Having server issues, but I bet you won’t mind if Maurice Ravel and the Enso quartet occupy this space for the day. 🙂

Part of the reward of teaching is grafting new students onto the lineage of instructors who influenced me, and in effect, into the legacy of the instructors who influenced them. It always tickled me to hear Cathy’s tone change when…

  I can always tell how someone practices after a few lessons. The most frustrated (and frustrating) students are those who spend hours laboring every week but don’t make substantive progress over the course of a month or two. Occasionally,…

To celebrate my second favorite month, I’m going to post every single day in December (giant meteor notwithstanding). I would absolutely love to devote some of these posts to Q and A, so please lob some questions my way! Today’s…

The previous posts were designed to provide conceptual and technical underpinnings of a solid shifting practice. Today’s is all about developing inner hearing and the ability to generate music inside of your mind, because when you shift, you’re not just…

There are only a handful of reasons we miss shifts: no clear idea of the note’s physical location on the fingerboard technique is inconsistent or maladaptive cannot hear the interval between the first and second note Any one of these…

  Just a fun randomizer for those times when you know you need to practice but then fall into a well of ponderous ennui.     [advanced_iframe securitykey=”a603d5b9c02c6917edfc85ab48202ee80258aaea” src=”<iframe src=”http://wheeldecide.com/e.php?c1=long+tones&c2=sight+reading+&c3=half+speed+repertoire+run+through+with+metronome&c4=orchestral+excerpts&c5=listening+along+with+the+score&c6=record+yourself+and+listen+back&c7=one+measure+of+a+Bach+Prelude+50+times&c8=anything+but+Popper&c9=cat%2Fbaby+goat+videos&c10=left+hand+tuner+work&c11=go+back+to+an+old+piece+and+apply+new+technical+adjustments+&c12=all+12+major+scales%2C+slurring+2&c13=time+to+map+out+shifts+in+that+tricky+passage+you%27ve+been+avoiding&c14=audiation%2Fvisualizing+for+phrasing+and+musicality&c15=get+out+the+Grout%3A+research+the+historical+context+of+the+piece+you%27re+working+on&c16=mirror+practice%3A+where+should+the+bow+be+to+get+the+sound+you%27re+after%3F+&c17=Schroeder+mix-up-+add+dotted+rhythms%2C+add+or+remove+slurs%2C+or+play+notes+in+groups&col=light&t=cello+practice+randomizer&time=5″ width=”500″ height=”500″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″></iframe>” width=”100%” height=”600″]

  It’s been just over two weeks since the injections, and as expected, I’m in a whole lotta pain. It’s like plate tectonics: one thing has moved, and the other parts are absolutely freaking out. It’s unpleasant nostalgia, as this is…

United Healthcare waited until I had to resign (or was fired from) every cello position before approving the Botox injections. I now know it’s a common tactic- an insurance company will try to wait and obfuscate until someone who needs…

One of my students is really in the thick of things. She’s working on the Swan AND the Sarabande from the 3rd Suite. Like many who came before her, the Swan is this wonderful elixir: it challenges and comforts, it’s…

There hasn’t been much cello-y news until now. Since my last post, I’ve been seen by an amazing physical therapist who works with a bunch of the NHL guys. He did some manual decompression of my neck and back, and…

I’d fallen into bad habits over the past 2 or 3 years: I used to be an ardent red wine drinker, but found so many syrupy/cloying/medicinal notes in the Malbecs, Cabs, and Pinots that were in my (modest) price range…

I’m pretty proud of these girls, throwing together some not exactly simple pieces in about 3 weeks’ time. We could have used another month to get used to new cellos (!), agree on bowings, and make it perfect, but you…

Longtime readers may remember I used to have a separate Blogger site devoted to wine and food called The Thirsty Cellist. I abandoned it to focus on school and cello-y things, and it has since been taken over by some…

It seems like self-promotional small potatoes to post about my next book after the shock and tumult of this week, but working on it serves as a diversion from the feelings of helplessness and despair that come from living in an…

After getting lots of emails asking for a retreat or other such event, I’ve only gotten 2 people saying they’re more likely than not to come to the tentative event in Middleburg. I know it’s tough because I have only…

Thoracic outlet syndrome is complicated. It can be caused by any number of things, from trauma (like a car accident or fall) to genetic predisposition to, as is my case, a subtle accumulation of overuse injuries that led to a…

  About an hour south of Washington, DC, nestled between acres of rolling farmland and a two-block colonial downtown area is the Wellbourne Inn. An old farmhouse that has, since the 1770s, been lived in, added onto, loved and adored…

A few people have contacted me either here or on social media to ask what’s up with my arm- I’ve been posting pictures from rehab and expressing frustration with the various setbacks. I’d intended to make the “long and winding…