Put the Cello Down, and Step Away Slowly...

So, you've chosen to play the cello, and I mean really play the cello. You bought three cellos and four bows in three months. No, wait... that's me. You listen to cello music all day, every day, and let it lull you to sleep at night. You eat, breathe, sleep, and even dream about cello. No, wait... that's still me. (Remind me to tell you about when I dreamt I was in a concert...) When you're not listening to it, you're practicing it. When you're not practicing it, you're seeing what cool accessories you can get. There are so many! I mean, we have stands, wolf tone modulators, pick-ups, amps, headphones... Oh, WOW!! There's even five-string and electric cellos!!! And just LOOK AT ALL THESE BOOKS!!!!!! 😍😍😍

Meanwhile, your family and friends are sitting in the corner, shivering in fear, and wondering when you lost your ever-loving mind....

Well, okay. Not really. But let's face it... Sometimes we do go a little crazy over these wooden beauties that speak to our very souls. But that's okay, right? I mean, they make us happy (usually). And there's all sorts of groups on social media and we can go and find new cello friends, and cello camps, and new cello teachers and oooh, what kind of cello do you have ohmygoshthatssobeautifulanditsoundssogoodandnowiwantoneandihavetogobuyit... wooooaaaaahhhhh, doggie! *take a breath*

So I asked my friends (cello people, of course!) what were some of the crazy things that they've done that made their families a little... scared. Here's what they said!

"My 15 year old daughter is the cellist, she was beginning cello when her older brother made our regional all-county orchestra, i dragged her to the first rehearsal and felt bad for her as she had to wait for the rehearsal to end. For the second rehearsal i told her to stay home with her mother as I took her brother, she pleaded with me with these exact words. "But daddy, i want to breathe the cello-ee air". Yes the little eight year old went to the rehearsal and is still playing strong." Ricardo G. Cello-ee air?? That's a new one. But hey, that's what this is all about, right?

" Well, who hasn’t, at some point or other, played cello on someone else’s forearm?" --Peter O. Ummm.... that would be me. I've never done that or even considered it, because, well, that would be weird. (Okay, so maybe I considered it... once.)

"My kids think it's funny that Yo MaMa (my nickname) goes to "band camp" (cello workshops)." --Joan R.

Then you have stories of REAL dedication, like this one:

"I had to drive on probably the worst county roads and byeways in Britain between anything from 20 to 27 schools each week to give individual lessons to between 70 (just the first year) and 120-150 pupils (by the 25th year) of between four and nineteen years old. Officially I was allowed 20 minutes for lunch and 10 minutes for each journey. Most lessons were also 10 minutes officially. I often travelled with up to 13 cellos and a double bass in my car (Subaru of course).

I arranged my timetable to start at the furthest point in the county each day from my fairly central home, arrived early by arrangement with the schools, took no breaks, drove like the devil (one journey for instance was 17 miles on single track backroads like the side of a mountain), and finished late.

On one occasion I came out of a primary school on a steep drive down to the road so I could see the road for a couple of miles in each direction. But I couldn't as the entire road as far as I could see was covered in sheep being moved! I sat and laughed and went back into the school I'd just left and phoned the next one 23 and a half miles away through two towns, to say I'd arrive when they saw me!

On another occasion I had my valuable cello in the car with me, in the estate boot. I left the secondary school and turned off the main road towards a primary school, with barely enough time to reach it. I had a lorry really close behind and being on a single track road with high hedges and twists and turns I was not at all comfortable with his proximity. As I approached a blind bend I knew there was someone hurtling towards me, so as I reached the bend I braked and swivelled the car so that the engine was in one hedge the boot in the one opposite. The van that had been approaching too fast, the lorry that had been too close behind, both managed to stop, but I could not open either my driver's door nor the passenger one on the other side of the car. Had I not swivelled the car like that my cello would have been firewood. I had put myself in the firing line to save my cello. I'd do it again too!" --Gill T. Yes, I'd say she's a little bit "guilty" of being overindulgent on cello.... but that's not a bad thing, right? I mean....

Then we have stories like this... the ones that really make our families wonder...and laugh!

"Does this count? It’s a “practice helper” made from an old fingerboard and toilet paper tubes-I pulled this out at a hotel at suggested to my son that we could “practice!” He looked at me as if I had sprouted three heads...🙂 it didn’t go over well..." --Carolyn S.

Honestly, I think it's genius and creative. She said she'll be stringing it with twine next.... Too much??

Carolyn's "Practice helper"

Until next time, Happy Cello'ing! #celloislife

(Got a story you want to share with the world? Shoot me an e-mail and I'll write another edition!)