Chorus from “Judas Maccabaeus”

After weeks of nothing but minuets I see hooked bowing everywhere. The dotted-quarter-followed-by-eighth note patterns in this piece are slurred – not hooked. Whoops.

I need to do a better job of arching my hand for the D-string to A-string slurs, to prevent the A-string from vibrating against the pad of one or more of my fingers on the D-string.

Watch my intonation, especially on the 4th finger. I also note that my intonation creeps towards sharp after a shift from 2nd position to 1st.

Hunter’s Chorus

Learn this piece by adding a note. Play the D, then the D plus a G, then the D, plus a G, plus another G, and so on. Play it s-l-o-w-l-y, with no thought toward rhythm at first.

In measure 15 especially use the add-a-note technique to work through the slur.

Watch bowing direction – don’t hook when not necessary

INTONATION.

Minuets

Continue to work on intonation issues, i.e., slow down and focus on hand and finger position. Improve fluidity and performance speed.

General

Make use of the drones to adjust intonation while playing.

He was pleased with Rigadoon. Yay! And he was pleased with my progress on Happy Farmer. He said it is coming along very well. He liked when I described working from the 5th measure backwards: getting that measure working and then adding the 4th measure, and then the 3rd, and so on. He said he often works the orchestra or his other students that way. I can’t claim the idea as original as it is something Sibylle suggested and something I’ve seen her do with her students with great success.

We worked on Minuet in C a bit, particularly one section were the slur crosses strings. During this part of the lesson my teacher admitted that with children he doesn’t emphasis all the bowing variations this early in lessons and that he was experimenting a little with me to see how adults managed it. He said that he thinks it may be a bit much for adults too. I said that it has been overwhelming at times. I am pleased that I am finally bringing together hooked bowing and slurs with my pieces, but it hasn’t been easy to get here.

My teacher is doing a short recital tour of England the first part of April, so no lessons for the next three weeks. While he’s gone he wants me to continue on as much as I can. Minuet #1 (the last piece in volume 1) and then the Long, Long Ago variation which is the first piece in volume 2. It’s in a different key (i.e., different fingerings) and uses (wait for it….) hooked bowing.

On cello (and I assume other stringed instruments) a slur indicates that the notes should all be played with a single movement of the bow. As my teacher put it, changing bow direction creates a consonant, it cuts off the sound however briefly. A slur, or notes played with a single continuous bow movement create a vowel sound. The two techniques combined allow the cello to articulate music.

Hooked bowing is really a convenience technique, it allows the cellist to produce the proper musical sound with a minimum of bow movement. The notation is a slur that ends with a dot over the note. The bowing pattern for hooked bowing goes like this:

Up – Down – Down – Up – Up

With one slur connecting the two down bow notes and a second slur connecting the two up bow notes. Frequently these notes involve a string change as well, making this a complicated pattern to learn.

My assignment for the next week is to practice my scales using hooked bowing to learn the mechanics of the pattern, to developed the muscle memory necessary to make playing this way automatic. Additionally I am to practice slurs by replaying the first line of a couple of earlier pieces using slurs in place of individual notes.

My difficulties with note durations continues. I tend to cut off half notes and dotted half notes. Verbalizing the rhythm pattern helps, but not always. I need to develop a better sense of pulse so that I intuitively know how long notes should be played in relation to other notes in the piece and in time with the tempo.

Having not played for 10 days while we were traveling did have an impact on my sound. I’m a bit rougher and more hesitant this week than I was the week prior to being gone. I know the smoothness will return quickly, but it was interesting to observe the fragility of this skill. It is perishable, if not maintained it will be lost.

Windows

Some passages are more difficult than others and there is a certain feeling of panic when confronted with a measure that changes strings twice and fingering three times. This panicky feeling leads to tenseness which makes it all the harder to play the passage. Trying to play a piece all the way through that contains a difficult passage leads to frustration. So my teacher has me eliminate all but one measure or even a part of one measure and play only those notes. By imagining a window that only lets me  see a handful of notes I can focus just on the part that is troublesome. Since I’m not playing the entire piece the panic is gone; it’s just 4 or 5 or 6 notes and done. Once the difficult section is sounding a bit better, he had me add a note or two that leads into the difficult section. This allows me to practice the transition from the rest of the piece into the hard part. Once that is sounding pretty good he has me add the notes that follow the difficult passage, the transition out of the section. In just a few minutes this windowing style of practice nets several iterations over the hard part, including the notes leading into and out of those measures.

