Earlier today I had a quasi-lesson with a cellist friend of mine who gave me some useful tips and thoughts on things I could do to refine my technique. While we were discussing things, it came out that he was reading this article: (http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/natural.htm) by Nicholas Anderson.
So let me interrupt myself right here and say you *need* to read this article. Yes, really you do - whether you're a professional, an absolute beginner, a teacher an advanced student, somebody with tension problems/tendinitis/carpal tunnel, or whoever you are, you need to read this.
I'm not going to tell you what the article talks about, because I don't want you to summary judge and go "oh, I don't need to read this". Instead, I'm going to tell you about the effect it had on my playing over the course of *one* day.
In the last week, I'd been practicing lots more and making some substantial technical improvement. Sunday, I went to a cello festival, which was both incredibly fun, and incredibly educational. I also went to orchestra & read the music almost the best I've ever read. Anyway, suffice to say, I played a lot sunday, played a lot yesterday and played a lot today. I was on the early stages of what becomes tendinitis and was trying to figure out where I can possibly fit in some time off (because I'm of course, behind in the music I need to learn).
So anyway, earlier today I started practicing for a few hours & reading this article, as well as trying out the method mentioned in the article. It's very clear from the article that Nicholas Anderson is a teacher - he teaches you very effectively through writing ... and that's not easy. Anyway, I'm not going to describe the actual process of going through the article, but I am going to tell you the net effect. Over the course of 3-4 hours of practice, I went from very tense playing that required a ton of energy to almost effortless, meditative playing with a complete sense of freedom and power while still retaining musical control. More specifically, I was able to play through the Haydn C 1st mov. and the Elgar 1st mov and Kol Nidrei & all sorts of other stuff, and maintain a sound and feeling I've never been able to achieve on the cello before, even with all the tons of weight and energy I put into my playing. What's more, the technical passages and all the stuff were easy ... I'm talking about the fast runs, the upper thumb positions, all that stuff ... effortless. I played in a way that I've only ever dreamed of playing. The only time I've ever come close to playing like this was in an Alexander Technique masterclass for a few seconds, and I wasn't in control of it. Tonight I was ... I was able to create the feeling of simplicity and ease, and I know I can do it again and again and that it will become a permanent part of my playing.
Everyday, I'm going to make this article and its method the focus of my cello playing/practice until it become intuitive. Right now, it requires concentration & it requires me to focus on the particular side of my body that I'm trying to improve. Over time, it will become the way I play the cello without even realizing it.
I've had various amazing teachers try to work with me on the things I managed to learn in just a few hours from this article. This was the first time I've ever really gotten them or been in control of it.
I really recommend you go print this article and work through it until you really understand and feel what it's talking about. It will make worlds of difference in your playing.
Oh, I should also add that by the end of the practice session, the signs of approaching tendinitis were all gone.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
The World Is Built On Feelings...
I feel like I've betrayed the things that are truly important to me and put up false gods in their place ...
I've replaced creative and being progressive and exploring new creative boundaries musically and technically with fitting into a model and playing a certain way and becoming popular/making my music popular ... and those are all good things ... particularly trying to play well ...
But sometimes you just need to let go of all of that & just pour out your soul onto the cello or the keyboard and just create and not put yourself in a box of musical and social protocol ... classical music is awful for that ... rock music can be too ... but improvising and writing ... there's no rules for that - except the ones I want to follow ...
I just jammed out some pretty cool keyboard riffs for the first time in longer than I can remember & it felt soo great ... (to be fair, had I not been doing all the technical work, this wouldn't have been possible)
I've also started rereading my blog from the beginning, because as I wrote to somebody else (who was talking about a musical god) ... I still have my gods, but I've lost my religion ... so I'm going back to my gods.
There were other times when I was learning more and progressing more (even though I play the cello betteer now than I've ever played it in my life) & really expanding my mind more ... and thankfully I've written a lot of it down ... I've chronicled a lot of the inspiration and experience ... I'm not stopping until I've gotten it all back .
That's all for now ...
(oh, the title is a quote from Tuomas Holopainen)
I've replaced creative and being progressive and exploring new creative boundaries musically and technically with fitting into a model and playing a certain way and becoming popular/making my music popular ... and those are all good things ... particularly trying to play well ...
