So, I dislocated my left shoulder slipping on the floor and tore a couple of ligaments. 8 hours in Emergency and I have been put in a sling, ordered off the cello playing for a week (not that I COULD play anyway because it HURTS and I can't lift my arm enough to settle them on the strings), and then physio on the shoulder after that. Hopefully, I will be back to playing in a couple of weeks.
My poor cello lays sleeping in its soft case on the floor. I haven't had the heart to unpack it and put it on its stand. I miss playing. My hand misses the bow curled in its fingers. My arms the pressure of the bow on its string. I can see callouses I never noticed before on my left hand fingers and can feel the loss of sensation that comes with them except for when I am placing them on the strings. Music sits unplayed and unopened on sidetables.
It is quiet.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Taking my music outdoors
Yesterday was such a lovely day. I didn't want to be sitting inside when the kids were outside playing. I DID however want to play my cello. So outside I went, with my cello, music and stand, coffee and the kids. I have a raised back deck so it actually felt a lot like playing on stage, especially with all the neighbours out and about enjoying the good weather.While I felt a little self conscious at first, (as I am very terrible and usually play indoors in a closed room), I found myself forgetting that there were other people around and relaxing. I played for about an hour. I went over the pieces I had set for homework, which are actually starting to come together after some very frustrating days of getting nowhere and feeling like I was playing with bananas for fingers. I played scales and arpeggios. I improvised exercises that forced my fingers to move up, down and across strings with extensions. I even learned a couple of new pieces from Cello Time Runners. It was actually a really joyful and stress free practice session.
With Summer coming up, I think this is something I will do more often. Taking to the outside with my cello and playing gave me a different mindset, it took away the pressure and reminded me to relax and ENJOY the time I have with my instrument.
Monday, August 12, 2013
State of mind
I am playing a piece that I am finding frustrating. I know it is teaching me practical things...Finger extensions, a new key, patience <sigh>. It is a simple little piece, "Allegretto" by Mozart. The note lengths are easy, it is an uncomplicated tune. I still sound like the moaning of a walrus in its death throes.
Some days when I practice, I fly through new pieces. My fingers hit the right spots, my timing is just right. It is a joy and I feel like the cello and I are best friends having this great conversation. I can spend hours playing at times like that.
Other days are a cranky pit of frustration complete with a dialogue of, "How can you not get this? How many times have you played that note wrong? How many more times are you going to playing that quaver as a crotchet?" The more I berate myself, the worse I feel and the worse I feel, the more terrible is my playing. There comes a point where I have to just put the cello away.
When my attitude is bad, when it all feels like an insurmountable chore, it feels like I am fighting with my cello. We are at odds and I need time and space to clear my head, improve my mood and come slinking back apologetically.
So right now, I am sulking. But soon I will turn to face my cello, smile and be sorry I said such harsh words. I will pick up the bow and start a new conversation.
P.S. One thing I DID learn today though, was to check my bow to make sure it is properly rosined. I was having a lot of trouble playing simple notes without excessive force and groaning, so I rosined my bow and found it made SUCH a difference. I know it is something so fundamental to playing and making sound, but sometimes the littlest things still escape my notice.
Some days when I practice, I fly through new pieces. My fingers hit the right spots, my timing is just right. It is a joy and I feel like the cello and I are best friends having this great conversation. I can spend hours playing at times like that.
Other days are a cranky pit of frustration complete with a dialogue of, "How can you not get this? How many times have you played that note wrong? How many more times are you going to playing that quaver as a crotchet?" The more I berate myself, the worse I feel and the worse I feel, the more terrible is my playing. There comes a point where I have to just put the cello away.
When my attitude is bad, when it all feels like an insurmountable chore, it feels like I am fighting with my cello. We are at odds and I need time and space to clear my head, improve my mood and come slinking back apologetically.
So right now, I am sulking. But soon I will turn to face my cello, smile and be sorry I said such harsh words. I will pick up the bow and start a new conversation.
P.S. One thing I DID learn today though, was to check my bow to make sure it is properly rosined. I was having a lot of trouble playing simple notes without excessive force and groaning, so I rosined my bow and found it made SUCH a difference. I know it is something so fundamental to playing and making sound, but sometimes the littlest things still escape my notice.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Starting the Cello. Help.
So, I am the ripe old age of 38, and at this age, possibly as part of a mid-life crisis, I have decided that I am going back to playing music, and the Cello is going to be my instrument.
and have moved onto Essential Elements 2000 for Strings (Cello Book 2)
http://www.simplyforstrings.com.au/store/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=24&product_id=656
Cello Time Runners has been a regular source of easy practising music
http://www.simplyforstrings.com.au/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=752
Cello Series 1 Preliminary Grade AMEB
http://www.whitehorsemusic.com.au/p/378059/clearance-ameb-cello-series-1-grade-preliminary-exam-pieces.html
Cello Series 2 Grade 1 AMEB
http://www.simplyforstrings.com.au/store/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=16&product_id=983
I have been inspired by
2cellos a.k.a. Luka Sulic and Stepjan Hauser
http://www.2cellos.com/us/home
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyjuFsbclXyntSRMBAILzbw
The Piano Guys
http://thepianoguys.com/
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmKurapML4BF9Bjtj4RbvXw
Most of surprisingly of all, over the past 6 months of learning and trying, of frustration and triumph, I have found that the love I had for the music I played never really went away. It just lay quietly, waiting for the day when I would turn its way again and listen.
