New Cello

I have not posted for awhile. I have finally decided to get a new cello. From the last post the cello I was using got damaged and I had to pay for the repair. I definitely am not complaining because I thought the cost of repair would be considerably more. I had gotten a replacement till the other one got fixed but the replacement is not as good as the first one and it appears the cello wont get fix for some time so.

I decided to look around for another cello in my price range. My Cello teacher was supposed to me but was unfortunately unable to. So, i forged on thinking, "How in the world am i going to decide on a cello?" When I got to the shop there were other women who are in the philharmonic with my Cello teacher and one of them was a Cellist. She was there with 2 other violinist

One of the violinist was there to pick up her electric violin! WOW! The cellist was there to check out some bows that she had on reserve and they were definitely not in my price range. LOL! She was also looking into an electric cello! WOW! Those women were so excited. This was fun.

The Cellist helped me in selecting a cello. There was two that were in my price range. One was a Bianca and the other was a Lamberti. She played them both. With my playing I would not have been able to select one so easily. She played them then I played them. The first one we picked up was the Bianca it sounded light and full of fancy. We thought this is nice. Then we picked up the Lamberti it was more deep and I thought passionate. Geez! As we kept playing back and forth there was another Cello that was priced about $1000.00 more so we decided to pick that one up and see which one of the 2 sounded close to the more pricey one. The cellist stated that each person has their own preference of what they like in sound and feeling and both were wonderful instruments in the price range and I could not go wrong and choosing either one. She was a little bit more partial to the Bianca but the more I played and she played the Lamberti, I was drawn closer to the Lamberti. I love a deep, melodic full sound and passion and to me the Lamberti was calling my name. The sound was better than the more pricier one and the Bianca. The Lamberti it is. So that was what I purchased. Well I have to go now. I will talk more about my experience later. Bye!

Into book #2

Hello everyone,
It has been sometime since I last posted. I am at the end of the Suzuki book 1. My next visit with my cello teacher I will be starting book #2. I am also learning to play some spirituals in first position. I am also doing hand extensions. G to G#

I am getting my cello repair from the incident that I had previously. So I am playing another instrument until it gets repair.

Well gotta go. The bed is calling my name.

Cello rushed to the emergency room

Hi all,
It has been a while since I last posted and I apologize for that. I am still in book one of Suzuki. I am practicing the Minuet in C . I had an incident last week which really just crushed me. I realized that it was an accident but I was not happy not at all.
I was practicing in my room that I use as my office and my practice area. I received a phone call and laid the cello on the floor on its' side to answer the phone. The phone call was for my husband instead of him answering the phone in the kitchen he comes into where I was at and did not look down and STEPPED/TRIPPED on my cello. AARGH! the agony of it all. The Scroll broked off . I was beside myself. I scream like he had injured me! It is not a clean break. I took it to the rental place where I got it from and hopefully it can be fixed and it wont be that much. I have another one in the meantime. Let me tell you I purchased a nice stand when it is not in the case so I wont have to lay it on the floor. Have any of you guys had any accidents with your cello?

The Happy Farmer

Let me just say that I am still I have just working on this piece call The Happy Farmer in book one. On all of the pieces in book one I wish I could play them at the rapid pace they should be played. The Happy Farmer is one of the pieces. This piece is not an easy piece for me. Also, I am still working on my bowing technique, tonalization and scales. Peace be still!!! I wish I could practice more. I am still forging on this endeavor.

Learning the cello is like solace for me. A couple of months into learning the Cello, my son was murdered. I cannot help but to think that this was something that God place before me to help me in my grieving. I never knew why I would feel a certain why before he died. I know that God was preparing me for his death. It is a mysterious thing how events in your life transforms and takes place.

More Etudes and Tonalization

You know how you practice at home and feel pretty good about your practice until you go to your lesson and find out your playing is not quite right like you thought. For that reason along, I am glad I have a teacher instead of trying to learn on my on. I am almost at the end of book 1 of Suzuki Cello. So back to more practicing.