But sometimes you just need to let go of all of that & just pour out your soul onto the cello or the keyboard and just create and not put yourself in a box of musical and social protocol ... classical music is awful for that ... rock music can be too ... but improvising and writing ... there's no rules for that - except the ones I want to follow ...
I just jammed out some pretty cool keyboard riffs for the first time in longer than I can remember & it felt soo great ... (to be fair, had I not been doing all the technical work, this wouldn't have been possible)
I've also started rereading my blog from the beginning, because as I wrote to somebody else (who was talking about a musical god) ... I still have my gods, but I've lost my religion ... so I'm going back to my gods.
There were other times when I was learning more and progressing more (even though I play the cello betteer now than I've ever played it in my life) & really expanding my mind more ... and thankfully I've written a lot of it down ... I've chronicled a lot of the inspiration and experience ... I'm not stopping until I've gotten it all back .
That's all for now ...
(oh, the title is a quote from Tuomas Holopainen)
Sunday, October 17, 2010
My first mini-tour with Edensong
I just got back from my first mini-tour with Edensong. We did 3 shows in 3 days - travelled to Bennington, VT; Brighton, MA; and Lowell, MA.
It was a really neat weekend and experience. We didn't really get to explore the towns too much (at least not my group of people). Friday we left a bit later than we wanted & the weather was just awful (there was even snow up in Vermont where we stayed later that night). The car ride was quite a challenge, I was rather car-sick (but thankfully not to the point of vomiting). The South Side Cafe was very cool, friendly and very welcoming. There were probably about 10 folks (the weather was really not on our side for this), but they all seemed to really enjoy it and be genuinely interested. It was a complete contrast from New York where everything is constricted and stressed and everyone is jaded ... this was very peaceful and at ease. Most importantly, they had *great* hot chocolate :-P ... Friday night was just James & I. That was the first time we've ever done the music in that setting & we hadn't had a chance to rehearse it at all beforehand, but it worked very well, and I've got some definite ideas on things to improve.
So that was Friday ... Saturday we travelled to Brighton & got to our host's house a few hours before the show ... we took the time to relax & eat. James had a meeting ... eventually we got to the venue and loaded everything in. The Magic Room was a *very* cool place ... it's this really awesome, fantastical art venue with a ton of cool paintings. It had the neatest vibe, though the room was a bit small for our sound. Kangaralien (an amazing acoustic guitar duo) opened up the night (http://www.kangaralien.com). Our Magic Room set was electric & it was the first time we'd done an hour and a half set (basically every single Edensong tune except The Baptism). There were definitely some kinks, but the energy was there & I think the stuff we did well came off really well ... of course, I haven't had a chance to watch the video yet ... I have no idea what it sounded like out in the audience (well, I have some idea ... but no real idea). By the time that was all done & we were unloaded, all we could really do was head back to our host and get some sleep!
Then it was sunday ... Sunday we got some great breakfast at The Mirror Cafe in Brighton (check it out if you ever go up there - good food!). After breakfast, we headed over to the Brew'd Awakening Coffeehaus in Lowell. It's a really nice independent coffee shop & we had the privilege of getting to watch Rob Martino (http://www.robmartino.com) play a solo Chapman Stick set, which was really, really cool. It was amazing to watch him in action & he's an incredibly friendly guy. Our set this time was the standard acoustic version with me, James, Tony & Barry (that's cello, guitar, flute & drums) & really came across very well. There's something of a purity in playing in an acoustic setup that is completely missing from playing electric (but there's also an energy and intensity from playing electric that doesn't make its way into playing acoustic). It was nice to be able to do both in one weekend.
I've forgotten to share one of the most important parts of my weekend, which is that I got to play a Harp for the first time!!! It was amazing and beautiful and I've fallen in love with it & it will make its way to the next Edensong album. I really wish I could buy one of these things ... until then, I guess I'll just have to really work on my piano skills & on developing a good ability to handle multiple unique voices at once.
So that's it for my weekend ... we listened to some Dream Theater & Symphony-X & Blackfield during the car rides & all in all it was a great experience! I learned a lot from a playing stand-point & started to develop a closer relationship with the music, as well as gaining a better sense of the balance between technique & rocking out. It was a challenge to play 3 days in a row completely unwarmed up (one of the most important things a musician has to be able to do).
Can't wait to do it all again in December when we hit Baltimore/DC in early December!!!
