Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Er.. who?
Currently we are visiting B and family near San Francisco for Thanksgiving. We've visited the area several times, but we'd never been to Chinatown. So today we drove into the city and strolled up and down the streets for several hours. It was interesting navigating through the fresh food markets as the morning deliveries were being made, and watching all the locals grabbing up the fresh (live) fish, and all the unusual fruits and veggies.We just happened to stroll down a sidestreet and came across "Clarion Music Center", which was filled with chinese musical instruments. I was most interested in trying out an erhu. These are sometimes called chinese violins, with a small octagonal box fitted to a 2 1/2 foot stem or neck. Two strings (tuned to A and D) are stretched between the box and tuning pegs at the top of the neck. A bow is fitted between the two strings, the top side of the bowhair plays the A string, and the underside of the bowhair plays the D string. The bow is held somewhat like a bass bow. The bowhair is normally slack and is tensioned by the player using the forefinger. The erhu is fingered with the left hand, quite similar to playing the D and A strings on a cello.
With a little encouragement by the owner, I was able to produce a couple satisfactory notes on the erhu. Enough to convince me to buy one. I'll have to rely on You-Tube and the like for lessons, but I'm reasonably confident that I can use some of my cello skills to eventually be able to play this haunting instrument.
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Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Fiddling cello
There was a cellist, a fiddler, a double bassist, a banjo player (banjoist? banjist?), and a singer... Last night Z and I joined a few hundred other folk music enthusiasts who came out on a cold night for a terrific concert by Crooked Still. Several times each year our local impresario Mike Morgan, of "World Music for the Kenai", manages to snag a class act like this for a brief diversion from their nationwide tours to give a concert in our humble community. Last night's audience enthusiastically showed their appreciation for this rare opportunity to hear a top notch performance by this gifted group.
[One anecdote: Corey DiMario, the bassist, commented that the first time he'd ever heard of Soldotna was while listening to NPR's "Car Talk" earlier this year, when a caller from Soldotna phoned in for advice on how to protect his car's engine if our volcano exploded. None of us were surprised to learn that that particular caller was actually present in the audience. So Corey gave him a CD. And yes, as advised he did stretch panty hose over his cars' air intakes - we all did.]
Since we sat in the middle of the audience, rather far back from the stage, even though I could see the four standing performers quite well I wasn't able to watch Tristan Clarridge's terrific performance on his cello. From where I was sitting, I couldn't see his bow arm... but at times he was playing those notes so rapidly, I'm not that sure anyone could have seen it.
Tristan came to Crooked Still a few years ago after one of its founders, cellist Rushad Eggleston, moved on to form his own group, leaving some pretty big shoes to fill. From what I could hear last night, Tristan has more than met the challenge. Tristan's cello and the Brittany Haas's fiddle (also a newcomer to the group) were fully synchronized, and several pieces in the set showcased the cello against the banjo, played by Gregory Liszt.
From the beginning I've tried to imagine being able to play the cello like a fiddler, and last night was the first time I'd actually seen it done. As I struggle along my slow journey, I am newly inspired, no matter how long it takes to get there.
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Thursday, November 12, 2009
Bailing out
After a grueling effort to try to master the repertoire in time for the KPO's Halloween concert, I decided not to go through it all again to play in the *Redoubt Chamber Orchestra's "Evening of Christmas" concert next month. This was not an easy decision, and I spent quite a bit of time looking through the music selections and reviewing several of my old blog posts discussing goals, etc., before finally making up my mind.After looking through the RCO folder, I realized that even if I worked all month at three hours a day, I'd still never get far enough to be able to hold my own and enjoy the experience. While it was challenging to be able to play with the KPO last month, I just didn't feel like I was ready to be there, and most of the time I wasn't hitting the right notes anyway. In hindsight, the experience wasn't worth all the time and effort and stress I put on myself.
The bottom line is I am just not ready, technically, to play at this level. The RCO only has two (possibly three) cellos, so my inabilities would be difficult to mask. When there were seven or eight cellos, it was easy to lay low in the crowd.
My cello abilities are improving - slowly and steadily. I've thought a lot about what I want to get out of cello playing, and playing in the RCO and KPO are definitely included; but not until I'm ready - technically. I have a good idea of what I should study during the next year in order to get there - this includes work on pieces in Bb Major and Eb Major, rapid bowing exercises (that B part of L'Arlesienne makes a good etude), playing rapid scale and chromatic runs, and generally working on fast tempos. I have no doubt I'll see gains in each of these areas over the next year, especially if I post these goals on my music stand.
* The Redoubt Chamber Orchestra is a local version of the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra. About half of the KPO orchestra is based in Homer and half in the 'Central Peninsula' area - Soldotna and Kenai. The RCO appears to be made up mostly of this central peninsula half, and in recent years has only gotten together for the Christmas concerts.
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Sunday, November 01, 2009
Halloween Concert Report
Concert Notes
The best part: I played the entire "In the Hall of the Mountain King" piece at tempo with no mistakes! I've mentioned before that this piece was my first "classical" favorite - from second grade. Being able to actually play this particular piece - with its intense cello part - in my first performance with a full orchestra is a milepost of sorts in my cellomania. Yeah!
Another high note - our strings orchestra's two pieces, "Joust" and "Deep Sea Fandango" went really well - the best we'd ever played them.
My costume did not interfere with my playing, I made sure to keep it loose and to avoid possible entanglements of the cloth strips in the strings. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of me playing the cello in costume. If I do this again next year, I think I'll try something a bit less elaborate.
I didn't do that well with the "Funeral March for a Marionette", but not really so bad. Also, "Pirates of the Caribbean" was OK. I avoided some of the runs in Brahms' "Hungarian Dance #5" and most of "L'Arlesienne". The rest of the pieces were fine...
What I Learned
I don't feel as if I'm really ready for this level of performance, yet. It was gratifying to have this chance to play, and for a few brief periods I actually did feel like I belonged...
I devoted two full months of two- to three-hour practice sessions - at the cost of my lessons - along with lots of additional rehearsals. I did manage to "learn" all the pieces, but I wasn't able to get them quite up to speed. At the rehearsals and the two performances, I easily played the slower parts, but when we got to the fast sections my fingers seemed to forget where they were supposed to go. For most of it, the sound of the full orchestra was distracting (especially the five trombones and the tuba just behind my right ear - especially in "Pirates"). On several occasions, I couldn't even see the notes - they all seemed to blur together...
At my lesson this past week, I spent quite a bit of time fine-tuning some fingerings and bowings, but mostly we discussed my list of "issues" that I've been putting together:
1. My first finger extensions (x1) to Bb/A#, Eb, and Ab; and my fourth finger extensions (x4) to Eb, G#/Ab, and C# are sloppy. Worse yet are the transitions from x1 to x4. I need some etudes, I think...
2. I have difficulty playing scales and chromatic runs rapidly, going up and down. The problem seems to be both with coordination of bow and fingers and with the left-hand fingers simply getting in the way of each other.
