Category Archives: Psychology

How I feel about practicing on a particular day.

Old Material

06 Tuesday Oct 2009

Posted by in Practice, Psychology, Time Management

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I have been struggling with this harmonics for almost two weeks now. There hasn’t been much to write about, except finding the courage to keep working at the difficulty, and not yield to the temptation to replay easier pieces to help myself feel better.

I finally can hit a passible version of the harmonic A, but it only works (for me) when I bow at a certain place in the string. D is also somewhat do-able. I made a crucial bad mistake in preparing this piece, which I am seeking to alleviate now. I focused so much on the difficulty, I assumed that when I got past it, I would glide home. No, there are other issues, too. Sometimes, it is best to work around the difficulty, too so that I have more than 20% of a piece ready.

Anyway, I am writing this during a break. Back to practicing.

Gotta watch it

22 Friday May 2009

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Physical note – I finished my lesson unable to go from A to G string cleanly. So, we stopped. Realized I had a throbbing headache. Must have been eyestrain. There are so many things that can affect performance and attention. Need to check in every now and then. At one point, a car went by and I lost my place in the music.

Don’t feel like it!

12 Tuesday May 2009

Posted by in attitude, Kummer, Psychology

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One of the nicest side benefits of the 100 day push was that I learned how to practice even when I don’t feel like it. At first, I had to force myself to practice when I didn’t feel like it, but now I can get myself settled in more compassionately. This is largely true because I now have pleasant memories of positive reward for doing so. In a larger sense, I’m not forcing myself anymore nor am I letting my emotions always be the driver of what I do. Will I become like Spock?

Spock did, if memory serves, play a Vulcan stringed instrument in one episode. It was a plucked instrument similar to a sitar. I can’t name it though. I’ll bet one of you can.

Focused on a small goal today – fingering for the first line of Kummer #11, particularly paying attention to when an open note intervenes between two stopped notes.

Figuring it out

02 Saturday May 2009

Posted by in Kummer, Practice, Psychology, Time Management

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This next one, on Kummer #11, is going to involve a fair amount of time figuring things out.   Navigation is very sketchy, and there are enharmonic spellings E#=F and B#=C to keep me alert, as well as a same finger slur (B-E).   I’m still hearing myself skating over the strings quite a bit before I slide into position.

Worked through a bit of Kummer #12, listening for a good B-flat.

I’m also trying to get a good new study goal in.  I really like the results that daily practice gives me, and I don’t want to skip days.    Now that I did that 100 day challenge, I now have the mental skills it takes to create a good practice mentality, even among chaos.  And there’s plenty of that.  Although the 100 day goal is done, I still did manage to practice for 29 days in April.

A Recent Rocky Road

25 Wednesday Mar 2009

Posted by in non-cello, Psychology

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This is one of my few non-cello posts. I had to cancel a lesson today because of work schedule pressures. That had me a bit bummed, although I don’t mind having a couple of extra days to refine Happy Farmer and continue to improve the others. I just finished reading the latest post over at Cellomania, which was none too encouraging.

A few thoughts, from my teacher since I have not too much encouraging to say, regarding adult learners. One is to compare yourself to the normal developmental process of cellists, not against the standard of musical perfection to which we aspire. Along this line, be grateful to yourself for taking this on. It is really remarkable.

I am trusting the practice process that comes from practicing nearly every day. That is, even if I don’t think I’m getting better, keep coming back as mindfully as possible. This is day 84 of 2009, and I have practiced for 83 of them.

And since this is the time of year that resolutions often flag, I might end on an encouraging note that if you recommit to your new years resolutions starting the second quarter of 2009, you’ll still accomplish 75% of what you were hoping for this year. By most measures, this should be more than acceptable.

Loosening up

18 Wednesday Mar 2009

Posted by in Kummer, Psychology

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I really did not want to practice tonight. Last lesson was the first one where I didn’t really show progress. All the old issues about being too concerned, controlling, and tight came back. Physically, my left thumb was locked in place, which made it impossible to reach from II(E) to III(C) in tune. My right hand got tense too, as my teacher pointed out that the two halves of my body are physically connected.

I still have a sort of streak going. Practiced 75 out of 76 days in 2009 – only one skip.

What made it hard for me was how I thought I would feel after the practice. Would I be super hard on myself and concerned? I tried to do the opposite. I played the etude (#14) as freely with my right hand as I could manage. I tried to just enjoy playing instead of working.

During the day, I did air cello, trying to learn the fingering for Happy Farmer again, and in the evening focused on keeping my left hand organized. This did help me be freer with the right.

