17 min
No warmup per se. Just started in, slowly, on the tricky bit of Dvorak Bagatelle #1, near the end. This was a totally slimy practice. I wanted to do something to warm up my fingertips, as they are still raw from yesterday. Cello quartet rehearsal went well, but there are a few parts where I need to solidify fingerings or bring it up to speed. I started 7 minutes before a show I wanted to watch came on, setting my 15 min count down timer. I paused the timer when the show came on, then continued during 3 or 4 commercial breaks. I had a couple of minutes left at the end, so finished the break. Believe it or not, it was productive work, and my fingertips got warm. Should feel good for the concert dress rehearsal tomorrow morning, followed by our concert on Sunday.

11 min Bagatelle #1
6 min Bagatelle #2

6 min
Ave Regina Coelorum
Just a quick refresher. Played it through twice. Changed one fingering.

25 min
Dvorak Bagatelle #5
Again from Cellobrations.
More fingering.
I feel prepared for tonight.
I can tell it's been awhile since I really practiced, though - my fingers are feeling pretty raw.

18 min
Dvorak Bagatelle #1
I think also from Cellobrations.
Mostly revising the fingerings.

15 min
Bach Fughetta (I think this is from a Cellobrations volume.)
Worked out tricky fingerings, bariolage with extensions. Also turned out to be a good warmup for thumb position, as one line is best played with thumb on 4th pos'n and hand in WHW shape on both A and D strings.

Main goal for today's practice session is to prevent me from embarassing myself (again) at quartet rehearsal tonight!

15 min
Warmed up with Popper #7. Also warms up detache with the RH and pulling off with the LH. Played several times through ar mm 1/8 = 110 then 120. Can now play the tough string x-ing section at near performance tempo.

10 min
Warmed up with D Maj scale.
Feuillard #33 detache.
Perpetual Motion in 3 positions.
Desperately thinking of something to do at my lesson tonight, given how little I have practiced this week. I think a little time on thumb position might be it.

30 min
Tabata warmup
Same as Tuesday's

I am beginning to feel progress happening, especially in Feuillard #8 (the slinky hand upward). Even the downward part feels a little less impossible.

I really love this warmup. I think a big advantage is not having to think about what I'm going to do next. The focus on each task seems much more pure.

30 min
Tabata warmup
Timer set to 10 reps of 2:40/:20
Tasks
1. Feuillard #33 short detache, L hand peeling, "body commitment"
2. Feuillard #2 var 17 L hand peeling
3. Feuillard #33 with Haydn short down long up bow pattern
4. Feuillard #33 with Haydn short slurred 2 down long up pattern
5. Feuillard #9 var 1 with relaxed shifts on 1
6. Feuillard #8 var 1 upward with slinky hand shifts
7. Feuillard #8 var 1 downward with finger replacement shifts, thumb timing
8. Feuillard #34 var 4 and 34 ud
9. Feuillard #35 with Bach bowing 3 slurred down 1 up on middle note
10. Suzuki Haydn prep Perpetual Motion, no hand blocks

This week there are more than 10 things. Maybe I need to set up a second cycle, and alternate days, or something.

40 min
Same tabata workout I did on Wed, followed by 5 minutes each of Tarantella and Haydn C. Yes, I'm cramming for lesson tonight. I can hear the difference in the pieces, though. This has proved to be an effective way of isolating the technical bits and practicing them outside of the music.

No, I didn't practice all weekend. Saturday I spent 5 hours at the shelter being a foster interface. Took DH to get fitted for running shoes in the afternoon. Got to see the end of the PSU vs UMN football game (We are... Penn State...). I guess I don't have an excuse (that I remember) for Saturday night. No, wait. I had to go feed D-'s kittens.

Sunday I played one church service, so I did get some cello time in. Fed D-'s kittens again, had a gut-blasting breakfast at TJ's (raspberry french toast fritters - yum) which required a 2 hour nap afterward. Took out screens and put in storm doors, then because the weather was so nice (and they really needed it) washed all the outside windows. Cooked salmon cakes from my new Japanese cookbook (another yum) then went off to S-'s house to give shots to kittens. Came home and gave shot and meds to little Arnie while we were at it, since he was due.

