> As an end to this sad chapter we should mention what may have been the extreme point reached in the endeavor to increase the strength and independence of fingers. > > In the 1880's there was wide discussion in musical as well as medical magazines of an operation to cut the tendons between the fourth and fifth fingers. Some people believed that with one simple cut a new era would be opened in piano technique, less practice would be needed, and learning to play the piano would be made easier. Many such operations were performed in the United States. European doctors were more cautious. They warned that the operation was not as simple as some people thought, that no wound was without danger, and suggested not risking even a small operation where a harmless, even if more difficult, means—practice—leads to the goal. > > After several years of vehement discussion the whole idea was abandoned. George Kochevitsky *The Art of Piano Playing: A Scientific Approach*