L’Art de toucher le clavecin (The Art of Playing the Harpsichord) is a seminal pedagogical treatise by French Baroque composer François Couperin. It was originally published in 1716 and revised in 1717, and remains one of the most critical primary sources for understanding 18th-century keyboard performance practice, particularly for the French Baroque style.

The treatise provides comprehensive guidance on several aspects of performance that Couperin considered essential for playing his own Pièces de Clavecin:

Couperin introduced a “new” fingering system that replaced older methods, emphasizing smoother execution and better hand positioning.

The book contains an extensive table of musical signs and detailed explanations of ornaments, such as mordents, trills, and appoggiaturas.

Stylistic conventions such as notes inégales (the practice of playing even-written notes with a rhythmic inequality) and phrasing are included, and Couperin gives also specific advice on seating, hand position, and the delicate “touch” required to make the harpsichord expressive despite its lack of dynamic variation through key pressure.There are also progressive technical drills designed to “form the hands” of the student.

The Eight Preludes: A collection of eight original preludes specifically composed to illustrate the technical and expressive principles discussed in the text.

Allemande: A single Allemande is included to further demonstrate proper execution of complex keyboard works.