At present, you need not play _fortissimo_, or with the pedal: for in that way you might be led into a tramping style, with a weak, stiff touch, and a habit of striking at the keys with straight fingers; and that I do not like.

We will look for the true and the beautiful in a very different treatment of the piano; and, first of all, in a clear, unaffected, healthy performance, free from any forced character.
_Second Lesson._ Transposition of the triads and dominant chord in their three positions, and in various kinds of measure; and practice of these, with careful attention to a correct touch and loose wrist; cadences on the dominant and sub-dominant; practice of the skipping bass in the theme, and in the first and third variations, with practice in striking and leaving the chords, observing carefully the precise value of the notes.

You must attend also to striking them not too forcibly or too feebly, and take special care with regard to the fourth and fifth fingers, which do not easily give the tone with so full a sound as the other three fingers.

Now we will try the theme with both hands together, and consider the correct expression, and likewise the _piano_ and _forte_, as well as the nicest _crescendo_ and _diminuendo_.

We will then take the first easy variation, of which you have already acquired a mastery: we will play it exactly _a tempo_ and with the bass chords, which should usually be given _staccato_, and which must be played with delicacy and flexibility; but it will be well for you to practise first the bass part once alone, in order that you may hear whether all the tones sound evenly.