Choosing Happiness
There has been much tragedy in my life. At least half of it actually happened. -Mark Twain I get a lot of stick from some of my most beloved blog/Twitter pals for being largely upbeat most of the time. I…
Emily Wright
The Perfect Teacher.
It’s me! No, not really. Good gravy. But I frequently am the recipient of students who bring with them some seriously low expectations and occasionally, horror stories. Yesterday, I offered a few tips to help get the most out of…
The Perfect Student
Ah, yes: the perfect student. Doesn’t exist. Can’t, in fact, exist. Humanity gets the better of all of us, at some point. Malleable students lose themselves. Bright students preempt new concepts. Astute students set unattainable goals. Which is what makes…
Sir Ken talks about creativity
I have such an edu-crush on Ken Robinson.
ex machina
I think the most common question I get asked these days is, “What do you want to do?” If blogging and writing and private lessons paid the bills, then I would happily do that and feel like I was putting…
Cello Shopping: The Italian One
The Italian One is orange. Flamed bird’s eye on the sides and back, fine stripes down its unassuming front. Heavier than most modern cellos I’ve tried, with a steel endpin I would replace with a tungsten carbide scepter of death…
Cello shopping
The other morning, I woke up with a bee in my bonnet. That bee has a name, and that name is, “Emily, you need a better cello.” I do not like this name, or the bee himself very much, but…
A word about regrets.
The perfect recipe for an unhappy life goes like this: make mistakes and either fail to learn anything from them or allow yourself to be so consumed by regret that you are not present for a single moment of your…
The how and what of good practice.
It happens more than it should: I walk into a lesson and the student is jaw-droppingly unprepared and the excuse offered is, “I didn’t have enough to practice.” It was a frequent occurrence in my own early lessons. I would…
HotLanta workshop!
This is starting to be a habit! For the third year running, I’m being hosted by Ann and the Atlanta Cello Project. This time around, I’ll be talking about memorization, offering tips, and passing along some handy information about short,…