Happy Farmer,Continued

13 Friday Mar 2009

Posted by in Kummer, Psychology, Suzuki, Time Management

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Autumn – this is the phrase in question.  I think your point about the legato phrasing is well taken.   It also matches the content of a private e-mail I got from Dan.

Happy Farmer, Opening Bars

Happy Farmer, Opening Bars

Also, I worked a bit on the Bach Minuet.   It is getting better, and not nearly as daunting this time.     It was a good practice lasting an hour, and I worked on my A major and D major scales as well.
My attention is now divided among four pieces.  The above two mentioned, and Kummer #7 and #8.  I think that’s my limit for now, but I am noticing that the amount of new music I can tackle is gradually increasing.

Update
D major scales are feeling smoother. I did some open string work so that I could watch my right hand closely. Finally, continued with Happy Farmer, fine tuning the first line.

I also repeated several times the phrases at the end of Kummer #7.

Music in abc notation: D (CB,A,G,) | B, (A,G,F,E,) | D, (E,F,) G,4

Music in abc notation: D (CB,A,G,) | B, (A,G,F,E,) | D, (E,F,) G,4

Emily blogged about avoidance mode , and perhaps I’m not taking on stuff that really makes me sweat. Maybe I need to push myself harder so that I make more visible mistakes, suffer more, and learn more. I’d also like to better know emotionally what my son is going through when he’s about ready to give up.

Oops

09 Monday Mar 2009

Posted by in Kummer, Psychology

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Well, my quest to become the Cal Ripken Jr of cello playing has come to an end. And yes, I guess that sounds as malapropos as it actually is. I did indeed fail to practice yesterday.

But now, the bar is set, and with the exception of Jury Duty, I see no reason why I can’t practice solidly for the next ten weeks.

Right now, what’s keeping me motivated is how far I have to go before I can play music decently. I also have set a goal to record myself playing Kummer #7.

There is a great deal on my mind outside of cello right now, as I am managing many transitions simultaneously and doing them as adeptly as I cross strings.

Two Months of Practice and what do I get? Two months older and deeper in … the study of cello!

01 Sunday Mar 2009

Posted by in General Music, non-cello, Psychology

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Today I celebrate two straight months (59 days) of practice without any excuses. A-R-L – I have a Jury duty summons that will come just near day 100, but I do get one skip, right? This is one case where I wished I played violin. Then, every time I got a sob story from the defense, I could practice my air violin.

Quick run through of Kummer #7. Also did some octave practice (Open G vs. II(G), Open C vs IV(C)) to see if I hear the pulses or if they play in harmony.

Today’s practice was just a Jumble of notes at the wrong speeds. Tried to keep my right shoulder relaxed but paying too much attention made it worse. I think I’ll just learn the piece and then worry about improving some parts of it.

Some practice sessions are just like that.

In general music education, I listened to a course on the Symphony from the Teaching Company. The pace was a bit slow, but it had some interesting bit of history, and the instructor, a PhD from San Francisco university made good use of transitions, gestures, and vocal variety to keep the pace moving. The one main point I got out of it was how the seeds orchestra and symphony as we understand it today was germinated in the soil of Opera.

That’s it for tonight guys – thanks for reading.

More ambitious string crossings.

27 Friday Feb 2009

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Now have done 58 days, 42 to go. Tough week, but I managed to work in the practices. First, I’ll review the main points of my lesson and then tonight’s practice.

  • When coming down from open or 1 on a higher string to 4 on a lower string, make sure to bring down 2 and 3 with it
  • When doing the same thing with an extension, bring the elbow down and imagine “flopping out” the hand but don’t actually flop out to get the right degree of openness.
  • Right hand on bow – finger sometimes comes up, causing tension elsewhere
  • At top of bow stroke, this is a good time to ‘check in’ and make sure nothing is locked in
  • Locking in various joints is a main reason I have difficulty locating strings and the right degree of pressure to apply. Being aware and keeping that right arm system fluid has been helping in this regard.

Tonight’s practice. I worked on Kummer #6 and #7. I’ll just write about 7. #6 had one measure (second to last on the line) that makes me stop to think, and I just practiced in about 8 times until I got the feel of the slur on the down bow followed by the slur on the up bow. I also practiced #6 with the metronome with 72 qpm. The key on #6 is going to be to watch my orientation to keep from going sharp.

#7 is going to be the real fun one. The rhythms are tricky and the crossings are larger. I walked through it tonight and tried some of the trickier measures. Just to check in – I think that there’s a low F# on the C string in there, so although nobody marked an “x” for me, I’ve got to manage that extension. Additionally, it’s a shorter string and the C string so really need to pay attention to that one! Still, I enjoy some of the harmonies on this piece, and it will make me stronger. I look forward to it.

Saw that the next note is an open string followed by more closed positions.