Happy Celloing Cellists

Pernambuco bow

Let me just say I would like to thank you guys for your comments. You guys are great and and give me such encouragement. In my city we do not have any String instrument places to go to that just specializes in strings or a place that have a variety of string instruments and bows. There are Indianapolis and Elkhart and Chicago which has such place. But I did hear about a place that have a variety of band (school) instruments. So I decided to go there and the gentleman that serviced me was very nice. Their main store is in Elkhart. I told him I originally had a Glosser bow and wanted to try another Glosser and that I did have a budget that I wanted to stay in. He stated he may have a Brazilwood and he knew he had a Glosser. Any other bows he could get next week. So he went in the back and came back with 3 bows. So he brought out a Glosser $70.00 bow, $100.00 Brazilwood not sure of the maker, and a $200.00 Pernambuco bow. I asked him if I could try the bows out so he brought out a 3/4 Cello -that's all he had-and I sat down and tested each bow. I probably spent about a total of 20 minutes or so playing the Cello with each bow.
You know I was not sure if I would be able to tell the difference between the bows because I have not been playing that long. Happily, I could tell the difference. I went back and fourth with each bow starting with the similar one I had. There was not much difference between the Glosser bow and the Brazilwood but, I did like the Glosser bow better. My bow stroke was basically what I was used to .
The Brazilwood was like $40.00 more than the Glosser and it did not felt quite as good and there was not much difference in the sound.
When I picked up the Pernambuco bow it felt better in my hand, the sound and my stroke was better but, it was about $100.00 more.
So here was my dilemma do I stay with the same bow I had previously or do I upgrade with a better bow. My daughter did give me money to help on the bow purchase for my Mother's day present so, Pernambuco bow it was. I am happy with the purchase. He even gave me a 15% discount off the bow. I feel that was money well spent.

New Bow

The Cello that I presently have, I am renting and I had to obtain a new bow because I found out I had been placing my bow in my Cello case in the wrong direction which cause the velcro that kept the bow in its' place to catch on to the hairs. This went on for a while before I became aware of the cause. Now, little old naive me thought that I would just go get another bow and it would be alright. Wrong! The music store replaced the bow but, it does not feel the same. The bow feels lighter and it skips or bounce. I did rosin the bow several times (a number of times) and it is better but it still skips every now and then. I never had that with the other bow. So I am going to a Violin shop in the Indianapolis area when I visit my daughter or to the Chicago area when I visit my sister to find an inexpensive but good bow. My price range is $60--$100 maybe. I dont want to spend a lot on the bow. I am still a newbie mind you. Anyone have any good suggestions on a good inexpensive bow?

Tonalization

I met with my teacher today. It went quite well. I learned quite a bit. I could not quite understand how to get the different pitches of sound, forte, mforte, p -hard to soft-. You use the weight of the bow not apply weight with your hand. My bowing is also improving.

Todays practice

Practice today did not go too bad. My bow grip is getting better. I am not strangling the bow as much. I am working on the C major scale and the Etude related to that scale. I am looking forward to my lesson tomorrow with my teacher. I am so thankful to him. He is very patient. We meet once a week. I tell you I need that right now. Keep me in your thoughts for successful bowing.

Bugs Bunny on Broadway

I went to to see Bugs Bunny on Broadway -sponsored by the Philaharmonic- last night and it was great. I really enjoyed myself. I am trying to find what genre of classical music I like and how to understand a piece of music. I am a newbie at this. I want to understand the point of that piece of music. There is so much feeling and passion behind it. Anyone have any suggestons?

Rigadoon

I am near the end of the book Suzuki Cello book 1. I am practicing now about 30 minutes a day. This is not a very easy piece. I am still working on my bowing technique and on the A string I am still having to turn my Cello to try to accomplish playing notes on the A string better. My bowing still needs a lot of work. I will continue to work on my bowing. I am also practicing the C major scale.

Here I am

This is my very first blog. I am fifty years old, have 4 wonderful children and four equally wonderful grandchildren and one day back in August I was listening to the Classical Music radio station and heard this melodic sound and knew instantly that I have to learn to play this instrument. I am constantly trying to find my place in life and I try to listen to see where God wants me to be. Sometimes I dont listen like I should but, I am a work in progress. A week or so later I called several music shops and priced the rental of cellos and went to one of our music shops and rented a Cello and after several attempts found a cello teacher.

My Cello teacher is a very nice person who is a Cellist with the philharmonic in my area and does not mind at all to teach a person my age to learn to play the Cello. I am almost thru book one of the Suzuki Cello.

Some of my pieces are still very slow and not the tempo that it should be. Frustrating I am at times but I am determined not to give up. I seem to always start things and not become proficient at it. I am a Crocheter but not proficient. I do Redwork but not proficient. One thing I am proficient at is Quilting. I love to quilt. You should see my quilting area. So much fabric and sewing machines. But, that is my first love. Now it appears so is Cello playing .

If I was to range my skill level from 1 to 100 I would consider myself a 3 (LOL). I am not giving up.

Are there any other newbies out there?