And then I was out of weekend.

Ooh. I just looked and saw I haven't practiced since Wed. Good thing I had some good practices early in the week.

15 min
More Cellobratons: Classics for Four Cellos
arr and ed by Rosalyn Heuer and Joan Harrison
My assignment for quartet tomorrow night is to be prepared to play the Vc1 parts in this volume, so this block was dedicated to reading through them. Got exactly half way through, so hopefully that means one more block and I will at least be familiar with them.

Today:
Chopin Cantabile from cello sonata in g
Dvorak Bagatelles #1 and #5
Brahms Finale from Symphony #1
Beethoven Ode to Joy

They're pretty decent arrangements, and not too hard, though a few spots could stand a little fingering attention.

And I just remembered that I need to find my Offenbach quartet and take a look at the 1st movement. That will take more than just a reading. Now, where did I leave that...

15 min
Tarantella
Today I am setting the timer in countdown mode, 15 minute blocks. It's a good tactic to get me into a "just do it" mindset.

Playing with physical commitment. Watch bow distribution, make sure the small notes are heard. A little spot procatice on my two scale bugaboos. Memorization is coming along well. Wish I had an accompaniment track. May break down andbuy a Suzuki CD.

30 min
Tabata warmup
Timer set to 10 reps of 2:40/:20
Tasks
1. Feuillard #33 short detache and warm up "body commitment"
2. Feuillard #2 var 17 2nd measure without bow, then big bow
3. Feuillard #33 with Haydn short down long up bow pattern
4. Feuillard #33 with Haydn short slurred 2 down long up pattern
5. Feuillard #8 var 1 with slinky hand shifts
6. Feuillard #34 var 4 and 34 ud
7. Feuillard #35 with Bach bowing 3 slurred down 1 up on middle note
8. Feuillard #36 with expository chords
9. Suzuki Haydn prep Perpetual Motion
10. Suzuki Haydn prep for m40

Modifications and notes:
(3) worked best with a metronome to keep the rhythm honest
(4) took awhile to get into the bowing. For this one, the metronome was a distraction. Looking at the notes helped.
(5) Too much to do in 2.5 min, so ended up repeating the first two hand patterns in a loop.
(8) Icky chords. Ended up just working a C major chord. Need to find a more useful chord progression. (Maybe Duport 7?)
(9) and (10) Ended up slowing way down to work on tone. Must unlock the hand from the frame while playing the notes.
(10) Practiced bowing variations before double stopping.

Learned: 20 sec is not long enough to get up, look at the list on the computer, and turn the page. Next time, need to at least mark the pages for quick page turns, and consider printing out the list.

Also, this is a *great* warmup. So great, I need a little break before I practice!

Stopwatch manual

32 min
Warm-up with Feuillard #33 a few times through with short detache at a variety of tempos. Then Feuillard #8, var 1. This is triplets ascending up the A string a step at a time in C MAJ. Exploring the notes with detache bowing.

Moved on to Haydn C exposition. Focus on the little bowing variations, alternating between the phrase and working the bowing in Feuillard #8. After 20 minutes, moved on to the second half of the exposition, learning the notes and fingerings in T4-'s edition. I notice that the Henle ed has different double stops than the other editions I have seen. Wonder what's up with that?

35 min
Haydn C
Chop wood, carry water.
New edition from T4-. Finally looked at the bowings. Changed one fingering. Practiced the exposition phrase by phrase, 10x each. Tried to play at least the last 3 reps from memory. Focus on kinesthetics of the shifts and bowings. Had some mini gesture building to do within the phrases. Got up to the thumb position scales.

15 min
Warmup with random notes, then Feuillard #33, followed by a few random chords, then #2 var 17, 1st measure. I am a total spaz, but the coordination is slowly coming. That took about 5 min.

