Highly Strung

Strings and bridge height

2009-03-15T15:18:00.002Z

My quest to find the perfect 'A' string for my particular cello - English, 1862 - has taken a turn for the better, I think.

A few months ago I had coffee with a new friend who just happens to be a professional cellist, and she gently suggested my bridge was too low. At the time I had just put on a set of Pirastro Aricore. To me they sounded lovely, except for the 'A', which was extraordinary, all grating, 'wowing' and WRONG! My supplier obligingly sent me a replacement which was equally bad, so I came to the conclusion that the A was definitely not for my particular instrument, although my teacher loves all four of her Aricores. (She has an English cello as well, circa 1820s.) Even when my luthier made a higher bridge for the Perlon core Aricores, the A was unplayable.

In the course of an internet search for another string I filled in the 'assessment form' Pirastro has on their site, and amazingly, they sent 2 'A's for me to try - free of charge!! One was Obligato and the other, Synoxa. I tried them both and sent Pirastro my comments. Neither were right, both having either a very bad wolf or the same problem the Aricore had, or were far too shrill on my instrument.

Imagine my amazement when I got yet another string, this time one that (I think) is not yet on the market! It sounds amazing on my instrument. Those higher notes that I steel myself to play, are rich and resonant . I have had the string now for 3 weeks and it is stable in every way, in my humble opinion. I can't thank Pirastro enough. They have saved me a lot of money in trial and error. I only hope it comes onto the market before I need a replacement. It blends quite nicely with my Aricore 'D', but when it is available, I shall buy the A and D - if not the whole set!

It says 'Ring Gelb' on the packet, by the way.

Now I have to ask my luthier about bridge height again as this is not Perlon core. And what happens if I have a 1 or 2 Perlon and 1 or 2 "steel/chrome steel" mix? Maybe it is something I should ask Pirastro! I have never noticed advice on bridge height when looking at string info.

Right shoulder pain

2009-03-03T17:52:00.002Z

In the New Year I began to get a niggling pain in my right shoulder, under the shoulder blade. It has rapidly got worse, and I am wondering if anyone else has had something similar and blames it on faulty bowing habits. It goes down my arm and into the 3rd and 4th fingers. I am taking paracetamol to the daily limit, having tried various other analgesics. Anti-inflammatories don't touch it. The funny thing is, it hurts when I am still, and is greatly relieved by constantly moving. It is not stiff in the morning, though I wake up in the night with it. I went to the GP last week and he sent me for x-rays, but the results won't be with him for another week. (Cheers for the good old NHS!). Playing the cello causes no pain.

Has anyone had this? It is jolly painful. I hope it does not mean I have to rest it and stop playing for my usual hour or so a day. I should be grateful for any advice.

Cello scrotum? It’s a load of . . . nonsense, admits Baroness Murphy - Times Online

2009-02-01T16:05:00.001Z

Hello there....... if anyone at all still looks at this blog which I have neglected disgracefully for the past few months ! I thought this article may 'tickle your fancy', as we say in the UK.

I intend to write some more in the near future as there are one or two celloing issues that I would like an opinion on. Happily, being a woman I can relax over the truth or not of the article below!

Cello scrotum? It’s a load of . . . nonsense, admits Baroness Murphy - Times Online

Nothing to play on - but the band played on - Times Online

2008-03-11T13:44:00.000Z

Nothing to play on - but the band played on - Times Online

Intelligent practise - wrong sections

2008-03-08T19:30:00.005Z

Another orchestra session rather like a Magical Mystery Tour - which is a bit unfair having read Yarnplayer's thoughtful comment! I had dutifully practised difficult phrases, fingering, timings etc. Singing, clapping, as well. I homed in on certain passages and really concentrated on them rather than practising the whole lot. What happened? We did not touch any of them! We went full tilt into the fast passages which I had saved for the future! Arrh well, I suppose I did not do too badly having (almost) mastered the technique of playing the beat notes and letting the genius section fill in the rest. Afterwards, I, and one of the other cellists, about the same standard as myself, went to her house and played some duets together for an hour or so. It was really enjoyable, and we plan to do it again in about 3 weeks' time.

In the "Will I ever make it?" stage....again

2008-03-01T15:40:00.002Z

I've just returned from orchestra and we sight read some of our new pieces. Tenor clef all over the place, four sharps, dodgy timing, 'presto' final movement - all the usual crisis factors. If there was ever something that makes months appear to dissolve into seconds, it's the contemplation of practising sundry pieces of music way over one's ability and personal experience and expectations in order to perform them in public in the fairly near future. And yet we do it, don't we? Twice a year this crisis turns miraculously into triumphant joy when we've actually performed in the concert, and the family and friends cheer and clap and we sink back and say, "Yes, it was worth it". And then it starts all over again!

This time we will be playing The Gordion Knot Untied by Henry Purcell, Salut d'Amour, Chanson de Matin and Chanson de Nuit all by Elgar, and the Prague Symphony by Mozart.

I am resolved not to panic and put my recent study day on Practice to good use. Thus, I am calmly wading through the short Elgar pieces organising the fingering, identifying trouble spots to concentrate on, listening to the cds whilst reading my part, singing, clapping etc. And then I go to orchestra, and we don't touch them. We do the Mozart instead! Actually that is not entirely true. This week we did touch on them but so often we don't do what I have been expecting and practising. Never mind. It is all in expectation of the final triumph!

Thanks for the practice tips

2008-02-13T22:02:00.002Z

I've been catching up on the cello blogs I regularly read and am really impressed at how many of you are going into details on aspects for practice. I have made a list - at last- of the posts I want to refer to again. Some of the comments on particular entries are really useful as well. I find it quite difficult to take it all in in one reading but have never, until now, made a note of where to find them again, and time goes on....

Anyway, thank you all, especially GGP.,Guanaco, Terry, Emily, Marisa, Cellodonna, Erin and others.

The concert last Saturday went really well. We had a long practice beforehand, were freezing cold as the heating seemed to be non-existent, but in the end overcame any obstacles and really enjoyed the occasion. I had made the decision some time ago that fast passages that were beyond me I would modify and as a result I did not get lost, did not go out of tune and felt confident. Best of all, no one seemed to notice!

We're really very healthy!

2008-02-03T19:17:00.000Z

I decided to spring clean our medecine cupboard recently and here, dear reader, you see what I found! I hasten to explain these were all the old homeopathic tablets accumulated over 35 years! They are meant to last for ever, but enough is enough, and they could not possibly be reliable after all this time. My husband took them to the chemist shop for disposal and I never asked what the reaction was when they saw the quantity! I am rather more meticulous with the regular disposal of the usual type of medication, and so I should be as a nurse/midwife. I feel quite ashamed. Anyway, now my cupboard is almost empty and I feel self-satisfied at creating space in there. This is my long term goal - to gradually work my way through the house weeding out, rationalizing, filing , recycling and disposing. My husband is looking decidedly nervous, but I think I'll keep him!

Yesterday was the last Saturday before our concert. It went well. The harpist arrived for the Mozart flute and harp Concerto, and it was really lovely. At one point our conductor praised the cellos and then looked horrified and said," I've broken a cardinal rule, 'Never praise the cellos if you ever want them to play pianissimo again'! It's just as bad as smiling at the brass"!

Musical bears

2008-01-18T15:22:00.000Z

These chaps sit and listen to me celloing every day so it seemed fair to give them a bit of publicity!

I have not commented on my progress recently since being taken up with the Violin Saga. Now that my son has collected the third and, this time, full size violin, from our worthy luthier, I can concentrate on my shiny new bow. Practices are certainly going well, although my general novice status is still very apparent, of course. "Rome was not built in a day...". However, the different balance point on the bow is helping it to stay down on the strings during the 'presto' passages. I think I am going to re-hash my practice sessions and do what everyone advises...namely start very slowly and try not to speed up until my playing is relying to a much greater degree on my 'muscle memory'. I am inclined to rush away thinking, "I've got to speed up for orchestra on Saturday", and end up doing a scrappy job. I fear it is too late for this next concert in early February , but we live and learn and next time......I'll blow their socks off!

