No orchestra rehearsal tonight! We got 3 inches of snow at our house, which doesn't sound like much, but my husband could not get his car up the hill today. He ended up taking my car, effectively keeping me at home all day. It is icy and snowy outside and our conductor emailed us all saying that he was stuck at home because of the ice on the hill by his house. So now I don't feel guilty about having to miss orchestra.
Yesterday I got to play with my Sunday chamber group - Cello2 has a bad cold and cancelled our Popper practice. Everyone in the Sunday group was really happy to see me! The cellos show up early so we can play cello-only music before the rest of the group arrives. We started off with a 3-cello piece by Beethoven. It was an arrangement of a 2-oboe + english horn piece. Now I don't remember what it was but we didn't get through all of it and will finish reading it the next time I'm there. My part was completely in tenor clef and it was challenging reading the thumb position parts in tenor way up there...
When the others showed up I switched to the piano and we (finally!) played through the Brahms Piano Quintet. Wow! It is very challenging for everyone. I finally got to find out which sections of it I don't know well enough to fake. The rest of the group did an awesome first reading. We had to stop and restart and figure out who was playing with whom (or not). The rhythms were challenging too - lots of 2 against 3 or 3 against 4, and lots of triplets where the first note of the triplet was a tied note from the previous beat or a rest. When we finished the scherzo, actually all together, we all laughed with sheer joy and relief. If you hear a recording you can hear the straight 16th notes, but in reality the strings alternate who's playing so counting and being dead on the rhythm is crucial for playing that particular section (the piano is playing all the time but is all over the keyboard - and most of the time at the extreme ends of the keyboard). When we finished the last movement, again, there was lots of laughter of sheer relief. That did us in for the day - it's an exhausting piece. But everyone wants to work on it and play it again!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Louder
I told my teacher last night about our first rehearsal with the orchestra. He asked me how it went. I told him that we all needed to get louder. So my lesson was mostly about how to play louder while staying relaxed. Easier said than done.
I have a bunch of new exercises to work on, to try to learn how to crank up my volume, stay relaxed, and not lose tone quality. There's no such thing as playing softly with an entire orchestra backing you up. My husband said that he can finally hear my cello all through the house now, over the TV and over a whole bunch of other things on. I told him that I need to be even LOUDER.
We had another false start with my Saturday chamber group. We thought we would have a string quartet. And I thought, hooray, finally I will get to play the cello! But, our violist couldn't make it again, and our second violinist comes late. So for quite a while it was just our first violinist and me. She brought Beethoven violin/piano sonatas so we read through #3 and #4. #4 is really nice - worth doing again. I love playing the sonatas because the piano is an equal partner with the violin. #3 and #4 had early opus numbers but were very clearly not Hadyn influenced--very much Beethoven's own voice. Lovely pieces. We started #5 (the "spring" sonata) when our second violinst showed up. I stayed on the piano while they played a Bach double violin concerto. Then our first violinst did an awesome job of being the viola while we played some string trios - one by Schubert, a few movements of a Mozart Divertmento, and a few movements of a Beethoven string trio. She had to sit out when the viola part got too low for the violin, and there were a few times when we had to stop while she figured out alto clef but it was sure nice to have a little time on the cello. My tone has improved a lot as well as my reading ability and it was fun to hear how much I've improved.
As they were leaving I asked how loud we were during the Popper. They both said that all of us needed to be louder....I think only the strings could hear us and that the brass couldn't hear us at all. I've got to figure out how to make my cello project more sound...
I have a bunch of new exercises to work on, to try to learn how to crank up my volume, stay relaxed, and not lose tone quality. There's no such thing as playing softly with an entire orchestra backing you up. My husband said that he can finally hear my cello all through the house now, over the TV and over a whole bunch of other things on. I told him that I need to be even LOUDER.
We had another false start with my Saturday chamber group. We thought we would have a string quartet. And I thought, hooray, finally I will get to play the cello! But, our violist couldn't make it again, and our second violinist comes late. So for quite a while it was just our first violinist and me. She brought Beethoven violin/piano sonatas so we read through #3 and #4. #4 is really nice - worth doing again. I love playing the sonatas because the piano is an equal partner with the violin. #3 and #4 had early opus numbers but were very clearly not Hadyn influenced--very much Beethoven's own voice. Lovely pieces. We started #5 (the "spring" sonata) when our second violinst showed up. I stayed on the piano while they played a Bach double violin concerto. Then our first violinst did an awesome job of being the viola while we played some string trios - one by Schubert, a few movements of a Mozart Divertmento, and a few movements of a Beethoven string trio. She had to sit out when the viola part got too low for the violin, and there were a few times when we had to stop while she figured out alto clef but it was sure nice to have a little time on the cello. My tone has improved a lot as well as my reading ability and it was fun to hear how much I've improved.
As they were leaving I asked how loud we were during the Popper. They both said that all of us needed to be louder....I think only the strings could hear us and that the brass couldn't hear us at all. I've got to figure out how to make my cello project more sound...