Popper #7
I fear I have forgotton many of the lesson tips about bringing that middle section up to speed. Spent most time there, comparing and contrasting the gestures. Didn't feel very efficient, but think I made some progress.

18 min
Tarantella
Checking memory, working trouble spots. Switching to Patriot has helped, I think. The lower string tension facilitates my staying on my fingertips for the fast scales. Or, it could just be the Kistler.

12 min
Warmup with Feuillard #33 detache at various tempi then #2 var 17 to get the finger pattern gesture on fingertips thing going.

D MAJ scale, practicing contrary motion with foot presses R on down L on up, linked half notes then 4 slurred quarters then 4 slurred martele quarters. Ridiculous swaying, on purpose. A glass of Kistler helps.

5 min
Ave Regina Coelorum
Just a quick run through with cleanup of a couple of trouble spots before rehearsal tonight.

15 min
Bach Air
OK, I'll admit it. I still haven't decided on fingerings and bowings. But it's coming along. I hope not to embarass myself again at quartet rehearsal tonight. Today's practice was spent trying alternates phrase by phrase.

I would have continued longer, but Cricket showed up at the door (where she is not supposed to be) and I had to get up to let her in.

30 min
Warmed up with Feuillard, #33-35. Several iterations of 33 and 34 with different bowings, then the 3 Bach bowings on 35 - u2d2 in ds, u2d2 bowed, and d3u1. This is a very good preparation for working in the Bach.

Which is what I did next, focusing 1/3 on m37-44, the d3u1 bowing, and the bulk of this segment on m44-60, those thumb position chords. Within that, my primary focus was on the kinesthetics of moving into each chord change, working only the u2d2 ds bowing. I'm starting to get a feel for the large level changes required of the left elbow to facilitate the transition into and out of thumb position.

20 min
Tarantella
Spent most of the time on the three scales. Slow, then bits in gestures. Down from Bb is still the worst. Feel like I'm making progress on the others.

Attempted to play from memory at a slow speed- dotted quarter =92. Amazing how much of my memory is in the gestures now. Have a hard time playing slow from memory. Probably worth some more time.

I'm beginning ot wonder if I am going to make much more progress at this piece this time around. May be time to perform it where it's at and go on.

15 min
Took a look at Beethoven Symphomy #5 2nd mvmt excerpts (first two pages). T4-'s notes are a copy on marigold colored paper. Very difficult to read. I just want to familiarize myself with what's here before i verify that I'm reading it right at lesson tomorrow.

I took 2 days off for no very good reason, so figured I had better practice today. It was a short morning in church - only one service, and other than being there an hour early for rehearsal that took only 20 minutes.

24 min
Started with a Feuillard warmup. Did a #33 detache, then slurred bowings on #34. After about 4 min jumped into the Bach chord section. Finally realized that the "Bach bowing" I have been doing on #34 (up/down over 2 strings) is not going to do it for an alternative, since Bach is actually over 3 strings. Spent some time learning the chords to Feuillard #35, which is 3-note chords, and did some "Bach bowing" there. The again ran through most of the rest of the prelude.

I still feel like this isn't very good practice, as I am not absolutely committed to the bowings that I have chosen. I suppose I should just commit and then really practice.

This is the 'go live' of my new practice log on blogger. I'm texting in short summaries after each practice segment.

Eck. Bolo. This was supposed have been sent from my phone two weeks ago. I guess I know that I can update my log via phone - as long as the msg gets sent!

25 min
Do not feel like practicing. It's been raining all day and my cello is a big wolfy, buzzing mess.

Nevertheless, I started wit Feuillard warmup, first detache #33 the a couple of chord variaitions on #34. About 4 min.

Jumped into Bach prelude. The chord section seemed too much to deal with today, so I focused on the first phrase. Used my new bow hold and pedal assistance to try to make a C MAJ scale as clean as possible. Not easy tonight.

A few forays through the rest of the piece which were not very productive, and intermittant detache cleanups on Feuillard.

At least I did something, I suppose.