2013 and a whole lot of nothing

Yes, it has been over a year since I blogged on this site. I have been so very busy with work and school, and unfortunately, cello got set by the way side. My cello teacher retired in 2013, moved to another part of town, and I was left to continue to work on studies on my own. I did my best, but I wasn't into it anymore. Thankfully, we have kept in touch and our small chamber group still gets together occasionally. It is not the same, though, and that is what bothers me most. My son has grown up, now age 20, and is so very busy with life, work, and his own thing. Our other member went away to school (good for her), and that left just the three of us who remained (one adult, one high schooler, and myself). We have stayed together, and played together, but like I said -- it is just not the same.

I pulled my cello out yesterday and lugged it across town to play with my teacher. It was nice to see her, and we covered a couple Christmas tunes. My cello is so difficult to play, really I mean it. It doesn't help that I am out of practice, and that I have forgotten how to read notes, LOL! I invested about $250 into my cello in 2012, and the luthiers did a good job of getting it back into shape. But the cello itself is wrong, just wrong. It was made wrong, and over the years has suffered greatly due to neglect. I would love a better cello, but at this point, I am stuck with what I have and with what I can afford.

After all, I am a graduate student again (PhD) and I am working part-time (teaching English Literature) so right now I have very limited funds to devote to anything outside of living expenses. Perhaps in 2014, I might get a better cello? Oh, wouldn't that be lovely! For now, I will continue to dream of a new cello, but I will settle for what I do have. God is good to me, and I am thankful for the cello I have to play. Thank you!

Some thoughts on getting back into shape:

• I was just listening to George Winston's Christmas album on Pandora, and a song came on that had a beautiful cello solo. I so wish I could play something lovely like this song. I need to find some lovely cello music that is not fast, but is slow and melodic. I think I would play more often if I could play the kind of music I like to play.
• I have some good books to practice scales and such. I need to set aside a small amount of playing time each day and just practice. My calluses have worn off and my fingers are so sore. I need to get my fingers back into shape again.
• I need to make time to play - that is really the crux of the matter. I just don't make the time. I fill it with everything else BUT practice. My fault, my bad...
• Last, I need to recommit to cello and make it a priority among all my other priorities. I can do it, I have time, I just need to make it so.

I do love playing the cello. Yesterday as I went to my teacher's house I was thinking that I was no longer interested in playing the cello. I said to myself "I don't care anymore" but this wasn't true. After I got to her house, and we started to play the music she had selected, I felt myself let go and enjoy the experience again. I think I enjoyed playing because of my teacher and the small group I played with each week. It gave me something to look forward to each week, and I loved the friendship of the group. I miss that feeling, that sense of belonging. I think this is really the issue. I gave up playing cello because I lost my friends, my teacher, and my sense of being a part of a group.

Cello Plans for 2012

It is March 3, 2012, and I see that it has been about 8 months since my last post to this blog. A lot of changes have taken place in my life over the past months, and my routine for cello practice has ended up out the window. I have since regained my love of playing, and in January, made the decision to start practicing regularly again. I thought I would post my plans for 2012, along with an update to what I had hoped to accomplish in 2011.

Update on 2011 Plans (as posted last year)

• Greater comfort in playing in groups and in front of people
• Confidence in my ability to sight read and then play with a group
• Expression and fluidity in my bowing
• More study in position, especially 3-5th (working on 4th position since Fall 2011)
• Generally working on playmanship, playing so that I sound better -- no matter the style or level of music
• Lastly, overall enjoyment of the cello. Less pressure to perform, more effort to enjoy and be moved by the instrument and the beauty of its voice.

I was able to accomplish my goals for 2011, even though I really didn't have as much time to practice as I had hoped, especially in the latter half of the year. Still I am pleased with my progress, and I am looking forward to setting some new goals for this year.

New Goals for 2012

• Continue working on 4th position, and then move into 5-7th for great range of expression
• Complete the Suzuki Book 3 selections I am missing (Humoresque and La Cinquantaine)
• Begin Book 4 towards Fall
• Learn to finger without my tapes for reference
• Continued work on bowing technique for fluidity
• Transition to performance -- be able to play one solo piece in recital by Christmas 2012
• Increase my range of music to include folk as well as Chamber
• Lastly, continue to enjoy writing cello music, creating at least two pieces for chamber.

On the other side of goals, I am also sporting a new cello. My lovely old Kay cello needed to rest, and my teacher loaned me her Cremona cello. It had some major playability issues, so I took it to the String Shop of Arizona, and the Luthiers there fixed it. It looks beautiful, and plays well. I am really loving what opportunities exist for me as I continue to progress on the cello and move into more advanced and accomplished cello pieces.

My Repertoire for Spring 2012

• 170 Foundation Studies for Violoncello, Vol. 1
• Introducing the Positions for Cello, 4th Position, Vol. 1
• The Cello Collection in 1st position
• Suzuki Book 3, Humoresque and La Cinquantaine
• Vivaldi's "Spring" (for Chamber)
• Medley from "The Gladiator" (Chamber)
• "Through Time" by Karen Macklin (Chamber)
• "Ave Maria" (accomp. for Violinist Betsy Morrow's Sr. Recital)
• Some piece yet to be written by me

My Practice Schedule

With working full-time now, and getting ready to graduate with my Master's degree in English Literature, my time is very limited. However, I have figured out how much time I can devote to my studies each week. The following is a pretty good schedule for me.

