Maybe I should post about the cello.

The last time I picked up the cello was the night of my orchestra concert in December.  The grand master plan was to take lessons on the cello and actually play violin in the orchestra this season (I actually played the violin for ten years growing up).  I'm still slacking on finding a teacher (that charges $40 an hour or less, does such a person exist in NYC?), and though I did actually buy new strings for my violin, I have yet to sit down and actually restring my violin.  I've been going to orchestra rehearsals, but just been doing my duties as an officer and occasionally playing percussion for the few pieces that require it.

Speaking of percussion, QUO owns only a tambourine and a triangle (maybe not even the triangle), so I usually end up playing the bass, snare, and cymbal parts on the tambourine.  This week, Diego was there with his own cymbals (well, Jon's cymbals), and Jon brought his triangle, so we played Liadow's Polonaise with almost a full percussion section.  I played the snare part on the tambourine which, to be honest, was more fun and even sounded a little better, and if not better then different, but in a fun way.

The moral of this story is: please help me find a cello teacher.  I have about an hour and a half to kill, so I may try my hand at restringing that violin.

Grandpa's Piccolo

When I was in high school, my grandfather got into the habit of giving me things of his.  For as long as I could remember, there was a zither hanging on the living room wall of my grandparents' apartment.  One day, without warning, grandpa just took it off the wall and gave it to me.  One moment it was familiar  decor, the next moment it was my personal property.  The zither was severely out of tune and I've never been able to make anything more than hideous noise with it.

Around the same time, my grandfather gave me a piccolo.  Unlike the zither, I'd never seen the piccolo before.  The piccolo was exciting because I'd never played a wind instrument before (whereas I plucked on zither-like things in The Nature Company all the time).  I didn't have it for very long because as soon as my little sister learned of it, she swiped it.  As the only woodwind player in the family (Lauren played clarinet for two years in middle school), she felt entitled to any other wind instruments that should enter our house.  I picked my battles with Lauren and this was one of those that I let go.

My grandfather passed away last month and I got to thinking about that piccolo.  At the funeral, I asked Lauren about it and she actually still had it.  A decade removed from her foray into woodwinds, she was now willing to part with it.  My parents gave it to me this past Sunday and I attempted to play it.  I have just as much experience with wind instruments today as I did twelve years ago, so the result was something that sounded a lot like wind and not so much like instrument.

The next day I went out with some gay musicians and brought along the piccolo for an appraisal.  Oboist Matthew and tubist Jack sat enthralled in my back seat for a while examining the instrument.  Matthew remarked that he'd never seen anything like it, and he kept calling it a "conservatory model," noting that it was very difficult to play.  Both of them blew into it and neither was able to eke out a sound much better than what I'd done.  Matthew had a lot to say about the piccolo's composition, but ultimately he suggested I have a professional flautist take a look.

Tonight I brought the piccolo to orchestra rehearsal and showed it to flautists Scott and Craig.  They both had similar reactions to Matthew's.  Scott questioned whether it was a piccolo or a fife.  Craig noted that the fact that it was in three pieces was unusual.  He also said that the fingering was obsolete and they don't make piccolos like that anymore.  This piccolo was made before piccolo manufacturing conventions changed in the early twentieth century.  The instrument might be in D-flat, which also indicates that it's a very old model.  Craig was the only one who tried playing the piccolo who was actually able to get notes out of it.

Nobody thinks that it's worth a lot of money, and in fact, it would probably require a lot of money in repairs if it were ever to be played again, and that might be a waste of money considering this type of piccolo is no longer used.  I think I might just keep it around for kicks.  Break it out at parties and watch the flautists ooh and aah.

More interesting than the piccolo itself for me is why my grandfather owned it.  To my knowledge, grandpa never played a musical instrument, and all the feedback I've gotten on the piccolo brings me to the conclusion that it's a pretty difficult instrument to play, and it's not something an amateur would pick up.  My mom says he probably got it in Germany when he was there during the War.

My next idea is to show it to my cousin Allison who is a flautist.  It might be meaning for her since she actually knew Grandpa Joe.