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
First Popper Rehearsal with Orchestra!
I wasn't expecting it, but last night we played the Popper Requiem with the full orchestra for the first time! The pre-rehearsal blog only had one entry, the Kallinikov Symphony #1 so I wasn't expecting to play the Popper and didn't bring my stand. My stand partner always brings his stand, so I've been lazy and never bother to bring mine. Since he's playing Cello 2, I had to borrow a stand for the Popper (at least I had my music!).
We faced the orchestra for this rehearsal so that the orchestra could hear what we were playing. Next time we'll face out as if we had an audience. Some of my observations:
1. I have to play louder! We did a bunch of runs through my solo part (more so that the orchestra could hear/practice their parts) and I was wondering how well my volume projected
2. We all have to play louder - but need someone to do a balance check on our volume together and with the orchestra
3. We cellists played together pretty much most of the time - no major gaffes - there are some bowing changes and volume changes we will need to make and of course we still need a lot of practice, but I think in general we sounded good. A lot of people came up after rehearsal to say that they liked hearing us and that they liked the piece.
4. I had fun! I wished I had played some parts better, but I know that my playing get better with more time/practice. Cello1 and Cello2 both said that they had performance nerves. I had some nervousness but midway through the first run I started thinking, This is so cool! Playing with an orchestra backing me up!!!!
I got used to playing for an audience during the 3 years that I spent playing the organ for my church..way back in high school...since then I've really enjoyed playing for an audience.
5. I really need to work on my solo bits and getting relaxed! Under stress I fall back to what I can do automatically and I don't have as many skills on "automatic" as I would like (many of those skills are what I wrote about in my previous post!) My playing quality rapidly deteriorates when I'm stressed out, nervous, or thinking too hard about some little detail..so I need to be loud and relaxed (and Sing! Sing!) I hope I'm not deluding myself into thinking my playing sounded better than what it really sounded like...
We faced the orchestra for this rehearsal so that the orchestra could hear what we were playing. Next time we'll face out as if we had an audience. Some of my observations:
1. I have to play louder! We did a bunch of runs through my solo part (more so that the orchestra could hear/practice their parts) and I was wondering how well my volume projected
2. We all have to play louder - but need someone to do a balance check on our volume together and with the orchestra
3. We cellists played together pretty much most of the time - no major gaffes - there are some bowing changes and volume changes we will need to make and of course we still need a lot of practice, but I think in general we sounded good. A lot of people came up after rehearsal to say that they liked hearing us and that they liked the piece.
4. I had fun! I wished I had played some parts better, but I know that my playing get better with more time/practice. Cello1 and Cello2 both said that they had performance nerves. I had some nervousness but midway through the first run I started thinking, This is so cool! Playing with an orchestra backing me up!!!!
I got used to playing for an audience during the 3 years that I spent playing the organ for my church..way back in high school...since then I've really enjoyed playing for an audience.
5. I really need to work on my solo bits and getting relaxed! Under stress I fall back to what I can do automatically and I don't have as many skills on "automatic" as I would like (many of those skills are what I wrote about in my previous post!) My playing quality rapidly deteriorates when I'm stressed out, nervous, or thinking too hard about some little detail..so I need to be loud and relaxed (and Sing! Sing!) I hope I'm not deluding myself into thinking my playing sounded better than what it really sounded like...
Monday, January 21, 2008
Random Practice Notes
These past few weeks I've heard some random (or maybe not so random) comments about my playing that have given me new things to think about and work on during my practice time...
...my bow hold
I'm continuing to work on thinking about my hand following my arm, and on the equal and opposite reaction (to counteract the problem I have with my hand sliding towards the tip of the bow)
...my bow speed
At my last lesson, I told my teacher that I wasn't happy with the way I was playing part of one of my solo bits on the Popper Requiem. This has a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth note, followed by a quarter note where I have to shift up to hit the quarter note. He watched me and said that I was speeding up my bowing when I was shifting. That darn right hand/left hand independence thing again! I've modified my shifting exercise this week to change the rhythm of the shifting but keeping the bow speed steady. Another skill to burn into my brain...
...controlling the rate of my vibrato
That was the other thing I told my teacher I wasn't happy about. It's the right hand/left hand independence thing again...and the overall coordination thing (you know, the pat your head and rub your stomach thing). Plus I can't seem to hold my bow speed steady and increase or decrease the rate of my vibrato. My right hand wants to speed up or slow down with my left hand. Sigh. Another set of exercises...
...starting a note
During our Popper rehearsal yesterday, Cello1 gave me a little lesson on starting a note...putting some pressure on the string and then getting it to vibrate immediately, but without the horrible scratching sounds that I sometimes make. My teacher has been saying the same thing...I think it's a skill that I can't do automatically yet...what happens when I start a note doesn't always feel like I have it under control, even though I am trying.
...and the previous week's Cello1 tip on bowing
She's been telling me, "Sing, Sing!!!" and finally told me to bow with a "Round bow, round bow! not straight...it's not natural!!" She showed me what she meant, and I've been practicing...and it's helped my overall tone. This week she told me that my solo parts sounded a lot better. I told her that I've been practicing round bows and she was really happy.