3. I have trouble with rapid bowings, such as repeated short strokes - even on the same notes.
4. I need to work on ways to increase tempos, although I did succeed with "Hall of the Mountain King".
5. "L'Arlesienne" will stay on my music stand. It's a familiar tune, the cello has a strong role, at least half is in tenor clef, there is a lot of position work, and one part is made up of rapid double-stroke chromatic runs.
I took the day off, today, from my cello - it's funny how I felt so guilty skipping practice. Tomorrow I return to my lessons. And at tomorrow night's rehearsal of our strings group, we'll start working on Christmas music.
The best part: I played the entire "In the Hall of the Mountain King" piece at tempo with no mistakes! I've mentioned before that this piece was my first "classical" favorite - from second grade. Being able to actually play this particular piece - with its intense cello part - in my first performance with a full orchestra is a milepost of sorts in my cellomania. Yeah!
Another high note - our strings orchestra's two pieces, "Joust" and "Deep Sea Fandango" went really well - the best we'd ever played them.
My costume did not interfere with my playing, I made sure to keep it loose and to avoid possible entanglements of the cloth strips in the strings. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of me playing the cello in costume. If I do this again next year, I think I'll try something a bit less elaborate.
I didn't do that well with the "Funeral March for a Marionette", but not really so bad. Also, "Pirates of the Caribbean" was OK. I avoided some of the runs in Brahms' "Hungarian Dance #5" and most of "L'Arlesienne". The rest of the pieces were fine...
What I Learned
I don't feel as if I'm really ready for this level of performance, yet. It was gratifying to have this chance to play, and for a few brief periods I actually did feel like I belonged...
I devoted two full months of two- to three-hour practice sessions - at the cost of my lessons - along with lots of additional rehearsals. I did manage to "learn" all the pieces, but I wasn't able to get them quite up to speed. At the rehearsals and the two performances, I easily played the slower parts, but when we got to the fast sections my fingers seemed to forget where they were supposed to go. For most of it, the sound of the full orchestra was distracting (especially the five trombones and the tuba just behind my right ear - especially in "Pirates"). On several occasions, I couldn't even see the notes - they all seemed to blur together...
At my lesson this past week, I spent quite a bit of time fine-tuning some fingerings and bowings, but mostly we discussed my list of "issues" that I've been putting together:
1. My first finger extensions (x1) to Bb/A#, Eb, and Ab; and my fourth finger extensions (x4) to Eb, G#/Ab, and C# are sloppy. Worse yet are the transitions from x1 to x4. I need some etudes, I think...
2. I have difficulty playing scales and chromatic runs rapidly, going up and down. The problem seems to be both with coordination of bow and fingers and with the left-hand fingers simply getting in the way of each other.
3. I have trouble with rapid bowings, such as repeated short strokes - even on the same notes.
4. I need to work on ways to increase tempos, although I did succeed with "Hall of the Mountain King".
5. "L'Arlesienne" will stay on my music stand. It's a familiar tune, the cello has a strong role, at least half is in tenor clef, there is a lot of position work, and one part is made up of rapid double-stroke chromatic runs.
I took the day off, today, from my cello - it's funny how I felt so guilty skipping practice. Tomorrow I return to my lessons. And at tomorrow night's rehearsal of our strings group, we'll start working on Christmas music.
# Posted by Guanaco @ 8:03 PM Thanks for visiting my blog! Your comments (5) are appreciated.
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Playing in an orchestra at beginning and intermediate levels can be a real trade-off. One might achieve "better" long-term growth by continuing methodical skill building in lessons. OTOH, playing fun music in a social setting can motivate creative work and sticking to it. I think the balance is what you have discovered - pull out the important "next step" technical stuff and work on it in lessons, letting the rest go for now. Oh, and my cardinal rule is to never ask my teacher to work out fingerings during lesson time. As I discovered with T1-, that is a total waste of time on both parts.
You may feel you aren't ready to play in an orchestra quite yet, but I disagree. The reason you feel not ready is because you have never done it before. The things you cited as being troublesome (the sound of the orchestra, couldn't see the notes) will not be helped by additional practice by yourself, you need to throw yourself into the new experience...its hard sometimes, but it will become easier the more you do it!
The best of way learning is by doing. Having a real life goal of playing a piece in an orchestra and being able to participate in a concert and feel part of a group just doesn't have the same bang for the buck as studying an etude. True, it's a "real dinner party" versus a controlled "how to cook" course (Today's lesson is on how to slice onions). There will be plenty of room for improvement. But it sure is nice to have that moment or two where it all comes together where you enjoy playing the music.
Really enjoyed the concert! The musice was great, and the "plot" was clever and festive. Your costume was ghastly (that's a compliment)! I was encouraged to see so many cellos in little ol' Kenai! I'm still screeching away on my own, but hope to have a violinist over for tea soon to pick her brain (no zombie pun intended) about what I'm doing right and wrong.
Thanks for a great performance!
Renee
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Thanks for a great performance!
Renee
# posted by 
: 11/06/2009 6:19 PM
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
Halloween
I haven't worn a Halloween costume for more than 25 years - that was for the final community Halloween carnival at our local elementary school. At that time, the school carnival was the social event of the year in our small community. Everyone joined in - many in costume - regardless of whether they had kids in the school. I wore a full-cover hazardous waste suit I had borrowed from work. [The next year "Halloween" was redefined by the new principal, who decided to host a "Harvest Festival" (no costumes allowed). That lame substitute ended several decades of school-sponsored carnivals.]I was invited to play this year's Halloween concert with the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra, and costumes were "expected". At first I wasn't going to dress up, but eventually I decided to become a mummy. This was not going to be a simple task, so I consulted the internet:
First, a trip to Salvation Army for a white dress shirt and white pants.
Then I ripped two old bedsheets into 1-1/2 inch strips, and soaked them for several hours in a solution of hot water and 40 bags of black tea. The dried strips were varying shades of reddish brown off-whites, with darker edges.
After a brief sewing lesson about which buttons to push [but primarily to make sure I didn't screw up the machine] I spent the next several evenings stitching the costume together.
I ripped out the inseam of the pants to lay each leg out flat, and started sewing on each strip, beginning at the bottom and overlapping each successive layer like shingling a roof. Every few rows I left the end dangling to make it look as if the mummy's wrapping was falling apart. After the legs were done I sewed the inseams back together and finished layering the rest of the pants up to the belt.
For the shirt I cut off the cuffs and collar and then ripped open the seams of the sleeves before sewing on the layers of wrapping. After reassembling the sleeves I removed the buttons and sewed the lower two-thirds of the shirtfront closed. Then I finished sewing on the layers all the way up to the neck.
For the headpiece, I cut the bill off an old white ball cap and used a hot-glue gun to layer the strips around the hat. Three or four extra layers were hung from the back of the hat to cover the back of my head.
