Lesson 125 - Focus

Had no time to practise recently but when I do, focus is an issue & surprise, surprise - Darcie does not seem to want to play nice.

I've been finding ways to bring my focus in check, mostly by looking at Alexander technique videos/books and seeing if I can introduce it in daily life things instead of just cello.

I figured by doing this, the techniques would feel more natural and intuitive instead of something forced during practise.

Another thing I noticed when bowing were my fingers slipping away from frog. With help from Deryn, I found that the best way for me to keep my fingers in check was to use the smooth texture of the ferrule on the frog as guidance for where the second finger should be! So far it seems to be working but I still need to be actively feeling for the different texture.

Deryn says we depend too much on the first bow finger to direct the bow so I should try playing without it & then with it to reestablish relationship of it with the bow; the third & fourth finger should just be chilling at the back :}

We briefly touched on sitting postures for cello balance - it should not follow you when you move but firm between your legs; move feet closer together if needs be. This is still an ongoing thing for me. You'd think after 3 years (close to 4!!) of cello playing, I'd know where to place the damn thing :}

I found that for me, there's a sweet spot from certain combinations of endpin length, chair height and sitting angle; the cello needs to be perfectly 'beneath' me and her rib snug more so against my right thigh.