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zoemathemataMy cello lessons are going well.
The thing with the cello is you can't just coast along. I took piano and you could kind of fake it, you know? you hit the keys, the keys make a sound. Same with clarinet. You blow into the clarinet and as long as you aren't totally botching it, you get a nice tone.
with the cello (which I actually should be writing 'cello, since its full name is violoncello) if you aren't bowing right, if you're fingers aren't on the strings correctly, if there's too much tension in your hand or not enough weight in the right spot on your bow, or you're not perpendicular to the strings, or you pressing too hard or not hard enough.... it sounds bad.
and you can't fake it.
The 'cello knows.
My teacher has actually said, "I can hear the stress in your forearm."
and by golly, she's right.
and it doesn't help if you go faster. All my life, if I've gone faster, things have gone smoother. not so with the 'cello.
it's very good for my patience. and my soul, I think.
I finally (finally!) got to put both hands together. after 2 months, I was still only able to either work the strings or the bow, but last lesson, I got to put the two together and play a dismal twinkle twinkle little star. My 'cello teacher said it looked great and sounded good. she asked how it felt and I said:
You ever watch kids make cookies? When they try to stir the mix in the bowl and their whole body has to get involved? but when you do it, you have the fine motor control, so you just flick your wrist and the whisk or fork just do what you want. It feels like being a kid learning how to make cookies. I feel like my whole body has to be involved. It wants to be involved. The parts that aren't supposed to help haven't quite figured it out yet and the parts that are supposed to be in charge aren't quite sure what's going on.
Of course she probably just wanted me to say it felt great, or good, and it did! I was very proud of myself, but that's the image that came to my head as I was playing.
I'm still enjoying it immensely. I look forward to lessons. I look forward to practicing.
I've a friend who's a musician and she says I must play like the 'cello player I want to be.
It makes me happy.
The thing with the cello is you can't just coast along. I took piano and you could kind of fake it, you know? you hit the keys, the keys make a sound. Same with clarinet. You blow into the clarinet and as long as you aren't totally botching it, you get a nice tone.
with the cello (which I actually should be writing 'cello, since its full name is violoncello) if you aren't bowing right, if you're fingers aren't on the strings correctly, if there's too much tension in your hand or not enough weight in the right spot on your bow, or you're not perpendicular to the strings, or you pressing too hard or not hard enough.... it sounds bad.
and you can't fake it.
The 'cello knows.
My teacher has actually said, "I can hear the stress in your forearm."
and by golly, she's right.
and it doesn't help if you go faster. All my life, if I've gone faster, things have gone smoother. not so with the 'cello.
it's very good for my patience. and my soul, I think.
I finally (finally!) got to put both hands together. after 2 months, I was still only able to either work the strings or the bow, but last lesson, I got to put the two together and play a dismal twinkle twinkle little star. My 'cello teacher said it looked great and sounded good. she asked how it felt and I said:
You ever watch kids make cookies? When they try to stir the mix in the bowl and their whole body has to get involved? but when you do it, you have the fine motor control, so you just flick your wrist and the whisk or fork just do what you want. It feels like being a kid learning how to make cookies. I feel like my whole body has to be involved. It wants to be involved. The parts that aren't supposed to help haven't quite figured it out yet and the parts that are supposed to be in charge aren't quite sure what's going on.
Of course she probably just wanted me to say it felt great, or good, and it did! I was very proud of myself, but that's the image that came to my head as I was playing.
I'm still enjoying it immensely. I look forward to lessons. I look forward to practicing.
I've a friend who's a musician and she says I must play like the 'cello player I want to be.
It makes me happy.