Going back to the whole piece now it is far easier to play through the formerly difficult passage. A variation on this is to start with the last measure, or even the last note in the last measure. Play that note or measure, and then add the second to last measure  and play through the end. Then add the third to last measure, and so on.

Many of the pieces I am learning now have whole sections that repeat, an “A-B-A” pattern for example. Working on just the “A” part until it is smooth, and then the “B” part until it is smooth, is far easier and quicker than trying to play the whole piece through.

Push Ups

Getting good, consistent tone requires consistent pressure of the bow hairs on the strings. Playing near the frog end of the bow it’s easy to apply plenty of pressure to the strings. Playing near the tip of the bow it is much harder to apply the same amount of pressure. The exercise I have is to place the bow hairs against any string and gradually press the bow into the string – making the bow emulate a push up. Too much bow pressure generates a gritty, crunchy sound, whereas too little pressure makes a wispy or glassy sound. The bow push up helps to show you how much pressure you can apply to a string.

The next step is to slowly move the bow back and forth just a tiny bit. With the right amount of pressure the string will flex back and forth with the bow. In other word there is enough friction between the bow hair and the string to allow the motion of the bow to push or pull the string without letting go. Once this wiggle has been accomplished my teacher had me play a up or down bow. If I was using too much pressure I’d get the crunchy sound, too little pressure I’d get a wispy sound. Practicing the push up, wiggle and bow stroke several times rapidly showed me how much pressure was just enough.

Double Strokes

Another trick I learned today was using double bow strokes for passages with lots of finger changes. By playing twice as many notes you give your fingers more time to change position. After a few repetitions with double strokes, going back to single strokes seemed easy. The only analogy that comes to mind for me is the image of the baseball batter on-deck. He swings two bats at once, or a bat with a weight added, to warm up. Then when he’s at the plate, swinging his single, unweighted bat is easy by comparison.

Finger Exercises

All of the Suzuki pieces I have been learning so far have been in the key of DMajor, and played on the D- and A-string. My F# on the D-string, and my C# on the A-string tend to be wispy, even with the correct bow pressure. My teacher explained that I’m not getting my third finger set firmly enough against the finger board. I know from my martial arts studies that the musculature in the hand makes the ring finger the weakest, so I’m not surprised that it fingers the weakest too. My teacher wants me practice pressing my fingers one at a time into a desktop or table top several times a day. Keeping a good arch shape to hand and finger use the forearm to press the finger tip into the surface. Over time this will reenforce the proper finger shape (curved) and strengthen all the fingers, including the ring finger.

Progress

Overall I am pleased with my progress after just five weeks of playing, and after four lessons with Dr. L, he said he is pleased with my progress too. I find that I am able to pick up new pieces fairly quickly, and I am enjoying the whole process immensely. This evening at the end of my practice session I told Sibylle that has been since I started karate-do nearly 20 years ago that I felt this good about a new activity. Moreover this feels very much like that experience as I am progressing without being aware of the effort involved. All of which makes me feel good to say, I am a cellist.

The dojo maxim I learned years ago applies to music study as well, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” So one of the key things I look for in my lessons is corrections to minor (or major) errors in my technique and approach to the pieces I am playing.

One area that is especially hard for me is playing dotted quarter and dotted half notes long enough. And a corollary issue is giving rests their due. With many of the first pieces in my method book the emphasis is on playing different rhythm patterns, and one way to “count” the rhythm in your head is to find a word or phrase with the right number of syllables to use as a mnemonic to help you count. You could count numbers, but it is surprisingly easy to get off as you end up counting similar notes and restarting the count in the middle of measures rather than at the beginning.

One of my pieces, French Folk Song, is in 3/4 time and has several dotted-half notes, which should get the full three beats of the measure. I’ve been saying “French folk song” in time with the beats so the quarter notes each get one word, “french” “folk” “song”, but the dotted-half notes are still consistently too short even with “french folk song.” My teacher explained in my lesson on Friday, that you need to slow the bow down for notes with a longer duration. I had been bowing at the same speed for the longer duration notes as for the quarter notes. Using the same bow speed would require three times as much bow length to produce a note of the right duration. Slowing the bow down gives you enough bow to sound the note properly. Of course a different bow speed alters the note quality and sound, so I have to adjust my right-hand technique to compensate. He uses the words, “long bow, please” for the dotted-half notes in French Folk Song.

