Introduction to the Art of Playing on the Piano Forte. Op.42

144 Pages·2016·1.71 MB·English

by  Clementi Muzio.

Introduction to the
Art of Playing
on the
Piano Forte
Muzio Clementi's
Introduction to the
Art of Playing
on the
Piano Forte
Mutopia ǀ Typeset using LilyPond © 2014 by Javier Ruiz-Alma — Mutopia-2014/02/18-1938
ǀProject ǀ Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International License — free to distribute, modify, and performǀ
Acknowledgements for this edition
My gratitude to the LilyPond User Forum and the Mutopia Project, for making this project
possible; especially:
Nicolas Sceaux, Chris Sawer, Glen Larsen, Mats Bengtsson, Mike Solomon, Jakob Lund,
Janek Warchoł, Keith OHara, Nick Payne, David Nalesnik, Reinhold Kainhofer,
David Kastrup, Shane Brandes, Xavier Scheuer, Eluze, Robin Bannister, Phil Holmes,
Thomas Morley, Federico Bruni, Felix Janda, Bas Wassink, and Edward Neeman.
Table of Contents
Music Notation
Preliminaries 4
Clefs 4
The Scale, or Gamut 5
Intervals 6
Tenor, Counter-tenor, and Soprano clefs explained 7
Figure, Length, and the relative Value of Notes and Rests 8
Time and its Divisions 9
Sharps, Flats, etc. 11
Various other marks. 13
Abbreviations 13
Style, Graces, and marks of Expression, etc. 15
Turns, Shakes, and Beats, explained 17
Major and Minor Modes or Keys; vulgarly called Sharp and Flat Keys. 20
Explanation of Various Terms 21
Fingering
Preliminary Directions 23
Scales in all the Major keys, with their relative Minors 23
General Remarks on the foregoing Scales 28
Extensions and Contractions etc. 29
Examples of fingering for the right hand. 30
The left hand. 33
Preludes and Lessons
Lesson I
Prelude in C Major 34
Away with melancholy: by Mozart 34
Lesson II
Aria 35
Lesson III
Air, in Atalanta, by Handel 35
Lesson IV
Air, in Saul, by Handel 36
Lesson V
Dead March, in Saul, by Handel 38
Lesson VI
Allegro by Corelli 40
Lesson VII
Prelude in A minor 43
Gavotta by Corelli 43
Lesson VIII
Prelude in F Major 44
Air, in Judas Maccabeus, by Handel 44
Lesson IX
March, in Judas Maccabeus, by Handel 45
Lesson X
Sarabanda, by Corelli 47
Lesson XI
Giga, by Corelli 48
Lesson XII
Arietta, by Mozart 50
Lesson XIII
Minuet and Trio, by Mozart 51
Lesson XIV
Le Réveilmatin, by Couperin 53
Lesson XV
Prelude in D minor 57
Larghetto, by Scarlatti 57
Lesson XVI
Allemanda, by Corelli 59
Lesson XVII
Sarabanda, by Corelli 61
Lesson XVIII
Prelude in G Major 62
Ah vous dirai - je maman 62
Lesson XIX
Triste Raison 63
Lesson XX
Fal, lal, la. Air in the Cherokee. 64
Lesson XXI
Larghetto, by Pleyel 65
Lesson XXII
Arietta 66
Lesson XXIII
German Hymn, with Variations by Pleyel 68
Lesson XXIV
Andantino, by Dussek 71
Lesson XXV
Allegro, by Handel 73
Lesson XXVI
Minuet in Samson, by Handel 75
Lesson XXVII
God Save the Emperor, composed by Dr. Haydn 77
Lesson XXVIII
Rondo in the Gipsy stile, by Dr. Haydn 78
2
Lesson XXIX
Prelude in E minor 86
Tambourin by Rameau 86
Lesson XXX
Prelude in B flat, Major 89
Minuetto by Scarlatti 89
Lesson XXXI
Lindor - an Air 91
Lesson XXXII
Minuet and Trio, By Mozart 92
Lesson XXXIII
Gavotta in Otho, by Handel 94
Lesson XXXIV
Andante with Variations, by Cramer 96
Lesson XXXV
Prelude in G minor 100
Allegro, by Scarlatti 100
Lesson XXXVI
Prelude in D Major 104
Gavotta, by Corelli 104
Lesson XXXVII
Minuet in Ariadne, by Handel 105
Lesson XXXVIII
March in the Occasional Oratorio, by Handel 107
Lesson XXXIX
Waltz, by Beethoven 109
Lesson XL
Allegro, by Corelli 111
Lesson XLI
Prelude in B minor 115
Giga, by Corelli 115
Lesson XLII
Prelude in E Flat Major 117
Rondo by C.P.E. Bach 117
Lesson XLIII
Prelude in C minor 124
Minuet, by Scarlatti 124
Lesson XLIV
Prelude in A Major 126
Andante Allegretto by Paradies. 126
Lesson XLV
Prelude in F# minor 129
Adagio by Corelli. 129
Lesson XLVI
Prelude in A flat Major 131
Slow March by Couperin. 131
Lesson XLVII
3
Prelude in F minor 133
Allegretto by Couperin 133
Lesson XLVIII
Prelude in E Major 135
Polonoise and Minuet, by Sebastian Bach 135
Lesson XLIX
Gavotta, by Corelli 138
Lesson L
Prelude in C# minor 139
Minuet, by Dr. Haydn 139
MUSIC NOTATION
PRELIMINARIES
All musical sounds are expressed by certain characters, called notes, which are named from the first seven
letters ofthealphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G.
TheStave contains fivelines, andfour spaces: thelowestlineis calledthefirst.
Thenotesareplacedonthelines,orspacesabove,orunderthestaveandtheadditional,calledLEDGERlines
arefor thehigher andlower notes.
CLEFS
In order to determine the PITCH of musical notes, certain signs, called CLEFS or CLIFFS have been invented,
whicharesetatthebeginning ofthestaves.
Therearefiveingeneraluse.
th th
TheBass clef, onthe4 line ª TheTenor clefonthe4 line (cid:0)
d st
TheCounter-tenor clefonthe3 line TheSopranoclefonthe1 line
(cid:0)
(cid:0)
nd
AndtheTrebleclefonthe2 line
(cid:1)