It was a really neat weekend and experience. We didn't really get to explore the towns too much (at least not my group of people). Friday we left a bit later than we wanted & the weather was just awful (there was even snow up in Vermont where we stayed later that night). The car ride was quite a challenge, I was rather car-sick (but thankfully not to the point of vomiting). The South Side Cafe was very cool, friendly and very welcoming. There were probably about 10 folks (the weather was really not on our side for this), but they all seemed to really enjoy it and be genuinely interested. It was a complete contrast from New York where everything is constricted and stressed and everyone is jaded ... this was very peaceful and at ease. Most importantly, they had *great* hot chocolate :-P ... Friday night was just James & I. That was the first time we've ever done the music in that setting & we hadn't had a chance to rehearse it at all beforehand, but it worked very well, and I've got some definite ideas on things to improve.
So that was Friday ... Saturday we travelled to Brighton & got to our host's house a few hours before the show ... we took the time to relax & eat. James had a meeting ... eventually we got to the venue and loaded everything in. The Magic Room was a *very* cool place ... it's this really awesome, fantastical art venue with a ton of cool paintings. It had the neatest vibe, though the room was a bit small for our sound. Kangaralien (an amazing acoustic guitar duo) opened up the night (http://www.kangaralien.com). Our Magic Room set was electric & it was the first time we'd done an hour and a half set (basically every single Edensong tune except The Baptism). There were definitely some kinks, but the energy was there & I think the stuff we did well came off really well ... of course, I haven't had a chance to watch the video yet ... I have no idea what it sounded like out in the audience (well, I have some idea ... but no real idea). By the time that was all done & we were unloaded, all we could really do was head back to our host and get some sleep!
Then it was sunday ... Sunday we got some great breakfast at The Mirror Cafe in Brighton (check it out if you ever go up there - good food!). After breakfast, we headed over to the Brew'd Awakening Coffeehaus in Lowell. It's a really nice independent coffee shop & we had the privilege of getting to watch Rob Martino (http://www.robmartino.com) play a solo Chapman Stick set, which was really, really cool. It was amazing to watch him in action & he's an incredibly friendly guy. Our set this time was the standard acoustic version with me, James, Tony & Barry (that's cello, guitar, flute & drums) & really came across very well. There's something of a purity in playing in an acoustic setup that is completely missing from playing electric (but there's also an energy and intensity from playing electric that doesn't make its way into playing acoustic). It was nice to be able to do both in one weekend.
I've forgotten to share one of the most important parts of my weekend, which is that I got to play a Harp for the first time!!! It was amazing and beautiful and I've fallen in love with it & it will make its way to the next Edensong album. I really wish I could buy one of these things ... until then, I guess I'll just have to really work on my piano skills & on developing a good ability to handle multiple unique voices at once.
So that's it for my weekend ... we listened to some Dream Theater & Symphony-X & Blackfield during the car rides & all in all it was a great experience! I learned a lot from a playing stand-point & started to develop a closer relationship with the music, as well as gaining a better sense of the balance between technique & rocking out. It was a challenge to play 3 days in a row completely unwarmed up (one of the most important things a musician has to be able to do).
Can't wait to do it all again in December when we hit Baltimore/DC in early December!!!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Music Teaching Resources - A Review
So, recently, Rob of http://www.musicteachingresources.com & http://www.teachwombat.com invited me to check out some materials he's put together to help make the music teacher's life easier!
Essentially what he's got is an organized set of worksheets covering the fundamentals of scales and chords that can be printed out or easily transferred to a thumb drive at your leisure.
Some of the sheets are explanatory in nature, illustrating things such as major scale construction or diatonic harmony (which chords are minor/major within the scale). Some of them are worksheets that require the student to construct a scale or chords or to go through the chords within a scale. Some of those worksheets have a diagram of a keyboard on them, some don't.
The files all come in labeled folders, and some of them even allow the teacher to fill in the blank to determine what scale or chord the student will build. Essentially, it's like having a portable music theory workbook, which you can draw from as needed.
My favorite thing about the set is the inclusion of the blues scale, minor/major pentatonic scales. My only criticisms would be that the chords don't go beyond 7th chords & that the Dorian mode is included, but not any of the other modes, making the set not overly helpful for jazz students.
All in all, I think this is a pretty neat/handy set of resources, especially for $18 - can't go wrong with that. I can see myself getting a lot of use out of this with students on any instrument. Head over to http://www.musicteachingresources.com and check out what he's got.