This is not the first instrument I have played. I played my way through most of the brass/woodwind section. My main instrument was the trumpet. I played it for about 15 years before I burnt out and went on to study Art and Science instead. I should probably mention at this point that I have never had any natural affinity with strings whatsoever. I tried playing guitar. Best that I left that behind. I tried violin. I sounded like a cat being tortured by the machine in Princess Bride that takes Wesley's life.
I have since then, collected a few instruments here and there. A beat up old cornet. A flute. A couple of flutes actually. I was so close to buying a lovely old wooden clarinet, but budget restraints stopped me. I bought a very old piano. I stopped playing trumpet though. I lost a lot of the fun and the love I had for playing when I stopped playing with other people. I have picked it up every now and again. Opened the case. Oiled and inspected. Played a few notes. Become frustrated at my lack of muscle tone, breathing. Polished it lovingly and put it back in its case.
Then one day, we were walking past a music store. My partner pointed out a cello in the window. he literally said, "Look, there is a cello." I stopped. Looked. Forgot to breathe. It was like falling in love. I listened to the musician in the shop play it and we bought it. That day. That moment. I can hear some of you more experienced cellists gasping at me. No, I really had no idea what I was looking for in a cello...just that I must have it. That day, I bought a Valencia student cello. There is nothing fancy about it, it has the strings it came with on it. I use the bow it came with.
I bought it home and started playing. I plucked for hours. I watched videos. I read music. Music that was WAY beyond my skill and technique. I started easier music. I used a tuner app on my iphone to tune the strings and find the notes of the first position. I sounded terrible. Really terrible. It was a long fall from playing in orchestras at such a high level to go back to playing nursery rhymes as a beginner again. I loved every minute I played.
It was at this time with my 11 year old daughter watching on, that she decided she wanted to play her violin again. She had spent a year learning at her primary school, but by the end of the year, she had not even learnt to play the simplest things, did not know where her fingers should be positioned or how to hold a bow. This time around, she really listened. She asked me questions about reading music. She wanted to learn some pieces with me. It has made all the difference in the world.
A couple of weeks later, we found a teacher willing to teach us both together. She has been a marvel. Patient. Supportive. Knowledgeable. So we do an hour lesson every fortnight. I usually take the first 30 minutes, then my daughter takes the 2nd. We hear each other play and learn together. When we practise, we remind each other what we have learnt in class.
It has now been about 6 months since we started. I am learning. Slowly. So slowly, but in the learning I am finding patience and wells of concentration I didn't realise I had. I am learning from a few books.
I started with Essential Elements 2000 for Strings (Cello Book One) http://www.simplyforstrings.com.au/store/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=24&product_id=655
I bought it home and started playing. I plucked for hours. I watched videos. I read music. Music that was WAY beyond my skill and technique. I started easier music. I used a tuner app on my iphone to tune the strings and find the notes of the first position. I sounded terrible. Really terrible. It was a long fall from playing in orchestras at such a high level to go back to playing nursery rhymes as a beginner again. I loved every minute I played.
It was at this time with my 11 year old daughter watching on, that she decided she wanted to play her violin again. She had spent a year learning at her primary school, but by the end of the year, she had not even learnt to play the simplest things, did not know where her fingers should be positioned or how to hold a bow. This time around, she really listened. She asked me questions about reading music. She wanted to learn some pieces with me. It has made all the difference in the world.
A couple of weeks later, we found a teacher willing to teach us both together. She has been a marvel. Patient. Supportive. Knowledgeable. So we do an hour lesson every fortnight. I usually take the first 30 minutes, then my daughter takes the 2nd. We hear each other play and learn together. When we practise, we remind each other what we have learnt in class.
It has now been about 6 months since we started. I am learning. Slowly. So slowly, but in the learning I am finding patience and wells of concentration I didn't realise I had. I am learning from a few books.
I started with Essential Elements 2000 for Strings (Cello Book One) http://www.simplyforstrings.com.au/store/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=24&product_id=655
and have moved onto Essential Elements 2000 for Strings (Cello Book 2)
http://www.simplyforstrings.com.au/store/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=24&product_id=656
Cello Time Runners has been a regular source of easy practising music
http://www.simplyforstrings.com.au/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=752
Cello Series 1 Preliminary Grade AMEB
http://www.whitehorsemusic.com.au/p/378059/clearance-ameb-cello-series-1-grade-preliminary-exam-pieces.html
Cello Series 2 Grade 1 AMEB
http://www.simplyforstrings.com.au/store/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=16&product_id=983
I have been inspired by
2cellos a.k.a. Luka Sulic and Stepjan Hauser
http://www.2cellos.com/us/home
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyjuFsbclXyntSRMBAILzbw
The Piano Guys
http://thepianoguys.com/
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmKurapML4BF9Bjtj4RbvXw
Most of surprisingly of all, over the past 6 months of learning and trying, of frustration and triumph, I have found that the love I had for the music I played never really went away. It just lay quietly, waiting for the day when I would turn its way again and listen.
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