Mon 0:30 (~1700)
If I had my druthers, I'd take the day off after a concert. However, I have a cello lesson tonight, so needed to at least get my head back into lesson music, after a day of post-concert Svendsen ear worms.
10 min Suzuki Bk 1 from Perpetual Motion to the end. I think I'll ask to talk about the alternative bowings in PM and Etude (double 1/16th notes) at my lesson. It's the same bowing as in the A section of the Webster Scherzo we were talking about last week. I'll have T4- weigh in on the "petting the dog" analogy.
10 min Haydn C 1st mvmt 2nd theme to beginning of ds. I'm getting to the point that I can visualize the next chunk as I am setting on each held note. It's really conveniently written for that.
10 min Haydn C 2nd mvmt 1st statement. Not sure what bowing to use, so tried several. Checked in with the Wispelwey video to sort out the fingerings. What on earth did we do before YouTube?
You know it's going to be a good practice day when you hear the cello "lock in" with tuning. Does that mean my ear is hearing especially well today, or is the quality of the cello ringing? In any case, it's really ringing, and I love it.
Showing posts with label haydn c. Show all posts
Showing posts with label haydn c. Show all posts
Monday, May 17
Thursday, May 13
Thu 1:30 (1100-1403)
10 min Warm up
Inspired by looking at the bowing for the Webster Scherzo in Suzuki Bk 3 yesterday, and the fact that the book is on my stand, I used it for my warmup today. I started with the Scherzo, then went back to the beginning and played through the tonalizations. Moving forward, I was just beginning the Lully Gavotte when the timer went off. I'm pretty sure I haven't played any of the Bk 3 pieces before. They're quite fun.
10 min Haydn C 1 m27-35
Still focusing on the shifts. Tone is very nice today - bodes well for later practice. I also listened to the Wispelway 2nd mvmt video again this am, but I was multitasking so am not counting it as practice today.
A rather longish break to shower, remove nail polish and shorten fingernails "down to the nub" for optimal cello playing.
30 min Cockles and Mussles and Ash Grove arr. Bissinger
This is my Vc1 part for cello quartet. We're working on a shortened schedule, with a recital planned in June but only two coached sessions remaining, and the other two practices are going to be short personnel. Today was deciding on optimal fingering to support my melodic intentions (sounds grand, doesn't it?). This always takes longer than I expect - I thought 10 minutes would be plenty of time, as it's not that complicated and it's not that high (mid-string harmonic A). But the lovely thing about the fretless 4-stringed cello is that we have so many options about how to finger each note. Lovely! I'm happy with the end result, though, and it should need minimal practice time down the road.
10 min Hanssen Valdresmarsj
Refreshed my memory about fingering for beginning pizz broken chords and thumb position at end of Trio. Wonder whatever happened to my previously marked part?
10 min Haugen An Uncommon Hero
Part is still a bit difficult to read, with 2 cello parts notated on one staff. Watching for downward stems and bow markings underneath. Went through reviewing the tricky bowing parts. This piece was composed in 2006, and I like it more each time we rehearse it - now that I have figured out the rhythms and rapidly changing meters.
20 min Svendsen 1st and 4th Mvmts
Play through with recording. A fun way to end the practice day. The tricky bits I've been practicing are going well, but there are a couple of stretches in the 4th mvmt that still need some closer attention - working out fingerings and reviewing rhythms.
10 min Warm up
Inspired by looking at the bowing for the Webster Scherzo in Suzuki Bk 3 yesterday, and the fact that the book is on my stand, I used it for my warmup today. I started with the Scherzo, then went back to the beginning and played through the tonalizations. Moving forward, I was just beginning the Lully Gavotte when the timer went off. I'm pretty sure I haven't played any of the Bk 3 pieces before. They're quite fun.
10 min Haydn C 1 m27-35
Still focusing on the shifts. Tone is very nice today - bodes well for later practice. I also listened to the Wispelway 2nd mvmt video again this am, but I was multitasking so am not counting it as practice today.
A rather longish break to shower, remove nail polish and shorten fingernails "down to the nub" for optimal cello playing.
30 min Cockles and Mussles and Ash Grove arr. Bissinger
This is my Vc1 part for cello quartet. We're working on a shortened schedule, with a recital planned in June but only two coached sessions remaining, and the other two practices are going to be short personnel. Today was deciding on optimal fingering to support my melodic intentions (sounds grand, doesn't it?). This always takes longer than I expect - I thought 10 minutes would be plenty of time, as it's not that complicated and it's not that high (mid-string harmonic A). But the lovely thing about the fretless 4-stringed cello is that we have so many options about how to finger each note. Lovely! I'm happy with the end result, though, and it should need minimal practice time down the road.
