If you (or someone you know) if having a rough go of the cello, dealing with financial difficulties and can’t afford lessons, or maybe feeling a little detached from the instrument or lost on the path, I’d love to start…
Creating a meditative state for your practice may sound like some kind of hippie crap or a fantasy, perhaps an urban legend. Too often, I find students fostering a mindset about practice that is akin to battle. You have to…
As 2017 draws to a close, my mind turns to making resolutions. I’m a big fan of them, no matter how short lived or unattainable they may seem to be. There’s a certain optimism in the idea of a fresh…
The best thing about my new PT guy (not so new, I suppose…it’s been a few months) is that he encourages my curiosity, and listens to me when I posit new ideas. “You’re in charge of your treatment: it’s all…
If one thing is clear, after all this time, it’s that the cello is hard enough as it is- and that people will do all kinds of stuff to make it much harder or even impossible to get to the…
The last installment is not so much a spend/save juxtaposition, but more of a list of stuff you can do to add value and maximize the tone of your rig: it’s everything short of buying a new axe. Lighter endpin:…
Continuing yesterday’s theme: Spend (sort of): strings Don’t ever put the lowest end strings on any cello that will be played. They’re just terrible, and also are not made with any kind of quality control- they break, sometimes don’t even…
There are a million ways to spend money on cello stuff: cases, stands, stand lights, strings, premium rosin, super premium rosin, bows, bridges, time spent at the luthier’s table- you get the idea. When I was a young cellist, buying…
I talk to lots of musicians in pain- if there’s one thing I’m grateful for after all these years of questionable medical care and countless wrong turns, it’s the education the experience has bestowed upon me, so I can at…
I miss her.