A little bit a day

Mathew had me over for a very productive joint practice session today, more so for me, as usual. I missed last Wednesday's rehearsal because of a conflict with the band, and in my absence, the subject of me came up! Our section leader asked Mathew to go over proper position with me, so he had me over for tea and cello playing.

Some things I learned:

• I hold the cello too high up on my body.  The cello should be at a 45 degree angle with the grooves just above my knees and the right-facing pegs at my neck.  I should sit at the very edge of the seat with my back straight.
• I hold the bow like a violinist, go figure.  I should hold the bow like I'm making the number four with my hand; my pinky (or ring finger) on the dot in the frog; my thumb bent into the space between the hair, stick, and frog; and my pointer finger somewhat curled around the wood.  My pointer finger and thumb should bear the tension.  Having gotten home and attempted this, I have no idea how I managed to do this at Mathew's house.
• The arm holding the bow should be relaxed, but not too relaxed (great!).  My entire arm should move when bowing a long note.
  
• I also press the strings like a violinist.  This, I think is the hardest to correct.  My elbow should be out and my wrist rotated to the front.  My fingers should be curved and the tips of my fingers should press the strings (some of this is actually the same for the violin.  When fingering the second or third note on a string, all subsequent fingers should also be down (all four fingers should be down when fingering a fourth-finger note on a string).  I should practice with the thumb not touching the neck.
• When plucking, I should pluck out, not to the side, and not rest my thumb on the side of the fingerboard.

Mathew gave me an exercise to work on, and he said I should pick an easy movement of a Bach Cello Suite and work on the first four measures or so, just to give myself something enjoyable to play (while I muddle through the mundane exercises and scales, and the difficult orchestra music).  Learning good position is better for me at this point than working on the orchestra music, as everything will be easier once I get the basics down.

When I got home, I did the exercise he taught me on three of the four strings, and then worked on the Menuet from Bach's Cello Suite no. 1.  I didn't practice for very long, because I'd spent the whole day playing the cello, and my roommate's family was in the living room laughing up a storm.  But the whole point is to practice at least a little bit a day.  I should be able to squeeze some practicing in tomorrow night and possibly Tuesday (I have a house guest which complicates things) and then rehearsal is Wednesday.  I leave for San Francisco on Thursday, but I'm taking a half day so if I get my packing done, there may be time to practice.

So, the goal is a little bit a day.

Enjoying being bad and dressing for the camera (Rehearsal #3)

I was chatting with a coworker today about the cello (it's quite a conversation piece) and he something to the effect of "Once you're good, you're good for the rest of your life, so enjoy being bad now while you still can."

I was with him on the first part, but he lost me on enjoying being bad.  I'm bad at plenty of things, but I wouldn't say I enjoy any of them.  I try to stick to things I'm good at.  That helps me avoid tantrums.

Here's a picture of me from rehearsal tonight:



That's my cello buddy Mathew on the right. I've gotten in the habit of dressing nicely on Wednesdays because I know I'll get my picture taken. :)

Bach is my safe haven (Practice Session 8)

Hey look, it's Tuesday!  Better get off my ass and practice!

On my ass is where I was for pretty much three straight days this past weekend.  Saturday, Sunday, and Monday all went the same way: I got up, watched TV, messed around on the internet, and dawdled until evening plans made me leave the house.  Monday was only slightly different due to a touch of atonement and fasting.  I figured all that time spent not eating would open up my schedule for other things, such as practicing, but no.  My body wanted nothing more than to sit in a chair staring at a glowing box all day, much like I do on weekdays.

So we once again arrive at Tuesday evening, the night before rehearsal, and I once again haven't looked at the music in six days.  I asked my friend Kate if she'd been reading my blog and she admitted that it's kind of a downer.  I agree.  In my blog I do nothing but bemoan my lack of discipline and the consequential lack of improvement.  I pledge to fix that.  The only way to fix that is to practice more.  Look at all of the things practicing fixes!

