If the student wants good value from this tutor, he must take pains to study everything and to practise it most diligently, without being discouraged, and always to compare what he is studying with the rules given above in order to be sure that everything is correct. If he does not do this, it will be all too easy for him to go astray, and mar his playing. And once this corrupt playing grows habitual to him, then all efforts to get back on the right path will be in vain.

If he has a teacher who is competent (but then, aren't they all!), it is this man's duty to give his close attention to everything, and have each thing played repeatedly so that no error should creep in; for not every pupil takes the trouble to try everything thoroughly and to fit his playing to the rules in this tutor. But even if the teacher is not competent, as is often the case, then he must read this tutor carefully and familiarise himself with the relevant rules – if conceit and pride do not forbid. Since it is not simply a matter of knowing how to do it, but also of the benefits of mechanical practice with which the former must be allied, it is therefore essential to put every detail to the test in playing.

The pupil must first, therefore, be concerned with the acquisition of a good stance – that is to say one which is free and uncramped – as it will have an effect on his playing.