shows how clearness and distinctness may be acquired.  The fingers must be rendered firm, with no giving in at the nail joint.  A technical exercise which he gives, and which I also use in my teaching, trains the fingers in up and down movements, while the wrist is held very low and pressed against the keyboard.  At first simple five-finger forms are used; when the hand has become accustomed to this tonic, some of the Czerny Op. 740 can be played, with the hand in this position.  Great care should be taken when using this principle, or lameness will result.  A low seat at the piano is a necessity for this practise; sitting low is an aid to weight playing:  we all know how low Paderewski himself sits at the instrument.

“You ask what technical material is employed.  Czerny, Op. 740; not necessarily the entire opus; three books are considered sufficient.  Also Clementi’s Gradus.  Of course scales must be carefully studied, with various accents, rhythms and tonal dynamics; arpeggios also.  Many arpeggio forms of value may be culled from compositions.

“There are, as we all know, certain fundamental principles that underlie all correct piano study, though various masters may employ different ways and means to exemplify these fundamentals.  Paderewski studied with Leschetizky and inculcates the principles taught by that master, with this difference, that he adapts his instruction to the physique and mentality of the student; whereas the Vorbereiters of Leschetizky prepare all pupils along the same lines, making them go through a similar routine, which may not in every instance be necessary.