Part 2

Sometimes, as we go along in a course of lessons, we are inclined to lose sight of the original purpose. It often is well to look back and see what we set out to do, and what we are accomplishing.

In the first place, we started out to develop strength, flexibility, freedom of movement, independent action, and perfect control of each one of the fingers. Our purpose in doing these things is to enable one to save time in learning to play any musical instrument through specializing on the finger work which constitutes some nine-tenths of the battle. At the same time, other benefits are expected—greater self-reliance, greater accuracy in sight reading, and greater ease in accompanying.

In order to accomplish these ends, we have been freeing the joints from stiffness and lameness. We have been training the fingers to move more widely and more freely. And we have been developing the muscles, so that the fingers have been developed, strengthened, given greater speed and facility of action, and their endurance increased.

With greater strength, has come greater independence in action. By this time, you ought to be well started toward perfect control of each of the fingers.

Since the whole course is based on careful, scientific investigation, the work has been built up in difficulty as the lessons went on, so that there has been nothing really hard about them. They are interesting and progressive. That is as it should be. As the course proceeds, whether you have new or review work, bear in mind that what is given is exactly what you need, and what will help you most.

Practice Exercises 17, 18, 20, and 21.

LESSON 12.

Great thought precedes all greatness. No man is great whose thought is not great.

A pessimist and an optimist were discussing life from different angles. “I really believe,” said the former, “that I could make a better world myself.”

“Sure!” returned the optimist; “That’s just what we’re here for. Now let’s get together and do it.”

If you will get the right thought, and then get to work, you will accomplish your part in making a better world yourself. One of the things that the world looks to you to do is to supply it with music—to bring harmony to quiet its tired and jangled nerves—to bring joyous melody to liven the grief bound heart—and to bring an atmosphere of rest to the sick and weary.

With this lesson, you are completing the first half of the work on AUTOMATIC FINGER CONTROL. You have already had most of the movements that are necessary for the efficient playing of your favorite instrument. It still remains to make the habit of proper fingering second nature. So, although you will find the old exercises coming up from time to time in the remainder of the course, do not slight them. Indeed, your muscles should be so much stronger now, that you can afford to run through the exercises three times a day instead of only twice. Suppose from now on you get in a short practice period at noon, as well as night and morning.

Yes! It will be worth while. Think BIG thoughts about this, as well as about the rest of your daily tasks.

This week, work on Exercises 17, 18, 21, and 22.

LESSON 13.

FRIENDS!

Much has been said about friends—many beautiful things, many apt phrases rich with understanding. To me, a friend is one who understands me—and loves me in spite of that fact.

One of my dearest friends is my piano, and I feel that every musician must consider his instrument in this light just as I do.

When I am tired and discouraged, or when I am joyful and full of hopeful expectation, it makes no difference what the mood, my piano responds to my every touch. It sings with me when I would sing. In minor chord it grieves to see me sad. It can be light and airy when I will; or if thought runs madly on and on, lightly touching the heights of exaltation or delving into mirey depths beneath—still I am not alone. And being not alone, I stand.

I want you to learn to think of your instrument as a Friend, for I know the endless joy that such a close communion is bound to give.

Would you have a friend? Then be one.

It applies with equal force as regards your instrument. You must understand it just as thoroughly as you long to have it understand you. That is where AUTOMATIC FINGER CONTROL should be a constant help to you. It enables you to understand your instrument so much better.

The exercises take on a simpler mien, now. That is only possible, however, because of the good work you have already done. Keep it up!

Starting Review. Practice Exercises 1, 22, 23, and 24.

LESSON 14.

Let me call your attention to the new exercise.

Its particular purpose is the strengthening of certain of the finger muscles which will be used quite often in playing, the limbering up of the fingers, and the stretching of the muscular covering of the palms. This exercise is not a difficult movement, by any means, but if you do it with considerable muscular resistance by the opposing sets, you will bring a large number of muscles into play at one effort.

The mind is a wonderful, yet peculiar thing. Some of the fads of great men typically exemplify this. For example, it is said that Gluck could only compose in the open air. When the spirit of composition took hold of him, he dragged his piano out on the lawn, and there evolved his beautiful harmonies. And yet, to me, do you know, that is not so peculiar after all. Gluck, I take it, wanted to get close to Nature.

All of us feel the urge to draw nigh to Nature. That is one of the reasons we so dearly love Music. Music is the portrayal of Nature at her best.

Another tale they tell is that Chateaubriand dictated his works in his bare feet. Elegantly attired down to the extremities, he padded softly up and down the floor, his thin, white feet and ankles very conspicuous on the dark rugs.

We all have peculiarities of living. And Musicians generally have similar peculiarities of playing. Do you know what yours are? Better take stock and see!