"You wait ages for a bus and then three come along at once"

2008-01-10T15:36:00.000Z

Can you believe this? F was delighted with the 3/4 size and 1/2 size violins found in a rubbish skip and has been trying them out with the children and having fun. Then 2 days ago a neighbour of M's who were moving house heard from her the tale of the treasure in the skip and came round with this model you see above! Full size, attractively dullish rather than glossy and looking used and elderly. Perfect! Our worthy luthier opened up for us yesterday evening and said it is probably German, and just over 100 years old and worth several hundred pounds when smartened up. It is now residing with him having a makeover and Fergus will pick it up next week. The final miracle is that our luthier, Peter V., is donating a 3rd bow to the cause! (If you click on the picture you will see the bow is having a 'bad hair day'!) When he knew Fergus wanted to play fiddle music, he said he would adjust the sound post and put on strings suitable for fiddling. Three violins in as many weeks....for free! The last one is The One, and we are spending some money on it but not so much, considering.

Musical discoveries

2008-01-07T14:40:00.000Z

My older son has always wanted to play fiddle music. He played the trumpet as a youngster until he had a bicycle accident and lost some front teeth which shot his embouchure to pieces. He's now 34, married with 3 children and and the desire is still there. As we all know, the price of a nice new violin is rather too much to risk if bought and it lies unused through pressure of daily life. And so I suppressed the idea of buying one for him for Christmas. I did not want to put more pressure on him to feel the obligation to use one if he felt he had no time at this stage in his life.
Now comes the exciting bit...! We have a local website called 'freecycle' where no exchange of any kind is undertaken, but anyone can request anything or put anything up for acquiring or giving away for absolutely nothing...zilch...gratis! My daughter asked if anyone had an old violin they did not want and lo! within a few hours someone e-mailed "yes..I've got two I found in a skip!!". We charged round to her house and she had fished them out of her loft and we bore them triumphantly away to Mr V., the luthier.
Now to get back to reality, they are not long lost Strads. or Gaglianos, just modest basic violins of no real value. But hey, they were free! Reality check again... one is a half size and the other a 3/4.
Mr V. said when he opened the first case,"Oh, yes" in a sort of flat voice, and then "Even better" on opening the next one. However, he put on 2 missing strings and a new nut and donated two bows to the cause!
On my birthday my son and family came round and sang Happy Birthday whilst F played the larger of the two instruments! He is talking now of acquiring a full size one and taking lessons! He looked on e-bay and saw one but it had already reached £30,000! He let it go! But how's that for success?

Well, that was nice!

2008-01-05T12:52:00.000Z

So, Christmas is over, and so is New Year....almost. Where was I? What prevented me from the gentle art of blogging? I didn't even keep up with the reading of others until last night, and I have to return to some who have some interesting items I need to take in more thoroughly. Anyway, Happy New Year to everyone and may we all pray for a peaceful 2008 memorable for good and blessed things rather than 'wars and rumours of war'.

My day of playing Byrd and Palestrina on Dec. 20th was really lovely. I learned a lot and look forward to attending another. I see they do one on how to get the most out of practise. I need that.

I have bought a new bow!! I took my own to be re-haired and was loaned 3 from my worthy luthier, because I wanted to try some with a different balancing point to my own. I ended up realising that my own, though great when I was starting to play 2 years ago, was now creating some difficulty with, for example, spiccato, changing to another string at speed and long, slow bowing. The weights are about the same but the balance is very different. The price was eye-watering but happily a savings plan matured just at the right time and so I feel very fortunate indeed. I also asked Peter V. to tweak my sound post and check the bridge in an effort to soften the 'A' string. It seems to have helped. There is less 'lemon' in the 'A' and the 'A' and 'D' strings sound more 'together'. The real sound is up to me now that I have been 'tweaked', and have an impressive new bow! No excuses!!

Anticipating Byrd and Palestrina

2007-12-11T20:25:00.000Z

Actually these photos were taken a month ago but what with internet trouble, Christmas shopping etc I have neglected the gentle art of blogging, so here they are to remind us of the lovely autumn we had this year. The leaves have all been blown away now but it is amazing how some of next year's buds are formed already, for example, on the magnolia trees.

Celloing has not been neglected, I am happy to say. The squeaks and scratching are coming on a treat. So much so, in fact, that today I visited my very nice, flirty, bachelor luthier to obtain advice on re-hairing my bow and giving Jacob the 'once over'. We have arranged for the full examination to take place next week after I have been to Lewes on Saturday for a full day course playing Byrd and Palestrina. I can hardly contain my excitement. For those who read my blog back in ...April, I think it was... I went to a lunch-time concert in the Chapel Royal in Brighton and heard early Baroque and Renaissance music played by 4 female cellists and the experience will remain with me for ever. I discovered they were in Lewes, which is down the road a few miles from me and they give courses there and in Spain, if one feels so inclined! I booked about 10 days ago and got the music by return of post. The Byrd is arranged for 4 cello parts and the Palestrina for 6! Can you imagine the beauty of the sound? I just hope I don't squeak my way through it too much. I don't think so, as the music is measured and slow with no jumping around or hectic speed. The squeaks are Mozart and Bach inspired during orchestra rehearsal, I am sorry to say.

Musical soup - another interesting orchestra

2007-11-16T15:33:00.000Z

I saw these guys in the The Times today. They are part of The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra who play music with fresh vegetables! Preferably organic. After the performance they make soup out of them! Sounds good to me. Apparently the performance is amazing, with the added delight of being surrounded by the smell of fresh vegetables as well as music.

Have you heard this? Take heart!

2007-11-13T14:19:00.000Z

Sorry for the long gap in posts. Internet trouble etc. I seem OK now, at last. For everyone who has had an iffy day at orchestra practise, click on this wonderful site. http://www.thereallyterribleorchestra.com/ . Their rendition of "Yellow Submarine" will gladden your heart. Read the page about some of the members and you will discover they are just like us - middle aged and over, and wonderfully optimistic!

I was tagged a long time ago and have been thinking about it . Seven things are rather a lot, but here goes!

1. I was born in Middlesex, North West London, daughter of an industrial chemist for Eastman Kodak and a domestic science teacher.

2.One of my first memories is sitting in a deckchair - the old fashioned sort that amputated fingers rather frequently - in our back garden and watching Dad launching our chickens over the washing line "to give them some exercise". I also remember helping my mother feed them whisky to make them drunk just before Dad wrung their necks! She wanted them to die happy.

3. I went to at least three church meetings every Sunday and on one memorable occasion wet my nickers during Sunday School! When I think of it now, I die a little!.

4. The three best things I ever did were a) become a Christian at about 14yrs, b) marry my husband, and 3). produce our 3 children.

5. There are too many "worst things" but 3 that come to mind are

a) the first intramuscular injection I ever gave unsupervised as a junior nurse. It was Streptomycin - a thick white liquid that needed a huge No 1 needle. It bounced off the poor man's upper outer quadrant of right buttock and I slowly ground it in at the third attempt and felt the needle hit bone. Aaaaghh! Back to the Jaffa oranges for more practise!

b) There was a registrar on night duty who always demanded, without a please or thank you, a drink of Horlicks, very strong, and without fail, however busy we were. One night we put Dulcolax and Lactulose into it, and we also injected his orange with Liquid Paraffin, and he was off with a tummy upset the next night! Result!!

c) When I was about 10yrs I looked up in the telephone directory the name Smelly, phoned the poor individual and said "Are you Smelly? What are you going to do about it then?" In those days you were safe from being traced.

6) Our first house was a converted barn in Somerset overlooking the wonderful cathedral town of Wells. You approached through a short tunnel in the bank on the Bristol Hill and came out onto a 10 acre meadow, with cows and flowers and a single palm tree that was all that remained from a big house that had been burned down years before. In Spring it was like Heaven.

7) What shall I say for my last item? There is no mystery lurking in my family, but a curious fact emerged about my father after he died. His old secretary phoned my mother and referred to the "MI5 episode" and "x"(she mentioned a name we knew from Dad's work) being sent to meet someone on a train on the Continent! We had no idea what she meant and when she realised my mother knew nothing she would not elaborate! Was my Dad a secret agent? We will never know!

l

Improvement - to a degree

2007-10-20T12:39:00.000Z

Orchestra went better today, so I am feeling upbeat. Granted, Our Dear Leader actually went slower on the 'presto' passages to give us a chance, but I was not so completely out of my depth as I was before. Maybe having his daughter in the cello section has influence at home, but she is very good so probably not. One very nice member seems a likely subject for the other half of a duo after Christmas. She is probably better than I am, but I think we could enjoy a get together maybe monthly and play together. I hope so.

