workshop digest, part 1!

  I promised the participants at Lone Star SCOR some kind of run-down on topics we covered during the two workshops I gave. In the spirit of “better late than […]

sticky wicket

    I need your advice. I have a teenage student who has not responded positively to any approach, though he is progressing as well as anyone who has a […]

perfectly imperfect practice

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 […]

Sometimes the music looks back at you.

It’s been busy times in the stark raving life of your friendly neighborhood cellist. I suspect this will be one of the last blogs at this address: the whole shebang […]

A quick reflection about practice.

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 […]

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 […]

Mendelssohn vs. Me, round 3: rusty!

….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 […]

Mendelssohn vs. Me, round 2: punchy tuner edition

Let’s do this.

Mendelssohn vs. Me, round 1

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 […]

Spice for the recipe

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 […]