CONSCIOUSNESS 209 



the complexity of the problem. Practically all move- 

 ments of a finger involve all three joints, so that a sin- 

 gle note involves at least three motor nerve voUeys for 

 flexion, three for extension and at least one for lateral 

 movement. Moreover a finger that is motionless is not in 

 a state of inactivity but is tensed into position by the 

 opposition of flexor and extensor muscles, and for any 

 finger to go into action, at least two fingers must be 

 moved out of the road, involving another fourteen motor 

 actions. So without counting the motions of the wrist, 

 forearm, shoulder, and tnmk, or those involved in the 

 use of the pedals, a speed of 20 to 30 notes per second 

 may involve 400 to 600 separate motor actions— all 

 effected by a competent musician with such automatism 

 that he can give his attention to the over-all effects, 

 rather than to the mechanical details. 



Despite the fact that so much of this compHcated 

 muscular activity is at the level of automatism, complete 

 automatism constitutes an inferior performance in no 

 way above the level of a mechanical piano. In this in- 

 strument the limited expressive devices do not include 

 the many artifices which the artist uses with such vari- 

 ety. The artist achieves his interpretation by minute de- 

 viations from uniformity and regularity: one note is held 

 longer than the metronome permits, another is hurried; 

 one note is struck firmly, another only lightly touched; 

 a succession of notes each having equal paper value may 

 be played with imeven tonal emphasis, or slurred de- 

 liberately, or made to parade in a presumptuous or sen- 

 suous manner. Himeker, in his introduction to the 

 Chopin mazurkas, tells a story about someone accusing 

 Chopin of writing in 3/4 time and playing in 4/4 be- 

 cause he prolonged the second beat; Chopin merely 

 shrugged his shoulders and replied that it was a national 

 trait. The stressing of the second beat is a characteristic 

 of the mazurka, a Polish national rhythm. 



Conversely, in reducing a melody to paper, the theme, 

 which may be nascently tenuous and imdisciplined, must 