I've been introduced to some Dowani sheet music which comes with CD. There are three speeds on the CD, and also the full concert version. I am looking forward to using it - Vivaldi Concerto for cello and orchestra in C major.

Practising for speed is going slowly! The recommended exercise from Terry is proving quite difficult and I have scarcely got off the starting blocks. I think the shoulder and wrists seize up at the very thought. WD40 on those parts and a gulp of plonk would probably work wonders!

For a non- sporty couple we have an exciting couple of days. Snooker finals (husband), Rugby World Cup/Jonny Wilkinson (me), Grand Prix (just because 'We' are in with a very good chance).

Meanwhile our daughter and family are in Tenerife for half-term and she's just phoned to say it is 33 deg. by the pool. That makes me feel like packing my bags and heading South myself!

Finger exercises, anyone?

2007-10-07T13:02:00.000Z

Has anyone got an exercise for speeding up the left hand? After a particularly difficult and embarrassing session at orchestra yesterday I have decided that somehow I must do something to promote speed in my fingers. Although I am left handed, well usually left handed, this is my slowest one. I remember learning scales on the piano and finding the right hand used to work faster than the left. I said 'usually left handed' because sometimes my brain cannot decide which hand is best for a particular task. It works rather well for table tennis and painting, but I don't really have an option for the cello. Obviously practising must be the main activity, but I am just hoping someone can come up with another piece of tried and tested wisdom. I thought I was getting on rather well with my concert pieces, but yesterday we went so fast I completely lost it several times. Meanwhile the young teenager beside me flew along, attacking the strings with confidence and verve. When I did manage to do something I was timid, out of time, and flat or sharp, I couldn't even decide which!

When I returned home I had a headache and acted like a consumptive poet for a while until I decided a tandoori might comfort my battered pride, so off we shot into the sunny Sussex countryside and indulged in an expensive repast. Things appeared better later after a snooze and the news that England had beaten Australia in the rugby quarter-finals (again!), so I retired to my music room (that's the dining room in our house) and played lots of pieces I learned a year ago and found hard. Then I got out some I had put away as they were too hard to attempt, and discovered I could sight- read them. Improvement happens in spite of things.

By the way, my picture is a watercolour I did 2 or 3 years ago of Flo, one of my granddaughters. She's the one who wants to play the harp.

Just a picture

2007-10-01T14:01:00.000Z

I cannot think of anything much to blog about so I thought I would post this picture of fishing boats in Malta I painted about 3 years ago. It was my first go at oils. I am a watercolour person first and foremost. When I could not find the time to paint a suitable Christmas scene for my cards last year I printed this off, added some twinkle in appropriate places and gave it the title "Christmas Morning". I thought as there were no people in the picture one could be forgiven in thinking they might all be at home opening presents! It seemed to work.

I was brought down to size last week, painting-wise, when I went to the Royal Academy in Piccadilly to see an exhibition entitled "Impressionists by the Sea". There was work by Whistler, Manet, Monet, Boudin and many others who really knew how to paint. It's good to get up close to some of these paintings to see the brushwork and how lack of detail seems to be transformed into wonderful detail when one steps back to view the whole.

After that I crossed the road to Fortnum & Mason and revelled in their new food basement and the wonderful ground floor with the teas and coffees they specialise in.

Last night I went through my Faure, Bach and Mozart pieces with the CDs playing whilst I endeavoured to keep up. Oh dear! It really came home to me how vital a conductor is. No matter how well one may know a piece, his gestures and meaningful, piercing looks really keep it all together.

Wookie

2007-09-21T19:12:00.000Z

This is Wookie. He is a Kawthals Griffon and is about 5 months old. I babysit him occasionally as he lives with 3 of my grandchildren. He looks remarkably like one of the family - rather laid back and shaggy. They say you choose a dog that looks like yourself and I have to say my son and his lovely family are all - well - laid back and shaggy! They are beautiful, all of them. Some folk are easy going, unmaterialistic, generous hearted and unworried. This is them, and I love them for it. I remember F saying when he was at university 'studying' chemical engineering, " Mum, I try to worry. I know I should, but I just can't!" Whilst his fellow students were dropping with stress, he just seemed to relax his way through, and when he got his degree, they said,"Jammy. Just jammy"!

I am listening to my concert pieces every evening and following with the scores. The original opinion I had that they were not as scary as the previous ones is true, I suppose, but I am beginning to find the knotty bits. M and I practised together yesterday and were truly awful, but we laughed too much which is fine for a cellist, but not so good for a flautist! "My dear, it ruins the embouchure"! However, we go to orchestra tomorrow and hope we will be better than last time!

Late summer harvest

2007-09-13T10:25:00.000Z

I picked some of my grapes this-morning. This will go on until October when they are usually all consumed. This year I have a race on with a couple of blackbirds who built a nest and reared two clutches of young. They look upon the vine as theirs but they are mistaken. I don't mind sharing - to a degree. I understand their enthusiasm, though. The grapes are smallish and very sweet. I have made wine from them in the past, but mostly we eat them as they are. I mentioned in a previous post, I think, that I made 'Folly' wine last year. This lovely light wine is from the fresh young leaves that one prunes off early in the season.

I am working my way through the new orchestra pieces, just plucking, and discovering the timing and rhythms. It is not really practising, but, rather, familiarising myself with task in front of me. It is certainly a task, but more importantly, it's a real pleasure and joy.

Late Summer Sun

2007-09-12T11:49:00.000Z

I am sitting in my summerhouse at the top of the garden enjoying the sun and looking at the late summer flowers. Without moving round I can see 9 different sorts. Purple, red, white and yellow. The grapes are ripening on the south wall, the dry stone wall is falling down, there is a 30" thistle which so far has evaded my attention, the slugs are enjoying a 'Hosta fest' and have invited all the snails as well. All in all, things are rosy today. I started off mildly unsettled so went for a walk to the town and deposited some overlarge lace tablecloths in the charity shop. I returned feeling slightly extravagant having purchased (not from the charity shop) some miraculous face and hand cream which is going to make me irresistible - for the first time in my life, as it happens. All wrinkles and blemishes are due to disappear in 2 weeks. I have their word.

The first orchestra practise took place last Saturday. We received the 3 pieces for the February concert. Bach, Mozart and Faure. I love them all, not least because they don't seem so frantically fast as the last lot. I think timing will be the problem and accurate intonation. I have a lesson today and so we will go through them and decide on a strategy for practise. I am really looking forward to them.

Paper serviettes

2007-08-30T20:39:00.000Z

Gottagopractice, you asked what paper serviettes were! Well, here they are. What do you call them ? They are for afternoon tea - not to eat, but to delicately dab one's lips on and discretely hide an item of food one does not wish to consume. They are ideal for surreptitiously spitting cucumber into though personally I like cucumber. Occasionally a hostess will generously wrap a piece of party cake into a clean serviette for a child, or Grannie back home. Perhaps they are very English, on the other hand, maybe you call them napkins and do similar things with them!

Busy

2007-08-29T12:07:00.000Z

My lovely daughter is spending a fortune on a new kitchen. I don't begrudge her the quality, the gadgets, the workmen doing it all for her. She does so much 'entertaining' at weekends as well as weekdays and gives so much pleasure to so many people that if anyone deserves a state of the art kitchen, she does. My kitchen is 23 years old, and looks it. I don't do nearly as much cooking as she does, in fact, since he retired my husband does most of it. He is happy in there, with a few cracked tiles, a floor we occasionally trip over, disgusting blinds, dodgy cupboard hinges, and a sad space that used to be our dog's spot but now is home to an ancient chest of drawers filled with old cutlery, place mats and paper serviettes that used to belong to my mother which I am laboriously working my way through.

Whilst M is ruminating over where to put the built in steam oven, microwave, the controls of the hidden radio/music facility etc etc, I am cogitating over which colour blinds to have from Trading 4 U. She has a drawer that hides bins for recycling, food waste, and something else, and we are contemplating whether we stick with our old pedal bin that constantly pirouettes in the corner so that the pedal is never easy to use. She now has a built in wine cupboard with temperature control for white as well as red. Ours is all together in the cupboard under the stairs.

The reason for my absence from the blogoshere is connected to this state of affairs. I am working my way round the kitchen walls, floor to ceiling, washing tiles, painting doors and skirting, swilling out the refuse that collects in the window frames. My husband has been laying a new floor because the folk who were booked did not come up with the goods, so we had to choose again and decided to do it ourselves.