With the antiqued colors and dangling strips of cloth it began to look pretty good, but it seemed as if something was still missing. I also needed to figure out what to do about the wrists and neck. Then I stumbled across a bolt of gauze in the sale bin at Jo-Anns. After cutting it into strips and dying them in the tea-solution I used the hot-glue gun to tack pieces of gauze so they would stick out below random parts of the layers around the hat. I hung a three-foot loop of gauze from one side to the other and tacked pieces to the collar and cuffs. These were for wrapping loosely around my neck and ears.
Tan-colored socks and a pair of tan loafers completed the costume.
Then the makeup: I ordered a Woochie "wound" to show the mummy's face in decay. I painted the blood-red areas of the plastic wound black (since mummies don't have blood, of course). I applied woochie wounds to my cheek and chin with spirit glue. Then I painted black grease-paint makeup around my eyes and used white grease-paint to cover the rest of my face and feather the edges of the wound. And then, black lipstick.
Finally, I prepared some grey fingernail polish using some black and white polish that came with the makeup kits, because mummies' fingernails would also be decayed, right?
With two concerts scheduled (last night in Homer and this afternoon in Kenai), I had to costume up twice, taking about an hour and a half each time. But, even if I say so myself, I think the costume came out pretty good.Then I ripped two old bedsheets into 1-1/2 inch strips, and soaked them for several hours in a solution of hot water and 40 bags of black tea. The dried strips were varying shades of reddish brown off-whites, with darker edges.
After a brief sewing lesson about which buttons to push [but primarily to make sure I didn't screw up the machine] I spent the next several evenings stitching the costume together.
I ripped out the inseam of the pants to lay each leg out flat, and started sewing on each strip, beginning at the bottom and overlapping each successive layer like shingling a roof. Every few rows I left the end dangling to make it look as if the mummy's wrapping was falling apart. After the legs were done I sewed the inseams back together and finished layering the rest of the pants up to the belt.
For the shirt I cut off the cuffs and collar and then ripped open the seams of the sleeves before sewing on the layers of wrapping. After reassembling the sleeves I removed the buttons and sewed the lower two-thirds of the shirtfront closed. Then I finished sewing on the layers all the way up to the neck.
For the headpiece, I cut the bill off an old white ball cap and used a hot-glue gun to layer the strips around the hat. Three or four extra layers were hung from the back of the hat to cover the back of my head.
With the antiqued colors and dangling strips of cloth it began to look pretty good, but it seemed as if something was still missing. I also needed to figure out what to do about the wrists and neck. Then I stumbled across a bolt of gauze in the sale bin at Jo-Anns. After cutting it into strips and dying them in the tea-solution I used the hot-glue gun to tack pieces of gauze so they would stick out below random parts of the layers around the hat. I hung a three-foot loop of gauze from one side to the other and tacked pieces to the collar and cuffs. These were for wrapping loosely around my neck and ears.
Tan-colored socks and a pair of tan loafers completed the costume.
Then the makeup: I ordered a Woochie "wound" to show the mummy's face in decay. I painted the blood-red areas of the plastic wound black (since mummies don't have blood, of course). I applied woochie wounds to my cheek and chin with spirit glue. Then I painted black grease-paint makeup around my eyes and used white grease-paint to cover the rest of my face and feather the edges of the wound. And then, black lipstick.
Finally, I prepared some grey fingernail polish using some black and white polish that came with the makeup kits, because mummies' fingernails would also be decayed, right?
I'll post something about the concert itself in a day or so, after I've had some time to relax and reflect. [All in all, they both went really well. I came up with a action-list of several areas to focus on in my lessons for the next several months.]
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Monday, October 26, 2009
Coming Soon
It really has been a BUSY month. The rehearsals are all over. The concerts are Friday and Saturday. I'm about 60% ready. I'm actually surprised I've reached that level.We're supposed to be playing in costume. I haven't dressed for Halloween for more than 25 years, so of course I'm going all out.
I'll put up a full report, with pics, after Saturday's concert.
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Saturday, October 17, 2009
Master Class
Alexander Suleiman and Patricia Hoy gave us a fantastic concert last night. I particularly enjoyed Beethoven's Sonata #3 in A Major for Piano and Cello - the cello seems well suited for this one. I also enjoyed Rachmaninoff's Sonata in G Minor for Cello and Piano (and particularly the "Andante"), which gives full voice to both the piano and cello.
Mr. Suleiman hails from Germany but currently lives in L.A. where he teaches at USC. He tours worldwide (primarily in developing countries) between class sessions. He was quite willing to hold a Master class today for just us four cellists (the entire cello section of our community strings orchestra), ranging in age from 10 to 58, and experience from 7 weeks to 6 years (not in that same order). We met this morning at Cello3's house along with a few family members along with two local music teachers. Alexander was very personable and easygoing with us and we were all quite soon relaxed and comfortable.
Not surprisingly I entered this with great trepidation, as I'm usually too uptight to play well in this kind of setting. I got up quite early today and spent a few hours practicing our pieces before the class, then I arrived early and we spent another hour or so rehearsing our duets together. [What is it that makes us want to play perfectly for a teacher? If we could play perfectly why would we need the teacher?]
He started out working with our youngest member and patiently and carefully brought her through a few technical issues. He was kind and supportive as she capably incorporated each suggestion. After an hour or so, he worked with her mother, who had just started learning the cello. Within a few minutes he had helped her make significant improvements in bow control and sound. Then we took a break for lunch and chatted with him about his recent tour through the mid-east and eastern Europe and about his views about music "pedagogy" - primarily the importance of matching teaching techniques to the student's particular skills and abilities rather than a "one-size-fits-all" approach. He told us about his appointment as director of the Arts Academy in Bremen, Germany to develop a program to train promising artists from developing countries.
Cello3 and I then played one of our duets, the infamous LeClerc piece (which turned out to be Le Tambourin by Jean-Phillipe Rameau, arranged for two cellos by Jean LeClerc). We'd recently spent a few of our weekly sessions working out the fingering and timing, but really didn't have it ready for any sort of performance yet. However we both like playing it and were looking forward to Alexander's input. His first comment to me was that I should try to relax my overly technical - and tense - approach and infuse some passion and feeling (how quickly he sized me up!) So he suggested we ease off on the staccato and for now the trills, and then speed it up - a lot! After several tries (along with some suggestions on fingering and shifts) we ended up playing it lightning fast - way beyond anything we'd ever considered before. I re-met my old stumble points, but mostly worked through them. Then we talked about articulation and intonation. By the end of 45 minutes it sounded quite different from where we'd started. Gone were the slow, slightly spooky, but rather plodding cadences; in their place was a light, airy "crowd-pleaser" with plenty of room for interpretation and ornamentation. We then spent worked on one of our Matz duets, which focused on technical issues.
Finally we all played one of the pieces we're preparing for the community strings orchestra part of the KPO Halloween concert. That was fun!
After four hours, we were all exhausted but feeling pretty good about the day. Alexander turned down our offers to pay for the class, suggesting we donate the "tuition" to the Performing Arts Society, which hosted their visit to our area. He and Patricia Hoy are staying over through Monday so they can play for two local schools.
