practise the more difficult passages for the right hand very frequently, particularly the difficult and bold conclusion, that it may not strike the hearer as rough, weak, tame, or hurried.  It is an old rule, “If you begin well and end well, all is well.”  You ought to practise the skipping bass over and over again by itself, otherwise it will not go.  An incorrect or deficient bass, without depth of tone and without accentuation, ruins every thing, even the good temper of the hearer.  One thing more:  you know very well Chopin’s Nocturne in E flat, and have played it, among other things, for the last four weeks.  Suddenly you are called upon to play in company.  You choose this Nocturne because you have played it nearly every day for four weeks.  But alas! the piano fiends have come to confuse you!  You strike a false bass note, and at the modulation the weak little finger touches too feebly:  bah! the fundamental tone is wanting.  You are frightened, and grow still more so; your musical aunt is frightened also; the blood rushes to your teacher’s face, and I mutter to myself, “C’est toujours la meme.” The present style of skipping basses requires a great deal of practice and perfect security; it is necessary for you to know the piece by heart, in order to give your whole attention to the left hand.  It is also essential that you shall have acquired a clear, sound touch; otherwise, you cannot give a delicate accent and shading.  You must never allow yourself, without previous preparation, to play those pieces of music in company, in which an elegant mode of execution is all-important; otherwise, you will be taken by surprise by unexpected difficulties.  You must always pay special attention to the fundamental tones, even if there should be imperfections elsewhere.  Where one fault is less important than another, of two evils choose the least.  You have been playing now for six or eight years:  are you repaid for the trouble, if it only enables you to prepare embarrassments for others?  You are not willing to play easy, insignificant pieces; and such pieces as you choose require industry, earnestness, and perseverance.

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Young ladies, it is easy to discover the character of a person from his manner of standing, walking, moving, and speaking, from the way he bows, puts on and takes off his hat, or the arrangements of the household; and we seldom are in error about it.  It is also possible to infer beforehand how you will play and what sort of a performance you will give, from the manner in which you take your seat at the piano.  You sidle up to the piano lazily, bent over in a constrained manner; in your embarrassment, you place yourself before the one-lined or two-lined c, instead of before f; you sit unsteadily, either too high or too low, only half on the seat, leaning either too much to the right or to the left; in a word, as if you did not belong to the fatal music-stool.