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 28 April, 2009. Does this sound like you or anyone you know? Calloused hands, a closet full of full skirts and/or ‘comfy’ black pants, referring to people in strange code languages (“I was just thinking about…
I work really hard when I write. It’s some of the most enjoyable time I spend (tied with practicing cello, dancing, and flying). A few years ago, I hassled the folks over at Strings into letting me scribble a bit…
Back for more, eh? Here are some additional questions from the Q&A on Twitter: @CatePolacek asks: Oh, oh, can you explain the false string thing? I’ve yet to change mine, but your recent experiences are…
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…
I wrote this post about 2.5 years ago, and I thought that I might keep this blog perhaps a little cello-y while I finish writing my papers and whip up the Cellomas video by reposting it. The cello blogosphere has…
Just a quick response to Terry’s question about practicing with martelés in the previous post. My apologies to those of you who get this on RSS or other subscription and got this yesterday with the very Kermit-like still frame before…
I wrote a wee little article about shifting over at Tom’s blog, and thought a mini exercise might be just the thing to accompany it. One of the points I was driving at is the sense that a shift is…
Oh, internets, how I missed thee! I seriously hugged my laptop just then. Due to a screw up of epic proportions, it looks like your friendly neighborhood cellist will be sleeping on the floor in her swanky (vacant) new place…
After some technical difficulties rendered a new student’s camera useless, I was forced to give a first Skype lesson via audio-only. What was interesting is that I could tell what shape her hand was in by the sound she made,…