Electronic Music 411 - Cello at 31 (w/ sample)

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Cello at 31 (w/ sample)

StoreTags: Balls, Progress?, Cello

Author: Roshi on September 05 2007

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--> Well, it’s been a year since my last birthday resolution to start playing the cello. And I wanted to reflect on how that year has gone. (Recap of my resolution to learn cello here).

And it’s been a surprisingly rewarding year. I feel studying the giant violin has opened up lots of exciting avenues of musical exploration for me - not just in solo projects but in collaborations with other people.

This year has been really challenging for me technically - I’ve been forced to buckle down and really force myself to learn the mechanics of this instrument - forcing me to really use my ear, trust my left hand in shifting positions, mangle my thumb to learn the thumb position, but I feel really grateful for getting as far as I have. If you’d have told me that I’d be playing the prelude to the 1st Bach Suite after a year, I wouldn’t have believed you. But I’m mastering the tricky string crossings and strange shifts pretty well. It’s a bitch of a piece, but also rewarding every time you come back to it. (Casals practiced the Suites nearly daily for well near 80 years. When someone asked him why he, the master of the suites, did this, he said, “I’m finally making progress!”)

Other milestones for me this year:

- playing Ashokan Farewell (the ken burns civil war song)
- improving my bowing (still lots of work to go!)
- shifting to 4th position
- playing the Minuets from the 1st suite
- playing the Courante from the 1st suite
- learning vibrato
- playing Nina (by pergolesi) and learning to make my cello sing
- improvising with other musicians for a theatre group performance
- learning to loop my cello
- learning to tame acoustic feedback live
- learning thumb position
- learning Squire’s Tarantella

I am grateful for having such a great teacher and grateful that people (including em411ers!) have been so supportive of this crazy direction that I’ve been headed in.

What’s on the horizon? More Bach, I hope! And I hope to get more articulate and fearless in my improvisations and collaborations…there’s a lot more to be done, and I’m glad.

Edit: at ricemutt's request, here's a lil' bit of me playing the prelude: link ...you get the idea, at least. It's a bitch to play, so sorry about the gaffes...

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Comments

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09/05/07 + Fredo

very inspiring blog, Roshi. You have such a great attitude. It should lead you into a very happy place. Keep up the great work.

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