For when you just don’t want to practice…
One of my students sent this to me, and I burst out laughing! All I can hear is a demonic rendition of twin-kle twin-kle lit-tle….star…
Emily Wright
Do you really warm up?
Ask yourself this: is my warmup a truly physical warmup? There is a difference between warming up your technical chops and just plain getting your body used to the crazy things we ask it to do while playing. This is…
A close call
Dear Friends, I lead a very good life. I would generally say that I am upbeat, resilient, and able to cope with the painful and stressful stimuli that present themselves to me from time to time. That is, until yesterday.…
Warning: Post May Trigger Defensiveness
We’ve all been there: stuck sitting next to some kid at dinner, doing your best to appear kind and attentive, maybe even striking up a little conversation to pass the time. Inevitably, the kid will do something naughty like say…
never good enough
I have a long-term student who has been very up, very down, all over the map in terms of her dedication to the cello. Of late, prodded on by the Galamian scales with martelé that every one of my students…
Having tough lessons? You have a choice.
The way I see it, there is this thing, this Difficulty (capital D, for emphasis) to playing the cello. And it’s there; sitting, waiting, towering, looming, quivering. Many a student has tried to devise strategies to get around this Difficulty.…
Cool.
It won’t be long until they retire these magnificent birds. I grew up in the triangle formed by March, Norton and Edwards AFBs, so it’s no wonder that I have such a love for all things aviation. The sonic booms…
Not just another day.
In memory, not just today, but always.
how to get good
One of the hardest things about teaching kids is that you have to watch talent languish. I routinely run into situations where a student just turns off to the whole learning process but, thinking that I can be fooled, turns…
the post with no name
Chameleon drawing from this online coloring book site!
Amelia
I promise I’ll have something cello-y in the next day or two, but October shared this with me, and you know I’m buzzing with excitement and maybe a little sadness.
Stories in Sand
From Ukraine’s got talent.
What I did this summer, by Emily
It’s a time-honored back to school tradition: you go around the classroom, and each kid gives a summary of summer vacations and other activities. Mine was the same every year, fantastically. We drove across the country and then I went…
Home before I know it.
Back in Rome again, with some random pictures from my week in Cacciano. Here’s Davi, a new friend. Looking down on the old castle streets. Everything they say about the Tuscan light is true. The lovely Rocio, about to play…
Postcards from the terrace
So far, so good, friends. The program I am taking part in is run by Mimi Zweig, the esteemed (yet not at all stuffy) professor of violin at Indiana University, along with piano/chamber music colossus Jeannette Koekkoek, a close friend…
my blog, now with 115% more jet lag
Ciao from Rome! It’s nice that the folks at IMA Tuscany found a cello for me to use. An unexpected tribulation: my bow case doesn’t fit in my suitcase and caused nearly as much consternation in the terminal and aboard…
due giorni
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I recently asserted (after a long period of not much tweeting) that my life is on fire. And indeed it is. I’ll have more details later in the fall, but for…
So as to be actually useful
I am compiling a list of effective cello teachers, to be kept on my website. Note the word effective. There are plenty of bitter, ineffective, gnarly string teachers out there. I’m looking for people who you have really gained from.…
Apollo 11
I like this particular footage, even though it is not as iconic as some of the shots from the tower. It’s what the folks at home saw and heard that day in July, and you can hear the tension in…
life equation
der Bogen
Well, no matter what crazy antics I’m up to , there’s always room for Cello. Technique. *rimshot* Since I’m not sure if this is going to make it into my book, I thought it might be cool to post some…
Las Cruces to LA, via “The Thing”
real or fake?
I get lots of emails like this through my website. I never reply to them because they just seem like spam. Thoughts? i’m interesting about cello lesson.but my house is burbank. i cannot go to your studio.can you came to…
Spectacles
Leaving Los Angeles, at dawn. Palm Springs wind farm. Somewhere in the tail end of Arizona or the beginning of New Mexico. This turned into a real hum-dinger. Just outside of Las Cruces. I had a big thing here about…
Exploring
July 4th
Nathan talks about the Swan
I know I’ve made this point before, but you people need it hammered into you: Kids don’t have some magic ability to tame instruments. The main difference I see is they lack the self-loathing and expectations adults bring to the…
Secret cat thoughts, part 2
Keeping a Bigger Perspective
I find this very useful. Want more?
Yeah man, where the cool kids hang out
That would be the observation area at Van Nuys Airport. It’s a place I go about once a week to check out the planes, fantasize about starting lessons again, clear my mind, and generally geek out. I got lucky the…