Lesson 87 & 88 - Thumbs and new piece, Tarantella

Lesson 87

Today's lesson was all about the thumb positions. We looked at Langin Book 5 for introductory exercises where our first task was to find the harmonics with the thumb. This was more about familiarity of body placement and muscle memory than anything else and I can already see that with constant practise, this could be achieved easily.

Deryn sent me home with a piece from, "Benoy & Sutton: Introduction To Thumb Position for cello" - Irish love song (Believe me, if all those endearing young charms) to get accustomed to the position.



During this time, my sister came over to stay for a week which boosted daily practise morale significantly. We played for hours every day; some exercises and scales but mostly the duets that I was given which included movements of sonatas - those were our favourites. Sometimes we would pick a random book and just sight read for fun, laughing all the time but serious when it came to tunes we enjoyed. My sister has a remarkable grasp of music theory and sight reading was a breeze; it almost comes naturally to her. We do have a background of playing musical instruments together and it felt great that the rapport is still strong after all these years. And I guess I must have had such a good time playing that I was unaware of the tiny little blister that was growing underneath the skin of my bow thumb.

Until my sister left.

Sharp pain was felt each time I did the dishes or ran my hand under a hot tap. Practise was almost impossible so sessions were greatly reduced. Over the next week, the pain developed and turn my thumb green. Wondering if I should go to the doctor or cancel next lesson, I paced and waited until just two days before the next lesson was to be had. Suffice to say, the time was right and source of my green thumb finally oozed out of its housing. I was grossed out but ultimately, relieved.

Lesson 88

The one thing I did learn about the thumb incident? That I was putting too much pressure on my bow thumb and relying on it too much instead of harnessing the power from my back muscles. I knew this was happening but not to the extent I was hoping. Thanks to the green thumb, I was able to gauge pressure levels and this prompted me to fix it. Deryn calls it, "Aversion therapy" and I'm inclined to agree!

So today we focused on thumb position. Having a week "off" from cello playing was a good thing, I think. Of course, that didn't stop me from being an anxious banana during lesson. Things got calmer after I warned Deryn about my plight so we proceeded to more of Langin Book V evercises. Throughout the lesson, the term, "your mind's eye" kept me in focus when visualising shifts and unfamiliar notes on the higher registers. I thought this was a fantastic term. The whole time I was visualising an actual eye that lived in the middle of my brain mush which induced a chuckle here and there was it proved effective in overcoming the fear of those scary shifts.

The thumb position is a wonderful thing, isn't it? I now have access to so many different possibilities of timbre, colour and texture that I can apply to a piece of music. We tried playing the Irish folk tune on just the A string. Not only did it sound completely different, it was far harder to play with all those large shifts. Notes on the higher plane sounded more intimate and thoughtful compared to the same notes played on the lower registers.

At this time, I mentioned to Deryn that most of the pieces in the Benoy book (by this lesson, I had already procured the book online - isn't the internet marvellous?!) were of the european folk tunes variety which prompted a discussion about music and her effects on linguistics and probably even the influence of that on the way a person thinks; their mindset. For example, Hungary and Austria are so close to each other yet vastly different in music culture.

Anyway, despite my weak protest, I was instructed to play The Swan. I shouldn't have been so terrified. Due to the previous thumb position exercises, I was playing just fine. In fact, it was due to those particular exercises that it became easier to reach all of the notes previously unsure of. Ha! Silly student. The next thing I know I was playing with Deryn as pianist - what a great way to learn! Suddenly, I'm approaching the piece differently. With an accompaniment, I suddenly felt accountable for my own playing; I needed to resonate with her piano, to converse and complement as a whole.

Well, I didn't do too well. Deryn said I should play less timid-like and be more open with my expressions, and shape the sound with phrasing. I agree, of course but I couldn't help remembering those exact words in my report card, growing up, "Be less timid!". That was all I had for the entire 6 years in primary school. Looks like nothing has changed :}

Before the lesson ended, it was encouraged that I took a look at using thumb position for the second part of the piece - adding a new colour and texture - to accommodate the change of tone. And then Deryn sent me home with a new piece, "Tarantella by Squire". Eeps!