Essentially what he's got is an organized set of worksheets covering the fundamentals of scales and chords that can be printed out or easily transferred to a thumb drive at your leisure.
Some of the sheets are explanatory in nature, illustrating things such as major scale construction or diatonic harmony (which chords are minor/major within the scale). Some of them are worksheets that require the student to construct a scale or chords or to go through the chords within a scale. Some of those worksheets have a diagram of a keyboard on them, some don't.
The files all come in labeled folders, and some of them even allow the teacher to fill in the blank to determine what scale or chord the student will build. Essentially, it's like having a portable music theory workbook, which you can draw from as needed.
My favorite thing about the set is the inclusion of the blues scale, minor/major pentatonic scales. My only criticisms would be that the chords don't go beyond 7th chords & that the Dorian mode is included, but not any of the other modes, making the set not overly helpful for jazz students.
All in all, I think this is a pretty neat/handy set of resources, especially for $18 - can't go wrong with that. I can see myself getting a lot of use out of this with students on any instrument. Head over to http://www.musicteachingresources.com and check out what he's got.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Visualize First
I learned something important this week as a result of band practice and the Steven Isserlis concert:
Visualize *first*, then play.
The key to playing well is to come up with a definite concept of what you want the next thing you're going to play to sound & feel like. The next important thing is to not accept exceptions to that vision while practicing. One thing that goes with this is having no excess - every movement, every note is directly, immediately, linked to the note.
Watching Steven Isserlis, one of the things I realized is that part of his technique is a freedom that comes from dexterity/agility ... nothing is slow for him ... it is all very quickly connected and well planned. He is one of the only classical musicians who I feel is telling a story when I watch, as opposed to playing a piece. I also think that a lot of his freedom comes from never looking down when he plays, allowing him to listen and think ahead rather than be stuck in the present.
It was interesting to see him from the front row and to see how much he sways/moves (reminding me a lot of Jacqueline DuPre), and also to see the similarity (and differences) of his left hand techinque to hers, as well as to hear how the tapping of the notes with his left hand (on just about every note).
In other news, I am really struggling to regain my musical drive (ever since my father died) ... when I play the cello, it's the only thing I want to do, but when I'm not playing, I have almost no desire to pick it up. I think the one reason for this is that I'm not in multiple ensembles with music that is incredibly difficult - just my band right now & I feel pretty comfortable with our music.
That being said, the level of my playing has increased incredibly and my practice is now generally oriented around analytical imitation of a great cellist or analytical practicing of solo rep. Both are very helpful.
In general, I am doing things right ... I just need to push myself to do more of them and to go further with them. I need to start really chewing through the standard rep. or at the very least the student rep, so I can develop a really reliable & proficient technique.
That's all for now ... so happy that I just wrote a blog entry for once...
Visualize *first*, then play.
The key to playing well is to come up with a definite concept of what you want the next thing you're going to play to sound & feel like. The next important thing is to not accept exceptions to that vision while practicing. One thing that goes with this is having no excess - every movement, every note is directly, immediately, linked to the note.
Watching Steven Isserlis, one of the things I realized is that part of his technique is a freedom that comes from dexterity/agility ... nothing is slow for him ... it is all very quickly connected and well planned. He is one of the only classical musicians who I feel is telling a story when I watch, as opposed to playing a piece. I also think that a lot of his freedom comes from never looking down when he plays, allowing him to listen and think ahead rather than be stuck in the present.
It was interesting to see him from the front row and to see how much he sways/moves (reminding me a lot of Jacqueline DuPre), and also to see the similarity (and differences) of his left hand techinque to hers, as well as to hear how the tapping of the notes with his left hand (on just about every note).
In other news, I am really struggling to regain my musical drive (ever since my father died) ... when I play the cello, it's the only thing I want to do, but when I'm not playing, I have almost no desire to pick it up. I think the one reason for this is that I'm not in multiple ensembles with music that is incredibly difficult - just my band right now & I feel pretty comfortable with our music.
That being said, the level of my playing has increased incredibly and my practice is now generally oriented around analytical imitation of a great cellist or analytical practicing of solo rep. Both are very helpful.
In general, I am doing things right ... I just need to push myself to do more of them and to go further with them. I need to start really chewing through the standard rep. or at the very least the student rep, so I can develop a really reliable & proficient technique.
That's all for now ... so happy that I just wrote a blog entry for once...