Now, back to practicing for the KPO concert in two weeks...
Mr. Suleiman hails from Germany but currently lives in L.A. where he teaches at USC. He tours worldwide (primarily in developing countries) between class sessions. He was quite willing to hold a Master class today for just us four cellists (the entire cello section of our community strings orchestra), ranging in age from 10 to 58, and experience from 7 weeks to 6 years (not in that same order). We met this morning at Cello3's house along with a few family members along with two local music teachers. Alexander was very personable and easygoing with us and we were all quite soon relaxed and comfortable.
Not surprisingly I entered this with great trepidation, as I'm usually too uptight to play well in this kind of setting. I got up quite early today and spent a few hours practicing our pieces before the class, then I arrived early and we spent another hour or so rehearsing our duets together. [What is it that makes us want to play perfectly for a teacher? If we could play perfectly why would we need the teacher?]
He started out working with our youngest member and patiently and carefully brought her through a few technical issues. He was kind and supportive as she capably incorporated each suggestion. After an hour or so, he worked with her mother, who had just started learning the cello. Within a few minutes he had helped her make significant improvements in bow control and sound. Then we took a break for lunch and chatted with him about his recent tour through the mid-east and eastern Europe and about his views about music "pedagogy" - primarily the importance of matching teaching techniques to the student's particular skills and abilities rather than a "one-size-fits-all" approach. He told us about his appointment as director of the Arts Academy in Bremen, Germany to develop a program to train promising artists from developing countries.
Cello3 and I then played one of our duets, the infamous LeClerc piece (which turned out to be Le Tambourin by Jean-Phillipe Rameau, arranged for two cellos by Jean LeClerc). We'd recently spent a few of our weekly sessions working out the fingering and timing, but really didn't have it ready for any sort of performance yet. However we both like playing it and were looking forward to Alexander's input. His first comment to me was that I should try to relax my overly technical - and tense - approach and infuse some passion and feeling (how quickly he sized me up!) So he suggested we ease off on the staccato and for now the trills, and then speed it up - a lot! After several tries (along with some suggestions on fingering and shifts) we ended up playing it lightning fast - way beyond anything we'd ever considered before. I re-met my old stumble points, but mostly worked through them. Then we talked about articulation and intonation. By the end of 45 minutes it sounded quite different from where we'd started. Gone were the slow, slightly spooky, but rather plodding cadences; in their place was a light, airy "crowd-pleaser" with plenty of room for interpretation and ornamentation. We then spent worked on one of our Matz duets, which focused on technical issues.
Finally we all played one of the pieces we're preparing for the community strings orchestra part of the KPO Halloween concert. That was fun!
After four hours, we were all exhausted but feeling pretty good about the day. Alexander turned down our offers to pay for the class, suggesting we donate the "tuition" to the Performing Arts Society, which hosted their visit to our area. He and Patricia Hoy are staying over through Monday so they can play for two local schools.
Now, back to practicing for the KPO concert in two weeks...
# Posted by Guanaco @ 7:43 PM Thanks for visiting my blog! Your comments (4) are appreciated.
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Aargh, blogger ate my comment. I had a whole amusing story about that LeClerc piece. Two teachers have now hated my Halloweeny interpretation of it.
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# posted by : 10/24/2009 1:52 AM
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Sunday, October 11, 2009
First rehearsal
It wasn't nearly as bad as I had dreaded. I've gotten to know many of the players over the last few years - people who in one way or another have supported and encouraged me in my own personal quest. It was gratifying to finally be able to join them (even if part of me still doesn't really think I'm ready).
It helped that I've done a lot of work on these pieces these last five weeks. Listening to those recordings repeatedly - first at slowed-tempos and then at normal speed - while following along in the score, let me get familiar with my expected role. The trombones behind me on the right sure were loud, but they did help me stay on tempo.
There were lots of places where I got completely lost, but I now know these pieces well enough to be able to find re-entry points. There were several places where I realized I would have to focus on learning just the quarter notes (particularly in the Brahms "Hungarian Dance #5") and simply let all those super-fast eighth notes go by. I also realized I ought to go ahead and start learning several parts (at least) of the Bizet "L'Arlesienne".
We rehearse again next Sunday.
It helped that I've done a lot of work on these pieces these last five weeks. Listening to those recordings repeatedly - first at slowed-tempos and then at normal speed - while following along in the score, let me get familiar with my expected role. The trombones behind me on the right sure were loud, but they did help me stay on tempo.
There were lots of places where I got completely lost, but I now know these pieces well enough to be able to find re-entry points. There were several places where I realized I would have to focus on learning just the quarter notes (particularly in the Brahms "Hungarian Dance #5") and simply let all those super-fast eighth notes go by. I also realized I ought to go ahead and start learning several parts (at least) of the Bizet "L'Arlesienne".
We rehearse again next Sunday.
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and sitting in front of trumpets is even worse! Have fun!
Try playing just the first note of the eight note run or only the the down beats until you get acclimated to the speed.
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Try playing just the first note of the eight note run or only the the down beats until you get acclimated to the speed.
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Thursday, October 08, 2009
Tormented by tempos
I am really struggling to increase tempos on the concert pieces - we have our first full rehearsal on Sunday and I am nowhere near ready. I "know" the notes for most of the pieces, but I'm still way off on tempos, way off.I'd begun early last month learning the pieces by playing through them slowly, making small tempo changes every three or four days, and practicing at each new speed until I'd overcome all of the tricky passages. Then I ratcheted up the tempo another notch. This worked fairly well until my teacher commented to me that at this next full rehearsal we'll be playing at or near full tempo, so I should probably start jumping more than one notches each time, and that I should also start playing against the recordings that I'd downloaded.
Our arrangement of Pirates includes the basic "Jack Sparrow" tune, with a brief excerpt from "I've Got My Eye on You", then back to the last half of "Jack Sparrow". I ripped these two songs from a Pirates music CD into my Cakewalk software (which came with the turntable I bought for converting all my LPs to mp3). It took a while to figure out exactly where to cut and where to insert, but I ended up with a clean mix of the arrangement that we'll be playing.
But when I tried sitting down to play with the tune, I realized I was still hopelessly far away. So I imported the mixed-mp3 into Audacity, and used one of its "Effects Tools" to reduce the tempo by 20% (while preserving the pitch). Then I saved this as a "slow" version.
Today, I started out by listening to the piece in segments, figuring out the [adjusted] tempos using my metronome, and simply counting out loud from my score as I listened. Then I went through it "singing" the notes from the score against the recording [note that I DO NOT sing, this was more like humming, or 'da-da-da']. This allowed me to start recognizing the cello parts, especially when the cellos are almost lost in the full orchestra.
Finally, I started trying to play against the recording. Even with all the preparation this was really challenging, and it took quite a few runs through each passage before I was able to start holding my own with its tempo. I'm kind of encouraged, even though I know that I'm still 20% short of final speed. I'm thinking about saving a -10% version for my next practice level before tackling the full tempo.
