ut where the Sense of
the Matter is made plain, the Stile may not be thought so material, in
Writings of this Kind.

THE

AUTHOR'S Dedication

TO HIS

Excellency the Earl of
PETERBOROUGH, General
of the Marines
of _Great-Britain_.

MY LORD,

I Should be afraid of leaving the World under the Imputation of
Ingratitude, should I any longer defer publishing the very many
Favours, which _Your Lordship_ so generously has bestow'd on me in
_Italy_, in _Germany_, in _Flanders_, in _England_; and principally at
your delightful Seat at _Parson's-Green_, where _Your Lordship_ having
been pleased to do me the Honour of imparting to me your Thoughts with
Freedom, I have often had the Opportunity of admiring your extensive
Knowledge, which almost made me overlook the Beauty and Elegance of the
Place. The famous _Tulip-Tree_, in your Garden there is not so
surprising a Rarity, as the uncommon Penetration of your Judgment, which
has sometimes (I may say) foretold Events, which have afterwards come
to pass. But what Return can I make for so great Obligations, when the
mentioning of them is doing myself an Honour, and the very
Acknowledgment has the Appearance of _Vanity_? It is better therefore to
treasure them up in my Heart, and remain respectfully silent; only
making an humble Request to _Your Lordship_ that you will condescend
favourably to accept this mean Offering of my OBSERVATIONS; which I am
induc'd to make, from the common Duty which lies upon every Professor to
preserve Musick in its Perfection; and upon Me in particular, for having
been the first, or among the first, of those who discovered the noble
Genius of your potent and generous Nation for it. However, I should not
have presum'd to dedicate them to a Hero adorn'd with such glorious
Actions, if _Singing_ was not a Delight of the Soul, or if any one had a
Soul more sensible of its Charms. On which account, I think, I have a
just Pretence to declare myself, with profound Obsequiousness,

YOUR LORDSHIP'S
_Most humble_,
_Most devoted and_
_Most oblig'd Servant_,
Pier. Francesco Tosi.

THE

CONTENTS.

The Introduction.

CHAP. I.

Observations for one who teaches a _Soprano_.

CHAP II.

Of the _Appoggiatura_.

CHAP. III.

Of the _Shake_.

CHAP. IV.

On _Divisions_.

CHAP. V.

Of _Recitative_.

CHAP. VI.

Observations for a _Student_.

CHAP. VII.

Of _Airs_.

CHAP. VIII.

Of _Cadences_.