10 min Hanssen Valdresmarsj
Refreshed my memory about fingering for beginning pizz broken chords and thumb position at end of Trio. Wonder whatever happened to my previously marked part?
10 min Haugen An Uncommon Hero
Part is still a bit difficult to read, with 2 cello parts notated on one staff. Watching for downward stems and bow markings underneath. Went through reviewing the tricky bowing parts. This piece was composed in 2006, and I like it more each time we rehearse it - now that I have figured out the rhythms and rapidly changing meters.
20 min Svendsen 1st and 4th Mvmts
Play through with recording. A fun way to end the practice day. The tricky bits I've been practicing are going well, but there are a couple of stretches in the 4th mvmt that still need some closer attention - working out fingerings and reviewing rhythms.
Wednesday, May 12
Wed 1:40 (1115-1350)
15 min Suzuki Bk 1 (all)
Break for breakfast
10 min Haydn C 1 m27-34. F drone. Shift accuracy. Soft 1st mcp in shifts.
20 min Located and watched a video of Pieter Wispelway playing the Haydn C Adagio.
35 min Svendsen
1- broken 3ds and accidentals
2- opening, marked best fingering
3- fast section mm qu=75-115
4- syncopated patterns mm ha=80, 90, 95
Short break to hug kitties.
20 min Sibelius
7 min play through with recording
13 min 16th notes. Revised fingering of 3d measure - less elegant but seems to work better fast. 1-1-1 shift at beginning of 4th measure seems to propel into 1st finger shifts on "ands" in that measure. Brief look at wiggly section as double stops - could stand to do that a couple more times. Also need to learn the cues at reh 8 as I don't trust my counting there.
15 min Suzuki Bk 1 (all)
Break for breakfast
10 min Haydn C 1 m27-34. F drone. Shift accuracy. Soft 1st mcp in shifts.
20 min Located and watched a video of Pieter Wispelway playing the Haydn C Adagio.
35 min Svendsen
1- broken 3ds and accidentals
2- opening, marked best fingering
3- fast section mm qu=75-115
4- syncopated patterns mm ha=80, 90, 95
Short break to hug kitties.
20 min Sibelius
7 min play through with recording
13 min 16th notes. Revised fingering of 3d measure - less elegant but seems to work better fast. 1-1-1 shift at beginning of 4th measure seems to propel into 1st finger shifts on "ands" in that measure. Brief look at wiggly section as double stops - could stand to do that a couple more times. Also need to learn the cues at reh 8 as I don't trust my counting there.
Tuesday, May 11
Monday, May 10
Saturday, March 27
Tuesday, March 23
Tue 2:33 (1042-1315)
The Thing for this week is all about shifting. Mostly about shifting. And about playing tennis on the fingerboard. Here are my pointers:
* When starting a note from nothing, think of hitting the ball and releasing it. There should be dynamic motion, not a start from a stop.
* Prepare the shift by unweighting the arm as you begin the note before the shift. The tennis analogy is still very apt. It's a bit like watching the ball bounce, curve up and down, and bounce again.
* The hand must be relaxed, and the fingers curved. Periodically monitor for my finger collapsing tendency.
T4 suggested that, in addition to working on shifts in scale runs as in Haydn, I add a piece which requires slower shifting. So this morning I dug out an edition of Faure's Apres un Reve - I have a Music Minus One volume called 10 Concert Pieces for Cello - and I spent the first 50 minutes on that. First I read through it roughly, then listened to the recording. Then another pass through at no tempo doing shifts and finger patterns. Finally worked on memorizing the first two phrases, with special attention to the bowings, as I kept getting out of sync. I would have kept going but I have a few other things to do today.
One more tip remembered from last week:
* In thumb position, the elbow weight goes down as the finger number goes up, to shift the weight over the playing finger. Fight my tendency to raise the elbow instead. (This makes such a big difference!)
Next 40 minutes: Haydn C, a little more than half on the exposition, and the remainder on the chord section. Slow, relaxed shifting practice, with special focus on unweighting the note before the shift. I'm not having much luck with getting the chords to ring yet, so today ended up focusing on the hand patterns with a variety of (separate, inegal) bowings.
Spent the last half hour or so revisiting Capriccio Italienne. Back to orchestra tonight, and my assignment is 2nd chair. Oh, terror, under Maestro's eye, or worse, ear. We also got word that the planned Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orch was scrapped for budgetary reasons (too expensive to rent) so we will be going with Bernstein's Overture to Candide from the last concert (which I didn't play) and possibly the Tchaikovsky from 2 concerts ago, which I did play but not entirely successfully. Plus I'm playing a different part - inside instead of outside. Enough said. Another great piece for shifting practice and hopefully eventually fast scales.