I finally figured out why she doesn't want to get coaching from my teacher...she believes that teachers are not useful to learning how to play well. I don't agree, but it did explain why she doesn't want to have my teacher listen to the 3 of us play the Popper.
Popper rehearsal notes
I think we have decided where we are bowing together and where we are not...we made some major bowing changes yesterday that improved the overall sound. Cello1 suggested fingering changes to both Cello2 and me on our parts; they were good suggestions but then she kept reminding us about the changes when we'd forget. Cello2 finally said, I need this coming week to practice the new fingerings and bowings...I'll have it changed by next week.
...And the Saturday Chamber Group
We were foiled again...Our second violinist is out with an injured finger. We thought our violist would make it but she wasn't able to and we were back to...piano trios. I love piano trios but am really looking forward to another configuration..plus we thought we would be able to play piano quartets or string trios and I have a piano quartet by Arthur Foote that I really wanted to play...maybe next week. I was looking forward to playing the cello but ended up on the piano. We played a Frederick Gernsheim piano trio (can't remember the opus...it just was loaded to the Eastman School of Music site) and it had a really hard first movement (rhythmically hard) but was really nice overall. Then we switched to Beethoven and played Trios #5 and #8. #8 was fun because it was a set of 10 variations.
...and the Brahms Piano quintet
I'm still working on it...playing bits and pieces of it when I can find time to practice the piano. I've been using a method that I read about from a link on Gottagopractice's blog - a flexible tempo - to learn the music - it really works. I've found that the sections that I've played through very slowly but concentrating on learning the music really well, that I'm able to speed it up much more quickly and accurately. I still only have small sections that I can play at speed, but more and more of each movement is starting to come together.
...and orchestra rehearsal tonight!
I missed last week's rehearsal; the first of this cycle...it was snowing so hard last week that I decided to drive home rather than stay at rehearsal. I even postponed my trip to the Bay Area for a day from Tuesday to Wednesday because I figured that it would be really icy...and for once I got lucky with the travel gods because the San Jose airport was closed Tuesday morning and I didn't have to deal with it!
...my bow hold
I'm continuing to work on thinking about my hand following my arm, and on the equal and opposite reaction (to counteract the problem I have with my hand sliding towards the tip of the bow)
...my bow speed
At my last lesson, I told my teacher that I wasn't happy with the way I was playing part of one of my solo bits on the Popper Requiem. This has a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth note, followed by a quarter note where I have to shift up to hit the quarter note. He watched me and said that I was speeding up my bowing when I was shifting. That darn right hand/left hand independence thing again! I've modified my shifting exercise this week to change the rhythm of the shifting but keeping the bow speed steady. Another skill to burn into my brain...
...controlling the rate of my vibrato
That was the other thing I told my teacher I wasn't happy about. It's the right hand/left hand independence thing again...and the overall coordination thing (you know, the pat your head and rub your stomach thing). Plus I can't seem to hold my bow speed steady and increase or decrease the rate of my vibrato. My right hand wants to speed up or slow down with my left hand. Sigh. Another set of exercises...
...starting a note
During our Popper rehearsal yesterday, Cello1 gave me a little lesson on starting a note...putting some pressure on the string and then getting it to vibrate immediately, but without the horrible scratching sounds that I sometimes make. My teacher has been saying the same thing...I think it's a skill that I can't do automatically yet...what happens when I start a note doesn't always feel like I have it under control, even though I am trying.
...and the previous week's Cello1 tip on bowing
She's been telling me, "Sing, Sing!!!" and finally told me to bow with a "Round bow, round bow! not straight...it's not natural!!" She showed me what she meant, and I've been practicing...and it's helped my overall tone. This week she told me that my solo parts sounded a lot better
I finally figured out why she doesn't want to get coaching from my teacher...she believes that teachers are not useful to learning how to play well. I don't agree, but it did explain why she doesn't want to have my teacher listen to the 3 of us play the Popper.
Popper rehearsal notes
I think we have decided where we are bowing together and where we are not...we made some major bowing changes yesterday that improved the overall sound. Cello1 suggested fingering changes to both Cello2 and me on our parts; they were good suggestions but then she kept reminding us about the changes when we'd forget. Cello2 finally said, I need this coming week to practice the new fingerings and bowings...I'll have it changed by next week.
...And the Saturday Chamber Group
We were foiled again...Our second violinist is out with an injured finger. We thought our violist would make it but she wasn't able to and we were back to...piano trios. I love piano trios but am really looking forward to another configuration..plus we thought we would be able to play piano quartets or string trios and I have a piano quartet by Arthur Foote that I really wanted to play...maybe next week. I was looking forward to playing the cello but ended up on the piano. We played a Frederick Gernsheim piano trio (can't remember the opus...it just was loaded to the Eastman School of Music site) and it had a really hard first movement (rhythmically hard) but was really nice overall. Then we switched to Beethoven and played Trios #5 and #8. #8 was fun because it was a set of 10 variations.