TheTrebleandBass clefs arechiefly usedfor thePianoForte.
MUSIC NOTATION 5
THE SCALE, OR GAMUT
Shewing theposition, andnameofthenotes.
T reble (cid:1) f g a b c d e f g a b c d e f g(cid:2) (cid:2)a b(cid:2) c(cid:2) d(cid:2) (cid:2)e f(cid:2) g(cid:2) a(cid:2) b(cid:2) (cid:2)c d(cid:2) (cid:2)e (cid:2)f g(cid:2) a(cid:2) b(cid:2) (cid:2)c d(cid:2) (cid:2)e (cid:2)f
Bass ª (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) g(cid:2) a(cid:2) b(cid:2) (cid:2)c (cid:2)d e(cid:2) f(cid:2) (cid:2)g

LetthePUPILnowstrikethenotesontheinstrument;takingnotice,thatthefirstLONGkey,onthelefthand,
servesforthefirstF;thesecondLONGkeyforG;thethirdforA;andsoon:makingnootheruse,atpresent,ofthe
SHORTkeys,thanasGUIDEStodirecttheeye;byobserving,thatbetweenBandC,andbetweenEandF,thereare
noSHORTkeys; whichplaces inthescalearedistinguishedthus .
⁀

Remark on the foregoing Scale.
The first EIGHT notes in the treble-stave from G to G, are the SAME as the corresponding EIGHT notes,
perpendicularlyundertheminthebass-stave,bothinNAMEandSOUND;theyareplayed,therefore,ontheSAME
keys.
Asahelptomemory;letthePupilcontemplatethenotes,SEPARATELY,onthelines,andspaces;beginningby
theFIVE lines.
G E
Bass E Treble C
D C (cid:2) A (cid:2)
F A C E G B F A (cid:2) A C E G B D F (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
ª (cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:3) (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2)
(cid:2)
F
F D
Bass D Treble B (cid:2)
C B (cid:2) A G (cid:2)
G B D F A E G (cid:2) G B D F C E (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
ª (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:3) (cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2)

Exerci(cid:2)se for treble notes:(cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:1) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:4)

Exercise for bass notes:
ª (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:4)

N.B. Let the Pupil FIRST be familiarized withthe notes, by READILY naming them; and thenfind them out as
READILYontheinstrument.
6 CLEMENTI'S ART OF PLAYING ON THE PIANO FORTE
INTERVALS
AnINTERVALis thedistance, or differencebetweentwosounds inpointofGAVITYor ACUTENESS.
TheleastofourINTERVALSiscalledasemitone,orhalf-tone:itistheINTERVAL,intheNATURALscale,between
E andF; andbetweenB andC.
(cid:2) (cid:2)
Ex: ª (cid:2) (cid:2)
E F B C
The REGULAR progression of the OTHER notes in the NATURAL, which is also called DIATONIC scale, is by an
INTERVALoftwosemitones or a wholenote.
ExampleoftheNATURALor DIATONICscale.
ª (cid:2) twohnoele (cid:2) twohnoele (cid:2) tsoenmei- (cid:2) twohnoele (cid:2) twohnoele (cid:2) twohnoele (cid:2) tsoenmei- (cid:2)
TheINTERVALbetweenCandD,betweenDandE,orbetweenanytwoCONTIGUOUSnotes,inthescale,iscalla
SECOND: theINTERVALbetweenC andE, or betweenDandF, etc: is calleda THIRD; andsoon.
ExampleofINTERVALS
ª (cid:2) d (cid:2) (cid:2) d (cid:2) (cid:2) th (cid:2) (cid:2) th (cid:2) (cid:2) th (cid:2) (cid:2) th (cid:2) (cid:2) th (cid:2)
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
th
TheINTERVALofan8 is commonly calledanOCTAVE.
N.B. The nature, and name of the INTERVALS remain the same, whether the single notes be played
SUCCESSIVELY, or whether two, or more, be struck TOGETHER: the former is properly called MELODY; and the
latter, HARMONY.
Exampleofthelatter.-
(cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:1) (cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)

The notes thus taken TOGETHER are also called CHORDS; the succession of which, played from certain figures
setover a bass, according toa systemofrules, is denominatedTHOROUGH-BASS.