Practice this week Exercises 2, 23, 25, and 31.

LESSON 15.

If you use considerable muscular resistance in practicing the new exercise of this week’s lesson, you will find that the muscles used will tire quite readily. This, remember, is proof that this particular work is badly needed. As the days pass, however, and these muscles are strengthened to the required degree, you will find yourself able to perform it a greater number of times and with perfect ease. As in every other walk of life, you don’t get anything worth while without effort; but as with the other exercises of this course, results come surely and speedily.

Elbert Hubbard has said “Improve your opportunities, that’s the thing! Decide on what you want to do and what you want to be and go after it! You’ll win, and those fellows who chase the pee-wee, manipulate the pasteboards, and inhale cigarette smoke, will be coming to you for advice, to borrow money, and for passes to the poor house.”

You notice he said “improve” your opportunities. He didn’t use that old phrase about “grasping” them. And I believe this was intentional on his part. Opportunity doesn’t come to us so much as is commonly said. Opportunity is ever with us. Opportunity is just what we make it. If we have the imagination to see the golden chances before us and to improve them, we’ll make good.

You are enjoying an unusual opportunity in the Musical world in that you are permitted to learn to play your instrument the quick and easy way. Are you improving your opportunity?

Exercises 5, 25, 26, and 27.

LESSON 16.

In learning to lift weights, athletes start with a very light load, and by steadily increasing it a little at a time, they are eventually able to develop tremendous strength.

You remember that old story about the farmer’s boy who, just a few years ago, made a practice of picking up a calf and carrying it across the barn yard. Of course, as the calf grew and became heavier, the farmer boy’s strength increased. It had to, otherwise he couldn’t have continued to carry the calf around. And so it went, month after month, year after year. And now, so they say, the farmer boy is able to throw the bull.

It’s a terrible story, but we’ll overlook that fact if only it impresses upon you one point I wish to make.

The new exercise in this week’s lesson is based on the same principle as the weight-lifting methods. You will see that you apply auxiliary pressure for the finger muscles to work against. By using greater and greater pressure, you can develop almost any amount of finger strength that you may desire. So you should stick to the careful use of this exercise for many weeks to come.

Speaking of doing an exercise week after week, I sincerely trust that you are not neglecting your review work. You are studying these lessons for what you get out of them. If you really want to get your money’s worth, you must keep going over the lessons time and again. And each time, I can promise you, you will find new benefits and pleasures.

Devote your time this week to Exercises 3, 6, 27, and 28.

LESSON 17.

ENERGY!

Energy is that mysterious something that has the power to do work—to get results.

We can’t see energy, we can’t smell or taste it, we can’t hear it, nor is it anything we can feel. But its results—we perceive them everywhere.

The heat in our homes and bodies is the result of energy. The light that guides us by night and that brightens our daytime is the result of energy. The electricity that turns motors and carries our messages is another name for that indescribable something—energy.

But one of the greatest sources of energy is the human mind. Each one of us has within himself tremendous possibilities. We can work with our hands, or we can work with our heads. The choice rests largely with ourselves. And the difference between a hundred thousand dollar a year man and a ditch digger is from the ears up. Can one indiscriminately convert himself between these extremes? I don’t know. It is claimed, however, that the average person uses only one-tenth of his inherent mental ability. And I am satisfied that the curse of the age is mental laziness. How far the ditch digger can rise, I believe depends wholly on how great an effort and sacrifice he is willing to make for his advancement.

Every properly guided effort for advancement does, eventually bear fruit. Move right up front in the forerank of Musicians! You can, for your effort is properly guided.

Exercises 4, 7, 27, and 28 comprise this week’s work.

LESSON 18.

It is true that these are days of specialization, but one must be careful not to miss anything through too narrow a field of endeavor.

Take Music, for instance. You have taken the AUTOMATIC FINGER CONTROL Method to enable you to learn to play some instrument in quicker time than would otherwise have been expected. AUTOMATIC FINGER CONTROL is a specialized course.

Sometimes, musicians forget that there is another instrument or branch of Music save their own. That is where they make a mistake. Every Musician should fit himself to teach. I don’t say that he should teach afterward, but he should understand his instrument so well that he is perfectly capable of teaching it. Indeed, I doubt if one truly knows a thing himself until he is able to teach it to others!

Many of our students make a business of teaching. Whether you are going to teach, or not, you should consider taking up some of the other courses in Music which run right along parallel with what you are doing. The Unit Lesson System for Voice Perfection is something that every Musician should have. It is a very novel method whereby it is possible to get specific benefits from each individual lesson. It is a complete Vocal Course, and also teaches Speech Making, Gesture, Overcoming Nervousness and Stage-Fright, How to develop a winning Personality, etc. Another course that you could take to advantage is the one in sight reading. It would be a constant help. Write for full particulars about enrolling for these.