I could go on...and on.....But I won't. Suffice to say, my cello practise routine is shot to pieces, I have a lesson this evening and what about my thumb position?

Catching up

2007-08-14T15:06:00.000Z

It's rainy today and I am feeling smug having checked my bank statement, filed and shredded papers, sorted some stuff for recycling and am now posting this. I did not realise how long it has been since posting anything. Actually, I already wrote this an hour ago, and when it was posted I could not find it at first, and then discovered it lurking on my blog BELOW the last entry!! Out of order! How did that happen? Anyway, I could not change it, so deleted it and here we are again. There is undoubtedly a simple reason it happened, but don't ask me. I am incapable of plumbing the shallows of my own IT skills. I would drown.

Tenor clef is losing some of its terrors, but the A-string still sets my teeth on edge when I get to 'f' or 'g' and above. However, when I think back a year and remember how anything above the open 'A' caused my fillings to loosen, I realise I have come far. Also, there is the pleasure of discovering new fingerings on the 'D' and finding a harsh phrase can be mellowed by changing strings. I must persevere, though with the 'A'.

I have been enjoying 'Greensleeves' by Vaughan Williams and thought I was playing it rather well (tenor AND TREBLE clef included) until, that is, I played it with my teacher and discovered that her sharps, flats and semitones were different from mine! There are many subtleties in a tone or semitone, aren't there? I have an old video of Tortelier playing a scale the Western way, then in the Eastern way and then - I think - in the Russian way. The differences were amazing. So, it's back to the drawing board for me and my English way.

That tenor clef book

2007-08-05T12:56:00.000Z

I promised the details of the 'Tenor Clef is Easy' book I am finding helpful. Here it is: Dr Downing's Tenor Clef is Easy by Sandra Downing. It can be found on http://www.drdowningmusic.com/ . I am finding it a great help, though I must say I am finding the 4th piece harder to learn in the bass clef before even attempting the tenor translation. Anyway, onwards and upwards...

I am enjoying the respite from the fast and furious pieces we play in the orchestra and am enjoying my goals of tenor clef and better tone quality. I am not entirely sure of my progress on either really, but know I am not going backwards. I was all set to book in a day in Lewes to play early music with the people I mentioned a while ago, whom I heard in the Chapel Royal in Brighton called String Theory Cello Ensemble. However I have decided to miss it this year and promise myself a week next year, all being well. I just feel too squeakily A-stringily amateurish, and am having a bit of a crisis of confidence.

Killing time again

2007-07-28T20:49:00.000Z

Here I am again babysitting three grandchildren and the puppy and trying to upload a photo onto this post....and I've actually done it! In about 10 minutes!! This is one I've tried before but got others of my garden which I had not chosen, or so I thought. After reading Cellodonna's comment and recalling Guanaco's advice a few weeks ago I decided to concentrate on that little picture thing and not take 'no' for an answer, and lo and behold, success! Will I be able to repeat it next time? If past experience is anything to go by it will be a resounding 'no'.

The puppy is now almost house trained and as I write this he is asleep at my feet and no bodily functions have been employed inappropriately. The children are in bed after a gripping tale involving a robin, hare, rabbit and sundry others. And I am glowing with the achievement described above. To celebrate I have scoffed a tub of cherries and grapes and am sipping a cheeky little sample of plonk from a miniature thermos flask kept for this very purpose when babysitting.

Celloing is jogging on nicely. The tenor clef is losing some of its teeth thanks to a simple little book I found which gives plain, ordinary advice which works like a charm. It's a sort of "well, I know that" sort of a book, "I could have done that myself" sort of thing, but I needed the book to make me do it. It's called Tenor Clef is Easy, by.... can't remember, so I'll tell you in my next post when I am at home. What it does is easy, really. On one page there is a piece of music, probably that you know. It is in the bass clef. You learn it well, and then turn over the page and the same thing is there but in the tenor clef and you look at that whilst playing what you have just learnt, but without peeping over the page. Seems to work. Hopefully, when I get back to orchestra it will be much easier if we are belting through something really fast and come across the tenor clef in amongst the rest.

La Pedrera. Oil on board.

2007-07-26T17:51:00.000Z

Here we are! It's about 26 x 36cm.

Dreaming of the Spanish sun

2007-07-26T15:56:00.000Z

This is an oil painting I have just completed of a chimney on La Pedrera, a house in Barcelona designed by Antoni Gaudi. We visited the city a year or two ago and I was totally bowled over by Gaudi's buildings. I have several photos of this rooftop with so many of these wonderful shapes. It was like being on a different planet. If it didn't take me all afternoon to put just one photo on my blog I would put half a dozen of my Gaudi images on! Why does it take me so long? Each time I do it I seem to have to find a different method! In fact at the moment it seems as though the photo of my painting has disappeared. You may have no idea what I am talking about and I will have to spend another 3 hours redoing it! I am going to press 'publish' now.........AAAAAggggghhhhhh! I'll post anyway and try to put it on separately!

A Rainy Garden

2007-07-17T13:23:00.000Z

The weather is really annoying this year. I was planning to sit and drink the odd spritzer in amongst my flowers but if I did, I may drown and the spritzer would go horribly flat. It is hard to believe that this time last year we had a strict hosepipe ban which lasted all winter. We all bought water butts - we have two now, and used washing up water and bath water to keep the garden alive. The garden centres sold drought tolerant plants and we were told this was life now. No more gentle English borders. It would be from now on Mediterranean scenes beyond the kitchen door. Lovely, I thought. Great for spritzers, loungers, shorts, ice creams, a slow down of daily life. No more trudging up and down the steep slope that is the back garden with heavy watering cans. No more tipping dubious looking liquid onto the lettuces to stop them from wilting. No more phoning up the council enquiring as to the whereabouts of the second special offer water butt, (which remained stubbornly bone dry until it was no longer needed). Now I nip out between torrential downpours to stake up a drowning plant that probably won't last much longer. There is a silver lining for me, however, and I have to thank my gall bladder for that! Whilst labouring with my gallstones I was unable to convert the 'bog bed' into an environmentally friendly desert scene, and as you can see from the photo, it is going a bomb! Every gall bladder, it seems has a silver lining!

Killing time

2007-07-14T22:07:00.000Z

I am baby sitting 3 grandchildren and a puppy tonight. Thank goodness for my laptop! I have cleared 2 puddles and a smallish heap of doggy pooh, sent 2 children back to bed, had a glass of wine and read the whole of the internet - twice!! It's only 11.15pm, there is probably ages to go yet.

Cello practise is going backwards. The tenor clef started well, but now is in the Slough of Despond . I was expecting it, and I know it will improve if I keep at it, which I will, but meanwhile I am raging at the 'smart Alec' who thought it up!

Tunes and Tenor Clef

2007-07-06T14:10:00.000Z

I have been having fun since the concert last Saturday choosing and trying out various pieces of music that are tuneful in their own right, not just as an accompaniment, or a part in an orchestral work. There is Sicilienne by von Paradis, Meditation from Thais by Massenet, Fantasia on Greensleeves by Vaughan Williams, a lovely arrangement for cello of Pachelbel's Canon, Paxton's Sonata No 2, and not forgetting The Gadfly by Shostakovich which I started a few weeks ago. Most of them include the Dreaded Tenor Clef within the piece, and this is a subject I am going to attempt to learn between now and September when orchestra re-starts.

I am just hoping that whilst I am going through the torment of getting my mind round this I am actually helping to preserve the 'little grey cells' and not ruining them! I seem to get on reasonably well for a couple of bars and then a thick veil comes down and everything grinds to a complete halt. I have been advised not to write the 'real' notes above or I will never really succeed in switching seamlessly from one to the other. (The Greensleeves has the treble clef as well, but we won't go there just yet!)

That's the Summer Concert Over

2007-06-30T17:10:00.000Z

Well, I did it! I went for the rehearsal this-morning before the 11am concert and it was so bad for me I thought, as I struggled through the Beethoven "I can't do this. I really can't". Then the Ragtime piece was better, the other cellists were so supportive that I decided to brave it. There were five of us, so I was by myself, with my own score, and my own stand just turning the pages for myself - bliss! The Double Bass confessed she lost her place more than once and she is very experienced, so that made me feel better as well. The actual performance was a triumph! We all felt it, I think. What is it that transforms a bag of nerves with cold, clammy hands that keep sliding on the bow into a half (or quarter) ---(or even an eighth) -- capable player? I would not even call myself that really but I can't think of any other way to describe it. Anyway, the Ragtime settled us down, and the Beethoven was exhilarating! Air-bowing played a vital part, I admit, but I achieved an awful lot more than I had done in the rehearsal. Roll on September when we all meet again. Something to work on -- we were all far too serious, and didn't smile enough. Well, it was so FAST! We were concentrating! However, it is something to remember. I know I always like to see the players enjoying their music. Otherwise it seems just like a 'job' to them.