The Thing for this week is all about shifting. Mostly about shifting. And about playing tennis on the fingerboard. Here are my pointers:
* When starting a note from nothing, think of hitting the ball and releasing it. There should be dynamic motion, not a start from a stop.
* Prepare the shift by unweighting the arm as you begin the note before the shift. The tennis analogy is still very apt. It's a bit like watching the ball bounce, curve up and down, and bounce again.
* The hand must be relaxed, and the fingers curved. Periodically monitor for my finger collapsing tendency.
T4 suggested that, in addition to working on shifts in scale runs as in Haydn, I add a piece which requires slower shifting. So this morning I dug out an edition of Faure's Apres un Reve - I have a Music Minus One volume called 10 Concert Pieces for Cello - and I spent the first 50 minutes on that. First I read through it roughly, then listened to the recording. Then another pass through at no tempo doing shifts and finger patterns. Finally worked on memorizing the first two phrases, with special attention to the bowings, as I kept getting out of sync. I would have kept going but I have a few other things to do today.
One more tip remembered from last week:
* In thumb position, the elbow weight goes down as the finger number goes up, to shift the weight over the playing finger. Fight my tendency to raise the elbow instead. (This makes such a big difference!)
Next 40 minutes: Haydn C, a little more than half on the exposition, and the remainder on the chord section. Slow, relaxed shifting practice, with special focus on unweighting the note before the shift. I'm not having much luck with getting the chords to ring yet, so today ended up focusing on the hand patterns with a variety of (separate, inegal) bowings.
Spent the last half hour or so revisiting Capriccio Italienne. Back to orchestra tonight, and my assignment is 2nd chair. Oh, terror, under Maestro's eye, or worse, ear. We also got word that the planned Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orch was scrapped for budgetary reasons (too expensive to rent) so we will be going with Bernstein's Overture to Candide from the last concert (which I didn't play) and possibly the Tchaikovsky from 2 concerts ago, which I did play but not entirely successfully. Plus I'm playing a different part - inside instead of outside. Enough said. Another great piece for shifting practice and hopefully eventually fast scales.
Thursday, March 18
Wednesday, March 17
Wed 2:06 (1314-1520)
The Thing for today: balance over left hand
15 min Warmup
Today's is a Just Do the Thing warmup. Started with a serial 3 note pattern up and down the A string, focusing on shifting the weight of the hand over the played note by lowering and raising the elbow, fighting my (un)natural tendency to raise the elbow as I play higher notes. Then did the same thing using the Morgenstern E scale pattern. Switched to C, 4 8va, and the 3 martele strokes/bow to focus on opening the elbow at the tip. Finished with a Breval play through, attempting to keep both of those actions happening - only partially successful, but well warmed up. A slightly longer typing break than called for because John wants to sit in my lap.
Then took a few more extra minutes to make a new practice copy of my Haydn C Henle edition, and to find T4's fingerings and bowing of same. Forget this trying to work from a different edition.
30 min Haydn C exposition
Starting by reading through slowly, using the "right" fingerings and bowings. Then focused on the scale passages, working slow and fast, paying attention to the shifts and finger patterns. Used a metronome at qu = 52, which makes the melody too slow and the 32nd notes still too fast. but I realized I was getting a warped sense of how things hang together rhythmically because I play everything but the 32nd notes at tempo, and the scales much slower. Started from the beginning to do memorization reps of the phrases with the new bowings. Remembered to work on strong bow, light fingers.
30 min cello quartet
10 min Offenbach exposition
10 min Handel, both mvmts
10 min Boismortier 2nd mvmt
The Thing for today: balance over left hand
15 min Warmup
Today's is a Just Do the Thing warmup. Started with a serial 3 note pattern up and down the A string, focusing on shifting the weight of the hand over the played note by lowering and raising the elbow, fighting my (un)natural tendency to raise the elbow as I play higher notes. Then did the same thing using the Morgenstern E scale pattern. Switched to C, 4 8va, and the 3 martele strokes/bow to focus on opening the elbow at the tip. Finished with a Breval play through, attempting to keep both of those actions happening - only partially successful, but well warmed up. A slightly longer typing break than called for because John wants to sit in my lap.
Then took a few more extra minutes to make a new practice copy of my Haydn C Henle edition, and to find T4's fingerings and bowing of same. Forget this trying to work from a different edition.
30 min Haydn C exposition
Starting by reading through slowly, using the "right" fingerings and bowings. Then focused on the scale passages, working slow and fast, paying attention to the shifts and finger patterns. Used a metronome at qu = 52, which makes the melody too slow and the 32nd notes still too fast. but I realized I was getting a warped sense of how things hang together rhythmically because I play everything but the 32nd notes at tempo, and the scales much slower. Started from the beginning to do memorization reps of the phrases with the new bowings. Remembered to work on strong bow, light fingers.
