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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