Building confidence with the metronome

An important aspect of learning the cello, or any instrument for that matter, is learning how to play with the metronome. I like to think about technique as a tool bag, I want to have as many different tools in my bag as possible. Being able to play with the metronome is one of these tools. If a composer asks us to play slowly, we want to feel confident playing slowly. If he asks us to play fast, we want to feel confident playing fast. That being said, the metronome can be a tricky device to get comfortable with because we have to internalize an external beat/pace. But just like any other technique and obstacle, with hard work and diligent practice we can gain competency with the metronome and continue to work towards mastering it. Below are some exercises that can help improve our metronome work.

Before beginning, it is important to understand that when using the metronome we want to play WITH the beat and not REACT to the beat. If we react to the beat, we will always be behind. 

1) The first exercise will be without the cello. The metronome will be set to quarter note = 60. Step 1. Ta or clap quarter notes. Step 2. Ta or clap half notes. Step 3. Ta or clap dotted half notes. Step 4. Ta or clap whole notes. The reason we start without the cello is that we want to eliminate any elements that might get in the way of us successfully using the metronome. I like to think of it like juggling on an unicycle. If I am uncomfortable juggling, I'll first learn to juggle with out the unicycle. Once I feel confident juggling without the unicycle, then I can try to juggle with the unicycle. 

2) Once we've practiced and warmed up with exercise 1, we can do the same pattern but now playing one note on the cello. For example, playing our G on the D string with a quarter note, half note, dotted half note, and whole note pattern. 

3) When we've built confidence with exercise 2, we can start combining different note values (still play on one note). For instance, you can choose to play two quarter notes and then a half note, repeating the pattern for as long as you'd like. You can switch it up and choose different combinations. 

4) Go back to an earlier piece you have learned, and use the metronome with that. It makes it much easier when we are technically familiar with the piece!

Once we have done these steps and built our confidence with the metronome, it will make it much easier to integrate the metronome into our current pieces! Remember, the more we use and work on the metronome the better and easier it will eventually be. 

vm  

Checklists

I used to be a big fan of checklists for my daily activities, but lately I have found them to create unnecessary stress throughout the day. However, I do find that mental checklists (or on paper) can be very beneficial while practicing the cello, especially for new students.             

An example of a mental checklist (using bow arm as the example): 1. Am I relaxed and loose while sitting on the chair (if not, take a deep breathe in and feel yourself sinking into the chair on the exhale). 2. Is my bow hand set? Is my thumb round? Am I squeezing the bow? 3. Remember to initiate the bow stroke from the back and follow through in the forearm. 4. Pay attention to bow angle and if the bow is sliding around. 5. Begin bow stroke. 

Before starting an action on the cello, It's important to have a quick run down of all the areas you are focusing on. You don't want to begin playing and realize half way through that you forgot to relax your shoulder before playing, or that you forgot to round your thumb. At the beginning of learning an instrument, or anything new for that matter, figuring out how to organize all of the new information you are taking in can be a challenge. It's easy to get overwhelmed, which in itself creates more stress. But remember that this is also part of the creative process! There has been times where I've fallen into the trap that creativity only comes in when I am working on the final product or once I feel I have a certain level of proficiency with the piece I am working on. But the process in which we practice and learn is also creativity! 

Lastly, part of learning an instrument is learning how to stay conscious of our body and actions while playing. For someone who thinks very methodically, like myself, I've found making these mental checklists and breaking down each area of my playing into smaller components help with eliminating stress and help me better understand what I am doing. 

vm

Do you have any approaches that work well for you? If so, comment below. I'd love to hear them!

