Strengths & Weaknesses: A New Level

Tonight I was made keenly aware of some of my weaknesses (as well as the progress I've made as a cellist, and the progress I still have to make) ... in a specific sense, I got knocked over by sight-reading Dvorak 8 ... in a general sense, I'm very ignorant of classical music ... I want to change that. I'm really going to make it a point to really learn classical repertoire (as a listener & as a cellist) ... particularly, the orchestra rep. It's so connected to what I do and what I want to do ...

Anyway, this post isn't meant to focus on this ... it's mean to focus on my strengths ... because normally, I'm not one to (intentionally) focus on them. In conversation a while ago with a friend, it came out that though I'm not a very good/advanced classical cellist & I can't play with the control/sophistication of other people my age who've been playing since they were teeny ... I'm really good at non-traditional cello ... at heavy metal cello & writing cool pieces and improvising ...

I've been thinking a lot about how I'm going to actually make money doing this cello thing lately & I've been watching others and learning and trying to figure out how they get gigs & how I can get gigs (because I want to earn some money from performing and some from teaching) ... anyway, I LOVE to improvise - even if I'm not necessarily very sophisticated at it - you ask me to play you something on cello, without thinking I start playing some D minor pentatonic creation that nobody's ever heard before, or you need some awkward silence at a wedding/gig covered & I just make something up that captures the mood ... whatever it is, I'm pretty decent at improv'ing and I really, really love it ...

Earlier, when writing to Jesse Ahmann on facebook, I realized that I want it to be my trademark ... this is what I want to become known for (one thing anyway) ... but more importantly ... I'm going to make it my mission to help spread cello improv to as many people as possible - cellists and non-cellists.

I'm also going to make my improvisations a vehicle for my technical development ...

So here's my plan:

Step 1: Constantly Improv & keep really honing and developing my skills
Step 2: Busk in the NYC Subway with a big sign doing nothing but improv to try and make some cash
Step 3: Put together a cello duo to play duets and primarily focus on improv. Then take this busking and booking some gigs
Step 4: Youtube, Youtube, Youtube (I sort of already do this)
Step 5: If this all gets attention and becomes something I really actively do, find a way to make workshops out of this and get paid for it ...

So anyway, that's the general plan ... If anyone has specific advice for how to go about doing these things, I'd love to hear it ... I need all the help I can get right now ...


Edit:

Also, I've had some amazing cello experiences lately that I plan to blog about very soon!