...and the Brahms Piano quintet
I'm still working on it...playing bits and pieces of it when I can find time to practice the piano. I've been using a method that I read about from a link on Gottagopractice's blog - a flexible tempo - to learn the music - it really works. I've found that the sections that I've played through very slowly but concentrating on learning the music really well, that I'm able to speed it up much more quickly and accurately. I still only have small sections that I can play at speed, but more and more of each movement is starting to come together.
...and orchestra rehearsal tonight!
I missed last week's rehearsal; the first of this cycle...it was snowing so hard last week that I decided to drive home rather than stay at rehearsal. I even postponed my trip to the Bay Area for a day from Tuesday to Wednesday because I figured that it would be really icy...and for once I got lucky with the travel gods because the San Jose airport was closed Tuesday morning and I didn't have to deal with it!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
My Bow Hold Post
January is Bow Month at Emily Wright's blog.
I got a very helpful and detailed response from her about my bow quandary, which are 2 things - keeping my thumb curved and keeping my hand from sliding towards the tip when playing.
I've been trying to keep my thumb curved. What I've noticed is that there are times when I play when I'm not thinking at all about my bow hand, but it is relaxed and I can tell it's ok. But, there are times when I don't notice that my thumb has straightened out. A lot of this battle seems to be the figuring out how to have a heightened sense of awareness of what my hand is doing but not really be thinking about it. When I start obsessing over my bow hand (or anything else) I tend to tense up, and then I make the problem worse.
In fact, that's another dilemma. During a practice session I can stop, shake my hand out, reposition my hand, try to relax, and begin again. I can't do that during a reading session or during a performance. I think that's a skill I don't have yet - being able to figure out that I need to make an adjustment and then be able to make the fix on the fly, especially when my hand has migrated.
Yesterday, my first practice session after getting the tips, I tried hard to think about an opposite and equal reaction with my hand, and about having it follow my arm, to try to fix the sliding hand problem. Like all of the changes and adjustments I've been making to my-bow-hand-that-is-a-work-in-progress, I think it's going to take a few weeks before I will be able to tell how much this approach helps - and if it doesn't I will be knocking again on Ms. Emily's door (metaphorically speaking!)
I really liked what Emily said about spending time on basic technique. I've tried to do that with one thing every week since I started playing. Even though I will be working on multiple things, every week I pick one thing that I will spend a lot of concentrated time on making better...like the shifting exercise I wrote about in a previous post. During my lesson yesterday my teacher remarked on the improvement I've made on the Popper Requiem from the concentrated work I've done on shifting since the last lesson I had before Christmas. My goal with spending that concentrated time is to burn the correct technique into my brain so that I don't have to think very much about it when I'm playing. I spend quite a bit of time sight-reading music with my various groups and my philosophy is that the more skills I have that are 'automatic', the better I play pieces where I don't have the luxury of practice time.
I've found that by spending a week or a few weeks on that one thing, other parts of my playing improve too. What do all of you do? What's your practice philosophy?
I got a very helpful and detailed response from her about my bow quandary, which are 2 things - keeping my thumb curved and keeping my hand from sliding towards the tip when playing.
I've been trying to keep my thumb curved. What I've noticed is that there are times when I play when I'm not thinking at all about my bow hand, but it is relaxed and I can tell it's ok. But, there are times when I don't notice that my thumb has straightened out. A lot of this battle seems to be the figuring out how to have a heightened sense of awareness of what my hand is doing but not really be thinking about it. When I start obsessing over my bow hand (or anything else) I tend to tense up, and then I make the problem worse.
In fact, that's another dilemma. During a practice session I can stop, shake my hand out, reposition my hand, try to relax, and begin again. I can't do that during a reading session or during a performance. I think that's a skill I don't have yet - being able to figure out that I need to make an adjustment and then be able to make the fix on the fly, especially when my hand has migrated.
Yesterday, my first practice session after getting the tips, I tried hard to think about an opposite and equal reaction with my hand, and about having it follow my arm, to try to fix the sliding hand problem. Like all of the changes and adjustments I've been making to my-bow-hand-that-is-a-work-in-progress, I think it's going to take a few weeks before I will be able to tell how much this approach helps - and if it doesn't I will be knocking again on Ms. Emily's door (metaphorically speaking!)
I really liked what Emily said about spending time on basic technique. I've tried to do that with one thing every week since I started playing. Even though I will be working on multiple things, every week I pick one thing that I will spend a lot of concentrated time on making better...like the shifting exercise I wrote about in a previous post. During my lesson yesterday my teacher remarked on the improvement I've made on the Popper Requiem from the concentrated work I've done on shifting since the last lesson I had before Christmas. My goal with spending that concentrated time is to burn the correct technique into my brain so that I don't have to think very much about it when I'm playing. I spend quite a bit of time sight-reading music with my various groups and my philosophy is that the more skills I have that are 'automatic', the better I play pieces where I don't have the luxury of practice time.