Healthy body, healthy mind

The last few weeks I have given more thought to my diet and have started to prioritize getting good exercise at least a few times a week. As everyone knows by now, committing to a healthy diet and to regular exercise is good for your overall health, but I was more curious to explore how it could help my mental/emotional/physical state when playing and approaching the cello. Growing up I was always very active and spent much more time focusing on sport than I did music. It wasn't until I was much older that I started to pursue music in a serious manner. Lately I have been reflecting on my time being an athlete and searching for similarities between cello and sport. I came to the realization that musicians could learn a lot from athletes in regards to their preparation and how they treat their body and mind. Let's take a hockey player for example. Not only is he/she going to be practicing on ice and off ice specific hockey drills, but they will also do gym workouts. They will supplement those workouts with a balanced diet to sustain their physical exertion. Most top class hockey players will also do some sort of visualization away from the ice. When analyzing how I use my time with the cello, I felt I was unbalanced in my diet/work out regiment and in my visualization away from the instrument. I thought I should start supporting my cello practice with the same ideas as an athlete would support their sport. After these past few weeks I have noticed that adequate exercise and a consistent healthy diet has improved my practicing; my mind and body feels better balanced with each other. I also feel that my musical/technical ideas are much clearer because of the visualization I've implemented away from the cello. Something that has helped me is writing and meditating before I go to bed. I will visualize a few areas in my playing that I want to work on for the next day, in a sense I am trying to plant the ideas into my head and give them space to develop in my subconscious while I am sleeping. I feel it helps me wake up with a clearer sense of purpose for my practice. Emotionally I feel much more centered as well, which has improved my ability to focus while practicing. As musicians we exert a remarkable amount of mental and emotional effort into our craft, taking a break and exerting that same effort into my body is a refreshing break from the analytical music mind. The most important take away for me has been the discipline it takes to force myself to stick with these changes and ideas. If I skip a work out or end a work out early, what will stop me from doing that while practicing? However, if I keep powering through a work out and finish, I can use that same mental energy and determination and apply it to my practicing when I start getting discouraged or want to give up. I am still early into these changes but am feeling confident these new habits will help continue to help me grow with the cello.

If you're intimidated to make such drastic changes in your approach but want to begin building better habits, I suggest making small changes and building from there slowly. For example, if you're looking to start exercising more frequently, begin by doing 2-3 days a week. A 10-15 min walk on a nice day is a great way to give your mind a rest form practicing and also a great way to get your heart rate up a bit. If you try to jump into an intense work out program or an intense change in diet too quickly, there is a possibility you are asking too much of yourself and ultimately can get discouraged.

vm   

Thinking in actions

When approaching certain technical challenges of playing the cello, I often try to think of movements and actions, instead of specific words. I look for connections with my non cello playing movements and search for ways I can implement that ease of motion into my cello playing. For instance, I don't have to practice relaxing while I am sitting on the couch, but when playing the cello it's an area I have to focus on and explore! As a teacher, and in general, telling someone to "relax" will usually yield the opposite result. Just like telling someone who is anxious to simply calm down doesn't work, or someone who is depressed to be happy. Just like calming down or being happy is the end result for someone who is anxious, relaxation and effortless playing is the end result for cello playing. But what are the thoughts/ideas and approaches that get us there? This is where thinking in actions can come in hand. Going back to sitting on the couch, I try to think of how loose and relaxed I am while vegging out. I am letting my entire body sink into the couch, I don't feel like I have to keep anything suspended. When I am sitting with the cello I try and think of this type of relaxation, especially in my shoulders and arms (an area I need most work!). I also try and think of sitting into the chair, not on top of the chair. A good way to feel this release of weight is to take a deep breath, and on the exhale feel your entire body sinking into the chair. There are countless number of situations/motions that we have to execute while playing the cello and this is part of the creativity process when working!         

vm

Introduction to intonation

As cellists, we are always working towards better intonation in our playing. Being able to open our ears and blend not only our sound, but also our intonation with others is vital in the music making process. The earlier we start exploring the idea of opening our ears, the better. (Do not feel hurried in your practice of intonation, it takes time and discipline to train the ear!) Here are a couple of ways to begin that process.

PLAYING OUR D-G-C

I like to start out playing as many ringing notes on my cello as possible when warming up (notes that resonate well with the open strings). If we have not learned or are not yet comfortable with higher positions, we can still practice this by playing ringing notes in first position. While playing the D on the A string in first position, listen for the D string to be ringing. You should be able to see the D string vibrating as well! This lets us know that our cello is happy with our D on the A string in first position. You can do this with the G on D string in first position, and C on G string in first position. I encourage you to play through all the ringing notes in first position. (notes that are A-D-G-C) It is also important to make sure you use a nice legato bow stroke. The healthier our sound is the easier it is to hear our intonation more clearly! 

PLAYING AGAINST OPEN STRINGS

Tuning notes to our opening strings is a great way to check our intonation. It allows us to hear whether or not we are in tune with our cello and if our cello is ringing in its healthiest way. This method can be difficult as it requires our ear to recognize intervals clearly. One way to begin working towards this is to 1. practice with a tuner 2. check the note against an open string after we see that note is in tune with the tuner 3. catalog that intervals resonance. I recommend starting out with one or two notes. As you get more comfortable with those couple of notes, slowly add another and so on. You will notice some notes have a certain 'buzz' to them, while others will sound like they clash with the open string. For instance, a major sixth (playing an E on the D string while playing against the G string) will create a nice buzzing resonance if we are in tune.  

