Module 4 - The Problem of Muscular Education

Training in the branch of instrumental education in the acquisition and application of the requisite muscular-conditions, is a two fold problem.
Acquiring muscular education requires 2 distinct steps.

1. Step 1: You must be able to discriminate between correct and incorrect muscular activities.
2. Step 2: We must learn to apply these correctly-discriminated muscular-conditions to the keyboard.

That is, we must learn to time the commencement and cessation of the correct muscular-operations and we must accurately gauge their degree, according to the needs of the key.

Learn to distinguish between the muscular conditions that are necessary from those which impede the desired results during practice and performance. Learn to provide the activities required for a desired tone. Learn to accurately time the commencement and also the cessation of the correct muscular operations. Accurately gauge the degree of muscular activity according to the needs of the key. Even the simplest movement or activity of a limb needs a complex set of coordinated muscular actions and cessations for its fulfillment.

Mental Muscular discrimination requires that you learn to obtain the required muscular processes. For each modification of key treatment there must be a modification in muscular adjustment. One must acquire the modifications of muscular adjustment that will best serve towards the attainment of agility. The mental discriminatory power deals with the power of distinguishing between the desirable and undesirable muscular conditions. The process of acquiring such requisite muscular discrimination is one of elimination and the process of elimination involves removing the activities not required. The fingers, hand, and arm must move to bring the fingertips over the required notes. Therefore, one must gauge and time the muscular exertions so that they are accurately applied. Cease muscular exertion the very minute you have completed your duty against the keys and the very instant you produce tone at the piano. The mass set free by the muscles shall fulfill its purpose in making sound. Gauge and time the horizontal movements of the finger, hand , and arm and know the required exertions for each limb. Learn to promptly cease the required exertions the moment tone is produced. This requires that we will be able to accurately aim the force set upon the key when generating sound at the keyboard.

We must first realize (consciously, or unconsciously) how we must musculary act^[1] in order to obtain each possible effect from the instrument, through its keys. Having successfully learnt to provide the muscular conditions that will give the correct key-treatment, it still remains necessary to form those muscular-conditions into habit.

[1]musculary act: The act of creating the correct muscular state in order to apply a downward movement with the key.