Back again

2007-06-26T10:12:00.000Z

The holiday was good. Lovely sun, food and company. I was very good listening to Beethoven's 1st every day on my thingy and following it on the score as I did in Tenerife a few weeks ago. It may have helped my 1st practise since my return home, but that does not say much at all. The awful wet weather we are having here seems to cause squeaks and lack of 'bite', but it is in all probability me. Just lack of technique, skill, experience, gift, and all the other things needed to play this exasperating instrument. I am doing 2 practises today and I have a lesson tomorrow and we shall decide then whether I should risk playing at the concert on Saturday. I know what she will say. "Yes! Of course! Why not?" I shall probably reply, "But how can I risk the performance when I am so below the standard I feel I should be? Wouldn't I be a lot better employed making the refreshments, or selling the tickets?" It sounds like a sort of conceited pride that I think I want people to see me as a real musician, but it's not that (I trust). I really am not good, and I don't want to spoil things for the folk who have been to all the rehearsals etc. What with 2 holidays that were arranged before ever I joined the orchestra, and an operation, wouldn't others feel a little unprepared?

Nearly not here

2007-06-08T13:31:00.000Z

Most of the pre-hols chores are done, but that does not stop me panicking. There's money to put into my son's account for his birthday. That's the one travelling in New Zealand at the moment. Then there's all those little bottles to decant shampoo, creams etc. etc. in to save space in the luggage. Packing, last minute phonecalls, washing, ironing so that I don't have a load of work to do when I return. I know all the weeds will be rearing their heads in a fortnight, but at least they will not be as high, or seeding as I have slaughtered thousands of them this week. The blackbirds who are nesting in the vine may have babies and I hope they will be out of the nest by the time we get back as I should hate to scare them with the washing hanging nearby. Jacob is in his case resting on top of the wardrobe beside the hat boxes. He usually goes to the luthier for the duration but this year he will be away as well, so the wardrobe is the best I can do. When I get back it will be just one week until the summer concert. Aaaaghhhh! Will I chicken out? Only time will tell.

Catching up

2007-06-06T12:44:00.000Z

As my energy levels have increased since the op. so has the workload. We go to Spain for a couple of weeks on Saturday and so the garden is a priority. With the damp spell we have had after an early Spring, and now more sun, everything is growing at a rate of knots. Weeds are leering at me from behind every plant, ready to flower and seed before I return if I don't do murder now. On top of that I decided to put preservative on the summerhouse! Why do I do this every time? My brother is just the same, which is rather comforting as he is the most organised person I know. The photo, if I manage to put it on, is a view of the garden we call 'the volcano area'. As you see, (or not, if I don't manage it) it is not an easy parcel of land.

Cello practise is progressing reasonably well. I recorded myself for the first time the other day and scared myself! Where was the passion? What happened to my emerging vibrato? Did I have to squeak quite so triumphantly on the dreaded 'A' string? And timing...what's that? However, as I said, progress is 'reasonable'!

It's my lesson today after I have an appointment with the surgeon for 'signing off'. If he is running late I will have to take my cello in with me as it is not insured in a car unaccompanied. I will risk 20minutes, but no longer otherwise I will have a relapse due to tension!

The offending articles

2007-05-26T17:05:00.000Z

Here is a picture of the offending gallstones. They look small and insignificant, I grant you, but believe me when I say they are better out than in! I can't believe how well I feel so quickly after the op. My 'Get Well Soon' bouquet has not died yet, and I spent the last two mornings in the garden pruning and clipping my lollipops. (Pittesporum, holly, bay and juniper.) Next week I shall climb a ladder to prune the vines that grow on the South wall of the house. It's been such a warm, early Spring this year that I think we are going to get a bumper crop of grapes.

Phew! Have I done it?

2007-05-21T17:53:00.000Z

Well, if you can see two photos of my cello, then my afternoon will not have been in vain! 2hrs 35minutes it's taken me! Thanks to Guanaco I had some directions which at first could not be followed because what I saw in my 'photo box' was not the same as he described. Then, at least an hour later and after downloading something called 'Hello' the correct dropdown box appeared and Here We Are!!

This is Jacob, sitting in my dining room next to a fellow called Major Planter. The Major is about 5 years old and Jacob is 145. I love him. I thought I was going to be as old as he is before I succeeded in getting these photos up so I am now going to press the 'publish' button whilst keeping everything crossed! If successful, I may treat you to a view of my gallstones. Watch this space!

I am missing something here.

2007-05-17T09:11:00.000Z

The joys of a wireless laptop have never been sweeter than the last two days. I said farewell to a rude and bad mannered gall bladder on Monday morning and have been serenely surfing wherever I please ever since. No wires, no plugging in, and now I am able to send orders to the printer and hey presto! there we are! things appear as if by magic! To add to all that Guanaco has given me simple instructions on how to transfer photos onto my blog so I shall soon be trying out that procedure.

Meanwhile, no visitor has yet requested an audience with my stones, which are floating revoltingly in a murky liquid the colour of eau de nil. I shall spare you all a photo of that sight! (On the other hand, maybe ........ ) My abdomen is looking healthy with four small dressings where camera and various other things were inserted during the eviction of these uninvited guests. Keyhole surgery is a wonderful thing. I can move, twist and bend even if a little cautiously. No drains, no excruciating pain, just a bit of discomfort...curiously mainly in my shoulders. That's apparently due to the CO2 they pump in in order to do the operation. But why the shoulders?

My cello is residing on his stand wondering where I am but I feel sure I shall be able to get going again very soon. Yesterday I printed some Pachelbel from www.virtualsheetmusic.com which I find a very good site to browse. I download the midi files as well which is a help when trying to learn things I have not heard before. Midi files, whilst not too great to listen to, I agree, can nevertheless be stretched and slowed down better than an orchestral piece can for practice purposes .

Do I really need it?

2007-05-13T17:36:00.000Z

The last week has been a test of my patience and sense of humour. Since purchasing this wonderful laptop I have become a bit of a 'surfer'. It's the comfort of sitting in an armchair in the summerhouse and just....surfing. Occasionally I want to print off something I have come across and .. oh, now I have to disturb myself and go and plug into the printer which involves climbing down the garden, into the house and upstairs where there is a search for the lead with the correct connection and, well, all that. So I thought, "What about a remote connection? A 'network'? It must be easy". And there was my mistake. I won't go into details, but the internet connection for all appliances evaporated, my laptop would not close down, and then would not start up. I thought I had mangled it for ever. My clever children were unavailable, so I went to the shop I bought it from and found my super guru, a handsome young man from Ghana who knows everything and is gentle, kind and respectful of this flakey, middle-aged cello- playing ignoramus. He it was who advised me on the purchase of my laptop, showed me how to 'stretch' the music to a slower speed for me to practise to and has given me gentle advice over the phone and even visited to sort things out - free of charge! He came, he tried, he failed, and so took said laptop away to try at home. (I said "OK. I'll manage without it. I may develop a nervous twitch, but it'll be worth it. Won't it?" He kept it from Sunday to Saturday, and - oh, joy! we are now a network and are remote! Now I have the exquisite pleasure of looking for things to print!

In addition to that I have added another skill to my pathetically meagre IT ability. I managed to highlight and send by e-mail Yarnplayer's lovely musical story (her May1st blog) to my son in New Zealand. You may think this is elementary stuff, but to me it is a breakthrough! One day I shall learn how to post a photo of my cello on my blog and then I will feel I have really arrived in Cyberland!

A little better than expected

2007-05-05T19:24:00.000Z

So I went to orchestra this morning through the marvellous Sussex Spring countryside. The bluebells are out, trees all fresh green with the sun shining through them - close to heaven! When I arrived our conductor was just rolling up and in a genial mood - not that he has ever been anything else really. Just some Saturdays seem more relaxed than others. The whole session was better than I was anticipating. Our chief cellist helped with several items I was confused about and was generally her lovely positive self. So all in all, a good day. Maybe I am not such a drag on the rest as I imagined! Or maybe they are just very nice and tolerant! Whichever it is, I am happy again!

