Weird!

So I have my recital on Sunday ... I had my dress rehearsal today ... it sucked!

Like seriously, it's great to know the worst that it could come out:

Why did it suck:
1. I'm on the verge of getting sick (thank you to my 9 yr. old student for having a cold 2 wks. in a row!! Ah well, I love my students so much! All of them!)
2. I took a *long* shower last night ... this is bad for callouses ...

And that's what's weird ... my playing went down for the first time in weeks, btwn. my inability to concentrate & all the extra muscle tension that comes w/ getting sick + my missing callouses ... it was all so strange.

Anyway, lesson + rehearsals + practicing means my technique's back up & in good shape ... just got some more note learning and crystallizing to do!

I'll get there & it's gonna be awesome!

Revelation

I realized something important today ... all of the folks who inspire me musically have the following characteristics:

1. Music is the most important thing in their life
2. Multi-Instrumentalists (or instrument + vox)
3. Extremely driven (creatively or technically)

The main part of the above, that's important, is the multi-instrumental part ... for the last few years, I've always wondered how to describe myself ... I compose, I play cello, keys, guitar & I sing ... so I realized the best way to describe myself is as a multi-instrumentalist who's main instrument is cello.

I really get just as excited and into all the other instruments that I do, and I plan to develop my skills on all of them - for their own sake and because of the synergistic technical effects, as well as the increased musical understanding.

I'd really love to learn some classical piano/guitar once I'm out of school ...

anyway, I should go to sleep now...

A Change of Program & The Future

Alright, so first off, I've modified my recital program (It's 2 weeks away!)

I've switched out the Schelomo for the Elgar, b/c it's a little bit above both mine & my pianist's head at the moment (and maybe I'd be able to get it done in the next 2 wks, if I tore my hair out, but I couldn't do an amazing job, and I don't want that). I'm still going to be working on it though, because it's really pushed my technique in the last couple of days ...


Now as for the future ... here's my plans for the moment (once school's over)

1. Driving taxis to make money
2. Finding more students & gigs
3. Putting together or joining a rock band (I think I'd rather put one together) & pursuing that professionally
4. Practicing like a devil & playing guitar/keyboard & singing too


I really, truly want to be in a rock band professionally ... it's not the first time I've had this feeling, and I always come back to it ... I really think it's what I'm meant to do ... it's the thing that inspires me the most, it's the music I love, and I really think it's what I need to be putting all of my energy into

And if it doesn't work out professionally, at least it will be fun.

So because that's my goal I need to think about what role things like classical music and taking lessons are going to have in my life. What I've decided is this: they're still going to be there, because I enjoy them & learn a lot from doing them, but they *are not* going to be the forefront of what I'm doing. I really need to focus on writing my own music & learning to play the music that really inspires me & doing completely new, expansive things with cello ... I need to be in the rock world, and that's what I'm going to do ... classical's gonna be my nice little thing I study on the side.

As far as gigs go, I'll obviously do whatever I can get my hands on ... I really want to get my chops up to a point where I can consistently do studio work ... the other thing I'd really like to do is pit work (which I already do a good amount of) ... I really love doing these things.

So that's where I am at the moment. I also really need to concentrate on always increasing my rate of progression ... I'm so dying to get out of school...

Edit:
My classical plans involve learning the rest of the Haydn C really well, and then after that learning the rest of the Elgar really well ... from there, I'll see where I want to go ... but those two are going to take a while.

I'm not doing Summit this summer, but that's more for financial reasons ... I really want to see where I am at the end of summer ... hopefully somewhere good and amazing..

Thanks to everyone who's read this/supported me in the past. Especially, thanks to Emily Wright for all your encouragement & advice.