Lesson 27 - Trills and cello heights

Today's lesson began as per always; thoughts or observation of past week's practise and if there any issues to attend to. I mostly focused on bow technique as I had the most difficulty playing without ending on a very sore hand and thumb. Thanks to Sevcik's exercises (especially the whole bow crotchets), my bowing has definitely improved and I am seeing a huge difference on the tensions I used to feel in my right arm. Overall, the tones I am producing are much more pronounced and there is an actual relaxed approach when I bow. I have yet to attain a good loud sound when playing on the top half of the bow but hopefully in time, this too will be tackled.

We played through a few variations from No.3 of the C major and G major scales for a quick warm up. This is when Deryn notices that my left hand was still clinging to the fingerboard, especially on the A string. I explained that I have yet to really address the issues I had with my left hand as I was mostly focusing on the right. Fortunately, Deryn says, there are exercises specifically to tackle those issues; and that there are exercises to attend to all and any issues of cello playing really :)

60 etudes by Feuillard starts us with the strengthening of the left fingers by playing a trill really slowly with alternate fingerings and gradually speeding the tempo up. This definitely confirmed that my left hand was not where it should be and that my wrist was angled in a few uncomfortable and awkward position when it came to the higher strings. It seems the perpetrator was my extra long second finger overstretching and shifting the other fingers forward including my entire hand clutching onto the fingerboard for dear life. Deryn also noticed that the cello was positioned too low which might explain why I was struggling with playing the cello on a whole (lol). She made adjustments and although it felt strange having the cello alot closer to my being than previous, I could now feel the vibrations when I play! I also need to remember to slightly tilt the cello inwards to the right so I could reach the higher strings easier.

The rest of the class was focused on the 2nd movement of the Concert piece by Couperin. Here, Deryn explained the concepts of phrasing and interpretation of the Baroque playing style which we can simulate on the cello even if it was originally written for an instrument like the viola da gamba. (Accented first notes of a phrase also apply on the first note of slurred quavers as if they were 'sighs'.)