Oniony practice

There are many ways in which practice, especially as a rumored professional, evokes the oniony images. First off, it makes you cry. ha. What I’m after today are the peeling layers, ever-emergent, even at this stage. With a few weeks left before the audition, I have uncovered reassuring and familiar competencies to be sure. But […]

Auditioning

I’m taking some auditions around town in a month or two, so that means more than ever, routine and repetition rule my life. I love it: the sense of purpose and direction, the hours that seem to disappear, the wondering what passers-by must think about the disembodied strains of Don Juan escaping from under my […]

The 12 Days of Cellomas 2009 Fail-tacular!

Back for more, are you? Last year’s 12 days of Cellomas focused on practice habits, and looking back on them, they’re pretty good! This year, I’ve collected some stories and will share some of my own complete and utter, wish-you-could-turn-back-time, ears turning red, find-me-a-place-to-hide regrettable experiences. Since my disasters usually had a gallery of witnesses, […]

Still under construction, but…

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. Otherwise you cry. 2) I’m having some of my students work their scales from 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, half notes, metronome on something Jurassic like quarter=42. We’re talking slow. 2) Open up your […]

unfair

I got a letter from your pinky the other day. I’m used to whole cellists writing to me asking for technical advice, but this was…a little awkward. What a conflict of interest! But I have decided to address the issues brought up in the letter, which I have included below. Click on it to enlarge. […]

Avoidance mode

You have étude books. And in those books are certain pages that make your guts churn and your eyes sizzle. I know because I, too have Popper’s High School of Cello Studies. But you don’t need to bust out Popper or Bukinik or Duport to play coy. Schroder, Lee, and Dotzauer have lots of opportunities […]

chop wood, carry water

Anyone who knows me knows that I love sports. In fact, with the exception of golf, I have a hard time walking past any television with some sort of sport on it without sitting down and talking trash. It follows that I listen to a lot of sports talk radio, and perhaps because the news […]

On the 7th day of Cellomas

My teacher told to me: 7) Take the thing you hate the most and make it your favorite. You know that measure that twists your fingers into a knot, befuddles your bow or just sounds plain awful? Well meet your new best friend. Items that lag behind the rest of a passage don’t do so […]

On the 6th day of Cellomas

My teacher told to me: 6) Practice sightreading at least once a week, if it’s not already part of your routine. There are few tricks to getting better at sightreading. You just have to do it; preferably with a metronome. I like to pick something that is a little easier than the hardest thing I […]

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