Lesson 81 - Langin Book 1

I had been diligently practising Bunting's vibrato exercises up until about 3-4 days before the day of the next lesson. This seems about normal for me; as the days go by, I seem to forget the cello exists in the spare (practise) room, waiting to be retuned and played. I'm not sure what it is but it feels like a compromise of initial furious practise sessions followed rest. Maybe it's okay to do this but I can't help but feel like I'm betraying myself for not being as enthusiastic about practising at the end of each fortnight as I do each time I return home from lesson.

Then there's the last minute practise session before lesson, usually about an hour before I leave for the train and the anxiety that comes with it afterwards. Probably not a good way to start the morning before lessons but it's been happening like clockwork and cons aside, this very act does jostle up the body and mind for the day's schedule. At least, it has for me.

Anyway, we tackled techniques this time. I lamented that I was not satisfied with my level of playing when practising my pieces and this was mostly due to weak technical skills. The higher positions were still uncomfortable, my left hand is still a fumbling mess and my string crosses were not as clean and seamless as it can be. And it shows when I play Bach and the recent piece by Schumann.

Deryn could clearly see I was frustrated and suggested we go through the basics once more via Langin's Book 1. I brought up how it seemed so long ago that I was first introduced to the book - just about 2 years ago (!) - and we're about halfway through book 4 now. But clearly, this didn't mean anything at all. I've not suddenly improved so much that I can't refer back to the first book, not at all.

And so we did, play through a few of the chapters in class and even if I wasn't as rusty as I thought I was, there were clearly lots of lessons to take away from the chapters. I also realised how advanced the book was as an introduction to cello; double stops, really tricky string cross exercises. It's no wonder we skipped bits of it during the first year!