I learned that there are several passages that I may have to simply accept I won't be able to play fully, and I should just focus on playing the opening note of each group. These include several triplet runs that I could barely even play at slow-slow tempos, and I wasn't able to get them at today's -20% rate. That's OK, though. I spent a little time playing these passages using just the opening notes, and it went fine. Although I still intend to work on the individual notes in hopes of getting there in time for the concert, at least I'll be able to play something in case I don't.
I spent most of the day just on Pirates (literally most of the day - more than 4 hours today). Whew. Well, one benefit from these last six weeks of concert preparation is that I've significantly increased my stamina. Although my left elbow, wrist and thumb muscles are complaining.
I decided today to drop "L'Arleseinne" (Bizet). Even though I like the piece and really would enjoy playing it someday, I realized that I just won't have enough time to give it justice (it has lots of tenor clef passages - and I only started looking at tenor clef a few months ago.) With lots of shifts in tenor clef, I was having a hard time trying to simultaneously decode these two alterations from the basic "code" while worrying about tempos, etc. Also today, I began playing the Brahms "Hungarian Dance #5" with just the initial notes.
In spite of all the optimism in the above paragraphs, I am really struggling with myself right now. I'm asking whether I actually can pull this off, or have I hit some insurmountable wall, one I'll never be able to climb. After four years, a large part of me is wondering why I'm still doing this to myself.
It has been suggested that all music already exists as pure energy somewhere out there in the spheres and we mere mortals simply act as conduits to convert it into an audible form through our instruments. Some people are blessed with a natural ability to pull that music out of the ether and turn it into something exceptionally beautiful. While certain others may lack that "natural" ability, by working very hard for years they are finally able to achieve similar results. Still others (by far the largest group) struggle endlessly and manage only to produce minimal results. I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm way down at the lower end of this scale and that no matter how hard I try, I'll just never get to a point where I could be able to feel good about it.
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Baloney! I don't believe it for a moment -- that you're on the lower end of the natural ability scale and all that blah, blah, blah...
My circumstances are such that I happen to see/hear a lot of people that start an instrument as an adult. For that matter, I get to hear kids, too. It takes years on any of them, but cello really is different. It's harder because we're big and low, almost like a bass, but we're violin/viola wannabes. Fiddlers take a long time to learn to play, and most never even shift an inch. And that great array of instruments with frets? Lots easier than what we have to contend with. And what other stringed instruments, other than string bass, have to shift just to play a simple scale out of 1st position (And string bass has the advantage on being tuned in fourths, so it gets easier in higher positions).
Cello was originally invented to play simple bass stuff. As time went on, the bar for cello playing was soon raised, so the learning curve is great.
Ah, but then, none of the others, not even viol da gamba, can sound like us.
My circumstances are such that I happen to see/hear a lot of people that start an instrument as an adult. For that matter, I get to hear kids, too. It takes years on any of them, but cello really is different. It's harder because we're big and low, almost like a bass, but we're violin/viola wannabes. Fiddlers take a long time to learn to play, and most never even shift an inch. And that great array of instruments with frets? Lots easier than what we have to contend with. And what other stringed instruments, other than string bass, have to shift just to play a simple scale out of 1st position (And string bass has the advantage on being tuned in fourths, so it gets easier in higher positions).
Cello was originally invented to play simple bass stuff. As time went on, the bar for cello playing was soon raised, so the learning curve is great.
Ah, but then, none of the others, not even viol da gamba, can sound like us.
I agree. But can sympathise also... my cello-ego is still in the doldrums after a guitarist uttered the cellists most loathed words to me... "that's out of tune". That was three weeks ago & even though I know a. my teacher assures me I have really good intonation & b. he obviously has 'fret-complex' when in the superior company of me and my baby : ), I am still recovering.
Ahh, it's a life of love and torment when one is a slave to the cello : ).
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Ahh, it's a life of love and torment when one is a slave to the cello : ).
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Thursday, October 01, 2009
Music month
October is filled with music (and driving). Most of it will be preparation for the two KPO concerts at the end of the month - one in Homer on the 30th and the second in Kenai on the afternoon of the 31st. I'm currently practicing three hours a day, trying to nail down the tricky passages and increase my tempos.
The KPO has scheduled three rehearsals on successive Sunday afternoons, starting on the 10th. Because half the orchestra lives in Homer and the other half live 90 to 100 miles north in the Kenai-Soldotna area, the rehearsals are held in Ninilchik, a small town about mid-way between the two.
In addition to my biweekly lessons (in Homer) I'll be joining my Cellocracy partner for two extra joint sessions with our teacher. Since she is principal cello in the KPO, we're working with her on bowings and fingerings. We've also devoted our regular Tuesday evening Cellocracy sessions to concert preparation.
Also, as part of the concert our local strings orchestra will play three pieces; and we'll be busy rehearsing on Monday
evenings.
Finally, on Friday the 16th, our local Performing Arts Society will host an evening with
cellist Alexander Suleiman from USC, and pianist Patricia Hoy. The next day
we're hoping to setup a master class with Alexander.
.
.
.
whew
.
.
.
December is also starting to fill up with a variety of Christmas concerts and party gigs.
The KPO has scheduled three rehearsals on successive Sunday afternoons, starting on the 10th. Because half the orchestra lives in Homer and the other half live 90 to 100 miles north in the Kenai-Soldotna area, the rehearsals are held in Ninilchik, a small town about mid-way between the two.
In addition to my biweekly lessons (in Homer) I'll be joining my Cellocracy partner for two extra joint sessions with our teacher. Since she is principal cello in the KPO, we're working with her on bowings and fingerings. We've also devoted our regular Tuesday evening Cellocracy sessions to concert preparation.
Also, as part of the concert our local strings orchestra will play three pieces; and we'll be busy rehearsing on Monday
evenings.
Finally, on Friday the 16th, our local Performing Arts Society will host an evening with
cellist Alexander Suleiman from USC, and pianist Patricia Hoy. The next day
we're hoping to setup a master class with Alexander.
.
.
.
whew
.
.
.
December is also starting to fill up with a variety of Christmas concerts and party gigs.
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Friday, September 25, 2009
Faster, Faster
Today I played through "Pirates...", "...Marionette", and "Hungarian Dance #5" without any mistakes. I've finally gotten their fingering and rhythms sorted out. I'm not yet consistent with "...Hall of the Mountain King", but I should be there in a couple days. While my tempos really aren't "that" slow, I've got a LOT of speeding up yet to do. I'm not really sure how I'm going to do this in the few weeks remaining before the formal rehearsals start. At least I've finally learned to practice with the metronome.I've been practicing about three hours a day, focusing on the nine concert pieces. Every third or fourth day, I try to run through my lesson pieces a few times to keep from getting too rusty.
I've scheduled a few extra extended lessons over the next month along with my stand-partner. This past week, we played through several pieces together, each of us taking a different part where needed. It's always an 'ear'-opener for me the first time I hear all the cello parts together, and for whatever reason my own playing seems to stumble a bit until I get used to my part in the bigger picture. The first full rehearsal with all the other strings, and the horns, etc. will probably be a lot worse.
