There was one picture involving a bowl cut that I just couldn’t put up. Sorry. As I prepare for ulnar nerve surgery this December, I am forced to reflect back on my experience with the cello. I had to sign…
(excuse the kitchen in the background. that’s where the light was good.) I think Eric might die if he knew I had nicknamed his wonderful cello “Cheeto”, but really it’s a compliment. No, it’s not really that orange. In fact,…
Don’t question the A your teacher gives you.
We hear a lot about musical savants, but this guy’s gifts of perception are staggering. It does beg the tantalizing question of whether we have these abilities within ourselves but lose them as we try to become more convenient personalities…
I had gotten a lot of requests for my arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner, so I thought, “This morning, I’ll notate it and put it up. Won’t that be nice?” Of course, since it involved FAILnale Finale software, I…
Parents have to tread a pretty fine line when it comes to encouraging/harassing/bribing/browbeating their kids to practice an instrument. My angle is that, after the age of 10 or so, it is up to the student whether or not to…
10) It’s too hot. You don’t say! We live in the desert, in case you hadn’t noticed. 9) I’m, er…sick. (on the phone, with festive sounds in the background) You will be after the 7 vodka tonics you’re in the…
While we’re waiting for some more upgrades, I wanted to share two things: 1) This video. I am pretty sure it’s a joke, but it is not dissimilar to people I have witnessed at the college level! You gotta laugh.…
I’m going to try this with a slightly more cogent approach this time. AAAAAAAA!! Another teaching tour! I’m thinking March: South Carolina to DC/Baltimore to PA to Manhattan. The plan is to have two teaching days in each city: one…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
In memory, not just today, but always.
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…
Chameleon drawing from this online coloring book site!
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.
From Ukraine’s got talent.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…