30 min cello quartet
10 min Offenbach exposition
10 min Handel, both mvmts
10 min Boismortier 2nd mvmt
Tuesday, March 16
Tue 2:00 (1140-1340)
33 min Haydn C exposition
Jumped right into Haydn without an official warmup. Played phrases from music then from memory. Not quite ready to commit, as I noted that now that I have fingerings c/w T4's wishes, the bowings in the Suzuki vs. Henle editions are quite different. I need to double check those before I really get down to memorizing. Will also need more repetitions to cement in that simple fingering change in the first measure, shifting to 1 on D instead of 3 on E. I also need to make a copy of the Henle version (which I have now) and jettison the Suzuki ed, which is more confusing than helpful.
26 min Haydn C passagework section
Spent 5 min on A, 5 min on A+B, and the remainder on B (chords). Worked the chords from the beginning, pizz, linking patterns. Finished with the bow, single bow per note, as much from memory as possible.
40 min Cello Quartet music
Handel - mvmt 2, 1
Offenbach - exposition
Boismortier - mvmt 1-4, 2
Big volume in fortes with relaxed bow hand. Shifts.
33 min Haydn C exposition
Jumped right into Haydn without an official warmup. Played phrases from music then from memory. Not quite ready to commit, as I noted that now that I have fingerings c/w T4's wishes, the bowings in the Suzuki vs. Henle editions are quite different. I need to double check those before I really get down to memorizing. Will also need more repetitions to cement in that simple fingering change in the first measure, shifting to 1 on D instead of 3 on E. I also need to make a copy of the Henle version (which I have now) and jettison the Suzuki ed, which is more confusing than helpful.
26 min Haydn C passagework section
Spent 5 min on A, 5 min on A+B, and the remainder on B (chords). Worked the chords from the beginning, pizz, linking patterns. Finished with the bow, single bow per note, as much from memory as possible.
40 min Cello Quartet music
Handel - mvmt 2, 1
Offenbach - exposition
Boismortier - mvmt 1-4, 2
Big volume in fortes with relaxed bow hand. Shifts.
Monday, March 15
Mon 2:02(1044-1246)
I have a bit of cubital tunnel syndrome acting up round my left elbow, so after 3 days off I am going with the 10 minute practice block schedule today.
10 min - E MAJ
A variety of 3 and 4 octave patterns, with special focus on shifting in the Morgenstern pattern and right elbow extension in 3 martele strokes/bow.
10 min - Haydn C exposition
Once through with mm = 60, note to note, one note per bow. A second time through with 1/8 note = 60. Time to work on the double stops, I think.
10 min - Haydn C, double stops at m40
Started with preparatory exercises: G MAJ scale. Identified my tendency to relax my hand shape as I ascended, and thus my lower fingers were out of place coming down. Drilled note to note, back and forth for awhile. Did double stop patterns, identified the need to "not try so hard," keep hand shapes supple, and use 2 and 3 together whenever 3 was being used. Productive, but hard work, and needed frequent breaks to shake out hand and arm.
10 min - Haydn C, chords at m71
Started with the preparatory exercise in the Suzuki book, which is just the passage written as chords. After reviewing the patterns in broken 2 part chords, began working from the beginning of the passage as written. Using a variety of bowings, focused on the movement from chord to chord - which fingers stay put, which move first, where to relax the hand, etc. Again, productive, but couldn't do this for more than about the 10 minutes.
10 min - Haydn C, 2nd statements
This was a just-for-fun block. Looked at the 2nd statements of: the exposition in m59, Theme 2a in m64, and Theme 2b in m102. Comparison and contrast.
30 min - Boismortier quartet in a
Three congruent 10 min blocks, working sequentially through the movements. Mostly practicing shifts, especially the many 4-4 descending patterns and the leaps or puzzle patterns to get high. Wish I had a recording to check my work against. I like the piece, though - quartet rehearsal should be fun.
I have a bit of cubital tunnel syndrome acting up round my left elbow, so after 3 days off I am going with the 10 minute practice block schedule today.
10 min - E MAJ
A variety of 3 and 4 octave patterns, with special focus on shifting in the Morgenstern pattern and right elbow extension in 3 martele strokes/bow.
10 min - Haydn C exposition
Once through with mm = 60, note to note, one note per bow. A second time through with 1/8 note = 60. Time to work on the double stops, I think.
