One gets tired of noise. All music has to have its variety, and when one has thundered on the keyboard for long, a calm must follow. In my opinion a sweet and tender melody has to follow on something rustling and roaring.

So that one does not feel a lack of it, the occasion to display his inventory is given to the lover of a mannered playing in the present instruction, namely in those places, where the words si suona are found, meaning one plays, that is to say for the best, i.e. one plays something peculiar in the right hand. To say anything certain or proper about how this intended playing should be disposed is a sheer impossibility: since it must flow from free ideas and shall not be laboured. In general it can be said that the bass accompanies or plays full-voiced, while the right hand plays solo in the most cantabile way. The bass progressions are set so easily and naturally, that one would have to be very inexperienced if he does not immediately invent a neat voice to it, since the figured bass includes everything in itself already and puts it in the hand, so to speak. With that piece one may test his candidate and not think much of his art if he does not pass it.

Where the Presto appears, one plays the keyboard in the strongest way and rapidly strikes to every note, since this variety is not unpleasing, but will encourage the student and amuse the listener.

My remark about this very common key, (which is a trump for the tinkler) would else be, that as much as one can compose and play with compliments something fluent and lively in a sad and minor key, something tender and moving will not sound bad in this hard and common C major, e.g. a solo on the Viole d'Amour etc.

By the way, here the sentence is proven, that one who cannot sing does not know how to play. This might seem implausible to some organists, especially those in the cities, who do not fulfil the sexton duties at the same time. For in the countryside one is out of poverty and sparingness so modest and will contradict me so little in that, that both offices are given to one person, whereby my opinion gains a great many votes. But jokes aside. Who does not want to believe me and so many honest and upright men, shall try out the church music, that an organist not able to sing has created (for those people have fruitful nights, in which dozens of their mushrooms – I mean, their so-called compositiones force their way out of the earth) and shall listen, how badly the melodies are arranged, how poor it sounds. Who wants to go further, shall let such a person inexperienced in singing (we are not talking about those who did their part in the art of singing) play this example – he will see and hear wonders.

But this singing rule is not to be understood in a way, that one necessarily makes his craft and being out of it or indeed has to be a singer in order to play neatly. For there are many valiant people, who naturally do not have a voice for singing. It is not necessary that everybody has to gloat about a good throat. It is given only to the fewest; but not only every composer, but every thorough-bass player, in fact every instrumentalist, has to know the art of singing, and if his throat is of no use, at least his singing thoughts have to give the fingers their order, otherwise all is wooden and dead. Already Lippius knew to say that: That an instrumentalist is the more perfect, the more he turns to the art of singing.