The critical edition of John Playford's Introduction to the Skill of Musick (1672, Sixth edition) represents the contents of Playford's seminal pedagogical treatise in the middle of its development. Although Playford's Introduction was one of the most famous music texts of the period, a satisfactory modern edition of its contents has not yet been published. This is due, in part, to the fact that the interior contents of the Introduction changed markedly throughout its publication run from 1654 to 1730 (though post-1694 changes are minimal). This edition addresses this issue by presenting not only the transcription of the 1672 edition, but detailed contents of the entire publication run to better understand the shifting contents of the major sections of the work from its beginnings to the turn of the century.

The contents include an introductory essay concerning the development of the series, divided according to the main sections of the text: The Grounds and Rules of Musick, Instructions and Lessons for the Bass Viol, and The Art of Descant. The body is a full transcription of the 1672 edition with images. Two appendices contain 1) critical notes on the text and a comparison of the major changes-section changes, major wording and style changes, repertoire lists, along with significant codicological amendments-between editions using 1672 as the model, and 2) a list of all of the music in the different editions of the Introduction, including information regarding in which editions the pieces may be found and a reference to modern editions on those works.