Am I improving?

2007-05-04T18:35:00.000Z

I think today went a little better. I spent an hour and a half concentrating on the Beethoven for tomorrow's orchestra session and feel I finally got somewhere. Not far, but a vast improvement on recent efforts. My confidence had a boost earlier when my neighbour announced that he enjoyed listening to my playing! What a shock, as I try to keep the volume down, which is death to any musical interpretation. When I see them go out in their car I rush to my cello and enjoy a spell of freedom. It seems I shouldn't bother!

Oh well, orchestra again in the morning. Here's hoping......

Home from holiday

2007-05-01T20:22:00.000Z

Well, it was a nice holiday - not great, but 'nice'. We were both poorly the first week which rather put a damper on things. The Canary islands are volcanic and so the scenery can be very dramatic and stark. The south is hot, arid and touristy but the north is jungly, greener and cooler. I think this applies to all the islands, certainly the ones I have visited.

Since coming home my cello playing has been squeaky, thin, and depressing. Orchestra on Saturday was a real trial and I really wonder whether I should be in it at all. I don't think I am up to it really. Can't get fast enough and stay accurate. I know I am out of practise having been on holiday for 2 weeks. I was diligent, though. I took my music score with me and followed it whilst listening on my i-pod so as not to be too rusty, but it has not helped much. Indeed, I am worse than before I went away. Here's hoping for a miracle very soon! Probably won't happen tomorrow - I am off to the dentist to sample the delights of root treatment!

Possibly absent for two weeks

2007-04-12T20:27:00.000Z

I am off on holiday in the morning. Two weeks in the Canaries. All very nice. I am hoping to veg out and read, paint, snooze, anoint my body with fragrant unguents , paint my toenails a tasteful pink, listen to music on my ipod thingy which may, just may, include Beethoven's 1st so I have not forgotten it completely by the time I get back and turn out for orchestra practice the day after returning. Practice has been up and down recently. The vibrato element quivers in the wings but when I pay attention to it, it rudely sticks its tongue out at me and refuses to comply. However, I have felt my tone is improving slowly, oh, so slowly.

I hope to be able to catch up on everyone's blog whilst away, but have never been very successful on 'foreign' computers. Never been to an Internet Cafe. I am hoping the hotel has a 'facility'! Whilst I am luxuriating in the fleshpots, may I wish you all very happy celloing!

Sons and strings

2007-04-05T17:36:00.000Z

M and I went to Heathrow with W and his friend and waved them off for 6 months. It's New Zealand this time. Last time it was Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam for 15 months. He did a lot of that trip by himself and managed to be robbed only once, ("They took my shoes, Mum, my shoes!! And I have worn nothing else on my feet for over a year! You can only imagine the pong!") His credit card was also taken, but never used. Everything else was in his body belt under his shirt. I think New Zealand will be good for the skiing etc which is a major part of the reason for going.

Oh to be 24, single and fit - except for the shoulder and bruising from the recent car accident!

I went to do some cello practise after returning from the airport and my C string was positively flapping in the breeze! All the others were hugely out of tune as well. It took me an age to get it back to normal, and I am at a loss to know how it happened. Do the pegs just go mad for no reason, or is the Spring weather playing games I wonder. I was in no mood for playing afterwards, but tried anyway and I squeaked my way impatiently through some pieces and wished I hadn't bothered because I felt completely hopeless at the thing. However, next day I bought The Gadfly by Shostakovich and am enjoying trying to work out the best fingering so that I can impress my teacher when I go next week! I hope I don't mess it up and have to spend another week unlearning my efforts.

Sons!!!

2007-03-29T11:23:00.000Z

We got a phone call from the police last week at 1.30am telling us that our younger son was on his way to hospital by ambulance having been in a car accident. It's funny how one slips immediately into calm panic mode. He was able to talk to us on the policeman's phone so we knew he was "OK" but nevertheless when he said the car had turned over several times and was obviously a write-off one can be forgiven for a moment of silent screaming. We drove 14 miles to Casualty, which took us past the site of the incident. Happily the area was already cleared so we felt maybe no one else was involved. When we got there we were greeted with a small miracle for which we give thanks. He had a few cuts to his neck and hands and a shoulder all but dislocated, but nothing else! The air bags and safety belt saved him. Apparently after leaving a friend's house he was going home when a car came in the opposite direction round the bend and in the middle of the road. W. swerved, hit the verge and went over ... The other driver probably never knew what happened and went on. We are all so thankful that there was nobody else in the car and that W. seems alright. I did head injury observations on him the next day and all was normal. The only worry now is he is off abroad for six months skiing and rockclimbing! He leaves on Monday! I trust he will be sensible and do his sightseeing first. He and his friend are also hoping to get jobs whilst there as well, so may be his shoulder will heal before he embarks on his sporting adventures. His work is in operating theatres so he will be in the right place!

Cello practise took a back seat for a day or so.

Lunchtime concerts.

2007-03-19T14:53:00.000Z

We have a wealth of lunchtime concerts in the area. Many of them are free, and if one pays anything at all it is still a real gift. Last Tuesday, for £2.50, I attended one at the Chapel Royal in Brighton. The foundation stone of the Chapel was laid in 1793 by the Prince Regent, who attended the official opening with his new wife, Caroline, (with whom he was vastly disappointed, by the way), and he attended services regularly until he built his own chapel in the Royal Pavilion in 1822. The exterior Georgian walls were originally built largely from material from the beach (goodness knows what, except for stones). Later the good old Victorians repaired and renovated it with red brick and a clock tower. However, if you go to www.crbr.org/building/foundation.asp and click on the 'tour', you will see it has a charming interior for lunchtime concerts.

There was a cello quartet playing early music, Byrd, Dowland, Lassus, Tallis, Wilbye, Tomkins, and Morley. What a feast! Every item displayed that measured, restrained beauty of the time, and I should love to know if the arrangements are available for the likes of us. The quartet, String Theory Cello Ensemble, appears to be based in Lewes, East Sussex, so I shall keep my eye open for more of the same. If I discover anything about the availabilitiy of the arrangements I shall pass it on. What could be better than 4 cellos playing beautiful music together, unaccompanied?

Hooray! You're still there!

2007-03-15T15:47:00.000Z

My internet connection went on the blink - again - and I have just tested - again, and here we are! Courtesy of M. who seems to know exactly what the diagnosis is,and therefore can administer the appropriate treatment. Suffice to say, my dear spouse has been going round announcing tragically,"It's all my fault. I'm to blame etc". Actually, he's right - this time. If blame is to be apportioned, it is down to him. But what can I say? He made me my Most Excellent Endpin Anchor, so I forgive him. This is all I have time for at the moment as cello practise calls. I have sneaked a look at everyone else's blog and you have all posted since I got disconnected so I am looking forward to a long session soon when I can catch up on everyone else and post a proper entry here.

Encores, sons and endpin anchors

2007-03-07T14:34:00.000Z

I can confirm that the encore I referred to a couple of weeks ago was indeed 'Alone' by Sollima. The cellist we heard at the Brighton Dome, Umberto Clerici, E-mailed the Brighton Dome Notice Board to verify it. Actually, from his website I noticed that he has been to USA since then and played the piece in question in Cleveland and Ann Harbor, Michigan.

I rarely miss a cello practise session. Usually it is 1-2 hours according to how the fingers and arms are holding up. However, one of our sons has left the house he rented with 2 other folk when the lease ran out and has moved all his stuff back home! He has so much that there is no room for him and so he is sleeping at his sister's down the road. He is planning another trip abroad for a few months. New Zealand this time. Last time it was Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam. He was going to visit Canada - specifically the West, but they don't easily recognise his qualification in Canada, but they are very keen on it in New Zealand. He is an ODP - Operating Department Practitioner. My time has been taken up, therefore, with finding space where there is no space.

Yesterday I had a good session and did rather better than expected. Perhaps a break is sometimes good. Also, my husband has made me an endpin anchor that won't skid all over a polished wood floor. Last week at Orchestra I had to cling on to the cello with my knees as the floor has been waxed, and my 'Black Hole' was useless. The Double Bass hissed at me to 'spit on it' which I did - several times - asking the gifted 10 year old on my left to avert her gaze! I have a real problem with sportsman spitting so even this ladylike version went against the grain and something had to be done. Now I am the possessor of one of those wooden ones with several holes and a cord that goes behind the front legs of the chair. It's perfect.