10 min - Haydn C, double stops at m40
Started with preparatory exercises: G MAJ scale. Identified my tendency to relax my hand shape as I ascended, and thus my lower fingers were out of place coming down. Drilled note to note, back and forth for awhile. Did double stop patterns, identified the need to "not try so hard," keep hand shapes supple, and use 2 and 3 together whenever 3 was being used. Productive, but hard work, and needed frequent breaks to shake out hand and arm.
10 min - Haydn C, chords at m71
Started with the preparatory exercise in the Suzuki book, which is just the passage written as chords. After reviewing the patterns in broken 2 part chords, began working from the beginning of the passage as written. Using a variety of bowings, focused on the movement from chord to chord - which fingers stay put, which move first, where to relax the hand, etc. Again, productive, but couldn't do this for more than about the 10 minutes.
10 min - Haydn C, 2nd statements
This was a just-for-fun block. Looked at the 2nd statements of: the exposition in m59, Theme 2a in m64, and Theme 2b in m102. Comparison and contrast.
30 min - Boismortier quartet in a
Three congruent 10 min blocks, working sequentially through the movements. Mostly practicing shifts, especially the many 4-4 descending patterns and the leaps or puzzle patterns to get high. Wish I had a recording to check my work against. I like the piece, though - quartet rehearsal should be fun.
Tuesday, March 9
Tue 1:54 (0936-1132)
Don't try to do the math. The 10 minute blocks will not add up to total practice time. In order to enforce rest periods I am typing notes in between each block. It makes the notes better, and helps ensure I will nip this incipient overuse thing in the bud while transitioning back to my usual equipment.
10 min Warm up.
Started with de Swert, 1 bow/16 note measure. Focus on left hand finger spacing and keeping 4th finger curved. It's a real work out for the outside of the hand. At the end, began to incorporate some trill/vibrato motion to relieve the muscle burn! Bow hand soft, even bow speed without much sound. After 5 min switched to E MAJ scale, galamian 3 octave, half then quarter notes. Finished with Morgenstern 3 octave scale pattern, really good for concentrating on old finger shifts. Focus on soft MCPs during shifts.
10 min Haydn C Exposition
No tempo practice of first page with focus on shifts. Soft MCP, old finger shifts upwards, intonation (back and forth between notes), arrival in balance, easy bow hold, not forcing the sound.
10 min Haydn C Exposition
Slow tempo practice of second page with focus on scales. Shifts arriving in anticipated hand position. Thumb position without excess tension. Still in familiarization mode, but I think my fingering is now "correct". Now to go for consistency. Did not spend much time on the double stops-that needs to be a block unto itself.
10 min Haydn C Exposition
Another block on the scales on p2. Thumb is getting a bit sore (just the skin, where I need a better callus) so I think that should be all of the thumb position for today, or at least for a few more blocks. Time for the brain to switch gears, anyway.
10 min Boismortier cello quartet in a
Switching gears, starting prep for cello quartet. This is a new piece to me, though the others read it last week in my absence. (I assume - that was the plan.) I have the second cello part, often the most awkward, and this is no exception. For this block I just read through all 4 movements, scoping out where things are going to fall. Next step is to commit to fingerings - much more tedious. It occurs to me I should check to see whether the plan is to play it again this week, or if it has already been retired, before I commit the time.
12 min Offenbach cello quartet Adagio
Oops, forgot to start the timer. Emily worked on this with me at my coached practice lesson, but I am afraid I didn't take enough notes. Worked on the shifts in the exposition, and where I didn't remember exactly what she recommended I just decided on a shift and practiced that. This soft MCP especially on 1st finger shifts is really starting to feel "right" - meaning that I am beginning to become aware when I tighten it instead without having to be directly focused on it. I think I need to make a new copy, so that I can mark it cleanly.
10 min Haydn C chords
Time to give the bow arm a rest, so I spent the first 8 min pizzing the chords, just being aware of chord changes and handshapes. Picked up the bow and played slowly, 1 note per bow. My next focus needs to be on smooth hand changes and intonation in double stops, but I think that's it for today.
A good practice, and no pain.
Don't try to do the math. The 10 minute blocks will not add up to total practice time. In order to enforce rest periods I am typing notes in between each block. It makes the notes better, and helps ensure I will nip this incipient overuse thing in the bud while transitioning back to my usual equipment.
10 min Warm up.
Started with de Swert, 1 bow/16 note measure. Focus on left hand finger spacing and keeping 4th finger curved. It's a real work out for the outside of the hand. At the end, began to incorporate some trill/vibrato motion to relieve the muscle burn! Bow hand soft, even bow speed without much sound. After 5 min switched to E MAJ scale, galamian 3 octave, half then quarter notes. Finished with Morgenstern 3 octave scale pattern, really good for concentrating on old finger shifts. Focus on soft MCPs during shifts.
