Page:Letters to a Young Lady (Czerny).djvu/40

, with which you will now become acquainted, will give you an idea of the inexhaustible riches and variety in music.

But, Miss, do not neglect to still continue practising, with equal or even greater zeal, the finger-exercises, and especially the scales in all the keys.

The utility of this accessory practice is infinite; and, in particular, the diatonic and chromatic scales possess peculiar properties, which even the most skilful players have yet to fathom.

I also request you most earnestly, while you are studying new pieces, not by any means to forget those already learned, not even the earliest ones.

New pieces serve but little, if, on their account, the preceding ones are forgotten.

For the adroitness and expertness of the fingers, the eyes, and the ears must of necessity repose firmly and fundamentally on the experience which we have already gained; while these qualities are to be enlarged and refined by new acquisitions. If, for example, you forget a piece which it took you three weeks to learn, these three weeks are as good as lost. You should therefore retain, as a sort of absolute property, all the pieces you have ever learned; keep them safely, and never lend or give them away.