MUSIC. 
§20 
tion to the Ihort arms of children. They Ihould place 
themfelves in the middle of the keys, in as natural and 
eafiy a pollute as polfible ; the knees not too clofe, and the 
feet even. Great attention mull be paid to the counte¬ 
nance of children, that no grimace or appearance of diffi¬ 
culty thould be vifible, and become habitual, which 
would be attended to by llanders-by more than the mufic 
that is performing', however good and well executed. M. 
Couperin even advifes a glafs to be placed on the delk of 
the young performers, in danger of becoming ridiculous, 
that they may correft themfelves. The time or meafure 
ihould never be marked by the head, feet, or the whole 
perfon, which is unbecoming and conftrued into affefta- 
tion. Even in counting the time it Ihould be done in a 
whifper, or elfe it tends to prevent the ear from having 
any (hare in the performance. The fingers Ihould be fuf- 
pended as near the keys as poffible, and all the force 
Ihould come from the upper joints, not from the weight 
of the hand, which would be heavy and thumping. Shakes, 
beats, and trills, in all keys, mull be early pradtifed with 
both hands extremely llow, and quickened by degrees; as 
mud be the exerciles for each hand. See the examples here¬ 
after given. The weak fingers of both hands, that is, the 
third finger and the little finger, mull be very much ex- 
ercifed, to make them, if poffible, equally brilliant with 
the others. Chords, if the hands are well placed on the in- 
flrument, are perhaps the bell rules for fingering; for, if 
the notes can be well and eafily llruck together, there will 
be no difficulty in breaking them into pali'ages. In prac- 
tifing quick palfages, the fingers Ihould be lifted up with 
a fpring, and not allowed to hang on the keys till wanted 
again, unlefs in arpeggioing chords, or in palfages of ex- 
preffion. In the firll practice of a lhake, in order to keep 
the wrift quiet, place the thumb on the 5th,"4th, or 3d 
below, and keep the fingers that are unoccupied as tran¬ 
quil as poffible. Couperin was the firll, we believe, who 
made it a rule for his fcholars never to play two notes 
together with the fame finger, unlefs in repeating chords. 
The art of fingering will be found chiefly to depend 
on a right management of the thumb. In the natural 
key, and in every key where there are from one to five 
fliarps, the right thumb mull be placed, in afeending, on 
the key-note, and on the fourth of the key. As pieces 
of mufic modulate into a variety of keys, the fcho- 
lar may be at a lofs to find the key-note ; but atten¬ 
tion to the order in which the fliarps occur, will greatly 
facilitate the knowledge of it. The fliarps proceed by 
fifths upwards. The following is the fcale of the fliarps: 
F. C. G. D. A. Every new fliarp, according to the or¬ 
der of the fcale, is the Iharp feventh, or lia.lf a tone 
below the key-note. Thus F Iharp denotes the key of G. 
C fliarp the key of D, See. When an attending palfage is 
terminated by the key-note, the thumb will be unnecef- 
fary; and this will form almolt the only exception to the 
above general rule. 
In defeending, in every key from one to five fliarps, the 
third finger mud be placed on the lall fliarp. Which lalt 
fliarp, as we have obferved above, immediately follows 
the key-note. Our limits will only permit us to give 
one fcale of each kind. See Ex. 25. 
If a palfage Ihould terminate on the lalt fliarp, the firll 
finger mull be ufed; if it'defcends one note lower than 
the lall fliarp, the fecond will ferve. 
To qfeend with the right hand where there are flats, 
place the thumb on C and on F. This rule is without 
exception. I11 defeending with the right hand on flat 
keys, place the third finger on B flat, and the fecond on 
E flat. Ex. 26. 
I11 afeending with the left hand in the key of C and F, 
major and minor, and in every key from one to four 
fliarps, begin with the little finger; and, after the thumb, 
place the fecond finger on the fixth note of the fcale, 
and the third on the fecond of the fcale. In defeend¬ 
ing with the left hand in the keys of C and F, major and 
minor, and in keys from one to four fliarps, place the 
thumb on the key-note, and the fifth of the key. The fifth 
iii defeending is the fourth note from the key. Ex. 27. 
