Hey friends! As promised, here’s the next installment of my examination of David Epstein’s Range, specifically relating it to what we’re trying to do as musicians. I’m dividing it up by chapter to keep things clear. Before I get underway,…
Originally published 12 June 2007. Near the end of this piece, I talk about resisting change and looking down on a teacher I had in London because she wasn’t up to speed on the Rococo Variations. I am still struck…
Originally posted 31 May 2007: These students are the foundation of my enduring interest in working with students with traumatic brain injury and other neuro-atypical learners. While the phrasing may be a tad jejune [cello is hard for everyone, some…
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…
Originally posted 9 January, 2008. This, and the next one, are two of the most popular posts on SRCB, according to the Google-mo-tron. Another darling of our community, CelloGirl has stress when it comes to her pinky joint. A portion…
Post originally published 12 June, 2007 I wish I could send my adult students to music school, if only just for a week. Not to be inspired by the hours and hours of practice or the tide of talent that…
Designed to be affordable mini manuals for pieces commonly studied, practice guides are packed with miniature exercises, technical reminders, and tips on approach. The first one, La Cinquantaine, is available now for $3.50 here. Stay tuned for more, and…
Practice is good. Common sense tells us it’s necessary for progress and essential to maintain our skill. In my lessons, I rarely teach people how to play- it’s mostly about diagnosing what makes something difficult and then developing strategies and…
If you keep up with me on Twittaw, you know I’ve become something of a swing dance addict. There’s something uniquely satisfying about learning a new discipline that, if you’re doing it right, requires lots of awareness and technique and…
I still catch a case of the stomach-jumpies when I get on stage. Not all the time, but I’d say at least half of my gigs (including workshops, seminars, etc) have some added zesty to them. The key to…
Ryan Howard is a baseball powerhouse. He’s led the majors in things like slugging and home runs, and is known as a Big Bat, for good reason. If you’re not a Philly fan, you probably just feel a little uncomfortable…
Today, I got two emails. One, from someone I have known for a long time. Another, from someone I have never met before. Email #1: Hi again, I’m no avid reader of your blog but I do admit to checking…
I was practicing yesterday and encountered, for the first time in a long while, the temptation to stop after the first 20 minutes. I’ve set about going through the Popper études and plowing roughshod through the repertoire to prime myself…
One of the most rewarding things about this blog are the emails I get from people who have been touched by something I’ve written. I react anywhere from “Aw, shucks” all the way to ten-minute cathartic bawl-fests, and I am…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
They say that the North American natives were taken by surprise, even though the towering masts of the Spaniards were on the horizon for nearly two days before they landed. It is thought they didn’t see the Spanish explorers’ ships…
….in which she begins to develop a neurosis about her hair as it appears from the side. Sigh. I really should just flat iron my hair every day to avoid these calamities. God help me if Nathan or Frankie at…
One of the things I never get asked that my adult beginners always get asked is why they play the cello. Depending on the company, the primrose path can lead to some pretty ugly places. Try not to feel put-upon. Look at this guy. Some…
Let’s do this.
Here I am, risking a little bit of my pride to show you the practice process behind what will become a very good Mendelssohn excerpt at some point. I figure that part of the strength of this blog is a…
If you had any questions about it, now you have an answer. You should play some cello. You just should.
This is what my life has been like recently. Everything always happens at once, but of course the audition has been the focus of my efforts. So last week, I did it. After practicing for months, chronicling my process, I…
In the baseball game of Audition vs Emily, the pitcher is kicking the dirt on the mound, leaning forward to consult the catcher’s sign, and has risen up: coiled and ready to pounce. Less than a week till the audition,…
Based on what I’ve seen @ Twitter and the contents of my email inbox, it seems like this past week beat the crap out of the ol’ CelloFamily. Not to toot my own horn *pulls out sousaphone* but I give a…
The audition pieces are chosen for very specific reasons. They want to see you hold down a sense of time when rushing is what feels good, they want to see huge flexibility in dynamic range, tone quality and color, intonation,…