These are just a couple of ways to open up our ears towards better intonation. I would recommend starting these exercises by doing them 5-10 minutes a day. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below! 

vm

(Here is a recommended reading that I have found helpful! https://www.thestrad.com/mastering-intonation-by-cello-professor-antonio-lysy/3723.article)

2018

I hope everyone has had a happy and healthy holidays! Now that I have had some time to relax and reflect on this part year, I am ready to put my goals into action. I was fortunate to be able to spend the holidays with family and close friends, and while at a holiday party I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine. We were discussing our thoughts on where we are at in our careers and he made a comment that I have reflected on quite a bit. He said, "if you ever find what you love or what you want to do, pursue it and beat it to a pulp. Everyday just constantly beat it. You just have to jump in. If you don't know what you want to do, don't stop looking or trying to find it." The simplicity of this statement resonated with me, especially during a time in which I have been exploring my own views about what music and cello mean to me, and what I see myself doing with it. I know this year I'd like to focus on hammering away at my craft and putting myself out there a bit more. It's easy to take the cautious route, to be timid in your approach and to worry. What are some things that you are looking to improve on in 2018? Personally and artistically? I hope everyone is able to continue exploring their passions, whether or not it is music. If you feel like you have not found it, remember to never stop pursuing! Here's to a happy and positive 2018.

vm

Mindfulness

Recently, I have been interested in learning more about mindfulness. It's an area of my cello playing and personal life that I have actively been focusing and working on this last month. In Thich Nhat Hanhs' book, The Miracle of Mindfulness, he describes mindfulness as "keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality." He also includes in the book the Sutra of Mindfulness, "When walking the practitioner must be conscious that he is walking. When sitting, the practitioner must be conscious he is sitting. When lying down, the practitioner must be conscious he is lying down... No matter what position one's body is in, the practitioner must be conscious of that position. Practicing thus, the practitioner lives in direct and constant mindfulness of the body..." I have been trying to implement this idea into my practicing and teaching. For instance, I used to often play through my warm up/scales and exercises in order to get to my repertoire. I was always focused on the next thing I had to practice, making it difficult to complete successful work on what I was currently practicing. Instead, now I tell myself "this scale I am working on is the most important thing in my day right now. This is my time to think about this scale,"etc. Having only committed to this idea within the last month, I have already noticed the quality of my work is improving, and more importantly I am feeling much better about the time spent with my cello. This idea has also helped with managing fears I created for myself. Often times, I would practice because I was afraid I would miss notes in future performances. I would be afraid that I wasn't good enough. Unfortunately, these ideas will negatively affect your ability to be open emotionally in a performance. I would practice with future fears in mind, instead of focusing on the present moment. But I should not have been afraid of things that did not happen yet, those ideas I created for myself only made mental barriers and only get in the way of my ability to "keep one's consciousness alive to the present reality," as Tchich Nhat Hanh put it. Instead of practicing to sound good for/please future audiences, teachers, or audition committees, I am reminding myself that I can only control the now, and that what ever it is I am working on is the most important thing I am doing. I am trying to listen to myself and my playing with open ears and an open/healthy mind.

vm

Greetings

First off, welcome to my newly created website. This is something I have been working on for a while and I am glad to finally have it up and running. I plan on making adjustments to the layout as different ideas come to me. My main thoughts for this website was to create a space to share ideas and resources with my students, and to use it as a general platform for my creative and artistic ideas. An important area of the website I will be working on in the next year or so is to create short lesson videos for my students. There will be a tab in the TEACHING area of the website for these videos. Unfortunately I am not able to give a specific date on when they will be launched, but I am planning to add a few at time starting around the new year. I will be sure to let all of you (my students) know when I add them. I am also using this site as a reference for potential students to find more information about how cello lessons work and what to expect from lessons. As always, I encourage you to reach out with any questions or concerns you may have with starting lessons. The blog component will consist mostly of ideas related to cello and teaching, but may include other entries that are still related to cello, but aren't directly about cello or teaching. If you have any suggestions about the general layout of the website or any other area you think could use improving, please don't hesitate to email me! Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you soon.

vm