10 min Haydn C Exposition
No tempo practice of first page with focus on shifts. Soft MCP, old finger shifts upwards, intonation (back and forth between notes), arrival in balance, easy bow hold, not forcing the sound.
10 min Haydn C Exposition
Slow tempo practice of second page with focus on scales. Shifts arriving in anticipated hand position. Thumb position without excess tension. Still in familiarization mode, but I think my fingering is now "correct". Now to go for consistency. Did not spend much time on the double stops-that needs to be a block unto itself.
10 min Haydn C Exposition
Another block on the scales on p2. Thumb is getting a bit sore (just the skin, where I need a better callus) so I think that should be all of the thumb position for today, or at least for a few more blocks. Time for the brain to switch gears, anyway.
10 min Boismortier cello quartet in a
Switching gears, starting prep for cello quartet. This is a new piece to me, though the others read it last week in my absence. (I assume - that was the plan.) I have the second cello part, often the most awkward, and this is no exception. For this block I just read through all 4 movements, scoping out where things are going to fall. Next step is to commit to fingerings - much more tedious. It occurs to me I should check to see whether the plan is to play it again this week, or if it has already been retired, before I commit the time.
12 min Offenbach cello quartet Adagio
Oops, forgot to start the timer. Emily worked on this with me at my coached practice lesson, but I am afraid I didn't take enough notes. Worked on the shifts in the exposition, and where I didn't remember exactly what she recommended I just decided on a shift and practiced that. This soft MCP especially on 1st finger shifts is really starting to feel "right" - meaning that I am beginning to become aware when I tighten it instead without having to be directly focused on it. I think I need to make a new copy, so that I can mark it cleanly.
10 min Haydn C chords
Time to give the bow arm a rest, so I spent the first 8 min pizzing the chords, just being aware of chord changes and handshapes. Picked up the bow and played slowly, 1 note per bow. My next focus needs to be on smooth hand changes and intonation in double stops, but I think that's it for today.
A good practice, and no pain.
Monday, March 8
Mon 40 min (1725-1805)
After traveling all day, I reeaalllly did not want to practice, but I had a cello lesson tonight, so I Just Did It. Not very organized. Warmed up by working the chord section (pwB) of the Haydn slowly and in a variety of ways, then Breval, then the Haydn exposition. It is so nice to be back to my good cello. My sound is amazingly good - I may start calling Mini Me my futsal cello.
I shall commence real work on Haydn tomorrow.
After traveling all day, I reeaalllly did not want to practice, but I had a cello lesson tonight, so I Just Did It. Not very organized. Warmed up by working the chord section (pwB) of the Haydn slowly and in a variety of ways, then Breval, then the Haydn exposition. It is so nice to be back to my good cello. My sound is amazingly good - I may start calling Mini Me my futsal cello.
I shall commence real work on Haydn tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 3
65 min
An @EmilyCello deep practice session. I almost feel like I was in an altered state of consciousness, and I can't remember everything I did after the fact. I wonder if it would be useful to take notes along the way, or if that would interfere with the motor stuff?
How I divided the time:
C MAJ scale, 3 octaves. Making sure everything was loose and in tune. Then a slow ascending 2 octave C MAJ, 3 gesture martele down and up bow on each note, completely relaxing all bow hand tension before each martele segment. That took forever. At least 5 minutes, for a total of 20 minutes on the warmup.
Breval play through, focusing on gentle bow hold and balance over the strings, ignoring the sound quality as much as possible. ~7 min
Haydn C m71-78. This is the chord bowing exercise in the development that I have labeled "passage work B." We went over a practice approach in my @EC lesson yesterday. I can't remember the order I did things here, but I divided the time between pizz, playing the chords with separate bows, and slurring them. As I focused more deeply on the chord patterns and changes, I stopped playing in the middle to analyze the chords. At some point I had the epiphany that this whole section is about 3 chord progressions divided from each other by the 3 separate stacato "gasping for air" notes. This section now makes intellectual sense to me, and I am making good progress on memorizing it. I love the feeling of the moment that happens, and it's so hard to predict. I leave thinking "How could I have not recognized that before?" and laugh. That part is predictable.
Four hours with Emily on Deep Practice to come this afternoon. Don't you wish you were here today?
An @EmilyCello deep practice session. I almost feel like I was in an altered state of consciousness, and I can't remember everything I did after the fact. I wonder if it would be useful to take notes along the way, or if that would interfere with the motor stuff?
How I divided the time:
C MAJ scale, 3 octaves. Making sure everything was loose and in tune. Then a slow ascending 2 octave C MAJ, 3 gesture martele down and up bow on each note, completely relaxing all bow hand tension before each martele segment. That took forever. At least 5 minutes, for a total of 20 minutes on the warmup.
Breval play through, focusing on gentle bow hold and balance over the strings, ignoring the sound quality as much as possible. ~7 min
Haydn C m71-78. This is the chord bowing exercise in the development that I have labeled "passage work B." We went over a practice approach in my @EC lesson yesterday. I can't remember the order I did things here, but I divided the time between pizz, playing the chords with separate bows, and slurring them. As I focused more deeply on the chord patterns and changes, I stopped playing in the middle to analyze the chords. At some point I had the epiphany that this whole section is about 3 chord progressions divided from each other by the 3 separate stacato "gasping for air" notes. This section now makes intellectual sense to me, and I am making good progress on memorizing it. I love the feeling of the moment that happens, and it's so hard to predict. I leave thinking "How could I have not recognized that before?" and laugh. That part is predictable.
Four hours with Emily on Deep Practice to come this afternoon. Don't you wish you were here today?
Monday, February 22
Start 1317
30 min Breval
Switching gears, Russian orchestra music is all filed away. Started with an easy run through to warm up, then pulled out the Suzuki CD. I think this is the order I did things:
* Play through from memory with the recorded accompaniment
* Play through from memory as the CD played on, so "nonsense" surrounding noise
Then without accompaniment
* With the music, practicing contralateral body/bow motion. Had to slow down the tempo. That is backward to my natural instinct
* Repetitions focusing on the last note in the phrase, which I am tending to chop off.
There is so much that could still be improved - wish I could figure out how to do it.
30 min Haydn C
Three 10 minute blocks, working from my excerpt sheets. First the exposition and its very similar 3d statement (not the higher 2nd), then through Theme 2A, B and half of C, primarily working out the rhythmic variations as none of these are very high. I am still in familiarization mode with this concerto. Probably my biggest technical focus is releasing tension and allowing the bow to be in the string at the start of each stroke. Need to get advice about how to start learning the chord bowing variations in the development section.
Stop 1434
Total time: 1:17
Practice time: 60 min
I had planned to go another 45 min but there were too many interruptions. Not sure if I will get back to things for another round, or consider that sufficient for today, as I do have a lesson tonight.
30 min Breval
Switching gears, Russian orchestra music is all filed away. Started with an easy run through to warm up, then pulled out the Suzuki CD. I think this is the order I did things:
* Play through from memory with the recorded accompaniment
* Play through from memory as the CD played on, so "nonsense" surrounding noise
Then without accompaniment
* With the music, practicing contralateral body/bow motion. Had to slow down the tempo. That is backward to my natural instinct
* Repetitions focusing on the last note in the phrase, which I am tending to chop off.
There is so much that could still be improved - wish I could figure out how to do it.
30 min Haydn C
Three 10 minute blocks, working from my excerpt sheets. First the exposition and its very similar 3d statement (not the higher 2nd), then through Theme 2A, B and half of C, primarily working out the rhythmic variations as none of these are very high. I am still in familiarization mode with this concerto. Probably my biggest technical focus is releasing tension and allowing the bow to be in the string at the start of each stroke. Need to get advice about how to start learning the chord bowing variations in the development section.
Stop 1434
Total time: 1:17
Practice time: 60 min
I had planned to go another 45 min but there were too many interruptions. Not sure if I will get back to things for another round, or consider that sufficient for today, as I do have a lesson tonight.
Monday, February 15
30 min
Back on the practicing bandwagon. I have a lesson this evening, and our orchestra concert is this coming weekend.
This block I began with 10 minutes of Breval, a play through followed by some work on the trills. A 2 octave D trill exercise went far to improve the timing. Then a little focused work in making sure my bow was in the string at the beginning of strokes, and feeling left hand balance.
That was in preparation for the last 20 minutes, spent looking at Haydn C, the exposition and other Theme 1 sections. The 1st and 3d are very similar, just varying in what they lead into. The 2nd goes back and forth into 5th position. I think I will be ready to discuss bow distribution, shifting, and practice approaches tonight, along with reviewing my organization work from last week.
I have one more thing to do with my cut-out pages - write the road map on top of each page and circle where the excerpts lie. That is to help with learning sequence while working from the excerpt pages.
Back on the practicing bandwagon. I have a lesson this evening, and our orchestra concert is this coming weekend.
This block I began with 10 minutes of Breval, a play through followed by some work on the trills. A 2 octave D trill exercise went far to improve the timing. Then a little focused work in making sure my bow was in the string at the beginning of strokes, and feeling left hand balance.