To afeend, with the left hand on major keys wher* 
there are flats, place the fecond finger on the key-note, 
and the third finger on the fourth note. In defeending, 
place the thumb after the key-note, and after the fourth 
note (i. e. on the third of the key). Ex. 28. 
When palfages are interfperfed with turns, inverfions, 
and zig-zag progreffions, the regular order of fingering 
ceafes, and fome contrivance is necelfary, according to 
the nature of the pali'ages. If }'ou are obllructed by a 
turn or other variation from the regular progreffion, place 
the third finger after the thumb in defeending repeatedly 
till you are brought to the right pofition ; and vice verfi 
for the left hand in afeending. It is often necelfary to 
lkip a finger in defeending, and to pafs the firll finger in 
afeending. In palfages of turns, begin with the fecond 
finger and end with the thumb, provided the palfage 
afeends afterwards. If the turn follows a defeending 
palfage, begin with the thumb, and let the third finger 
follow. Ex. 29. 
In palfages afeending or defeending by thirds, we have 
inferted, at Ex. 30. the different modes of fingering by 
Dulfec and Clementi. With the left hand the rules are 
reverfed. The fingering of the chromatic fcale, accord¬ 
ing to the above mailers, will be found at Ex. 31. 
Thefe few examples, provided attention be given to 
the general diredtions which accompany them, will be 
found fuflicient to enable the learner to finger moll paf- 
fages that may occur, and to form, by analogy, additional 
rules for himlelf; but it is impoflible to laydown rules 
fuited to every cafe in the vail variety of modulation from 
one key to another. 
An Irilh profelfor has, however, recently undertaken 
to accompiilh all this, and much more, by a mechanical 
contrivance. Mr. Logier's patent chiroplaji, or hand-di- 
redtor, includes an apparatus for confining the w'rills, 
and every feparate finger, in their proper places; by means 
of which a right pofition of tliediands mull be obtained 
from the firll, and is not likely to be afterwards loll. 
Mr. L. has alfo made fome other improvements in the 
method of teaching young beginners; of the excellence 
of which he is fo well convinced, that he anticipates the 
jealoufy of profelfors againll them, and replies to their 
fuppofed lamentations: “ It has been objected to the 
fuccefs of my plan, that the majority of the profeffion 
would oppofe it, becaufe it aimed to do that by infalli¬ 
ble mechanical means, which is now done by a long pro- 
cefs of inllrudlion, and would therefore tend to diminilh 
the necelfary call for their attendance. But no argument 
can be lefs founded than this ; for, though this plan 
greatly diminilhes the moll tedious part of profeffionaj 
labour, it mull manifeilly have the effedt of enlarging the 
fphere of inllrudlion, by giving fo much greater induce¬ 
ment to the public to ftudy the piano-forte, when the ac¬ 
quirement of execution on that inllrument is fo mate¬ 
rially facilitated. By the common mode of tuition, how 
many tedious hours mull the pupil and mailer wade 
through, before any thing like a proper difpofition of the 
hand is obtained! and how perpetually mull the atten¬ 
tion of the fcholar be called from the more important 
matter of his fludies to the irregularities and awkward po- 
filian of his fingers ! The impediments arifing from this 
caufe are often fo great, that children are quite dilheart- 
ened, and give up the defire of playing altogether; or 
the mailer, for fear of loiing his fcholar, permits him to 
run into habits which are fatal to the acquirement of a 
proper execution. On the other hand, by the method 
now prelented to the public, the hand and arm of the 
fcholar, though in pofleffion of full liberty for proper ac¬ 
tion, are totally rellrained from all undue motion ; the 
fingers are made to a£l in a manner fo as to give a regular 
force to each note, and the mind is left entirely free to 
diredl its attention exclufively to the mufic. By this 
means, that inceflant glancing of the eye from the keys to 
the book, and from the book to the keys, obfervable in 
the greater part of performers, is entirely prevented ; and, 
at the fame time that a perfection of execution is obtained, 
an unulual eafe in reading mufic is acquired. It is plain 
fronj 