I've found that by spending a week or a few weeks on that one thing, other parts of my playing improve too. What do all of you do? What's your practice philosophy?
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Popper practice
Since orchestera was still on break Monday night, we got together to practice the Popper Requiem. Now that our dates to play it with the orchestra are set, for the next series of concerts at the end of March and beginning of April, we know we need to practice regularly.
It was a productive session, with good progress and a lot more that we need to make to be concert-ready. We played through it multiple times, and spent a little bit of time starting to discuss bowings, entrances, endings, and ensemble-related things. There are some things that you can't practice alone. I definitely need to work on playing out on my solo bits. I was really happy that I played my sections with 32nd notes pretty well (the piece is in a slow 3/8 but the shifting on the 32nd passages is very tricky). Cello2 and I really need to practice the bit where we're together on a run of 32nd notes. We were together rhythmically most of the time, but we need to work on our intonation while playing together. The piece is in F# minor, and since I'm cello 3 I play a lot of F sharps on the C string. I am still having trouble with the intonation of the F sharp. Many times I come in after the others are playing and tuning it to them is really hard. But all in all, for a first rehearsal it went well.
There were 2 weird incidents during practice. I've written about Cello1 in another post, about Cello1 absolutelty having to play the first part (of course she's playing cello 1 for the Popper!). She also has very definite ideas about how the piece should be played...she spent time correcting Cello2 and my fingerings and bowings, which wasn't a bad thing. I appreciate her passion about playing the music, but on the other hand, she won't really listen to our ideas about how sections should be played.
Weird incident #1: The last phrase has Cello1 and Cello2 playing a figure together that goes "daaaaa..da.dummmmmmm". I simply play "daaaaaaaa.dummmmmmm". The "daaaaa..da" is written as one beat long and the "dummmmm" is held until we stop playing. We spent a lot of time arguing about the rallentando at the end. Cello1 kept playing the "daaaaa..da" 2 beats long during every run through. The first time we all did different things. The second time Cello2 and I listened and we followed her lead. Later, Cello2 said, well, there should be a rallentando at the end of the piece but I don't think it should be 2 beats long...we've followed you and stayed together which the most important thing, but I think 2 beats is too long, especially since there is no 'rit' written in. Cello1: Oh no, it has to slow down like that. 1 beat is too short. I'm playing it right! Her attitude the whole time: "my way or the highway" Cello2 and I finally just said, Ok, we don't agree but we at least have to do it the same way every single time and let our conductor know how we're playing it because the orchestra has to follow us and we need to be consistent.
Weird incident #2: My teacher recorded all of the parts for us as practice files - 1 version with all 3 parts, and versions missing a part (1 and 2 only, 2 and 3 only, 1 and 3 only) so that we could have practice files. I also asked him if we could take one of my lessons as a coaching session, which he agreed to do. Cello2 has been enthusiastic about having him coach us. So, at the end of our session, when we were trying to set up future practice times, I said, We need to pick a Friday night some time to have a coaching session with my teacher. Cello1: Oh no, I don't want to do that. Cello2 and me: Flabbergasted. A little more discussion. Cello1: No, we don't need a coach. All we need is the conductor. (who, by the way, is not a string player). No budging from this position. Needless to say, at this point I don't think we're having a coaching session. Maybe I'll take Cello2 with me for one lesson and the 2 of us can get coached together.
Cello1 is an excellent cellist, and I have learned a lot from playing with her, and most of the time it's pleasant. However, I am finding these behaviors really disturbing. I think that if we actually make it to the concert without killing each other we'll be doing very well. I also think that I won't be trying to play with her again if I can help it!
the last amusing note - figuring out why we haven't practiced together much prior to this (besides the feeling like, oh yeah, it's so far away...which we don't feel now). We went through every week night. Monday night is orchestra, and we've tried to practice before rehearsal but it hasn't worked well, and I don't want to rehearse after because I leave on the first flight on Tuesday mornings and already don't get much sleep....which cut out Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the days that I'm gone nearly every week. Thursday nights Cello1 has rehearsal with her other orchestra. Friday night is my cello lesson. I don't remember when Cello2 has his harp lesson. That left Saturday and Sunday. Cello2 and I looked at each other and I said, either we (Cello2 and me) don't play on Saturdays or I don't play with my Sunday chamber group. Cello2 said, waaa, I want to play on Saturdays! Anyway, it looks like I'm going to take a short break from my Sunday group. No wonder we haven't practiced much together!
It was a productive session, with good progress and a lot more that we need to make to be concert-ready. We played through it multiple times, and spent a little bit of time starting to discuss bowings, entrances, endings, and ensemble-related things. There are some things that you can't practice alone. I definitely need to work on playing out on my solo bits. I was really happy that I played my sections with 32nd notes pretty well (the piece is in a slow 3/8 but the shifting on the 32nd passages is very tricky). Cello2 and I really need to practice the bit where we're together on a run of 32nd notes. We were together rhythmically most of the time, but we need to work on our intonation while playing together. The piece is in F# minor, and since I'm cello 3 I play a lot of F sharps on the C string. I am still having trouble with the intonation of the F sharp. Many times I come in after the others are playing and tuning it to them is really hard. But all in all, for a first rehearsal it went well.
