They ought to have a keyboard adapted to
their little delicate muscles, with action much less heavy than two
ounces, the minimum weight of the clavier. As they grow and gain
strength, the weight can be increased. If they should attempt to use my
instrument with its heavy action, they would lame the hand in a few
moments or their little fingers could not stand up under the weight."
(3) Do you approve of finger action?
"Most emphatically. Finger action is an absolute essential in playing
the piano. We must have finger development. As you say, we can never
make the fingers equal in themselves; we might practise five hundred
years without rendering the fourth finger as strong as the thumb. Rather
let us learn to so adjust the weight and pressure of each finger, that
all will sound equal, whenever we wish them to do so. I tell my pupils
that in regard to strength, their fingers are in this relation to each
other," and the pianist drew with her pencil four little upright lines
on the paper, representing the relative natural weight of the four
fingers. "The fifth finger," she said, "figures very little in scale or
passage playing. By correct methods of study the pupil learns to lighten
the pressure of the stronger fingers and proportionately increase the
weight of the weaker fingers.
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