This has been quite a change for me. Normally, I practice every day with no particular goal in front of me. This is not to say that I don't have my practice goals, but these are usually internal to whatever piece I'm learning - this rhythm, that fingering combination, those shifts, etc., and I work on them until they're good enough to move on. Progress is usually hard to measure.
But now, I have a distinct deadline: October 30 and October 31, along with three full rehearsals before then. I want to be able to hold my own, to be a smooth part of the group. I want to not screw up, to not play that awkward loud note when everyone else is holding a rest, to not be the one who makes it all muddy by playing off tempo or out of rhythm, to not lose my place and fumble for a re-entry in a panic. [I've done all these, BTW, at one time or another in my beginners' string orchestra, so I know what to expect.]
I've taken a different approach to learning these. Since a lot of what I'll be playing doesn't really sound like what I'm used to, I searched YouTube for videos of other orchestras playing these songs, and downloaded them to my iPod. I spent quite a bit of time listening to them and then started trying to follow along in my score. Also, I concentrated on counting the rhythms to myself [this is another area I need to work on.] It took a while, but I finally began to place the cello parts, and started to hear how my parts fit in with the whole.
As I tentatively and slowly played through each piece for the first few times, I flagged the trouble spots for separate study. I spent a lot of time on these (playing pizzicato, slowly). Each day I picked out a different area for extra attention as well as playing through the entire set - still slowly. As I got more comfortable, I started varying the tempos - trying to move ahead in any areas that weren't too hard. Some days I work on playing through at a more rapid tempo with less attention on accuracy; other days I attend to fingering and intonation - usually at slower tempos.
The challenge is to put this all together...
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As if you don't have way too much cello music to play and learn, I've emailed you a new Christmas arrangement that you might have a chance to look at. It's not written in stone yet, I'd be receptive to comments and proposed changes.
It is written for 4 cellos, but could also work with any instrumentalist or vocalist on melody, and 3 cellos.
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It is written for 4 cellos, but could also work with any instrumentalist or vocalist on melody, and 3 cellos.
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Friday, September 18, 2009
"Aargh!"
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Sunday, September 13, 2009
Learning the repertoire
I've spent most of my past two weeks practice sessions working through the seven pieces for the KPO's Halloween concert - picking up the rhythms, sorting out fingerings, and stepping through the trickier shifts and string crossings.Once in a while I'll "uncover" a familiar passage, which allows me to calibrate myself to the piece as a whole. I've not started worrying much about tempos, yet, although I do work with the metronome, slowly tick-tick-ticking beside me. Once I've worked these out, I'll begin picking up speeds.
I've taken a more haphazard approach than I usually do to new pieces, concentrating on just a few lines or even a few bars at a time, and then moving on. So far, it seems to be working.
In my excitement at learning these new pieces, I'd let my lesson studies slide somewhat. A few days ago I returned to the critical parts to avoid getting rusty - also, I do have a lesson next week...
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Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Movin' On Up
The Kenai Peninsula Orchestra's next concert will be at the end of October. As part of the bill, our community beginner/intermediate string orchestra will also be playing three pieces. But on top of that, I will be sitting in with the KPO for their set - along with a few other members from our strings group. We'll be playing "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Funeral March for a Marionette", and "The Hall of the Mountain King", among others.
This is a huge step for me - I'm going to have to double up my practice routines over the next eight weeks if I want to be anywhere near ready. I'll be scheduling extra lessons over the next month to work on some of the trickier passages with my teacher (who is principal cello).
Of course, that little guy on my left shoulder is already hollering at me: "no way...", "you're nowhere near ready...", "maybe you should wait another year...", etc. But my teacher was very supportive and told me that although it won't be easy, I'm definitely ready for this.
I'm really looking forward to this. Grieg's "Pier Gynt Suite" has been a favorite since my early teens; and I particularly like "The Hall of the Mountain King" (along with "Anitra's Dance"). I can't believe I'll actually be performing it with my cello!
At today's lesson (#73) we played through the Marcello "Sonata" and the Bach "Minuets" from Suzuki 4. I've progressed rather well on both these pieces, and we identified a handful of areas to fine tune as I continue to work up to speed. She commented that my rhythm and timing were really quite good [A first!].
Primary issues to pay attention to:
1) accuracy of shifts - identify the target note for each shift, even if I won't actually play that note; slide my fingers along the strings to the appropriate note instead of throwing my hand in hopes of hitting the right place;
2) relax thumb pressure - try playing those tricky parts without using my thumb at all;
3) play with all my fingers closer to the strings, watching for sloppy hand "shape";
4) practice appropriate thumb movement during extensions;
5) relax and breathe - play with less tension, don't stress so much about hitting the right notes, etc.
6) start listening to Tchaikovsky's "Chanson Triste" on the Suzuki 4 CD; and follow along by reading the music in tenor clef.
This is a huge step for me - I'm going to have to double up my practice routines over the next eight weeks if I want to be anywhere near ready. I'll be scheduling extra lessons over the next month to work on some of the trickier passages with my teacher (who is principal cello).
Of course, that little guy on my left shoulder is already hollering at me: "no way...", "you're nowhere near ready...", "maybe you should wait another year...", etc. But my teacher was very supportive and told me that although it won't be easy, I'm definitely ready for this.
I'm really looking forward to this. Grieg's "Pier Gynt Suite" has been a favorite since my early teens; and I particularly like "The Hall of the Mountain King" (along with "Anitra's Dance"). I can't believe I'll actually be performing it with my cello!
At today's lesson (#73) we played through the Marcello "Sonata" and the Bach "Minuets" from Suzuki 4. I've progressed rather well on both these pieces, and we identified a handful of areas to fine tune as I continue to work up to speed. She commented that my rhythm and timing were really quite good [A first!].
Primary issues to pay attention to:
1) accuracy of shifts - identify the target note for each shift, even if I won't actually play that note; slide my fingers along the strings to the appropriate note instead of throwing my hand in hopes of hitting the right place;
2) relax thumb pressure - try playing those tricky parts without using my thumb at all;
3) play with all my fingers closer to the strings, watching for sloppy hand "shape";
4) practice appropriate thumb movement during extensions;
5) relax and breathe - play with less tension, don't stress so much about hitting the right notes, etc.
6) start listening to Tchaikovsky's "Chanson Triste" on the Suzuki 4 CD; and follow along by reading the music in tenor clef.
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Hi. I greatly enjoy your blog! Wanted to encourage you about the music in your orchestra. We played both "Pirates" and "Hall" in my orchestra and they were great fun-especially Pirates! One part is extremely cello challenging- play what you can and enjoy the rest!
Way!! Performing with limited practice is a great thing to learn, and performing real music with an orchestra is a great step. Sometime I'll scare you with my horror story of joining my first orchestra and sight-reading the finale of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony the next day. It was terrifying--but exhilarating.