There were 2 weird incidents during practice. I've written about Cello1 in another post, about Cello1 absolutelty having to play the first part (of course she's playing cello 1 for the Popper!). She also has very definite ideas about how the piece should be played...she spent time correcting Cello2 and my fingerings and bowings, which wasn't a bad thing. I appreciate her passion about playing the music, but on the other hand, she won't really listen to our ideas about how sections should be played.
Weird incident #1: The last phrase has Cello1 and Cello2 playing a figure together that goes "daaaaa..da.dummmmmmm". I simply play "daaaaaaaa.dummmmmmm". The "daaaaa..da" is written as one beat long and the "dummmmm" is held until we stop playing. We spent a lot of time arguing about the rallentando at the end. Cello1 kept playing the "daaaaa..da" 2 beats long during every run through. The first time we all did different things. The second time Cello2 and I listened and we followed her lead. Later, Cello2 said, well, there should be a rallentando at the end of the piece but I don't think it should be 2 beats long...we've followed you and stayed together which the most important thing, but I think 2 beats is too long, especially since there is no 'rit' written in. Cello1: Oh no, it has to slow down like that. 1 beat is too short. I'm playing it right! Her attitude the whole time: "my way or the highway" Cello2 and I finally just said, Ok, we don't agree but we at least have to do it the same way every single time and let our conductor know how we're playing it because the orchestra has to follow us and we need to be consistent.
Weird incident #2: My teacher recorded all of the parts for us as practice files - 1 version with all 3 parts, and versions missing a part (1 and 2 only, 2 and 3 only, 1 and 3 only) so that we could have practice files. I also asked him if we could take one of my lessons as a coaching session, which he agreed to do. Cello2 has been enthusiastic about having him coach us. So, at the end of our session, when we were trying to set up future practice times, I said, We need to pick a Friday night some time to have a coaching session with my teacher. Cello1: Oh no, I don't want to do that. Cello2 and me: Flabbergasted. A little more discussion. Cello1: No, we don't need a coach. All we need is the conductor. (who, by the way, is not a string player). No budging from this position. Needless to say, at this point I don't think we're having a coaching session. Maybe I'll take Cello2 with me for one lesson and the 2 of us can get coached together.
Cello1 is an excellent cellist, and I have learned a lot from playing with her, and most of the time it's pleasant. However, I am finding these behaviors really disturbing. I think that if we actually make it to the concert without killing each other we'll be doing very well. I also think that I won't be trying to play with her again if I can help it!
the last amusing note - figuring out why we haven't practiced together much prior to this (besides the feeling like, oh yeah, it's so far away...which we don't feel now). We went through every week night. Monday night is orchestra, and we've tried to practice before rehearsal but it hasn't worked well, and I don't want to rehearse after because I leave on the first flight on Tuesday mornings and already don't get much sleep....which cut out Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the days that I'm gone nearly every week. Thursday nights Cello1 has rehearsal with her other orchestra. Friday night is my cello lesson. I don't remember when Cello2 has his harp lesson. That left Saturday and Sunday. Cello2 and I looked at each other and I said, either we (Cello2 and me) don't play on Saturdays or I don't play with my Sunday chamber group. Cello2 said, waaa, I want to play on Saturdays! Anyway, it looks like I'm going to take a short break from my Sunday group. No wonder we haven't practiced much together!
Monday, January 7, 2008
The Shifting Exercise
This is a very tedious exercise, but has been paying off...the finger patterns are:
1-1
1-2
1-3
1-4
2-1
2-2
2-3
2-4...etc....
I have been rotating strings each day (A string yesterday, D string today, etc.).
I start on a high postion on the fingerboard...my teacher had me start in first position, but since I have had so much trouble placing fingers on other notes in other positions, I've been practicing from other positions (getting the practice hitting, for example, the D on the A string with any finger when my hand is not on the cello)
I then start the shift patterns, using a finger pattern described above. Say it's 1-2 on the A string; I do shifts on the same string from that high position (if I start from first position it would be B-D, B-E, B-F, B-G,etc....or by half steps...your choice but to the point in Gottagopractice's post, have decided where you're going so you know whether you've shifted to the right note). Then I move to the harmonic A and practice shifting back on the A string...harmonic A back to the B in first position, harmonic A back to C, and so forth.
Then I do it again from both high and low positions but this time switching strings...on the A string I can only shift to the D string. When I'm on the D and G strings I shift to strings on both sides. In this case I usually play octaves, just so that I can hear whether I've shifted to the correct position.
Okay, now repeat with the next finger combo! With 16 possible finger combinations you do this shifting exercise many, many times...so it is very tedious. Some days I start with my 4th finger because I've found that by the time I get towards the end of the exercise it is really hard to concentrate on doing the shifting correctly and I really want to be done with the exercise. Oh, and don't forget the replacement shifts (shifting fingers but same note on same string) with each finger pattern combo.
