So, you'll recall that my cello teacher decided to start me on the Sevcik etudes for shifting. I tried... I really tried! I looked at them, looked at them again, picked them up, re-read them five times, and still could not understand them. Nope. My brain does not understand. So, being the self-motivated good little cello student, I tucked them away until my next lesson, notified my teacher, and started on Dotzauer exercise #1. Scales, intonation, bow-planning, extensions, and vibrato ...all in one exercise. I can handle this! Yes, it's taken me a week to get a decent grasp on that one exercise, but I got the basic gist. Okay.
Step 2.... moving on to Schroeder exercises 10, 11, and 12. Chromatics.... my biggest hatred. PTHBHBTHBHHHHTHB. (That was a big, fat, raspberry for those who don't speak my language...) I hate chromatics. Oh well... it's a necessary evil. This, however, gives me a good chance to work on intonation, bow planning, and vibrato on shorter tones. But my neck involuntarily spazzes every time I run down that chromatic passage. My cello acquaintance, John, recently worked on this, so I knew it was coming, but man, I hate chromatic passages. Ick. Ugh. Blech. (Do you get that I hate chromatics??) All my musical sensibilities rebel at chromatics. I guess it's that I grew up with a personal hatred of contemporary compositions. It's just the way I'm wired. I've never liked the houses with the funky rooflines, either.... my body likes balance and tonal scales. MOVING ON!
Exercise 11.... 9/8 meter. Okay, I can handle that easy enough. Let's see, there's an extension there, and there. This one is about keeping your bowing evenly spaced, okay. Upper half of the bow. Crap. *sigh* Yep. Needless to say, I didn't make it through the whole exercise the first time.... or the second, or the third. It took me a week to build up the shoulder muscle required for maintaining the upper-half bow work, but at the end of a week, I finally made it through the whole exercise without stopping. Whew! That was a tough one. What surprised me is the triple stop at the end. Note to self: always look through ENTIRE piece before starting... Thank goodness for listening to recordings of the Bach suites and tons of cello literature, or I may never have known how to handle that! First time... sharp. Second time, nope... too low now. Third time... YES! Right on pitch. *happy dance*
Okay, now on to exercise 12. This one is obviously meant to work towards the Bach cello suites. String changes, pitch work... and on the upper half of the bow. I'm currently not strong enough on my bowing to have a lot of power in the upper half of my bow, hence all the work. I'm still learning what muscles to use in my arm so that I don't keep tension in my right hand (and therefore, my left also...), but rather to build the power in my arm, using my breathing to control my bowing.
Admit it. You totally did involuntary breathing with that caption...
I'm still fighting with keeping my bowing level and low, but now I seem to have OVER-corrected the problem, and stay too close to the bridge, particularly on this exercise. I can work with that. At least my cello tells me when I'm too close to the bridge...noisily. He gets brassy and harsh, and whiny. Not like over the fingerboard where he just gets quieter. Good cello!! You get a rubdown after practice for that! I'm managing to keep the notes even and not hitting two strings at once, for the most part. It's had its challenges, but I am making progress, and that's the point, right?
Suzuki book 1, last page. Bach Minuet. Double string crossing, and finger 2 to finger 4. Yeah, I need to stretch. Sagging pitches due to lack of mobility are not pretty in a piece. Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-ba-bum *droop* splat-splat. Yeah, not today. Slow it down, sister. I will NOT let a Suzuki minuet defeat me! Try again. Okay, that was a little better. But I REALLY want to start with the Bach suite. Yes, I know it's overplayed. Yes, I know everyone is tired of them. But it's a challenge I want to get into. And it's coming.... I know it is! I may or may not have picked out the first two measures of it by ear.... but I plead the fifth on that one... I can neither confirm nor deny. (Admit it... you sang the first line of that minuet in your head...)
So things are moving along with my practice. The lessons are on a bit of a hiatus due to the holidays, but I was faithful, and schlepped my cello to my parents' house and carved out practice time, even during the holidays! YAY ME! Four hours of driving, three days of practice, two mad teenagers, and a cello in my parents' guest rooooommmmmmm.....
Happy Cello'ing! #celloislife