Week 7: BREAKTHROUGH

I went into the past week with a plan to try something new to stay motivated in my quest to learn the cello and made some great progress!

Video #1: 10-Minute Powerful Cello Warm-Up Every Beginner MUST DO!

I’m not normally one to fall for these kinds of titles, so I figured it was time to try something totally different.

So… what does this powerful warm-up that I MUST DO entail?

Here it is. I have to admit… it’s not exactly rocket science. But, maybe that’s why it works.

I included some snippets of myself working through this warmup in my progress video… the arpeggios are really testing my knowledge of the notes on the fingerboard. I didn’t make it past item #2…

So there is definitely room for improvement in the warm-up department. I’d rate this video a 6/10. For the catchy title, I was expecting something a little less standard for instrument warmups. That being said, I did notice some improvements in my left hand that will pop up later on…

Video #2: Give me 8 Minutes and I’ll Give You 25 Years

Now, this is quite the title! Who doesn’t want to get 25 years for only 8 minutes?! I know you’re on the edge of your seat waiting to learn something revelatory…

I hate to disappoint, but there was nothing Earth-shattering in this video (shocking, I know).

#1: Self-Reflection:

Ilia’s first tip is to ask yourself a few questions every time you practice: What went well, what do I need to work on, and what will I correct in tomorrow’s practice? This does seem like an easy tip, but I can’t say it’s something that I do on a regular basis.

#2: Focus more on your bow hand:

Ilia demonstrates the importance of being strong with the bow over putting too much emphasis on vibrato. This is great for me, because I can’t vibrato anyways :). It does remind me to continue to work on how I am holding the bow in order to get the best possible sound.

#3: Train your ear, not just your fingers:

This tip was also a good one for me… having played piano for almost 30 years, I spent a lot of time working on ear training. Ilia tells the listeners that even though you might work on placing your fingers correctly on the cello neck, training your ear to hear if you are playing a little too sharp or too flat and correct it. This week, I’ve been working on using my ear to hear if my finger is in the right spot.

#4: Slow down for the difficult parts:

The idea here is to play a difficult passage 10 times perfectly before moving on to the easier parts (instead of focusing on the easy parts, which is way more fun). Although it’s not enjoyable to drill something that is difficult, it is something I’ve been taught to do while playing piano and something I stress to my piano students. Now that I’m learning a new instrument, though… I can see why they don’t do it!

#5: Practice CONSISTENTLY:

Oof. I do struggle with this. Although I know why it’s important, Ilia says here that being a great musician involves 10% talent and 90% consistency. Just like the last tip, I know how important consistency is. When I was at my strongest playing piano I spent 3 hours on the instrument 6 days a week… I always told people I wasn’t talented, I just put in a lot of time! I’m hoping to work on consistency during this next week.

#6: Don’t just play the notes…

… tell a story with the music. Part of what makes music special is that you are connecting both sides of the brain… the analytical part is reading the notes and playing them, but the artistic, creative part is adding beauty to it. This is a great reminder to someone like me who tends to focus more on the mechanics of playing an instrument (which can take some of the joy out of it).

Closing thoughts…

… I had a feeling that these catchy video titles would mean that they were too good to be true, and I was right. I can’t expect a magic fix to make things easier when learning a new instrument (if it was easy, everybody would do it).

So far, the best I’ve come to a magic fix was the thumb placement tip from a few weeks ago that helps me reach notes.

So without further ado, here is my progress from the last week! I tried to up my vlogging game by adding some narration throughout.