Exercises 8, 14, 25, and 26.

LESSON 19.

If, as has been said, the purpose of words is to conceal thought, then it may be equally as well said that the purpose of Music is to reveal soul.

I don’t suppose that there is a human being alive but that longs to be “understood.” There are all too few in this world who are willing to give the time and thought and heart to the understanding of others. And even if there were a greater willingness to understand, too few of us are able to express our deepest thoughts in words.

But Music is the Universal Language. Once we learn it, the tips of our hearts creep out through the tips of our fingers. There may be no one to hear. Perhaps no one would understand even if they were about. But the blessed, joyous part of it all is that at last we have found self expression, and that is the next best thing to being understood.

Remember that the composers of the ages have been talking through this language of soul in all that they have written. As you play a piece of music, you therefore have two tasks to perform. You must strive to pass on the message that the Masters left, and you must interweave with it your own inner self. That is what is meant by interpretation and expression.

You should study to be a good listener as well as a good player, if you are to be a real Musician. Hear all of the beautiful music that you can, whether it be on your instrument or on some other. Music is bigger than any specific means for expressing it, and with you, Music should be the first consideration.

The Exercises this week are 9, 14, 23, and 31.

LESSON 20.

I sometimes tremble when I realise how slight is the difference between success and failure. Success is the child of Audacity. Failure is the offspring of discouragement.

There was a great inventor, once—great not because of his worldly possessions, but because he dreamed the most beautiful visions of helping humanity to bigger and better things. He had worked long and arduously on one of his ideas hampered by lack of funds, lack of friends, and (I am sorry to say) lack of food.

All the night through he had toiled over his model. There was just one little part needed to give the necessary movement, but the proper thought eluded him.

The cold gray dawn of another toilsome day found him discouraged and alone on a damp, park bench. He was thoroughly hopeless and ready to give up his idea and his ideal. True, the successful culmination of this experiment would mean fewer accidents in a great industry, and fewer lives sacrificed to unnecessary carelessness. But why struggle longer? The world called him visionary and an impractical dreamer. Why fight?

Indeed, the fight had clean gone out of him. Death, breakfast, or the lock-up were equally welcome to him. He was through!

And then, the little thing happened. The doorway across the street was opened. Through it came a piping childish voice in joyous morning song. Little feet pattered down the steps and soon the lisping notes came from directly at his side, while a trusting little hand slipped confidently into his. And at that minute the problem was solved—somebody trusted him, somebody cared!

Exercises 11, 22, 24, and 30.

LESSON 21.

Half the giant’s strength is in the conviction that he is a giant. The strength of a muscle is enhanced a hundred-fold by the will power. The same muscle, when removed from the giant’s arm—when divorced from the force of the mighty will—can sustain but a fraction of the weight it did a moment before it was disconnected.

If you have been studying these lessons aright, you have not only developed strong muscles, but you have also developed an understanding of the tremendous power you wield over them.

When your brain wills that the finger move quickly and with precision, it should be enough. Without thought, effort, your will should be carried out. There should be no faltering about this movement because the demand was definite, and the muscles have been trained in obedience.

Whenever you are called upon to play, always bear in mind your complete mastery over your fingers. You have nothing to worry about. You can depend on your tools. Give your attention to the soul meaning of the composition you are playing; or, if you are doing accompaniment work, make a conscious effort to efface yourself and make the soloist stand out, the predominant influence.

In passing from the silent exercises to the instrument, you must be careful still to maintain the correct muscular movements.

Practice Exercises 13, 21, 24, and 30.

LESSON 22.

Candidly, there is lots of room at the top in the world or music, just as in any other line of endeavor. On the other hand, there is a clammering, cluttering turmoil down at the bottom. Your own position is like that of a sensible tourist in the Alps who hires a competent guide and provides himself with the necessary trappings for safe climbing.

There is no law to prevent this traveler inviting the guide to sit down with him at the hotel in the valley and play pinochle. True, he pays pretty heavily for the unused equipment and for the companionship. Besides that, he never does see the glories of the heights. But that is his privilege.

What are you doing with your musical equipment and the helpful guidance which has been yours? Are you enjoying yourself in the companionship of the valley, or are you daring the paths of the mountain?

I can but urge you to struggle upward. You are not beating a new path. The way is so plainly outlined before you you need only actively aspire and soon the reward must be yours.

Specifically, what is there in store for the master Musician?

There is the profession of teaching. That ability is something that no one can ever take from you once you acquire it. There is professional playing in Church, Concert, and Orchestra. Later on, you may wish to take our easy course in Harmony and Composition, so that you can also write and arrange music. It is thoroughly worth while. Particulars on request.

