A teacher must see to it at first with the utmost attention that
all the tones according to their pitch are struck with purity,
and this can be done only by his repeating them over and over
again to his pupil, because, as we have already remarked, our
pianos, according to the present method of tuning, are never
sufficiently pure to form a singing tone. When the learner
has once become familiarized to the fine sound of pure tones,
he will hear and distinguish them, and learn to strike them
correctly with our pianos. How important to a fine timbre of
the tones the right direction of the breath is and its control,
as well as the best mode of securing these points, we have already
described at some length. The old Italian masters had established
distinct rules by which the breath was to be renewed.
These were: