Sun 0:40 (1000)

Played one short service at church this morning, so pretty well warmed up. Ran the Sibelius and Svendsen Symphony with the recording. I just want to make sure I have the cues in my ears before the concert this afternoon. Now I'm going to go put my final markings in my practice parts and file them,and clean up my folder to turn in. After the concert this afternoon we are off until the summer concert in July. Yippee! I have an open night each week for 1.5 months!

Sat 0:45 (1900)

Dress rehearsal went pretty well this morning, so I just "touched up" the tricky bits in all 4 mvmts of Svendsen and reviewed fingerings for the last page or 2, then played the 4th mvmt with the recording. Much better. Also interspersed a few minutes of that up-down-down ricochet Sibelius bowing. I'll want to run that one last time with the recording before performance tomorrow afternoon.

Fri 0:20 (1825-1848)

Wanted to jump right in to work on Svendsen, but everything felt too icky so did my 10 min Suzuki Bk 1 warmup, FFS to Rigadoon.

10 min Svendsen 4th mvmt, the funky pattern part then the last page.

After spending all day in a semi-dark room in front of a computer (beginning Flash class) I just don't feel like working. 2 glasses of wine with dinner probably did not help, though were quite nice. I think I'll go watch a movie, then early to bed. I do feel better for having played 20 minutes, though.

Dress rehearsal tomorrow morning. Better to be well-rested than well-prepared.

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.

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.

Tue 0:57

10 min Suzuki Bk 1
10 min Haydn C 1 m27-G before DS, read 1st page of 2nd mvmt
5 min Svendsen Mvmt 1
5 min Svendsen Mvmt 3
10 min Svendsen Mvmt 4

Break for dinner

10 min Sibelius
7 min play through Sibelius violin concerto mvmt 3 with recording.

Mon 0:45

10 min Suzuki bk 1
10 min Haydn C 1-m27-31
25 min play through Svendsen Mvmt 1,3,4 with recording

Sat 0:40 (1800-1900)

10 min Suzuki Bk1 Rigadoon to Minuet 2 then FFS to May Song.

10 min Svendsen Mvmt 3 fast part mm qu = 70-115 then back down to 90. I really only have complete control at 90.

10 min Svendsen Mvmt 1 broken 3ds. Starting to feel comfortable. Need to see how it goes with the recording.

10 min Svendsen Mvmt 4 between F and H. Worked out a better fingering involving 1-1 instead of 2-2 shifts and 2-124 patterns. The pattern is consistent throughout, which helps a lot.

Quit earlier than I had hoped due to general queasiness. Hope I didn't eat something bad at the Mother's Day family potluck.

Thu 0:30 (1630-1800)

10 min Suzuki Bk 1 from Rigadoon to Minuet 2

10 min Svendsen Mvmt 3 fast section mm qu = 70-110 (goal is 116, therefore I would like to be able to play 120 comfortably)

10+ min Reading through Vc1 parts of candidate songs for cello quartet. British and American folk songs. It will be nice to play something that will require minimal practice time (not necessarily effort) to make it sound good.

Wed 0:30 (1630-1730)

Thinking that what this blog has evolved into is not really a very good way to maintain a practice log. I did practice last week, probably about 3 hours total, with 2/3 of that yesterday working on orchestra music. But nothing got recorded. Not that there was much to record.

Today I got back to my 10 minute segments.

10 min Suzuki Bk 1, enough to play through Rigadoon. Most rewarding part was spending a few extra minutes with the tonalization instructing the student to listen for the ring. Realize I'm not doing that often enough, and that on Petra I can actually hear the ring as an extra note. I'm sure that exercise helped with intonation for the rest of the session.

10 min Svendsen Mvmt 1 two tricky bits. Used drone to help with shifting accuracy, intonation.

10 min Svendsen Mvmt 3 fast section. Worked with metronome qu = 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 90, 95. Limit for today. Recognized a couple of new subtle left and right hand patterns.

Not much, but achieved a satisfying amount of progress.

Tue 1:05 (~1120 and 1600-1700)

Started with 10-15 min of Suzuki while waiting for the plumber. This is so exciting - whatever change "happened" at lesson last week seems to be persistent. I finally have a completely tension-free bow hand and am getting a great core cello sound by some mysterious coordination of all my body working together.

Then this afternoon sat down to work on Svendsen. Began with the tricky bits in the 1st mvmt, including the descending broken third patterns we discussed in my lesson yesterday. Piece of cake after recognizing the pattern and reviewing the standard fingering. Thanks, T4-. After about 20 minutes of careful review and reps I played the entire symphony with the recording, marking additional bits in the other mvmts that need practice. Don't think I am going to get to them today, but the piece is coming into focus.

Mon 0:61 (1510-1611)

Started with Suzuki Bk 1, pieces 2-8. Still not playing from memory, just running through them trying to regain that sense that I am pulling the sound out of the cello with minimal weight, and certainly no pressing. I'm playing Emma as my practice cello, and should probably repeat this with Petra before my lesson to make sure it's transferable. ~15 min

After that nice tonalization warmup, I worked on orchestra music. Since I'm the 2nd chair for this concert I have some exposed parts to cover in the Sibelius violin concerto 3d mvmt. Worked out the rhythms and a few spots of tricky fingering, and wondered if I need to be able to play the solo chromatic runs, just in case. Not today, anyway. Did a run through with Sarah Chang. Needs more work on the alternating bowing, which we are doing because it is easier than the up down down marked. But even the easier bowing takes a lot of balance to maintain with the violin rhythms and changing notes. ~30 min

Finally, worked on tricky bits in the Svendsen symphony 1st mvmt. I think I'm going to ask T4 to go over fingering of descending broken thirds. This would be much easier if I knew the pattern, and I'm sure there must be one.

Fri 0:35 (1730-1805)

Another quick orchestra music review: Overture to Candide, Cuban Overture, Norwegian March, Capriccio Italienne. Trouble spots.

Thu 1:40 (1200-1300, 1950-2035)

Just the facts. 30 min on Apres Un Reve, 15 min on Boismortier in case we played it at quartet rehearsal, the rest on orchestra music. Concert on Saturday. Unexpected evening practice time when I, alone, showed up for quartet rehearsal because I didn't listen to the voice mail telling me that our coach had an appendectomy and rehearsal was canceled.

Sun 1:20 (1817-1858 and 1932-2011)

There was a half hour break between blocks due to phone calls, so I listed the times separately.

First half hour was spent working out fingerings in Sven* Symphony, 1st mvmt. The relaxed playing from the previous block carried over; very gratifying. The last 10 minutes was dedicated to the icky scale with the rocky pattern in Capriccio Italiene.

The second block was spent on the second half of Apres Un Reve. I didn't feel ready to give it the 25x treatment, but did enough reps to confidently work out the fingerings and bowings. Intermittent focus on relaxation, but not total. I'd say it's 85% memorized. Tomorrow I'll do another block and record it for the @EmilyCello No Tension Challenge.

Thu 0:42 (1441-1523)

Warmed up with open strings G C G D A DG then slurps across D and G. Really sitting right down there on the bridge, experimenting with bow speed on the different strings. Explored the sequence bow level change then bow change motion when going to a higher string on up bow. 10 min

Then it was logical to start with the little string crossing section in the Vivaldi (Spring) 1st mvmt. Worked from double stops in correct pulse. Seemed to work "OK" with just a little elbow drop after the pulse. Would be worth discussing this bowing at a lesson.

Next, fingering for soli section in the 3d mvmt. Loving how my bow weight from open strings is still carrying over.

Ran through the Handel, which we will be performing at a little recital tonight. Just took it under tempo, polishing a few shifts, and staying loose.

15 min or so on Apres un Reve, playing it with exaggerated passion and phrasing, big vibrato while, yes, focusing on keeping the right arm relaxed and weighted. Fun.

Back for just a few more minutes of Handel, and that's all for today. Warmup for recital at 6, recital at 7.

Tue 0:30 (1238-?)

First half hour
10 min Open G. At the end, was playing with bow speed - fast into change, slow out of it seemed to make the smoothest changes.
10 min Apres Un Reve. Shifts and bow weight.
10 min Handel, slightly under tempo, going for smooth sound.

Then I spent most of the rest of the afternoon with my orchestra music, listening to recordings while following the cello part, getting scared and depressed. Overtures are fun to listen to, but a bear to play, and a "light" program filled with overtures is a nightmare. There, I said it. Now that I've cleared the air, I can get down to work, but first I need to survive rehearsal tonight.

Thu 2:07 (1103-1310)

Warmed up on the Boismortier a minor 2nd movement, focusing on the Shifting Thing and playing all the shifts and scale patterns at slow, no tempo. Then played through twice at qu =60, stopping the first time to work over trouble spots, Finished by working through all 4 movements under tempo but without the metronome. Focus on keeping the 16th notes relaxed and legato to avoid rushing. Also worked on 4-4 shift patterns in the 4th mvmt. That took 30-35 min.

At our next concert we are playing a contemporary piece by Linda Tutas Haugen called An Uncommon Hero. I didn't do very well at sight reading it at rehearsal, so it's on my first order of practice business this week. First, I wasted 15-20 minutes trying to find a recording of the piece, as it's been performed in public at least twice before. Nada. So I buckled down with my metronome and worked out some of the rhythms, beginning with a recurrent syncopated fanfare motif. I also realized while working through it that a big part of my problem reading was simply that there are 2 cello parts notated on the same staff, with independent bowings marked above and below. This will be good discipline, keeping my eye focused only on the down-going stems and underneath bowings. I finished this block by recording the Vc1 part for the exposition with a metronome, and then practiced the Vc2 part against the recording, a little under tempo. Not quite as good as a complete recording, but helped with the balance issues, playing my rhythms independently while listening to another part. Spent almost 1 hr on these endeavors.

Wed 1:19 (1023-1142)

Before beginning, I spent a little over half an hour copying practice parts for the new orchestra music. I don't know why that task always takes so long, but it does. It's quite an eclectic mix, with especially challenging rhythm pieces. Ick.

Started my warmup up with a C MAJ scale, galamian 3 octaves with a variety of bowings. Further warmed up my left hand with a pass through de Swert, then tried some thirds in F. Working with the idea that in the upper octaves the shift is either always to the same interval or the opposite (major or minor third). Still not great success, but it seemed considerably better than in the past.

Did one Breval run through and two Chanson Triste. Thinking it's time to record those again to assess progress. Are they possibly ready to send in as a Suzuki audition?

On to Capriccio Italienne, about 40 minutes of work on the scales and the cello soli section. Sometimes I focused on my shifting Thing, but not enough. I'm afraid I really hate this piece, due to its utter impossibility at tempo.

We don't have orchestra rehearsal next week, so hopefully I can make some significant progress on the rep before the next. I'd hate to spend the rest of the season continuing to worry about getting fired.

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.