“Technic is such an individual matter,” began Mr. Schelling; “for it depends on so many personal things:  the physique, the mentality, the amount of nervous energy one has, the hand and wrist.  Perhaps the poorest kind of hand for the piano is the long narrow one, with long fingers.  Far better to have a short, broad one with short fingers.  Josef Hofmann has a wonderful hand for the piano; rather small, yes, but so thick and muscular.  The wrist, too, is a most important factor.  Some pianists have what I call a ‘natural wrist,’ that is they have a natural control of it; it is no trouble for them to play octaves, for instance.  Mme. Carreno has that kind of wrist; she never had difficulty with octaves, they are perfect, Hofmann also has a marvelous wrist.  I am sorry to say I have not that kind of wrist, and therefore have been much handicapped on that account.  For I have had to work tremendously to develop not only the wrist but the whole technic.  You see I was a wonder child, and played a great deal as a small boy.  Then from fifteen to twenty I did not practise anything like what I ought to have done.  That is the period when the bones grow, muscles develop—­everything grows.  Another thing against me is the length of my fingers.  When the fingers are longer than the width of the hand across the knuckle joint, it is not an advantage but a detriment.  The extra length of finger is only so much dead weight that the hand has to lift.  This is another disadvantage I have had to work against.  Yes, as you say, it is a rather remarkable hand in regard to size and suppleness.  But I hardly agree that it is like Liszt’s; more like Chopin’s, judging from the casts I have seen of his hand.

“As for technical routine, of course I play scales a good deal and in various ways.  When I ‘go into training,’ I find the best means to attain velocity is to work with the metronome.  One can’t jump at once into the necessary agility, and the metronome is a great help in bringing one up to the right pitch.  You see by the firmness of these muscles at the back and thumb side of my hand, that I am in good trim now; but one soon loses this if one lets up on the routine.

“Then I practise trills of all kinds, and octaves.  Yes, I agree that octaves are a most necessary and important factor in the player’s technical equipment.”

Going to the piano and illustrating as he talked, Mr. Schelling continued: 

“Merely flopping the hand up and down, as many do, is of little use—­it does not lead to strength or velocity.  As you see, I hold the hand arched and very firm, and the firmness is in the fingers as well; the hand makes up and down movements with loose wrist; the result is a full, bright, crisp tone.  One can play these octaves slowly, using weight, or faster with crisp, staccato touch.  I play diatonic or chromatic octave scales, with four repetitions or more, on each note—­using fourth finger for black keys.