This week, take Exercises 15, 20, 29, and 31.

LESSON 23.

Suppose you do make mistakes sometimes. Is that anything to be discouraged about? Not at all. If only you learn by your mistakes and do not repeat the same one too often, you are well on the road to improvement. The only person who never makes an error is the person who never does anything. Steer clear of such a person.

But you who have practiced the Method of AUTOMATIC FINGER CONTROL faithfully have less to worry about as regards making mistakes than the average student. Your fingers are especially trained to go the right place at the right time without any conscious effort on your part. If you have not yet achieved this degree of skill, the thing to do is—not complain—but devote a little more time to strengthening up the still recalcitrant muscles.

Above all, keep moving. Don’t get stagnant.

Idleness never won distinction in the world, and never will. The world does not owe us a living, but each one of us does owe the world honest, sincere work in whatever field we may choose for our endeavors. God made man for employment and we cannot dodge the issue.

That means that everything we do must be done effectively. When we are earning our daily bread, we must give our best. When we are playing, we must play honestly. When we are studying, we must strive earnestly. Only as we do this can we enjoy life’s bounties to the full and win the progress we desire and deserve.

Exercises 10, 17, 19, and 26 for this week’s study.

LESSON 24.

With this lesson you end your first reading of the Method of AUTOMATIC FINGER CONTROL. I trust that none of you will consider the work finished, however, because you have only done the primary work. With the greater strength of muscle and the broader understanding of the Method itself, you are now in a position to reap even more astounding benefits than you have already experienced.

There is no extra charge for this privilege. All that you are required to do is to start at the beginning again and go through the entire course as before. You will be surprised how many things you missed the first time over.

The brain develops in direct proportion to the studying you do. And your understanding and appreciation increases to just the same extent that your brain develops, so it stands to reason that you are in a better position to benefit by this course today than you were six months ago.

What you have already got out of AUTOMATIC FINGER CONTROL depends on what you have put into it. It is like putting money in a bank and taking it out with interest. You put your time in with the specific knowledge that years of study have made available to you in easily absorbed form, and you take out a distinct saving in time and effort in learning to play your favorite instrument.

I believe that your success has already fully justified your every effort. In parting, let me assure you that you will always find that this formula works.

Effort in a worthy cause brings RESULTS.

Exercises 12, 16, 18, and 28 complete this Course.

EXERCISE 1.

Hold your right hand before you, double up your fist tightly, thumb on the outside of the fingers. The hand turned with the palm side facing you. Open the hand briskly and with considerable effort, letting it turn around, so that the back of the hand is now turned toward you. Be sure to get this point and turn the hand around as you open the fingers. As you open the hand, be sure to keep the fingers stiff and bend them back from the wrist as far as possible. Repeat this exercise twenty times.

EXERCISE 2.

Lift your elbows nearly as high as your shoulders. Lay your left hand, palm up, straight across your chest, so that there is a straight line from the elbows to the finger tips. The fingers of the right hand with the palm turned down are laid on the fingers of the left. Twist the hands and forearms in opposite directions, until the hands come again into a similar position, but with the palm of the right hand up. Reverse the action briskly. Go through the cycle twelve times.

EXERCISE 3.

Open the left hand out flat with the fingers loosely apart.

Grasp the little finger with the thumb and fingers of the right hand. Very gently bend it backward, as far as it will go without straining. You must be careful not to overdo this at first. Now bend it forward to the palm; back again and to the right and left.

Do this six times, allowing the little finger to move freely.

Now repeat the exercise, only instead of allowing the little finger to move freely, try to hold it rigid and immovable. Of course the muscles of the little finger will be unable to stand the greater strength of your right hand, and it is intended that the finger should move, but in each case it should move against the resistance of the finger muscles. Repeat this exercise against resistance fourteen times.

Go through this entire process with each of the other fingers and the thumb of the left hand. Then take up the exercise with each of the fingers of the right hand, moving them with your left.

EXERCISE 4.

Lay the left hand flat palm down on a table, book, or other smooth surface. Open the thumb out of the way of the fingers.

Grasp the index finger of the left hand with the thumb and finger of the right hand. Allowing the finger to move freely, draw it along the surface as far as possible without straining the muscles. Do this five times. Now with the finger muscles resist the movement, and repeat the exercise five times more.

Allowing the finger to move freely once more, lift it from the table in a large semi-circle, and swing it over towards the thumb and down to the table again. Repeat five times.

Go through this same movement five times with muscle resistance.

Carry out these exercises on the other fingers of the left hand, and then on all of the fingers of the right hand.

EXERCISE 5.