Performing Bach Cello Suites 1, 2, 3 from Memory

Conversation with my teacher: Teacher: what are your goals for cello, music, that is? Me: I’d like to perform Bach Cello Suites 1, 2 and 3 at a recital in the next two years. Teacher: And you should play them by memory Me: 😳 I am flattered that he feels that I can do this by […]

The Novice Sound

When we start learning a stringed instrument, I think we all focus on the left hand, playing in tune. Learning a stringed instrument is hard stuff and I think at this stage we can only focus on one thing at a time. Vibrato, dynamics, accents…Just way too much to process at the early stages of […]

The Sound – What I Hear Vs. What the Audience Hears

When I was shopping for my first cello back in summer 2017, many people advised me to test the cello in different environments as well as have a trusted cello person, listen to you play because a cello always sounds different from a players perspective vs. audience perspective. I’ve heard other say to have people […]

Figure 8 Bowing

When we start out playing a stringed instruments, we all strive for straight or parallel bowing. At first, it seems almost impossible to get the bow to travel in a straight line. After a while, it becomes second nature. Why I do I mention this? After getting pretty decent with straight bowing, my teacher started […]

Buying a Cello

Buying a cello can be difficult. I hope the tips in this article can help select THE instrument for you.

Monty? Pierre? Slava!

So this has been an interesting and kind of a stressful week for me. For some reason, I thought I needed a new cello. It all started last week, when I dropped by my luthiers to get my bow re-haired. I inquired if they had a Montagnana (We’ll call it Monty for the rest of […]

100 Day Practice Challenge

In 2017 Hilary Hahn committed to practicing 100 days in a row and everyday she posted a 1 minute video of herself on her Instagram page @violincase with hashtag #100daysofpractice. The 100 Day Practice Challenge (http://slippedisc.com/2017/11/so-hilary-hahn-practised-for-100-days/) : 100 days of practice in a row, in fact. The idea came from a global Instagram project (designated by the […]

Bow Hold Comfort – Surgical Tubing

Surgical Tubing DIY can make your bow comfortable to hold

Newton’s First Law of Motion and Practicing

“Newton’s First Law of Motion states that a body at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts on it, and a body in motion at a constant velocity will remain in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force”

Small Hands or Short Fingers – Nails to Bridge

If you have small hands or short fingers and you have intonation inconsistencies, you might want to try the Nails to Bridge.