Carl Czerny

The Practical Czerny Vol. 1

In the compilation of this collection of studies, the author was moved principally by the desire to produce a work which would introduce the student gradually to all the problems of the piano technique, give him confidence and technical facilities, develop his pianistic gifts, and thus provide him with the technical and musical background to enable him to master the purely musical material without too great an effort. Studies are also useful in developing a musical sense, if played with taste and charm and not practiced in a dull and mechanical manner. The more gradually the technical difficulties are introduced, the more will be gained from these studies from the purely musical side. The majority of the studies in the first volume have been chosen purposely in the triad form, along with those in diatonic scales. Proceeding from the triad, the student is afforded to the opportunity of combining these exercises with his other musical studies. Ear training is given practical application by singing the triad to the syllables la or do mi sol (or bi gu la), and then playing it in different positions. Short verses of folk or children's songs within a range of five tones can also be played in the same way so that the transposition of the first exercises into other keys will no longer offer any great difficulties for an ordinary musical ear. In this way, the student is gradually introduced to the chromatic signs, tonally and technically, which makes it possible to use other keys than C major much earlier than usual, as is suggested in the present work. Attention should also be paid to dynamics; first awaken a sense of the contrast between loud and soft tones by practical illustration, which the student should then imitate on the instrument. He himself must decide if his tone corresponds to his musical intentions, which accustoms him from the start to listen critically to his own playing. In the first exercises, the right hand part in the original has been divided between both hands for pedagogic reasons, without altering the melodic line of the original. A number of studies have been transposed into other keys.