Tag approach

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…

Change up your practice.

Try this: it’s like interval training for cello, and it got me over the hump when I was crashing on Rococo Variations. 1) Play a scale really slowly. As many octaves as you’re up to. Slur 2 to a bow,…

Frazier/Ali

It’s interesting how much I learn from teaching. Over the past year or so, I have had four or five students rise quickly to the “uh-oh this is serious!” level of intensity with their cello practice and approach to playing.…

great lessons

Well, as if to prove that there is some balance in the world, my lessons today were miraculous. My first student is a professional musician and an accomplished teacher with the most destructive habit of denigrating herself. She brings me…