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 […]

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 […]

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.

The Bow

My short cello journey has brought me back to the bow. While I was looking for a cello I ran into the issue that choosing a cello is about choosing a cello AND bow (and strings but I’ll leave that for another post). A few weeks ago, I changed strings, but for some odd reason, […]

Photography – My Other Passion

I love photography. Something about capturing and making a beautiful image. And well, the cello is the most beautiful instrument, not just in sound but also visually. I will be posting photos of my cello. I hope you enjoy them.

Bach Cello Suites

This week I started the Bach Cello Suites (again). In my youth, I just did not appreciate the Bach Suites. Back then, they were just etudes. And I played plenty of etudes…maybe that’s why I didn’t like The Suites. How things have changed. I’m older and wiser (debatable), and I just love the Suites. Listen to […]

Meet Slava (Yep…That’s my Cello’s Name)

I thought I would relay my cello buying experience with everyone. When I played back in the late 70’s / early 80’s, I played my brother’s cello so I played what was available to me. And it was a nice cello. Boy was it a nice cello! So this is my first time buying my […]

Finding My Voice

After 2 hours of testing instruments, we were ready to take two cellos (Ivan Dunov and William Klier models) for home trials, when I noticed a beautiful instrument,