Lesson 101 & 102 - Gracie's new voice

Lesson 101

Deryn moved since the last time I wrote something here (has it just only been a month? feels longer!) and her current place a tad (ALOT) closer to where I stay so no longer is there the usual long travelling time that allows me to write a blog post after each lesson.

The only reason I set out to do this website was, apart from a reminder of "how" I've learnt, it felt an efficient way to use that extra bit of time in a very focused way that was also useful to me. The other thing being, I'd have forgotten the things I meant to write down from class by the time I come home.

Anyway, it seems I might have to just jot down quick notes to remind me of the previous couple of lessons that I've had sitting in the "drafts" section of this blog that I've yet to allocate time to publishing!

Still on the Popper piece, analyse the shifts and positions per phrase meticulously. And I mean, meticulously. My position knowledge is still too rudimentary to shift to them confidently which is greatly upsetting but untimately my fault for not spending enough time on consolidating the techniques.

I must have been so absent minded during lesson as I left the tuner behind which, thankfully did not deter practise at home thanks to Pitchlab. It was a bit of a fiddle to get the settings I wanted as one needed to create a new "instrument" to get the right tunings in (there's no cello in the default list) but what an amazing tool that's helped me tune Sophie (oh yeah, Nameless has a name now).

Then there was the case of the Anja Thauer cds that took quite a bit of googling to attain as most of the results online were vinyls for just the one record or cds that were just exorbitantly priced. I finally got all three releases from JPC.de which included snippets of the tracks that convinced me enough to act on the purchases and the parcel came as quickly as it left. In fact, I can't remember the last time I bought a cd!

No regrets except for the large crack on the cover of the case of one cd but all discs were pristine. Anja's playing style is bold. Very bold, in fact, to the point of raw and her passionate interpretations are unlike those I've heard before. For this alone, I feel fortunate to hear these recordings; a glimpse into the heart of one so talented but sadly gone away.




Lesson 102

These exercises from Feuillard's Daily Exercises should aid me well in the Popper piece.

Pg 32 - Exercise 1 for both Major & Minor scales
Pg 14 - Exercise 1 for both Major & Minor scales

During my horrible rendition of Popper's beautiful grand etude, Deryn brought up that I could probably do with a new bow. This has been something that's plaguing me lately as even I can tell that my current one is limiting my playing, despite all I muster to defy it. I've been putting it off as I've just had quite extensive work done on Gracie and the costs will take me a few months to recuperate but also merely due to stubbornness of will that a mere bow can't really have all that effect on my playing!

In any case, the work Jan has done to her has improved her tone so much so, it was like playing a totally different cello. Well, between the new paint job, new bridge fitted and everything in between, I suppose she is a new cello :}

The varnish took a few days to settle in for the nasalness to mature but Gracie's voice is much louder, confident and dare I say, even sexy? She responds a lot more and simply a pleasure to play, much more so than before. I'm finding that I can push her to sound the way I want to and this is an exciting new thing that I'm learning to do - it's as if the relationship I have with Gracie is finally just beginning!

And now, for something completely different.