e clearly understood that the
fingering should be adapted to fit the hand of the player. It is by no
means necessary to accept the fingering given in the book as 'gospel.'
The wise student will try many fingerings before deciding upon the one
that suits him best. Students who go to these pains are the ones who
invariably succeed. Those who take anything that is presented to them
without considering its advisability rarely attain lofty musical
heights.

"When a fingering has once been determined upon it should never be
changed. To change a fingering frequently means to waste many hours of
practice. This may be considered a mechanical method but it is the
method invariably employed by successful artists. Why? Simply because
one fingering closely adhered to establishes finger habits which give
freedom and certainty and permits the player to give more consideration
to the other details of artistic interpretation.

"I ofttimes find it expedient to adapt a more difficult fingering of
some given passage for the reason that the difficult fingering
frequently leads to a better interpretation of the composer's meaning. I
know of innumerable passages in the piano classics which illustrate this
point. Moreover a fingering that seems difficult at first is often more
simple than the conventional or arbitrary fingering employed by the
student, after the student has given sufficient time to the new
fingering. The required accent often obliges the performer to employ a
different fingering. The stronger fingers are naturally better adapted
to the stronger accents. Otherwise it is best to use a similar fingering
for similar passages.

MEMORIZING

"I should like to add a few words with regard to committing pieces to
memory. There are three ways. 1, By sight; that is, seeing the notes in
your mind's eye; 2, memorizing by 'ear,' the way which comes to one most
naturally; 3, memorizing by the fingers, that is training the fingers to
do their duty no matter what happens. Before performing in public the
student should have memorized the composition in all of these ways. Only
thus can he be absolutely sure of himself. If one way fails him the
other method comes to his rescue.

"After careful attention has been given to the various points of which I
have spoken and the details of the composition satisfactorily worked out
the student should practice with a view to learning the piece as a
whole. Nothing is so distressing to the musician as