A Few Thoughts on Technic
Technic is only a means to an end, but without adequate means no worthy end is ever achieved.
A fourth grade technic playing a third grade piece of music will give your hearers more pleasure than a sixth grade technic struggling with a seventh grade composition.
Technic is one of the few things of which it can truthfully be said, that the longer you have it and the more you use it the better it becomes.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and a little technic in hand in worth as much as a great deal of it on the player-piano.
The reason why a student must give so much thought to technic is to enable him in time to play without giving it any thought whatever.
A little technic is a dangerous thing, but it is better than none, and should serve as a stepping-stone to more.
It is well to remember that while the "original cost" in time and labor of a good technic is considerable the "upkeep" is comparatively inexpensive.
A dependable third or fourth grade technic in good working order is more valuable than a sixth or seventh grade technic that sometimes fails to function.
Technic is like money in the bank—a good thing to draw on when you need it. It is unlike money in the bank in. this respect, that you can not exhaust it by drawing on it freely and frequently.
Remember, finally, that while you can do nothing without technic it is equally true that with technic alone you will be just as far from artistic success.