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
A goal
Ok,
My goal is to regularly start blogging about cello (now that I've actually started practicing regularly again) in the very near future ... I'm also considering starting up the Dotzauer challenge again...
My goal is to regularly start blogging about cello (now that I've actually started practicing regularly again) in the very near future ... I'm also considering starting up the Dotzauer challenge again...
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Sometimes A Dream Turns Into A Dream
I think it's time to end my freelance career. What do I mean by that? I don't mean it's time to stop playing cello or quit my band or anything like that. But ... I think it's time to stop playing with random rock/folk/singer-songwriter/whatever groups for barely any pay & I think it's time to stop taking random gigs that again barely pay. More particularly, I need to stop going into NYC for barely any money ... It's all good and well to get experience, but I've got plenty of that, and I'm even developing the technique & level that goes along with that. However, I need to pay bills ... and I don't mean leisure/pleasure bills, I mean I need to keep a roof over my head & have enough money to get food, etc. Taking these gigs has messed with this in two ways: 1. I'm never really making any notable money & 2. It clogs up my availability to work, which is just not something I can keep doing. I need to set clear guidelines with myself for what the minimum I'm willing to do a gig for is & I need to come up with times that I just can't fuck with, because either I need to actually take care of things around my house, or I need to not skip work.
That being said, I'm in a band, I'm sort of in a (currently) inactive piano trio (that I can make active again by freeing the time) ... I think if anything I'm doing as a performer is going to pay (short of weddings & musicals) it's one of those two ... why should I put my time into other things that I don't even necessarily believe in & that won't pay my bills?
As far as I can tell, these are the only things that pay reasonably in terms of performance (or have paid reasonably so far)
Weddings - usually $125 to $200 per gig
Musicals - usually $50 per show or something like that ... not a lot, but not horrible if it's not too far of a commute (ie, not in NYC)
Solo or Ensemble Performances as part of a music series - usually about $150, sometimes more.
Here's what doesn't pay well:
Playing with bands - if I'm *lucky* I make $50 per show (commute costs $17 round trip) ... after rehearsals, next to nothing
Here's what I haven't even touched into:
Subbing for an orchestra - I just don't have the contacts for this ... I don't know the people doing these things
So I guess I'm not really saying I have to stop freelancing, what I am saying is that I have to stop taking gigs that don't make financial sense & that don't work with my schedule.
I want/need to make teaching my main income. It's one of the only things that will give me flexibility and pay well. As a performer, I need to concentrate my efforts into Edensong & into the trio & my own solo stuff (which I hope to make a financial asset within the next few years) ...
Ok, needed to get that all off my shoulders ... I wish this wasn't the first blog post I'd done in months, but things have been so unbelievably busy & I just haven't had the energy/inclination to write...
In other news, I've started doing the real recording for my solo album & am planning to have it out in November (or earlier if possible).
That being said, I'm in a band, I'm sort of in a (currently) inactive piano trio (that I can make active again by freeing the time) ... I think if anything I'm doing as a performer is going to pay (short of weddings & musicals) it's one of those two ... why should I put my time into other things that I don't even necessarily believe in & that won't pay my bills?
As far as I can tell, these are the only things that pay reasonably in terms of performance (or have paid reasonably so far)
Weddings - usually $125 to $200 per gig
Musicals - usually $50 per show or something like that ... not a lot, but not horrible if it's not too far of a commute (ie, not in NYC)
Solo or Ensemble Performances as part of a music series - usually about $150, sometimes more.
Here's what doesn't pay well:
Playing with bands - if I'm *lucky* I make $50 per show (commute costs $17 round trip) ... after rehearsals, next to nothing
Here's what I haven't even touched into:
Subbing for an orchestra - I just don't have the contacts for this ... I don't know the people doing these things
So I guess I'm not really saying I have to stop freelancing, what I am saying is that I have to stop taking gigs that don't make financial sense & that don't work with my schedule.
I want/need to make teaching my main income. It's one of the only things that will give me flexibility and pay well. As a performer, I need to concentrate my efforts into Edensong & into the trio & my own solo stuff (which I hope to make a financial asset within the next few years) ...
Ok, needed to get that all off my shoulders ... I wish this wasn't the first blog post I'd done in months, but things have been so unbelievably busy & I just haven't had the energy/inclination to write...
In other news, I've started doing the real recording for my solo album & am planning to have it out in November (or earlier if possible).
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