What on EARTH could these possibly have in common? Read on...
So, my usual cello teacher is on many, many trips over the summer. He's fitting me into his schedule as he's able over the summer, which I'm grateful for, but it has also given me an opportunity to study with a different teacher. This brings new ideas, and a new pair of eyes examining technique, posture, intonation, and SO much more. We all have teachers that we love studying with, but sometimes, a fresh perspective can help identify new problems. If you feel like you're in a rut with your teacher, it might be just the time to broaden your horizons and get a new teacher, even if it's only for the summer.
I was nervous, as always, about going in to this new teacher, even though it's someone I already had a great cello relationship with as a mentor, and we have matching personalities. She gave me a few minutes of conversation to ease in, and then we jumped in with two simple words. "Play something." She didn't have anything in mind, so I asked her what she wanted and I suggested the Breval Sonata in C. I pushed my nerves down (completely forgetting about my Alexander Technique...) and found my opening pitch... extremely sharp. Ughh. Regroup. I warned her that I was still working on the precision of the double-stops. She said it was okay, and I launched in a second time, nailing the pitches a little better this time. She walked around and around my chair, observing my posture, hand positions, and my face as I played. I got to the point in the piece where I always mess up, and stopped. She laughed and eased my hurt pride a little, telling me I have a great sense of intonation and that she was impressed with how much I'm able to do this early in the game. Immediately, I was disarmed, and it helped me to relax a bit.
She asked me to play just a simple G-major scale with the most romantic, sappy vibrato I could, making it like a love scene in a movie. I began to play a D-scale (which, thankfully, she let slide...) and she stopped me at the top. She talked to me about my tension issues in my left hand and asked what we had done to work on it. I discussed the tapping method that my teacher (whom she knows) had shown me, and told her that he was always trying to get me to relax my grip. To this point, I have yet to do so....
So, to my surprise, she walks over to her stash and picks up a bag of... packing peanuts. You know, styrofoam packing peanuts... those annoying things that stick to everything and go everywhere when you unpack something from the mail or something fragile you've had in storage. I thought, what on earth are we going to do with these? She pulled one out, and proceeded to squish it with her fingers, drawing attention to the squeaking sounds it makes when you smoosh it. "I want you to tape one of these to the neck of your cello, and that way, you can hear it squeak whenever you're putting too much pressure on your left thumb." GENIUS! What a simple concept that can be so often overlooked! Squeaky packing peanuts...
Well, what about when you're shifting? She walks over and pulls another tool out of her arsenal... a plastic drinking straw! Although it doesn't make noise when you're putting too much pressure, it makes you aware of the pressure because it provides resistance as you push. "I've had some students come in and their straw is absolutely SMASHED!" she laughed. From then on, she began to hold my left arm as I played the scale, reminding me of my tension levels, making me aware of how tight my arm is. I relaxed under the weight of her hand, and she would let go, only to see my hand tense up again. After the third time, she and I both collapsed with laughter, each knowing what I was doing, and yet, fully knowing that I wasn't doing it consciously. It had been trained into me by months of poor practice habits.
My playing is advanced because the orchestra sprung the Elgar Variation on me after I'd already committed, but in a way, I've got to come back and re-learn some good habits that I had to blow past just to get to playing the Elgar in time. Thankfully, I have the summer to go back and correct some of these habits since orchestra is out until September. I'm looking forward to being able to spend some real time working on correcting some issues. The good news? Both teachers agree that, in a couple of years, if I keep the pace I've maintained thus far, I'll be able to audition for the professional orchestra in town.
...and that's a big deal because, as you know by now...
Happy Cello'ing!