It turns out that without having been told or shown how to move from one string to another I am doing it properly. The right-hand has to move away from the body to move to a higher string, and toward the body to reach a lower string. Apparently many students want to lift their hand vertically to move the bow to higher-pitched strings, which results in the bow not crossing the strings perpendicularly. Since I’ve been moving my arm in the correct fashion, I’ve been getting a better sound.

My practice sessions are beginning to sound more musical to me, which is wonderful. I’ve been playing new pieces pizzicato at first which allows me to focus on the sound and fingering independent of bowing. Only when I feel like I’ve gotten the melody figured out do I add the bow to my practice. Even so it is difficult at times to translate the sound of the melody in my head to physical actions on the cello. Sometimes I have great difficulty hearing the melody in my head. Being married to a pianist helps tremendously as I can ask Sibylle to play the tune for me on the piano or for her help in finding a good rhythmic mnemonic.

Tuning

My chromatic tuner arrived this week and I’ve been using it to tune the cello before each practice. It makes the instrument sound the best it can and it helps me to hear what the notes are supposed to sound like. Today at the start of the lesson we tuned our cellos using my tuner. I pointed out that the fine tuner for the G-string was almost completely tightened, so he loosened it, tightened the peg a bit and re-tuned it for me. Midway through the lesson he checked the tuning again and one of the strings was slightly flat. It is very cold outside today (20º) and the cello was readjusting to inside temperatures. I only have to drive about 10 minutes to the lesson, and walk maybe 3 minutes more outside from the parking lot to the music department on campus, but even that short exposure to cold air effects the instrument. I made sure I was 15 minutes or so early to the lesson to give the cello more time to warm up before playing it.

Rosin

Since I wasn’t entirely sure I was properly applying rosin to the bow I asked about it, my teacher showed me using a short scrubbing motion, back and forth over a small section of the bow hairs, and then slowly moving down the length of the bow with that motion. He was careful to hold his thumb over the metal plate where the bow hairs join the frog, so as not to chip the rosin cake. And he was carful to apply rosin to the entire length of the bow.

Bowing

One of the exercises he showed me 10 days ago was to practice placing the bow against the strings with my right hand properly holding the bow – no playing involved just getting the right grip on the bow and then properly addressing the string. This is something I haven’t been doing enough of, so I need to add that to my practice routine. The idea is to develop muscle memory of the proper grip and arm position when addressing the string correctly. As practice only makes permanent, careful, correct practice will make perfect.

We worked on how much weight to use when pressing the bow against the strings. Too much “crunches” the string and the sound. Too little gives a glassy or wispy sound. The larger strings require an ounce or two more pressure than the smaller strings. He pointed out what I had discovered, that when properly bowed the string’s vibration is nicely visible. The variation in bow weight is something measured in ounces or grams, not pounds. The imagery he used was that of doing a push-up. When the bow hairs are only just touching the strings that is equivalent to the push-up starting position with your arms straight. When the bow is pressed hard enough against the string to pinch the hairs between the bow stick and the string that is the same as having your chest on the floor. Proper bow weight in most cases would be somewhere in the middle. The sound of the string is the best indicator of proper weight. Not wispy and not crunched.

Variations

We played through the Twinkle Twinkle variations I’ve been working on. My teacher again reiterated that these rhythm patterns occur over and over again in cello literature, that by practicing them I am building a foundation for later pieces. In one I am playing more legato than he would like, but for the most part I’ve got the patterns down fairly well.

He wants me to work on the transitions between fingerings and strings. He had a piece of paper with windows cut into it that was then laminated that he laid over the music to show just 4 or 8 notes around a transition, say from A on the A-string to G on the D-string. He wants me to work in playing 8, then 4, then 2 notes on A followed by 8 or 4 or 2 notes on G. By isolating the transitions from the entire piece I can improve that aspect of it. Practicing the transitions in isolation will allow me to play the entire piece fluently and without pauses.

Fingering

He pointed out that the 3rd finger is the hardest one for everybody, and that I am no exception. It tends to be flat, i.e, too close to the first finger. He was pleased with how close to the proper fingerings I have already and noted that I self-correct. He said it is always easier to hear someone else play and tell if a note is flat or sharp than to hear yourself. Particularly when you are in the middle of playing something; he said there is a lot going on (bowing, fingering, et cetera) and the adding hearing the note too is sometimes difficult.