That was in preparation for the last 20 minutes, spent looking at Haydn C, the exposition and other Theme 1 sections. The 1st and 3d are very similar, just varying in what they lead into. The 2nd goes back and forth into 5th position. I think I will be ready to discuss bow distribution, shifting, and practice approaches tonight, along with reviewing my organization work from last week.
I have one more thing to do with my cut-out pages - write the road map on top of each page and circle where the excerpts lie. That is to help with learning sequence while working from the excerpt pages.
Wednesday, February 10
Today I spent 2 hours analyzing the first mvmt of Haydn C. I resorted to brute force, making an extra copy then dissecting it with a pair of scissors. That forced me to identify the motifs in order to categorize each appropriately. As I tweeted earlier, here are my results:
By section
Theme 1 x3; Theme 2A x2, 2B x2, 2C x5, 2D x3, 2E x4; double stop Interlude x3; passage work A, B, A+B x1@
In order
1,2A,2B,2C,2D,ds,2C,2E,2C,1,2A,pwA,pwB,2D,ds,2E,1,2B,2C,pwA+B,2E,2C,2D,ds,2E,cad
It was a good day's work, but with the extra driving to take Magoo to and from the vet for his cryptorchidectomy I ran out of time to actually practice. I had church orchestra rehearsal in the evening though, so an hour of "touched my cello" time.
By section
Theme 1 x3; Theme 2A x2, 2B x2, 2C x5, 2D x3, 2E x4; double stop Interlude x3; passage work A, B, A+B x1@
In order
1,2A,2B,2C,2D,ds,2C,2E,2C,1,2A,pwA,pwB,2D,ds,2E,1,2B,2C,pwA+B,2E,2C,2D,ds,2E,cad
It was a good day's work, but with the extra driving to take Magoo to and from the vet for his cryptorchidectomy I ran out of time to actually practice. I had church orchestra rehearsal in the evening though, so an hour of "touched my cello" time.
Tuesday, February 9
48 min
I think I'm over my jet lag; finally felt like practicing.
Started with the Breval run through and a couple of spot checks, then decided it was time for some Haydn. Began with the chord bowing pattern at 71 (down 3, 3 sep) on Feuillard 35 (3 note chords), then looked at the chords in the music. The pattern isn't as vanilla, as there are also slurred up chords in lieu of the 3 seps. A couple of fingering issues I need to check on. Spent the last couple of minutes on the exposition.
When the 18 min beeper went off (leftover from last night) I switched to Shosty 5. Worked the trouble spots in the 1st mvmt according to Principal's notes, plus one extra of mine. It's coming along, but of course the test will be at tempo at rehearsal later.
I think I'm over my jet lag; finally felt like practicing.
Started with the Breval run through and a couple of spot checks, then decided it was time for some Haydn. Began with the chord bowing pattern at 71 (down 3, 3 sep) on Feuillard 35 (3 note chords), then looked at the chords in the music. The pattern isn't as vanilla, as there are also slurred up chords in lieu of the 3 seps. A couple of fingering issues I need to check on. Spent the last couple of minutes on the exposition.
When the 18 min beeper went off (leftover from last night) I switched to Shosty 5. Worked the trouble spots in the 1st mvmt according to Principal's notes, plus one extra of mine. It's coming along, but of course the test will be at tempo at rehearsal later.
Monday, December 14
50 min
Time for post-recital regrouping. Warmed up with once through the Breval Sonata in C 1st mvmt. Then Tarantella at a fast tempo, followed by Popper #9 twice with as gritty, near-the-bridge physically free bowing as I could stand. ~15 min
Pulled out Haydn C and reviewed the first half of the exposition. It sounds better than the last time I looked at it - thanks Popper and Squire. I'm going to suggest that we do just a phrase or two at a time in lessons, making sure that my technical approach is good and discussing practice, and most importantly going on to the next phrase rather than continuing to start at the beginning. We'll see if that flies.
Alternated Haydn with Breval. I am also going to suggest I memorize and perform the Breval again with my new skill set.
Time for post-recital regrouping. Warmed up with once through the Breval Sonata in C 1st mvmt. Then Tarantella at a fast tempo, followed by Popper #9 twice with as gritty, near-the-bridge physically free bowing as I could stand. ~15 min
Pulled out Haydn C and reviewed the first half of the exposition. It sounds better than the last time I looked at it - thanks Popper and Squire. I'm going to suggest that we do just a phrase or two at a time in lessons, making sure that my technical approach is good and discussing practice, and most importantly going on to the next phrase rather than continuing to start at the beginning. We'll see if that flies.
Alternated Haydn with Breval. I am also going to suggest I memorize and perform the Breval again with my new skill set.
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