Wo0t! I am so excited for you! I am actually doing the reverse: playing with a really good amateur orchestra every now and again just to rehab my numb hands. The fear is the same: Beethoven 9 is on the menu for this concert. But the great thing is that you can practice and rehearse your way up to a whole new level of competence. I am really looking forward to hearing from you the day after the concert. Double Wo0t!
Your word verifications are always the best. Today is "drolt". Indeed.
Your word verifications are always the best. Today is "drolt". Indeed.
Your notes from your lesson sound like mine! I think we're paralleling. :)
Peer Gynt was great fun indeed when my orchestra played it. The cello absolutely drives 'Hall'. I'm most fond of 'Ase's Death'; it's a good challenge to see how quiet you can get, and the mute adds such a unique sound.
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Peer Gynt was great fun indeed when my orchestra played it. The cello absolutely drives 'Hall'. I'm most fond of 'Ase's Death'; it's a good challenge to see how quiet you can get, and the mute adds such a unique sound.
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Sunday, August 30, 2009
Warming up
With surprising progress with the first of the Bach Minuets, I began working this week on the second Minuet in Suzuki Book 4, just pizzicato, measure by measure.On the other hand, I've gotten stuck somehow, trying to increase my tempo on the Breval Rondo. I keep stumbling at those sixteenth-note runs.
I'm tackling this in a different manner than I've previously used. After my warmup scales, I decided to play each of these isolated sections as if I were warming up with a new scale. Starting slowly with the metronome, playing note by note, listening for accuracy, clarity and smooth transitions across strings and positions. Once I'm completely satisfied, I then increase the tempo a few notches.
From the three pieces I'm currently working on, I've isolated five tricky sections for this intensive treatment. The past few days, I've spent 5 to 10 minutes on each of these sections. I've not yet reached my desired tempo/accuracy with any of these, but I can hear definite progress with all of them.
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Saturday, August 15, 2009
Burger Birthday
For Z's 17th birthday yesterday (also our 38th anniversary) I made this cake - inspired by his summer job at [Large Hamburger Chain].I guess I've watched too many episodes of Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes.
[The bun top was baked in a large glass casserole dish, the bun bottom and the meat were baked in regular cake pans. I sliced each cake part in half and layered them back together with butterscotch pudding. The meat was iced with chocolate icing with crumbled dark chocolate cookies pressed in for texture. The bun was iced with cream cheese icing tinted with food coloring. Chopped macadamia nuts were sprinkled on top. The cheese, tomatoes and lettuce were made from marzipan paste mixed with food coloring. Overall, the cake was about 9" in diameter and 6" tall.]
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Given your remarkable book list, I couldn't help but comment. I'm the editor of a new book called THE LOST CELLOS OF LEV ARONSON: Frances Brent and provided your interest in music---particularly the cello---I thought I'd share this recent Wall Street Journal review with you in the hopes that you might pick up the book and possibly blog about it! Best wishes!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574345470308684710.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574345470308684710.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
You need to talk with Cello Muser. His wife makes amazing cakes too. Perhaps I can lure both cake making entities to CA as part of Cello Fandango of the Future that I am trying to hustle together.
Food. Cello. Spa Treatments.
How could that be bad?
Happy Birthday Z!
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Food. Cello. Spa Treatments.
How could that be bad?
Happy Birthday Z!
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Friday, August 07, 2009
I'm feeling a little scalene tonight
I strung my 4 new Jargars onto my cello yesterday, making this morning's practice quite an ear-opener. For the past five or six months I've slowly and patiently worked through the Breval and Marcello Sonatas, only picking up the tempos when I was ready. I'm nowhere near proper tempos yet, but I'm playing them through comfortably, without errors. These last two weeks I've enjoyed applying my learning technique to the "Suzuki 4" Bach Minuets.
All along, I've been assuming that my sound quality would eventually improve, but that seemed a long way off, so I'd stopped even thinking much about it. Now with the rehair and the new strings, I'm realizing that I have progressed beyond simply playing out the notes as scored. Now, with all these improvements I'm starting to think I can hear a little quality in my sound; I'm even testing certain variations in my bow control to try to improve that sound.
Interestingly too, the new strings and new bow hair made it easier to play my current double stops pieces.
I found another novel written by a cellist! It's titled "Backtracked" by Pedro de Alcantara, a Brazilian cellist who teaches and writes about the "Alexander Technique". I don't think it's about the cello. His first novel, also for 'Young Adults', is called "Befiddled". More on all this later, maybe...
After working steadily at his new job all summer, Z has saved up enough money to buy a computer - "for school". At the beginning of summer I offered to pay for half of it, since we'd planned to buy him one next year as he heads off to college **sob**. This job has taught him a lot of new things - primarily 'responsibility' and 'accountability', learning to take orders, and learning to do multiple, demanding tasks repetitively but efficiently and safely. He took his job quite seriously and worked pretty hard at it, earning 'employee of the week' after just four weeks, and 'employee of the month' after his second month.
I hadn't realized he'd been conscientiously saving at least 3/4 of each paycheck and was now planning to get a rather high-end laptop system. He spent weeks studying all the options, comparing features and prices of a dozen systems. Finally, after an almost unbelievable effort in dealing with online and telephone order and help desks, we were finally able to order a customized system from Big Computer Company's website. We're hoping it will arrive in time for his birthday next week.
Tuesday morning I spent well over an hour and a half on the phone with them trying to sort out what proved to be a simple error in their own website that wouldn't accept our shipping zip code. It took another two days for Big Computer Company's tech services department to fix their own bug. At one point I was talking to their sales desk team leader who had conferenced us with a service rep at Major Parcel Delivery Service, who'd then brought in her own tech rep. The combination of time lags, line static, and language obstacles made it hard to even establish the basic facts - that was just weird. At one point I'd considered hanging up and starting over - hopefully connecting to a new sales rep with a more understandable accent. Then I realized that this chaos was oddly interesting and challenging. Still, I wish I'd recorded that bizarre 4-way call.
As August begins we're already starting to sense the waning of summer. Sunsets are coming a little earlier - 10:30 tonight. And I had to turn on the lights when we got up this morning - the first time we've even used the lights since early May. But most of all, the fireweed has begun to bloom - this August phenomenon turns all the fields and roadsides a bright pink, which gradually darkens to red over the next couple weeks.
All along, I've been assuming that my sound quality would eventually improve, but that seemed a long way off, so I'd stopped even thinking much about it. Now with the rehair and the new strings, I'm realizing that I have progressed beyond simply playing out the notes as scored. Now, with all these improvements I'm starting to think I can hear a little quality in my sound; I'm even testing certain variations in my bow control to try to improve that sound.
Interestingly too, the new strings and new bow hair made it easier to play my current double stops pieces.
I found another novel written by a cellist! It's titled "Backtracked" by Pedro de Alcantara, a Brazilian cellist who teaches and writes about the "Alexander Technique". I don't think it's about the cello. His first novel, also for 'Young Adults', is called "Befiddled". More on all this later, maybe...