Spelling mistake, and a fun day.

2007-02-20T19:06:00.000Z

Sorry, I should have typed 'Gagliano' in yesterday's post.

Today is our Wedding Anniversary. After so many years we were at a loose end and could think of nothing too exciting to do. Sad, isn't it? But we have quite a bit of fun most days, I suppose. We are good friends. We had booked lunch at a new restaurant in the village and I was in bed, thinking we had to get out of the house from 9-12 to allow our visiting magician to do her stuff with the housework. She comes once a fortnight and her visits force us to do a tidy up! G. came in and announced triumphantly that he knew what to do. The Dump was the place to go! We could fill the car up with the old cans of paint that I swear have been breeding in the shed for years . For some inexplicable reason, this cheered me up no end and I rose with energy and optimism! The weather has been grey and drizzly but the journey was lovely - all wet and misty with snowdrops and crocus flowers lurking along the way. The dump brought back memories of my cycle ride as it is at the start of the disused railway track we used. There was an intriguing 'department store' where discarded items had been retrieved and tastefully set out for our perusal! We probably missed an antique treasure lying unrecognised amongst the iffy teapots, chamberpots and candlesticks!

After that we tidied ourselves up feeling very self satisfied and dropped in at a comfortable country hotel nearby and had coffee in the lounge - all hand painted chinese silk walls, enormous flower arrangements and waiter in black apron. Having enjoyed the luxury of deep armchairs and good coffee for an hour we went on to lunch. The restaurant is owned and run by a young modern couple who have got their business just right - friendly, unstuffy, spotless and very good food.

Back home all was magically transformed and after a crossword, Sudoku, and snooze, I did my practise. Not too bad today. 'A' string still thin and reedy when I play in 4th position, but maybe a little better today. One day.........

Detective work

2007-02-19T17:58:00.000Z

I have clicked around the internet and using what little I managed to decipher from Umberto Clerici's charming Italian accent, think I have discovered what the extraordinary encore was which he played the other night. The composer is Giovanni Sollima, a Sicilian, and the piece - 'Alone'. I cannot find a performance of it on the 'net' but it may be out there. However Sollima is on UTube playing with 5 or 6 cellists, and pretty impressive it is! The music is reminiscent of 'Alone', and well worth listening to. I don't know how to link the UTube video into this blog I am afraid, but it was posted by 'albaria' and the title seemed to be '3 Sinfonie on the Blog - World Festival on the Beach'. Sollima's biography can be found on The Living Composers Project at www.composers21.com/. He's rather dishy, in my humble opinion!

On Saturday our Parish Church held a concert in aid of a local hospice. The visiting cellist was a young woman called Gemma Rosefield, and her piano accompanist Simon Lepper. Once again this was a fantastic evening. She played some Martinu, Beethoven, Schumann, Shostakovich and Paganini. We paid £10 a ticket and could not have been better served if we had gone to London and paid a fortune. She told us about her cello. It is a Galliano, 1704, and was played by King George IV (him of Brighton Pavilion) and was given to him by the King of Spain. It was the most beautiful cello I have ever seen and had the Royal Crest on the back. It's a bit like driving a clean car - everything seems so much better where beauty is involved. I have no doubt Gemma Rosefield could make the worst cello sing, but she really was at one with her instrument and it was a beautiful occasion.

Apologies, and yes it went well!

2007-02-14T21:39:00.000Z

I am so sorry that I have not acknowledged before now, the good wishes of those who sent them to me. I have had internet trouble but things are better now - or so I thought until a moment ago when I lost the replies I was writing in the 'comments'! Now I can't get to your comments at all so I am saying it all here! The concert went really well, as several of you predicted. The snow had disappeared and the drive across country was sunny and cheerful. The hall was perishing cold as the heating had not been switched on and we did our final rehearsal in coats and scarves. It warmed up eventually, the performance started for real, and there was no going back. I looked down at my bow and it was shaking which made me wonder if I was going to drop it or send it flying across the hall during a fast bit! Needless to say, I didn't and apart from a couple of episodes of panicky muddle - happily during fortissimo passages - I didn't go too far wrong! Two of the grandchildren came with their Mum and were suitably impressed with the whole occasion. How nice to think they may be encouraged to play music themselves in the future.

On Sunday afternoon G. and I went to Brighton Dome to hear Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor in a concert that included Rossini's William Tell Overture and Saint-Saens 'Organ Symphony' (Symphony No 3 in C minor). It was the first time I had heard the Saint- Saens, and I felt the organ before I heard it. The vibration was more noticeable than the sound as it started to play pianissimo. It was a great piece. The Dome was part of the Brighton Pavilion built by the Prince of Wales who became King George IV. I think it was part of the stables, but now, of course, is a concert hall with a beautiful organ, recently refurbished. We had good seats for cello watching as well as for listening to the beautiful music. The soloist was Umberto Clerici, a young Italian on his UK debut. He was very touched by the applause he received and played a most amazing piece as an encore which had been composed by a Sicilian friend. No one we spoke to afterwards heard who he was or what the music was as he introduced it in a broken English accent. However, help may be at hand because the website for Brighton Philharmonic has a message board and someone has asked about it. (www.brightonphil.org.uk).

5 days to go

2007-02-05T20:06:00.000Z

Saturday's session went very well. It was longer than usual and serious work and I felt I had improved. I still left out some phrases that are so fast they are over before I can brace myself for them. Let's hope the audience doesn't notice! I've roped G. in to help with the interval drinks. We have to replace all the chairs exactly as they were before the performance, so he will be very useful when we feel like wet leather after it is all over!

After lunch my son-in-law phoned to suggest a bike ride with him and the two children. He knows I can't ride a bike and that I would love to use one of those neat models that have a battery for negotiating hills. We went to a track that used to be a railway line, and I wobbled along, clutching the handlebars like grim death. I was using M's bike (no battery!). I fell off spectacularly three times - the first occasion I took another cyclist with me into the ditch! She was very sweet about it, and so were her parents, and they had the generosity to say how brave I was! I thought she was pretty brave too! The other two occasions were solitary events apart from D. picking up the bike and encouraging me to get back on. Just as I felt I could go no further, we turned round and I had the return journey to negotiate. By the time we got back to the car I had almost learned to prise my fingers off the handlebars and use the back brake when zig zagging became too scary. I was muddy, smelt of doggy doohs and was utterly freaked out. I stripped off in the kitchen and put everything into the washing machine. Today I am rigid with stiffness right across my shoulders but happily have not broken a wrist or anything else. Will I do it again? I don't know!

The weather forecast is for snow and we don't do snow here without everything grinding to a halt. I have to drive 'cross country to the concert so that may turn out to be a bit of a problem. G. is from Scotland so made of sterner stuff and we'll take a snow shovel with us. "The Show must go on!"

Practise, practise, practise!

2007-01-28T13:50:00.000Z

For the last few days I have been practising twice a day for 3/4 - 1 1/2 hrs. My left wrist gets tired if I do too much at one sitting and I don't want to develop carpel tunnel syndrome or whatever. I broke that wrist some time ago and so feel it to be somewhat inflexible and vulnerable. Probably all in the mind because I have had no problem with it. However, the 2 sessions a day seem to pay off because yesterday at orchestra rehearsal I almost flew! ( Have you all read what cellodonna said a few days ago about aerodynamics?) My speed was vastly improved, and my accuracy, whilst not great, was much better. Perhaps we are all practising more for the concert because we were more together. There seemed more good tension in the air. Mind you panic will surface at times as the day gets closer - 2 weeks now. Next week we meet for a long session and then again on The Day. I am so sorry M. won't be there taking part with her flute but G. will be in the audience and also my teacher. I am a bit shy of advertising it further, so 2 sons, 1 daughter-in-law and 3 grandchildren will be spared, in addition to M. and her lot.

I was wandering what was going to happen about drums as there is a fair bit of timpani in the Haydn. Happily I have learned that they are coming - hopefully for next week's session. Meanwhile, on with the twice a day practice. Yesterday I lost my place and found myself carrying on whilst looking for it on the score. It almost worked, but when I realised what was happening I lost it entirely! Still, it was a small step forward, I feel.

