Lesson 14 - Self deprecation

I have not practised as much this week. Well, not as much as I'd have liked to ~ 30 minutes daily instead of the usual hour. This made me a little hesitant when performing my pieces to Deryn today. But as usual, Deryn remains forever patient and listened through every scratchy note and sketchy bow stroke.

We started off with Chapter 14 of Langin ~ Double Stops followed by 6 and 8 note slurs. I am getting a hang of this but the thumb seize up after prolonged slurring. Deryn says this is normal and that I shouldn't worry too much as orchestral cello solos rarely have continuous slurs of such large number of notes at any given time.

We then dug deeper into the chapter with 2 quaver slurs. I struggled with the opposite direction when my brain decides to reset herself to the usual direction. This piece definitely needs plenty of revision for my muscle memory to sink in.

Next were exercises 14c and 14d. Deryn asked if I took a look at those at all to which I replied I did. What I should have added was that I took a glance before I came to class and did a single playthrough each, just in case she wanted to tackle them in class later. So, not at all familiar with how the piece should sound like at all which did not help with the performing for Deryn.

Still, I crawled disgustingly through the piece; warts and all. Intonation was naturally horrible. My left hand was slipping all over the fingerboard and my right hand was stiffer than a week old corpse so it was obviously a recipe for success.

Before I rattle on with the melodrama, I figure I should just list down notes for the pieces I have been playing.


Rigaudon (Rameau)

• Watch shifting fingers


• Intonation issues


• Play slightly above balance point (balance point is the position where you can balance your bow on one finger)


• Play slow to get a good tone. This makes playing it at the right tempo (much faster) easier and better.


• More bow!

Exercise 9 (Lee)

• Power from back, not fingers (fingers move in response instead)


• Be as loose as possible so the sound achieved is a reflection of that!


• Do both staccatos and slurs for next week

Overall reminders

• Stay in constant contact with the strings


• Power from back


• Check intonation


• Work on slurs


• Never, ever, ever play exercise 14h in class (heh)!


• Make sure left hand isn't clutching for dear life when playing on higher strings (they should be at the right height so string crossing notes are played with confidence).