Listening

He was pleased that I have the CD for the book and wants me to listen to it a lot. Like learning language, where you hear things as an infant long before you can say them, I need to listen to music in the book that I am not yet playing, so I’ll be familiar with it when I do start playing those piece.. Having heard language from birth helps an infant to know when the sounds he or she is making are correct; listening to the music over and over will help me to recognize it when I play .

He wants me to start working through the Suzuki book on my own and he’ll make corrections as needed. He wants me to memorize as much as I can – being able to focus exclusively on the bowing and fingering will be enough with out trying to add reading the “hieroglyphics” this is written music.

All in all it was another very good lesson. I leave there excited and ready to sit down and play for an hour or two. I am extremely happy about learning to play the cello and thrilled with my teacher and he approach to teaching.

Today I had what I feel is my first real cello lesson. The differences between instruction and teaching are numerous but they include mastery of the subject matter being taught, and mastery of the techniques necessary to transfer that knowledge to the student. Details are explained, but without presenting so much information that the student overwhelmed. A teacher creates an immediate sense of trust, a place of safety, for the student, which lowers inhibitions and resistance to change. Instruction relies more on rote exercises and glosses over details. My previous cello experiences were more toward the instruction end of the spectrum, so I am very pleased to be firmly at the teaching end now.

Sitting Position

The lesson started with how to sit and hold the cello. It’s one of those things that takes far more words to describe than would seem necessary, but today was the first time I sat and played for 30 or so minutes without having soreness in my mid-back, so getting this right is vital.

Start with both feet together and the right foot directly in front of the right leg of the chair. Move the left foot out about shoulder width, a comfortable, relaxed standing position, and then sit down. I was on the front half of the chair, comfortably seated without feeling like I was going to slip off (i.e., not perched on the edge of the chair) nor slouching against the back of the chair. The chair height was such that my legs neither pulled me forward (chair too high) nor pushed me backward (chair too low).

The cello should rest against the torso, with the top bout to the right side of the neck (looking at the cello from behind) touching the player’s chest. The cello should be ever so slightly turned to the player’s right. The end spike should be adjusted to put the top bout even with the end of the player’s sternum. The player’s legs should be next to the cello with out actually holding it in place. The cello should feel secure here, without a need to hold on to it.

Right Hand and Bow

The bow is a foreign object, that is, it isn’t something that occurs in everyday life. Unless, of course, you are a string instrument player. In order to get used to the proper grip a pencil or pen can be used; this eliminates the foreignness aspect.

The pencil should lie against the crease between the last two joints of the fingers and is held in place by the thumb. The thumb is opposite the second, or middle finger. The grip should be firm but not tight. Moving to the actual bow it is best to first practice on the stick itself rather than down by the frog and leather grip. Again making sure the stick is resting against the joint between the last two digits of the fingers and held in place by the thumb opposite the second or middle finger.

When gripping the bow in the proper position, the little finger rests against the pearl inset on the frog with the rest of the fingers spaced along the bow stick. The spacing is the same as the natural spacing that occurs when your hand is relaxed and dangling. The thumb is placed in the space between the end of the frog and the start of the leather grip on the bow stick and should be roughly opposite the middle finger. The point of contact between the thumb and the bow, should be slight to the forefinger side of the tip of the thumb.

When initially practicing holding the bow it is best to orient the bow vertically. Holding it horizontally adds weight of the bow to an already unfamiliar grip and will result in distortions of a proper hold. Once the grip looks and feels correct, then you can rest the bow against one of the strings of the cello and start to feel what it is like to hold the bow in its playing orientation.

One way to practice proper grip of the bow and addressing of the strings is to hold the bow in your left hand against a string and then grasp it with your right hand. Hold your right arm as if it were resting on the armrest of a chair, letting the hand drape downwards in a relaxed fashion. Lower your right arm so the right hand can grasp the bow taking care to align the little finger over the pearl, and the thumb opposite the middle finger, making contact between the end of the frog and the start of the leather grip.

When the bow is held properly the back of the right forearm should be level, and the hand very slightly turned toward the little finger. The back of the hand is slightly lower than the forearm, and the fingers drop off sharply from there.

Bowing

In this lesson we practiced only short bow strokes. A short, continuous back and forth bowing called détaché and a short single stroke bowing called martelé. These shorter strokes are easier to learn since the arm doesn’t travel very far. Keeping the bow in proper placement against the string through the full range of bow movement possible, requires a complex motion combining the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand – shorter is easier to perform.

