Hello readers...LOL. I thinks it's just me and this blog and that's okay. Every Friday I have a cello lesson and really look forward to it. My cello journey started a little over a year ago, when a friend brought her violin to work. She's an audiologist who plays in a community orchestra. She needed to practice for a concert and thought the sound proof booth would be a perfect place to practice durng lunch. After she practiced her piece, I asked if I could look at her violin. "Sure !" As I opened the case, the smell of wood and the beauty's the instrument made my head spin! I Iooked at her and said: "I'm going to do it!" I'm going to learn to play the cello." I've always wanted to play the cello and thought "Why not?". I went home that night and started learning as much as I could about the cello. Turns out, there's a lot to know about buying a cello! For instance, cellos come in sizes, who knew? After learning what I needed to know about the instrument, where do I buy one? How much should I spend? Is it safe to buy online? Does a bow come with it? And he biggest question...how do I know it sounds good? That question was the hardest because I didn't know how to play one yet. Honestly, I was afraid to go shopping alone because didn't know a cellist or have a teacher I could bring with me. I took a big breath and searched online. I found a website based on a video I'd seen on you tube. The owner seemed knowledgable. This online seller was a cellist and played excerpts of music on each cello sold; offered phone consults; and cello kits. I took a chance and was lucky to get a good instrument, case and bow. Now to find a teacher. It took me about a month to find a teacher and I was ready to go!
I'm an adult learner and my immediate goal was to learn how to play, "Twinkle, Twinkle". Why, such a simple goal...I sucked! LOL. When I opened the box my cello was packed in, I was so excited! I immediately sat down with my cello and drew my new bow across the strings and the cats ran from the room like I'd lit a firecracker! They peeked around the room a few minutes later. By then
, I figured we'd all been tortured enough. I wondered for the first few weeks whether, I'd made a mistake. Then one night while playing a D scale, I stopped for a minute and thought wow this sounds good. No squealing bow! The following week I began to learn Twinkle, Twinkle and it's been a little over a year and I've learned to play the cello better than I could've imagined. Now I can't imagine not playing! My teacher started me on the Suzuki method and supplements it with other materials. I thought Suzuki was for kids, but it's not. I am now on book 3 and learning Lully's Gavotte. A far cry from twinkle,twinkle. My cats now come into the room and play nearby while I play cello.
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