After working steadily at his new job all summer, Z has saved up enough money to buy a computer - "for school". At the beginning of summer I offered to pay for half of it, since we'd planned to buy him one next year as he heads off to college **sob**. This job has taught him a lot of new things - primarily 'responsibility' and 'accountability', learning to take orders, and learning to do multiple, demanding tasks repetitively but efficiently and safely. He took his job quite seriously and worked pretty hard at it, earning 'employee of the week' after just four weeks, and 'employee of the month' after his second month.
I hadn't realized he'd been conscientiously saving at least 3/4 of each paycheck and was now planning to get a rather high-end laptop system. He spent weeks studying all the options, comparing features and prices of a dozen systems. Finally, after an almost unbelievable effort in dealing with online and telephone order and help desks, we were finally able to order a customized system from Big Computer Company's website. We're hoping it will arrive in time for his birthday next week.
Tuesday morning I spent well over an hour and a half on the phone with them trying to sort out what proved to be a simple error in their own website that wouldn't accept our shipping zip code. It took another two days for Big Computer Company's tech services department to fix their own bug. At one point I was talking to their sales desk team leader who had conferenced us with a service rep at Major Parcel Delivery Service, who'd then brought in her own tech rep. The combination of time lags, line static, and language obstacles made it hard to even establish the basic facts - that was just weird. At one point I'd considered hanging up and starting over - hopefully connecting to a new sales rep with a more understandable accent. Then I realized that this chaos was oddly interesting and challenging. Still, I wish I'd recorded that bizarre 4-way call.
As August begins we're already starting to sense the waning of summer. Sunsets are coming a little earlier - 10:30 tonight. And I had to turn on the lights when we got up this morning - the first time we've even used the lights since early May. But most of all, the fireweed has begun to bloom - this August phenomenon turns all the fields and roadsides a bright pink, which gradually darkens to red over the next couple weeks.
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I'd been waiting for Pedro's new book to come out-thanks for the heads up. Befiddled is about a violin player. Cute book. Also love Indirect Procedures, his book about cello and Alexander Technique.
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Sunday, August 02, 2009
Ch-ch-ch-changes
It glides across the strings with little effort; my newly rehaired bow not only plays easier, it draws out a full, rich sound. As if some of that sound was being lost, somehow, when the hair was worn out.
A long time ago, I wrote about my inability to measure my progress along this path. Weeks would go by where I didn't feel as if I'd gained one bit, then suddenly I'd sense a step-change. Each time the glow of success quickly faded, as I once again saw how much more needed to be learned.
Playing with this rehaired bow has made me see that my bowing skills have improved far more than I'd realized. I feel more in control, able to make subtle adjustments to the "personality" of the sound. Who knew?
And my new strings (Jargars) are in the mail. Thanks, Ellen!
A long time ago, I wrote about my inability to measure my progress along this path. Weeks would go by where I didn't feel as if I'd gained one bit, then suddenly I'd sense a step-change. Each time the glow of success quickly faded, as I once again saw how much more needed to be learned.
Playing with this rehaired bow has made me see that my bowing skills have improved far more than I'd realized. I feel more in control, able to make subtle adjustments to the "personality" of the sound. Who knew?
And my new strings (Jargars) are in the mail. Thanks, Ellen!
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Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wah Wah
Yesterday's noontime concert at the library went very well. I did flub a few spots on a couple pieces, but easily found my way back in again. But the best part was that we really nailed Ashokan Farewell - a nice but challenging arrangement with a cool cello part, which I'd been working on for a long time.Afterward, I sent my bow to my luthier in Anchorage for a rehair - I've had it for 20 months, so it's about time, I guess. I'm supposed to get it back this weekend; I can't wait to see how it plays. This means I should probably order new strings too. But which ones? I've used Jargar G and C for a few years now, and up until recently I'd been using Larsen A & D, but recently installed my old Jargar A & D strings in response to a suggestion from the luthier. I'm not sure I can really tell the difference...
I wasn't looking forward to having to use my old bow for the next few days, but then I realized this would be a good opportunity to pull out my Yamaha electric cello and try it out with Z's effects box that I picked up for him at a garage sale a few weeks ago. It's pretty old, but works fine and has 25 different effects along with some sort of programming feature.
So, this morning I set it all up, and started in on my regular routines, stepping through each effect as I went along. That was really interesting! About half of them sounded pretty good, with half of these sounding really nice. Nice enough to explore further. It was fun playing the Marcello Sonata like Jimmy might have done. What was interesting to me was that while I was paying so much attention to the sounds from the amp, I wasn't really thinking about the various technical and things I normally concentrate on - and I was playing somewhat better than normal, more relaxed and with some feeling.
Tomorrow, electric Bach!
# Posted by Guanaco @ 9:32 PM Thanks for visiting my blog! Your comments (1) are appreciated.
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Stumbled upon your blog while googling. Am also learning cello (now in Suzuki Book 3) but not as hardworking as you :P
Fred ( frederickgam@yahoo.com )
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Fred ( frederickgam@yahoo.com )
# posted by : 7/31/2009 4:04 PM
: 7/31/2009 4:04 PM Links to this post:
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Not bad
I played the two Marcello Sonata movements at my lesson (#72) yesterday; it wasn't as clean as I've been playing it at home, but really not too bad, if I say so myself. Although I haven't yet reached optimum tempos, I've been increasing the metronome a notch every third day or so. It won't be long before I'm playing the Adagio at speed, but I've got a long way to go with the Allegro. My teacher really liked my intonation (except for a couple shifts to upper third position, but I'd already started working on these separately and should have them fixed in another couple days), my dynamics, and she commented on my confidence (!) with the piece. My new disciplined approach using that blasted metronome has made a world of difference.
After working on a few new scales (Eb - 2 octaves) and the third octave in G, we went through the Eb minor scale. As the hour ended she said I was ready to apply my new method to the next piece in Suzuki Book 4, the first of the two Minuets from Bach's Suite in G Major. She also suggested I start studying tenor clef, because Tchaikovsky's Chanson Triste is just around the corner.
Tomorrow our orchestra plays another noon-time concert at the local library as part of the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra's Summer Music Festival.
After working on a few new scales (Eb - 2 octaves) and the third octave in G, we went through the Eb minor scale. As the hour ended she said I was ready to apply my new method to the next piece in Suzuki Book 4, the first of the two Minuets from Bach's Suite in G Major. She also suggested I start studying tenor clef, because Tchaikovsky's Chanson Triste is just around the corner.
Tomorrow our orchestra plays another noon-time concert at the local library as part of the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra's Summer Music Festival.
# Posted by Guanaco @ 9:33 PM Thanks for visiting my blog! Your comments (1) are appreciated.
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I'm glad to see that you are still keeping up with the practice! You are an inspiration. My Popper Etudes project stalled a while back. Sigh. I avoided learning tenor clef for a long time by just playing up a string. Works pretty well. In fact I think most cellists don't really know the notes, unless they really concentrate.
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