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≈ when the music teacher gets carried away ≈

It is traditional (and for good reason) for a private music teacher to mark in pencil on a student's sheet music.
For example, when a student habitually misreads or misplays a given note, the teacher might circle the notehead.
The teacher might also add asterisks or similar symbols to draw the student's attention to specific neglected elements.
Specific short prose notations might also be added, such as "watch your tempo" or "use suggested fingerings" or "smooth!"

But seriously, is this over the top?

Now, for your viewing pleasure, here's the front cover:

~ FURTHER READING ~

You may have noticed that in addition to "holding back" and "Slower," there are two places where the printed music is marked "retarding."
It is traditional to use the Italian word "ritardando" even in an English publication.   (Of course, that is the rule with countless musical terms.)
It's possible that this publisher felt it helpful to use English terms; they used "gracefully" instead of "gracioso" and "in time" instead of "a tempo."
That was apparently acceptable in the year MCMLXIV, but now people have tended to use "retardation" specifically in regard to a mental deficiency,
so I'm guessing that would be avoided today.

For those who are roman numeral illiterate:

M		=	1000
CM		=	900 (i.e. 1000-100)
LX		=	60 (i.e. 50+10)
IV		=	4 (i.e. 5-1)
MCMLXIV		=	1964