"At the following lesson I went with my book under my arm. I requested
him to name a fugue. He did, and I placed the closed book on the rack
before me. After I had finished playing he was dumfounded. He said, 'You
come to me to take lessons. You already know the great fugues and I have
taught you nothing.' Thinking that I would find Chopin more difficult to
memorize, he suggested that I learn two of the etudes. I came at the
following lesson with the entire twenty-four memorized. Who could
withstand the alluring charm of the Chopin etudes? Who could resist the
temptation to learn them all when they are once commenced?

"An actor learns page after page in a few days, and why should the
musician go stumbling along for months in his endeavor to learn
something which he could master in a few hours with the proper interest
and the burning concentration without which all music study is a farce?

"It was thus during my entire course with Dachs. He would suggest the
work and I would go off by myself and learn it. I had practically no
method. Each page demanded a different method. Each page presented
entirely new and different technical ideas."

DEEP THOUGHT NECESSARY

"As a rule piano students do not think deeply enough. They skim over the
really difficult things and no amount of persuasion will make them
believe some very simple things difficult. Take the scale of C Major,
for instance. This scale is by far the most difficult of all. To play it
with true legato, at any desired degree of force or speed, in any
desired rhythm and with any desired touch, is one of the most difficult
achievements in all music. Yet the young pupil will literally turn up
his nose at the scale of C Major and at the same time claim that he is
perfectly competent to play a Beethoven Sonata.

"The scale of C should be learned step by step until the practice habits
are so formed that they will reign supreme while playing all the other
scales. This is the way to secure results--go deep into things. Pearls
lie at the bottom of the sea. Most pupils seem to expect them floating
upon the surface of the water. They never float, and the one who would
have his scales shine with the beauty of splendid gems must first dive
deep for the gems.

"But what is the use of saying all this? To tell it to young pupils
seems to be a waste of words. They will go on making their mistakes and
ignoring the advice of their teachers and mentors until the great
teacher of