This is one time when I can truly say that music... and the people that come with it... has truly been a lifeline for me. Not only is it life to me, but to my younger daughter as well. I have been blessed to have two amazing cello teachers who have helped me get a very long distance in a very short time. That alone is worth its weight in gold. My first cello teacher also teaches my younger daughter saxophone, and he's really helped train her for things like auditions and improving her speed on her saxophone. He's helped her improve sight-reading technique as well as her mechanics. My second cello teacher has proven to be a true boon to my growth as well. Every lesson is a challenge and we cover a TON of material in my lessons, and I work on them all during the next two weeks. I'll return to this point at the end... but there's a reason for the post title!
This past week, we covered more than I ever imagined. We adjusted my bow arm (again), so that I could tackle string changes easier. Bring the elbow up so it's always above the wrist, and make sure your elbow is always positioned to the higher of the two strings when doing rapid string changes. We continued to work on Schroeder exercise 12 to apply this, and working on smoothing the string changes. Up to now, my changes have been mostly clean, but about a quarter of the time, my string changes end up being a little sloppy and somewhat.... less than perfect. So first we tweaked my arm position, and then we work on keeping my bow hand loose enough to do string jumps without moving my whole arm. It's an art form, and one that confounds more cellists than not, especially in the beginning. I might be moving quickly, but I am still a beginner, and I get reminded of that when I start to get overconfident! 😳
But before we got into Schroeder, I had played a short selection from Bach for Cello: Ten Pieces in First Position called Sarabande. Mellow, slow, and chock full of dynamic contrast. I had a good basic grasp, but he showed me so much more. Dynamic contrast isn't always about volume. That was a new concept to me. I had gotten the dynamics, but my bow speed still needed a lot of work to get the contrast right. I think I played the piece four times, and no two were the same. First bow speed, then working on getting emotion into the piece that was differing between the repeats, then string changes, then putting it all together to make a truly beautiful piece... sort of. As beautiful as a beginner can make it, anyway.
You'll "note" I mentioned bow speed. If you've ever worked on Schroeder exercise 11, it's absolutely exhausting to a beginner. It's all upper bow work, so your shoulder muscle is sure to get a good workout. It took me four days to be able to get all the way through it, and that was before we adjusted my bowing arm technique. So, now we begin working on minimizing bow movement. I'll be working on moving the bow as little as possible to get the sound necessary. Why? Because one of my biggest problems is bow planning. Not only does it effect dynamics, but it effects slurring in the long-term. I can do four or five notes in a slur, but I have difficulty with more than that.
As you can see, my lesson covered a LOT of material... and it's not even over! We carried on for another thirty minutes (my lesson was an hour and a half long...) and talked about getting into the flow, or what happens when you're practicing and it's suddenly three hours later. We talked about perfectionism, which I really suffer terribly from. You see, as a flutist of 30 years, my brain says that I should play cello at the same level I play flute. My body just looks at me and laughs.... so I get mad at it, and make it tense. One thing I need to do is isolate a problem I'm having, and work on it alone, regardless of what other problems occur in my music. Pardon?? Yes, I heard him right. Work on one serious issue per practice, and come back to the other issues that are minor. They will be easier to fix, but you have to forgive yourself and focus on one area in order to improve. To get a technique more perfect, you have to be less of a perfectionist. Chew on that one!
So, for the next two weeks, music will truly be life. I have so much to work on, and think about.
A side note: I was afraid that we were both going to have to give up our teachers and our lessons because of the shutdown. We're doing okay on finances, but I couldn't have justified the expense when our money would truly be needed elsewhere. Fortunately, music is life to our teachers, and they both see how passionately and avidly we both pursue music in our lives. We have been blessed by these teachers, and both have oh-so-graciously offered to forego payment for our lessons for the month of February (and part, if not all, of January), seeing that we need the music to keep us going. I cannot say how blessed and fortunate we are to have these people in our paths... and I wanted to publicly acknowledge these two without naming names. We are truly grateful.