During all of this I am trying to remember to keep my fingers on the string. Because I spent so long playing the piano before starting the cello I have a bad habit of lifting fingers and not keeping them down (well, it works on the piano!). Also, when you place fingers down or remove them matters...I've found that when I miss a note when shifting it's because I didn't put my fingers down (or remove) soon enough.
I've been doing the same bow stroke when and making sure I hear the glissando when shifting on the suggestion of my teacher, so that I can hear that I've placed fingers down, He did also suggest that I practice different bows and practice shifting without the glissando so that I practice shifting cleanly. I haven't been good about the different bows, and I also have been rather random about whether I shift with or without some sound in between the shifts. I suppose I could get even more anal about it...but this whole thing is long enough as it is. Perhaps I'll just rotate things...glissando one day or with certain fingers, or no glissando.
Whew! that was long, almost as long as the exercise! But as tedious as it is...it really pays off. Yesterday with my Sunday chamber group, we started with 3 of us playing cello (us cellists have started getting together early to play multiple-cello music together). For some reason we started playing The Swan. For the very first time I hit every single shift perfectly and felt very confident as I was playing it (oh yes, different finger, different string! oh! different finger, same string!)
1-1
1-2
1-3
1-4
2-1
2-2
2-3
2-4...etc....
I have been rotating strings each day (A string yesterday, D string today, etc.).
I start on a high postion on the fingerboard...my teacher had me start in first position, but since I have had so much trouble placing fingers on other notes in other positions, I've been practicing from other positions (getting the practice hitting, for example, the D on the A string with any finger when my hand is not on the cello)
I then start the shift patterns, using a finger pattern described above. Say it's 1-2 on the A string; I do shifts on the same string from that high position (if I start from first position it would be B-D, B-E, B-F, B-G,etc....or by half steps...your choice but to the point in Gottagopractice's post, have decided where you're going so you know whether you've shifted to the right note). Then I move to the harmonic A and practice shifting back on the A string...harmonic A back to the B in first position, harmonic A back to C, and so forth.
Then I do it again from both high and low positions but this time switching strings...on the A string I can only shift to the D string. When I'm on the D and G strings I shift to strings on both sides. In this case I usually play octaves, just so that I can hear whether I've shifted to the correct position.
Okay, now repeat with the next finger combo! With 16 possible finger combinations you do this shifting exercise many, many times...so it is very tedious. Some days I start with my 4th finger because I've found that by the time I get towards the end of the exercise it is really hard to concentrate on doing the shifting correctly and I really want to be done with the exercise. Oh, and don't forget the replacement shifts (shifting fingers but same note on same string) with each finger pattern combo.
During all of this I am trying to remember to keep my fingers on the string. Because I spent so long playing the piano before starting the cello I have a bad habit of lifting fingers and not keeping them down (well, it works on the piano!). Also, when you place fingers down or remove them matters...I've found that when I miss a note when shifting it's because I didn't put my fingers down (or remove) soon enough.
I've been doing the same bow stroke when and making sure I hear the glissando when shifting on the suggestion of my teacher, so that I can hear that I've placed fingers down, He did also suggest that I practice different bows and practice shifting without the glissando so that I practice shifting cleanly. I haven't been good about the different bows, and I also have been rather random about whether I shift with or without some sound in between the shifts. I suppose I could get even more anal about it...but this whole thing is long enough as it is. Perhaps I'll just rotate things...glissando one day or with certain fingers, or no glissando.
Whew! that was long, almost as long as the exercise! But as tedious as it is...it really pays off. Yesterday with my Sunday chamber group, we started with 3 of us playing cello (us cellists have started getting together early to play multiple-cello music together). For some reason we started playing The Swan. For the very first time I hit every single shift perfectly and felt very confident as I was playing it (oh yes, different finger, different string! oh! different finger, same string!)
Saturday, January 5, 2008
The Case of the Missing Rosin
A few days ago I needed to put some rosin on my bow, but, the rosin had disappeared! How could it have vanished into thin air? My cello has been home for a few weeks...and the rosin was last seen in its normal resting place on my piano.
But aha! I put my thinking cap on...On New Year's Day I decided to put away the Christmas tree and decorations. I put our tree in my music room because it has doors that close, keeping curious kitties away from ornaments.
With that clue, I nagged my husband for a few days to take the boxes down from their storage spot in the garage (why couldn't I do that..don't know...think that it's a husband job to store things in our garage..) This morning he got the boxes, and after opening and pulling out decorations from carefully packed boxes, I found the rosin, hiding at the bottom of a box. Case solved!
I found the rosin just in time to play with my Saturday chamber group. We've been on a long break, and hopefully this will be the last week for piano trios. Our violist is finally healthy after multiple surgeries and is planning to start playing with us again next week. Our 1st violinist got to my house early, so we started by playing Romberg violin/cello duets. I was really happy that the intonation and shifting work I've been doing has really helped--my sound was cleaner than it's been. I was happy that we didn't play too long because my right thumb is pretty torn up and holding a bow is painful, even wrapped with a bandage. I've had to cut back practicing time because of the pain.
