I do show my age by using old song titles. If you don’t know this song, all I can say is… sorry.
I’m back to those dreadful double stops in thirds and sixths. Don’t worry if you aren’t playing them yet. You will. Anyway, I got back to the point where I isolated two chords by covering up the notes before and after with my large “post-its” to prevent me from playing further. It was a shift in thumb position. Not that any of that matters. The point to all this is that I have to repeat the shift many more times than I even think about. And after taking a break to write this blog, I’ll go back and keep practicing that same shift. Unlike our 8 or 14 or 20 year old cellists, I have to do those repetitions many many more times. As an older amateur, I don’t have the stuff that makes my muscles “remember” very quickly. So often I go into my lesson and my teacher reminds me of something I have written in my notes but failed to execute. I always say (and rightly so) “I guess I didn’t practice that enough”. So for my lesson this week, I’m only working on three measures. They may be the toughest three measures in this etude, but I’m planning to practice them in very short sections. Two chords at a time. Then add a chord so there are three. Then play the same 3 chords forward and backward and forward and backward… again and again.
I may need two weeks for this project.
Karen, your sister says:
I’m impressed at your persistence in repeating so many times, only 3 chords, and backwards, yet! I guess it all boils down to doing what your teacher tells you to–all of it!
nancymack says:
It’s the only way to drill it into old muscles!
David B Teague says:
Nancy
My teacher quotes Dr Suzuki, approximately, “A child may learn in 10 or 100 repetitions, but for an adult, 1000 may not be enough.”
As for you, it takes me a very large number, and I have to be diligent that “… enough of the are close enough to correct to count.”
Thank you for your well written and educational relating of your experience with adult cello.
Nancy Mack says:
I like that “enough of them are close enough to count”. Progress, not perfection. Thanks David.
Beth Bultman says:
This is so true. I am planning a session on adult learning for 18 Scor! season, and am going to include this very topic. So important to understand to make significant progress and not get too discouraged!