vintage srcb, part 3: pinky pressure

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 of her comment reads, “…Sore pinky joint. This one I struggle with quite a bit. […]

vintage SRCB, part 1: knowing the signs

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 GGP” “I can’t believe how long it’s been since I saw something new on CelloDonna’s […]

on writing.

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 for them. I am still astonished that they keep calling me back for more, given […]

questions from the Twitterverse, part 2.

        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 making me nervous. A “false” string happens when you play an open string and the […]

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 a frequent occurrence in my own early lessons. I would pour hours into my practice with only marginal progress, eventually decreasing my practice time to […]

Thumb position Redux

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 changed so much since I started writing in 2007: many of the people who were […]

Practicing with marteles

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 hitting “play”. Hard to believe that the flailing-armed poster frame YouTube generated is an improvement. […]

Oh shift!

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 propelled by the arm. I frequently remind students not to let their “fingers tow their […]

It’s a cello-y post!

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 for an additional ten days. Last night marked my eighth as a member of Floor […]

Geekage

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, and that the rest of the issues were educated guesses based upon problems that vex […]

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on my website.