Once our other cellist arrived I switched to the piano and we started with Beethoven Piano Trio Op.1 No.l, and then read through Trio No2. No.2 sounded like it had a lot more influence from Haydn. The first trio was probably a student composition, but wow--genius from the beginning! We took a break from Beethoven and read Trio No.1 by Arensky, a romantic work with a really beautiful slow 3rd movement. The other movements were really rough for me...much faster and many more opportunities for me to screw up (with 10 fingers to make mistakes!). We finished our session with the Beethoven "Archduke" Piano Trio. Wow! That was more than enough for a day!
I've been practicing the piano part of the Brahms Piano Quintet in the hopes of playing it some day with a group...I've told both of my groups now that my goal is to play it with them...what I need is time and right configuration of musicians! Hopefully now that the new year has started we'll have more people show up. I don't have enough time to practice cello and piano...but the quintet is one of my favorite chamber music pieces and I've wanted to tackle the piano part for a long time (it is not very easy...)
But aha! I put my thinking cap on...On New Year's Day I decided to put away the Christmas tree and decorations. I put our tree in my music room because it has doors that close, keeping curious kitties away from ornaments.
With that clue, I nagged my husband for a few days to take the boxes down from their storage spot in the garage (why couldn't I do that..don't know...think that it's a husband job to store things in our garage..) This morning he got the boxes, and after opening and pulling out decorations from carefully packed boxes, I found the rosin, hiding at the bottom of a box. Case solved!
I found the rosin just in time to play with my Saturday chamber group. We've been on a long break, and hopefully this will be the last week for piano trios. Our violist is finally healthy after multiple surgeries and is planning to start playing with us again next week. Our 1st violinist got to my house early, so we started by playing Romberg violin/cello duets. I was really happy that the intonation and shifting work I've been doing has really helped--my sound was cleaner than it's been. I was happy that we didn't play too long because my right thumb is pretty torn up and holding a bow is painful, even wrapped with a bandage. I've had to cut back practicing time because of the pain.
Once our other cellist arrived I switched to the piano and we started with Beethoven Piano Trio Op.1 No.l, and then read through Trio No2. No.2 sounded like it had a lot more influence from Haydn. The first trio was probably a student composition, but wow--genius from the beginning! We took a break from Beethoven and read Trio No.1 by Arensky, a romantic work with a really beautiful slow 3rd movement. The other movements were really rough for me...much faster and many more opportunities for me to screw up (with 10 fingers to make mistakes!). We finished our session with the Beethoven "Archduke" Piano Trio. Wow! That was more than enough for a day!
I've been practicing the piano part of the Brahms Piano Quintet in the hopes of playing it some day with a group...I've told both of my groups now that my goal is to play it with them...what I need is time and right configuration of musicians! Hopefully now that the new year has started we'll have more people show up. I don't have enough time to practice cello and piano...but the quintet is one of my favorite chamber music pieces and I've wanted to tackle the piano part for a long time (it is not very easy...)
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
New Cello - April!
I have a delivery date for my new cello! It will be in April, when Chris comes to Seattle for the annual convention of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers. In fact, he is going to use my cello for the Players Meet Makers event. I am planning to go - how much fun will it be to look at cellos!
I won't have my new cello in time for the concerts when we play the Popper Requiem, but on the other hand I'll be practicing with my current cello and none of us (including me!) will have to adjust to a different instrument before we perform.
I won't have my new cello in time for the concerts when we play the Popper Requiem, but on the other hand I'll be practicing with my current cello and none of us (including me!) will have to adjust to a different instrument before we perform.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year
After a week's break from music it was sure nice to get home and pick up my cello. No lesson this week, so I've been having fun reading through music and playing mostly for fun (isn't that why I took up the cello in the first place?). Although I still am working on those interminable shifting exercises...
It's hard to play the piano after a few glasses of champagne.
We have concert dates set for the Popper Requiem...guess I need to step up practicing it.
We learned how to make tamales from a Mexican-American grandmother - wow they were good. She taught me how to make "red sauce" - here I was thinking that it was some secret recipe that took hours to make, and it took all of 5 minutes to make and was incredibly delicious...
Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rat, begins February 8th.
I'm on page 810 of 1474 pages of Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy and am trying to finish it before I have to return it to the library.
Happy New Year!
It's hard to play the piano after a few glasses of champagne.
We have concert dates set for the Popper Requiem...guess I need to step up practicing it.
We learned how to make tamales from a Mexican-American grandmother - wow they were good. She taught me how to make "red sauce" - here I was thinking that it was some secret recipe that took hours to make, and it took all of 5 minutes to make and was incredibly delicious...
Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rat, begins February 8th.
I'm on page 810 of 1474 pages of Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy and am trying to finish it before I have to return it to the library.
Happy New Year!
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