Tonight's practice session was a half-hour long.  After a few scales, I decided to start with the Brahms, since I didn't get to it last time, and I did horribly on it at rehearsal last week.  That was a mistake.  The Brahms is very difficult, and it discouraged me right away.  I then went through the Russian Dance from The Nutcracker, and most everything else I either tacit on or playing the piano.  Wanting to raise my spirits, I indulged in some memorized pieces written for other instruments.  I played the right hand of a Bach Minuet, one of the violin parts in the Bach Double Violin Concerto (down an octave and a fifth), and the first violin part of Bach's Fugue in G Minor (down an octave and a fifth), just as much as I could remember.

I almost wish I weren't in an orchestra.  The orchestra music is not beginner's music.  I'd really like to start from the beginning, with a teacher, and not have to worry about this music that is above my level.  A private teacher is laughably out of the question right now as I can barely find the time to sit down and practice, let alone have a lesson.

I'll try for a cheery post next time. :)

Damn I sound good! Oh wait ... that's not me. (Rehearsal #2)

I'm happy to report that my cello seems to have gotten over its fear of tuning.  While we were rehearsing the Chinese Dance from the Nutcracker Suite, I thought the cello was significantly out of tune.  I waited until the end of the piece to retune it only to discover the instrument was perfectly in tune.  I was just reading the music wrong!

I still have a hard time hearing myself, and I often mistake the cello playing going on around me for my own.  Often rehearsal is going so fast that I only have time to slap my finger down on the string and hope for the best.  When this miraculously results in the correct pitch, I am thrilled for a moment at my skill/luck, and then I realize, no, that's Mathew.

I sightread the celesta part in Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy on piano.  I got the music minutes before rehearsal began, so I focused on the ascending arpeggios in the middle of the piece where my part is completely exposed, thinking I'm doubled in the winds for the rest of it.  Well it turns out the entire piece is a solo for the celesta, so I'll be practicing that a lot.  Fortunately, it's not that difficult, and it's on an instrument that I know (well, I know the piano, anyway).

The Brahms Serenade is beautiful, but I'm worried it might be completely unattainable for me right now.  Nonetheless, that's getting some attention from me next time I practice (which will be ... no idea).

Oh hello, blog! How I've missed you! (Practice Session 7)

Tonight, after jauntily scaling and arpeggioing up and down for a few minutes, I focused once again on the music for QUO.  I practiced the music in rehearsal order, which of course means I did not get to the music in the second half.  Fortunately, I don't think the artistic director conducting those pieces reads this blog :)

I was delighted to find that cellos are tacit in the Overture to the Nutcracker Suite, and the cello parts in the Chinese Dance and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy are very easy (slow and pizzicato).  The March is also pizzicato, but fast.  Still, I was able to muddle through it, and I surprised myself by playing a five-sixteenth note run across two strings.  It sounded like a rusty door hinge at first, but after three or four times, I had it.  The Waltz of the Flowers was daunting, mostly because it's long, but I have the melody, which is nice.  After I was done practicing, I went into the living room where my roommates were and asked them if they heard me playing the Waltz of the Flowers.  Lindsay said "I definitely recognized something at some point."  I'll take it.

I think I'm playing celesta on Sugar Plum Fairy, which will be fun, but it's unfortunate that that's one of the easy cello pieces.

Then I worked on the fifth waltz of the Blue Danube, and I rocked it (as much as I, at this juncture, can rock anything on the cello).  I began practicing the coda, which, in my opinion, is way too long to call itself a coda.

I practiced for an hour before I got fed up with myself and stopped.  I didn't have enough time to really work on any of it because there's so damn much of it, and I started so late (9pm).  Even if I hadn't started late, my tolerance for listening to myself play is low.

My main pet peeve with my playing is accidentally bowing an adjacent string.  My intonation isn't spot on, but it's getting there.  It's the bowing the extra string accidentally that really makes my playing sound like crap.  I know that practice will take care of that.  Practice will take care of everything.  I would be making real progress if I would just sit down and practice more.  With rehearsal tomorrow and band stuff Thursday, the rest of this week is shot.  I'll have to make myself practice multiple times over the weekend.

A big challenge I had at rehearsal last week was hearing myself.  Now that I know the music better, maybe that will be less of a problem.  I'll let you know, readers!

Still haven't named the poor guy.  Lindsay has decided his name is "Cookie."  It isn't.