You want to feel the bow dragging across the strings. One exercise to simulate this feeling is to lightly rub the fingers on your right hand across the back of your left forearm.

Left Hand and Fingering

The left hand frets or fingers the strings. As there are no embedded frets in the fingerboard on a cello the finger must do all the work to shorten the string and produce the desired note. The length of an open string is determined by the bridge at one end and the nut at the top of the fingerboard at the other end. The fingers of the left hand must act as the nut, shortening the strings to produce higher pitched notes as needed. You need to imagine the fingerboard as a firm foam rubber, something you can sink your fingers into. Granted its made of wood and you can’t actually sink your fingers into it, but imaging so helps to allow you to apply the correct pressure.

Shaping the left hand is important. The fingers want to be arched, not flat and not kinked. By imaging holding a softball or grapefruit the hand assume the correct shape. When the curved fingers are viewed from end-on the first and little fingers (#1 and #4) should be slightly rotated away from the center of the hand. The finger tips, not the pads, make contact with the string. The left thumb also makes contact with the neck using its tip. The tip of the left thumb should be just slightly left of the center line of the neck and roughly opposite the middle finger.

Playing

Using a Suzuki method book we practiced several short rhythms, taking care to pause and prepare anytime a new string or fingering was introduced. The goal isn’t fluency at first but rather practicing as accurately as possible the correct finger placement and bowing technique. By focusing on short 6-note passages, and pausing to prepare for the next measure, adjustments can be made almost continuously.

One striking difference in this lesson was that my teacher had his own cello and frequently demonstrated to illustrate the points he was making. At the end of the lesson he played along with me as we worked through Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

It was an invigorating experience, one I cannot wait to repeat.

First Lesson #1

This lesson covered very basic information about how to carry the cello, how to remove it from and return it to its case, and a basic review of the parts of the cello and bow. A brief introduction to playing pizzicato was also covered.

Carrying

Cellos are fragile and no part is more easily damaged than the bridge. Care should be taken to not strike the cello against doorways, poles, chairs, et cetera. Ideally the cello case should be carried on your right side with the bridge facing away from you. This puts the scroll (or head) of the instrument in front of you where it can be seen, and very little of the cello behind you. Some cases, mine included, have a number of handles on them which would allow for alternative carrying positions, including a “bear hug” where the cello is carried vertically making it less susceptible to striking narrower openings.

Cases

While I have a soft case it is possible (and perhaps desirable) to purchase a hard sided case. When removing or return the cello to its case as much as possible use the neck of the instrument as a handle. The varnish on the rest of the cello is an important part of its sound and the less it is handled the longer the varnish will last.

Playing

We only played very briefly using pizzicato, or plucking the strings. The right thumb is placed against the fingerboard and the strings are plucked with the end joint of the right forefinger, or number one finger in cello parlance. (Having learned just enough of piano to number my thumb #1, switching to another numbering system is interesting.) Since the strings will likely have rosin residue on them where the bow operates (between the end of the fingerboard and the bridge) pizzicato is done over the fingerboard.

Lessons #2 and #3

The first instructor I had was seemingly only able to teach the same material in the same manner to her students. When I objected to her insistence that I carry the cello in her prescribed manner, even after I explained a physical limitation that made her method untenable, she wasn’t able to adjust. So I sought out a new teacher.

My new teacher was far more relaxed in his approach than the rather frenetic and chaotic style of the first instructor. Unfortunately he was lacking in a solid teaching background and I wasn’t satisfied in learning from someone who themselves was still learning. It felt like very basic things were being glossed over and I was unhappy with his lack of pedagogical  approach.

Even though I only had two lessons with my second teacher, I did pick up some information.

• The pads of the fingers should be used rather than the finger tips to fret the stings.
• Tuning should be performed at the start of any practice session and every lesson. Over time my ear will learn to recognize the intonation of each string and note, and this will work better if the strings are in tune.
• Most tuning will be done using the fine tuners at the base of the strings rather than with the pegs at the head of the strings.
• The bow hairs should be placed flat against the string or with the upper edge of the hairs against the string.
• The bow should (and can) be pressed relatively firmly against the strings to draw out a clear sound
• Rosin should be applied for each practice session and lesson
• The right-side top bout (with cello facing away from player) should be placed against the sternum or chest of the player. This offsets the neck enough so that it isn’t against the players neck.