ls are deceived in this matter. Until you have insured absolute
accuracy in the matter of the notes you are not in condition to regard
the other details. The failure to repeat an accidental chromatic
alteration in the same bar, the neglect of a tie, or an enharmonic
interval with a tie are all common faults which mark careless
performances. After the piece has been read as a whole and you have
determined upon the notes so that there is no opportunity for inaccuracy
from that source you will find that the best way to proceed is to take a
very small passage and study that passage first. For the inexperienced
student I should suggest two measures or a phrase of similar length. Do
not leave these two measures until you are convinced that you have
mastered them. This will take a great amount of concentration. Many
pupils fail because they underestimate the amount of concentration
required. They expect results to come without effort and are invariably
disappointed. After the first two measures have been mastered take the
next two measures and learn these thoroughly. Then go back and learn
measures two and three so that there may be no possibility of a break or
interruption between them. Next proceed in the same way with the
following four measures and do not stop until you have completed the
piece.

This kind of study may take more time than the methods to which you have
become accustomed, but it is by all means the most thorough and the most
satisfactory. I found it indispensable in the preparation of pieces for
public performances. It demands the closest kind of study, and this
leads to artistic results and a higher perception of the musical values
of the composition being studied. Take for instance the C Major Fantasie
of Schumann, one of the most beautiful and yet one of the most difficult
of all compositions to interpret properly. At first the whole work seems
disunited, and if studied carelessly the necessary unity which should
mark this work can never be secured. But, if studied with minute regard
for details after the manner in which I have suggested the whole
composition becomes wonderfully compact and every part is linked to the
other parts so that a beautiful unity must result.

FORMAL DIVISIONS

"Many works have formal divisions, such as those of the sonata, the
suite, etc. Even the Liszt 'Rhapsodies' have movements of marked
differences in tempo and style. Here the secret is to study each
division in its rel