The Etude magazine, November 1906, p. 703
DID you ever
suggest to your pupils the plan of practicing in the dark? You
would be surprised how much it will help to make sure the fingers,
and overcome the bad habit of watching the hand. Because they
have no sight and must cultivate the sense of feeling, the blind
are peculiarly sensitive in touch. The average piano student
can profit by this knowledge, and help himself more than he realizes
by a few minutes of nightly practice without the aid of artificial
light.
Try going to the piano "when the
lights are low" or not at all, and run over the scales in
consecutive order. Then play the arpeggios and running chords
of the dominant seventh and diminished fifth. Then let yourself
go on the pieces you have memorized. You will find yourself musically
awakened, for you can hear better when you are not distracted
by what you see, and your touch will become more firm and sure
and your dependence on printed notes will gradually grow less.
Encourage your pupils who persist in bobbing the head up and
down in looking from page to key-board to adopt this simple and
interesting method of practice. It will help them.
