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At the first decyphering of a new musical piece, the beginner cannot of course easily play in time; since he must bestow great attention on taking the notes correctly, and on the fingering, and must stop at each wrong-taken key to set himself right. As soon, however, as this is amended, he must endeavour to play through the piece; at first slowly indeed, and then continue to practise it, till he can go through it as quickly as the composer has indicated.
If you can accustom yourself, while playing, to count aloud, it will be exceedingly advantageous to you. But this it is difficult to manage, because, by so doing, freedom of playing is apt to be impeded; and, besides, we easily fall into the error of counting unequally. When you practise alone, therefore, it will be best only to count in idea, and to consult your car with great attention, in order to recall to your mind how the piece sounded while your teacher was present. Beating the time with the foot cannot well be recommended, because it often settles into a bad habit.
When long rests occur in both hands, counting mentally or aloud is exceedingly necessary; for you know that, in every musical composition, each bar must occupy exactly the same quantity of time as the rest, whether it consists of notes or rests.
Hitherto, I have only spoken of that sort
