What a difference new strings make!

I have been playing lately.  Quite a lot.  All of a sudden it feels like I have come very far with my playing and I just can't get enough of it.  So I decided I would treat myself to new strings.

Yeah...hmmm...

Sooooo...a string is a string right??? 

Wrong...apparently.

This is a GREAT article on different types of strings, what they are made of, what they are used for, etc.  If you are thinking of buying new strings and are confused, or like me, simply had NO clue, you MUST read it!

Guide to Choosing and Using Strings for Violins, Violas and Cellos

http://www.ifshinviolins.com/Articles/tabid/145/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/411/Guide-To-Choosing-and-Using-Strings-for-Violins-Violas-and-Cellos.aspx

After reading that article, and some other reviews of strings, I called my local friendly luthier* and made an appointment to see him.  It was SUCH a good idea, if I do say so myself.  I learnt HEAPS.  I was able to ask questions.  Lots of them.  I always have so many questions and it was really good to talk to someone who was willing to answer them until I was exhausted.  We talked for about an hour or so going over various parts of my cello and seeing what needed to be done where, discussing whether at this stage in my playing I really needed it and going over all the cello product in the store and its limitations and strengths.

Here were some of the highlights of my conversation:

Me (skeptically):  Is it really going to make a difference?
Luthier:  Yes.  The strings are what make the sound.  The body of the instrument is what amplifies it.  Currently you have metal core strings on the instrument.  They are factory strings, made cheaply and sound tinny.  They are made to be replaced.  

M (looking longingly at the beautiful bows):  So if you could only buy ONE thing, which would it be, new strings or a carbon fibre bow?
L:  The strings.  The carbon fibre bows are lighter and stronger, they may allow you to play for longer because of that, but that are basically the same.  When you change the strings, you will change the sound of the instrument.  

M (getting down to business):  What strings do you sell and what would you recommend?
L:  We sell Pirastro's and Dominants and I would recommend the Dominants.  If you talk to ANY cello teacher around this area, they will say they prefer their students to upgrade to them.  They are a synthetic core string and make a really nice sound when on the instrument.  There is no doubt though that the Dominant Strings are more expensive. Cello strings are going to be more expensive than say, violin strings, no matter WHAT you get though, so you need to be prepared for the cost.  

In the end, I went with the Dominants.  I have to say, it WAS expensive.  The Strings and set-up (restringing,etc.) together cost about $300.  The full set of strings alone were about $260.

But...OH MY....

What a difference the strings really make!!!  

The sound is clearer and indeed, less tinny (I thought it was just my terrible playing!!!) and the difference in sound makes a difference to my confidence in PLAYING.  I am still at the stage of tuning them a LOT though.  They are settling.  But I don't mind.  I am learning the sound of each string every time I do it and I just like LISTENING to the sound sometimes.

Now if you will excuse me...I have to go have a conversation with my cello about a man called Beethoven.

* NOTE:  There is a very good student quality music store that also offers lessons and sells instruments and music within a 20-30 minute drive from where I am.  I actually spend quite a bit of time chatting to their staff, who even though I do not take lessons there, are always willing to help and give advice whenever they can.  They were called Play Today Music, but I believe they are going through a name change to Academy of Music.  This is their website... http://www.playtodaymusic.com.au/ If you live in North Brisbane and are a student or the parent of a student, GO SEE THEM!!!!

Worth it.

The physiotherapist told me...

"No more than 10 minutes at a time increasing to 30 minutes over a period of 7-10 days." 

I may not have paid any attention to that.  

I may in fact have simply launched myself back into playing with verve and vigor and the first day played for an hour...or maybe two.  Then I may have spent the next day and a half moaning about the ache in my shoulder, picking up the cello while looking around guiltily for any witnesses, playing for 15 minutes, putting it back on its stand again, and moaning some more.

Worth it.  

When I picked up my cello again, it all came back to me.  I found the practising I had done in my head while not being able to play had actually STUCK.  That the bow hand exercises I had cursed at every time I dropped the bow, had actually worked.  Music that I had been reading like it was a trashy novel leaped to life.  I could hear the difference in the way I sounded.  I could feel the confidence in my bow hold and the way I moved it across a string.  I learnt so much by NOT playing.  More than I realised I needed to learn.  It was like taking a breath after you have been holding it for awhile.

Worth it.

The break from playing was hard.  It was forced.  I resented it.  I may have hurt physically, I may have despaired mentally, I may have felt longing like I had separated from my love...

but it was all...

so...

very....

WORTH IT.

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.

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.

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 

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.