• M, T, TH - Practice for 1 hour usually around 8-9 p.m.
• W-F - No practice, Lesson and Chamber reheresal
• S-Su - Practice for 1.5 hours stressing bowing and technique exercises, scales, and other easier things to help strengthen and develop quickness in my fingers.

Overall, my ultimate goal for 2012 is to become ready to perform at a Level 4 grade so that I can tackle most music and feel confident in my ability to play Chamber, folk or classical selections. Next year, my goal will be to learn how to play in Tenor Clef. For now, Bass Clef is my best friend, so I am content to continue to develop skill and reading ease with Easy to Moderate cello pieces.

Focusing on Technique

It's been a while since I posted, so I thought I would add a little update. My current program is working well, and I feel that I am steadily improving. One thing that needs addressing is my cello bow-hold. I have been holding my bow incorrectly, and my thumb is stressed. I have to now learn how to rehold the bow, and it is so difficult to change this bad habit. The good news is that I am in less pain, and I can manage my practice and lesson times without a lot of tension. It will all work out in the end -- sometimes you just have to relearn technique.

As far as my study books go, I am progressing through the following books:

Solos for Young Cellists Cello

Solos for Young Cellists is an eight-volume series of music compilations with companion CDs. The series ranges from elementary to advanced levels and represents a truly exciting variety of musical genres and techniques. This collection of wonderful music offers young cellists the opportunity to work in various positions, techniques, meters, keys and musical styles.

American Fiddle Tunes for Solo and Ensemble: Cello

This collection contains 16 traditional fiddling tunes from across North America. They are arranged in a theme and variation format, typical of American fiddling. The authentic fiddling style harmonies are written so that various combinations from solo instrument with piano to duets and trios to full string quartet/orchestra are possible. Includes cello melody (solo), cello harmony and piano accompaniment. American Fiddle Tunes for Solo and Ensemble books are written as ensemble books, so they can be played as solo books with piano accompaniment or together as ensemble.

Hal Leonard Introducing The Positions for Cello and String Bass Vol 1 (Fourth Position)









I am currently finishing up Vivaldi's Concerto in C, first movement, and will begin the second movement next week. It is really a very nice piece of music, and I am enjoying it. I may post a link to my practice piece soon. I am feeling more confident now, and I think I could easily perform some of these works.

Working on some new music

I am finally back in the swing of practicing again.  I took some time off at the New Year, but now have some new music to master for Chamber.  We are playing several Riverdance pieces, and I have a fairly easy part to learn.  I am also working through Soloists for Young Cellists, and a great book on Favorite Hymns.  I think I need new strings, but other than that, my cello is doing OK.  I still wish I had a new one, but for now, I have to make due with my old cello.

Music from Riverdance

Learning to play some music from Riverdance.  It should be a fun chamber recital come April!

Recital Blues

I made it through recital last Sunday.  I actually did OK, but I would have preferred to perform better.  I knew those pieces of music so well, but nerves got the best of me, and well -- you can follow that path yourself!

My goal for 2011 is to work on performance anxiety, and to continue to strive to play my best.  I am committed to working hard this year, and to focus on getting better at reading music (especially when nervous).  I will do fine, I know -- I just need to work on relaxing more, and enjoying the group experience.

Plans for 2011

I have taken a good long break over the Christmas and New Year's holiday, and I am now getting ready to start the next semester with gusto.  I have purchased some new material to work on with my teacher, and I have set some goals out to accomplish by the end of 2011.

I bought three new books for my studies, and will continue to work through Shroeder's Foundation Study book.  This book along with a nice selection of pieces should keep me well in hand for most of the year.  Add to this mix, my work with the Chamber Ensemble group, and I think I have a good mixture of easy to learn, easy to play pieces along with some more challenging classical works.

• Jazz Wizard Junior -- picked this up on clearance online and will work on this to learn how to improvise a bit on the cello.  Sweet.
• Solos for Young Cellists, Volume 1 -- this book is actually a bit easy for me, but in looking over Volume 2, I decided I would rather play pieces I can easily sight read and learn, than struggle through like in Suzuki Book 3.
• Favorite Hymn Instrumentals, Level 2-3 -- this is a nice book with traditional hymns for cello. It comes with the piano accompainment so I should be able to play some duets with my son.  These tunes are favorites, and for the most part easy to play.  WOW!  After learning Vivaldi, Bach, and some more challenging classical pieces for Chamber, I can actually look at this music and say, "Oh, easy!"

I have also decided to purchase a new cello as soon as I get FT work.  Southwest Strings has a payment program, and while I wanted to purchase my cello from Linda West, I think payments are the way to go for me now.  They have some nice cello outfits, and I think for the first time out, this is my best option.

My goals for 2011 (Year 2 of Cello Study) include:

• Greater comfort in playing in groups and in front of people
• Confidence in my ability to sight read and then play with a group
• Expression and fluidity in my bowing
• More study in position, especially 3-5th
• Generally working on playmanship, playing so that I sound better -- no matter the style or level of music
• Lastly, overall enjoyment of the cello.  Less pressure to perform, more effort to enjoy and be moved by the instrument and the beauty of its voice.