Getting better

2007-01-21T16:59:00.000Z

M. and I went to the community orchestra again yesterday and it went pretty well. I had worked out and highlighted on my score the notes on the beat that I thought I could play in the parts that are too fast for my inexperienced fingers to cope with. This seemed to relax me, I think, and I found I could play a few more than I thought. Today practice seemed to go better and maybe, just maybe, I may get fast enough to play all but the fastest passages. I think I need to practice both ways so that I can fall back on the easier option if necessary. I have certainly made the music easier to read by highlighting the 'beat' notes. Playing with the CDs is exhilarating as well. In the Menuetto - Allegro molto - of the Haydn Symphony No.94 there are 8 bars (3/4 time) that are open G alternating with G on the D string. That's 20 fast repeats which sounds easy enough but is driving me mad. It's a wrist thing, apparently, not a forearm, nor a shoulder thing just wrist, mid bow. Anyone any ideas? Another thing that is not fluent yet is going , at speed, from pizzicato to arco. That is, trying to hold the bow whilst plucking, and then that little jump you have to make to get the bow in position for immediate speedy use.

The Telemann 4th movement is 'presto' and how! My sheet is all colours, dots and splashes. However, it seems to help. I invariably lose my way back to the start of a repeat and then, of course, trying to jump in, in the correct place is well nigh impossible. For me, that is.

There have been 5 cellists for the past 2 weeks. Two seem to know what they are doing, and then there 2 others who appear a little less confident, and then me, the abject novice. My neighbour said there was no way she was going to be 'next' to the audience at the concert! I had already congratulated myself on being right next to the double bass on my right and therefore hidden from the audience by these other two cellists! Then one of them moved behind me and I am sure she will take my comfy place at next week's session! I shall have to get there early to consolidate my position in obscurity! I feel like a fledgling about to be tipped out of the nest by a cuckoo! The main pleasure of the orchestra is the membership. They are all so friendly and helpful - all ages and abilities. A wonderful discovery.

Community Orchestra

2007-01-14T15:09:00.000Z

Friday's practise at M's house went very well. I was in the lounge and it seemed a better sound than in my (smallish) dining room. No one else was in the house and so I let rip with the loud passages and more expansive bowing paid off. At Orchestra rehearsal yesterday however, there were 5 cellos and would have drowned out other instruments if we had let ourselves go there. I have discovered that it is very hard getting anything like a respectable tone when playing softly. I must ask my teacher how one does it. I know I should play further away from the bridge the more 'piano' it is, but what about bow technique - speed/pressure etc. Anyway, my problem is to get anywhere near the bridge at all and not constantly creep northwards up the strings whatever the volume needed!
Speed is another problem. At home I have been practising the Haydn and Telemann conscienteously and the tricky bits are gradually being ironed out. They are by no means perfect, but coming on. But the required speed in some of the passages is beyond me at this stage in my cello career. Especially in view of the concert in February!! The 9th.!! I have decided to play a selected collection of notes in these areas, if my teacher agrees, in order to keep the time/rhythm/my place, and then carry on with the genuine score when I can. Is there anyone out there who has done this or am I chicken? I don't want to ruin it all for the others who have been learning the pieces since the beginning of September having had the music to learn by themselves at home since the Summer Hols. Everyone is very laid back and encouraging and appear really disappointed if I say I could always bow out of this occasion, and join in the next one in June. And there's another problem. We shall be on holiday for 2 weeks just before the June performance. I am already contemplating an electric Air Travel Cello made by Yamaha. However, I am not going to jump too quickly as they are expensive and I am probably overreacting. I am wandering if Guanaco (Cellomania) is intending to fly with his new Electric baby. Last year my holiday luggage went on a trip all by itself whilst I waited for it in Spain with only the clothes I stood up in. It should have accompanied me from Gatwick to Malaga, but instead went to Antigua and St Kitz, lucky thing! I offered to go personally to St Kitz to fetch but somehow the airline would have none of it and sent it back to Gatwick to start all over again. I'm not sure I could stand it if an electric cello got lost in similar circumstances. It is probably the wrong shape to be hand baggage. If anyone has experience of the Travel Cello I'ld love to hear your views.

Away-day practise

2007-01-12T09:47:00.000Z

Iam off to my daughter's house as soon as G. comes back with the car. We have a very nice man re-doing a bathroom and I don't want to inflict my talent on him as I am trying to learn the cello part of Haydn's 94th Sympony and Teleman's Concerto in G major. M.(daughter) and I joined a community orchestra in a nearby village just before Christmas and were blithely informed that there was a concert in February! Panic set in immediately and I have been practising for 1-2 hours a day since. M. has a good excuse not to perform as the family bought tickets for 'Maria'(Sound of Music) for that very afternoon. M. plays the flute Grade 4 and has just bought a piccolo. To join the orchestra one just brings the instrument along - no audition necessary. The age range is from teens to 70s and it seems great fun and hard work. We have only been twice. It is held in a school on Saturday mornings early for 1 &1/2 hours, term time only. Perfect, except it would be nice if it was an hour or so longer. Ah, G. is back so Iam off to ruin M's neighbours' morning.

Laptop blip

2007-01-10T09:59:00.000Z

I thought I'ld be saying something before now but my laptop suddenly was unable to find the Internet. I spent all morning trying to get to the bottom of it thinking I would have to go upstairs to use the PC - an admission of abject failure. However my daughter arrived to play her flute whilst I scratched away on the cello, and after that, and lunch and some wine, she spotted the main reason for the debacle - I HAD INADVERTANTLY SWITCHED THE WIRELESS CONNECTION BUTTON OFF! All was not completely plain sailing after that because she had to undo some of my efforts at curing the situation. However, here I am, typing this with Jacob looking handsome and suitably old, on his stand in the corner of the dining room. He's been there for a year next month and I have played him(after a fashion), dusted and adjusted him every day since he arrived on the scene. He is English and very handsome. If I knew how to put a photo on this blog you would see him too. One day, perhaps ....

I started playing the cello in October '05.It was something I had always wanted to do but did not have the opportunity until then. I bought one that was advertised in the local paper. The previous owner had got to Grade 5 using it so I thought it was good enough for my first year, and by then I would know if there was any point in continuing the dream, or nightmare, depending on a previous broken wrist, stiff neck, and general musical ability. Being 'mature' (all right then, 60) never entered my head as a possible handicap. I couldn't believe what I read on some of the noticeboards about the gloom and despair at starting at the advanced age of 27, even younger! "Come on" I thought, "Get a grip! We can all do pretty well anything if we set our minds to it." I should hate to be so downbeat. OK, so I may never be another du Pre, Cassals, Lloyd Webber and the like, but what's wrong with that? There's a blind professional artist living close by who paints beautiful country landscapes that sell. And what about that percussionist who is profoundly deaf? I think her name is Evelyn Glennie. And then there is Beethoven. I could go on.

Anyway, after finding a teacher and playing until Christmas '05 I knew I wanted to do this and another bow seemed the way to go as the one I bought with the cello was very basic. I went to the luthier in the nearby village and he took one look at mine and said in the nicest possible way that it would make a wonderful plant support! Then my eye wandered to his row of cellos and he despairingly said did I really want to buy a cello? Surely not one of his babies! He would lend me one whilst he overhauled mine, but buy? that would mean it was not his anymore! However when he saw mine he agreed it was a basic school one which had always been basic, and while he could improve it with a new bridge and strings he agreed I needed another one. Reluctantly he lent one with two or three bows and I made my choice. Jacob went back last summer when I was on holiday in an effort to trap a wolf that kept growling in the 'd' string, but since then has been my daily companion. The wolf appears occasionally depending on the weather I think, but all in all he is pretty perfect in my opinion. Not that I do him justice yet, but just occasionally his full tone emerges fleetingly before my lack of skill takes over again. I do 1 - 2 hrs a day and if I cannot for some reason I suffer from withdrawal symptoms.

Gone to do my practise!

2007-01-07T18:43:00.000Z

I've just set up this Blog to my own complete amazement - not only because I am not too clever on the PC front, but mostly because I don't do this sort of thing at all - ever! Having set it up (I think) I really must go and do some cello practise, and see if that clears the brain a bit! I shall return soon and tell anyone out there who cares to read my efforts, about what made me buy my beautiful instrument, how I have got on in my first year, and what the future appears to beckon me towards. If I've set it up correctly, and you see fit to comment (kindly,please) I shall be overjoyed! Hasta luego!