Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project

My sister-in-law works for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. The past few days I've been helping her out as they've been swamped with paperwork. There had been a massacre of mountain gorillas last June (see Newsweek article) which put a spotlight on the plight of these animals. Good Morning America aired a show about MGVP on August 7, 2007. Will have to see if it can be posted to YouTube. Conservation.org has a very nice video about the Mountain Gorillas and one of the vets in Africa, Dr. Lucy, has a blog. MGVP has been caring for ten orphaned gorillas.

M6 and M7 Review Received

From C -

Haven’t had time to go through the video in detail though I did watch it a few times over. Evidence of much stronger technique and bow control. Still, in even easier passages (beginning of Lully Gavotte) notes need more articulation, more bite, but not staccato. I guess separate notes need to sound a little crisper so they are clearer. The cello strings aren’t going to have as rapid as a response as violin or viola so the method of articulation may be different. I certainly don’t want to tell you the wrong thing.

My preference in playing those first few lines is to play the quarter with “rounder” notes and play the eighth duplets more crisply, again, sorry, more articulated. The general effect of the eighths comes off as “sawing”. You can do better.

I heard you get some nice vibrato on that folksy piece you played with the hat [M7] even though the Suzuki sheet music shows open strings on half note phrase endings (m8, for instance), try using a fingered note and using vibrato, not too much, but just to get the note started well and ringing. In study the bass gamba I found that a little vibrato at the start of even shorter notes helped give the note a better start Wow, talk about the response time of lower strings. Trying to get those bottom strings started was like trying to start an old diesel on a cold day! I miss those early music sessions!

The train tracks (pauses) are taking too much time in places and are hindering the flow of the music. They are not not of the composer’s pen, anyway. Starting a new sentence after each mark is a good idea but do it within the flow of the music. Watch your rhythm in m11, you are not getting to the first beat of m12 on time (the A half note). That eighth and 2 sixteenths need to be in the space of a half of a beat (assuming you are counting in cut time).

Also, watch your intonation on m5: the G, and m7; the raised leading tone, C#.

I would like to hear you play the piece a little slower but getting those eighth noted better, not legato but with just a small space between them. It’s not so much that the ending of the first eighth is going into the 2nd, it’s that the eighths need to have a better start to each.

The rit. In m20 is not necessary. It, too, is interrupting the flow.

The next section shows much technical progress but I rather reserve analysis till you’ve put a little more polish on it.

When you practice slower, try to convey a sentence structure to help with phrasing. For instance the first 8 bars can be a question (m1-5) and an answer (m5-8). This s how phrasing was first explained to me by my aunt when I barely knew how to hold the instrument up!

Just to to reiterate, none of these suggestions are meant to minimize your work and very evident progress that you have made in a short time (let alone all the vacations and other distractions you’ve had).

Still More Flowers of Edinburgh

Maricello inspired me again.

Day 84 (12th week) - Video of my attempt to play this morning from memory the Scottish Reel "Flowers of Edinburgh". I decided to do it "song style". Usual problems with bowing and intonation.



Anyway, I'm off to Baltimore tomorrow morn, and then its full-time school after Labor Day. Whee...

Boring stats:
8/13M - Read Schroeder 17, Scales A F#m, Bow exercises
8/14T - Day off for no good reason. Too much accounting work.
8/15W - Schroeder 18, Scales D, Bm, Bow exercises
8/16R - Scales C G D A, F, Bflat, Eflat, Bow exercises, Vibrato & Trill exercises
8/17F - Scales C G D A, F, Bflat, Eflat, Bow exercises
8/18S - Day off for no good reason. Too hot and humid.
8/19U - Schroeder 19, Scales C G D A, Em, Bow exercises
8/20M - Review old pieces, Schroeder 20, Bow exercises
8/21T - Schroeder 20, Bow exercises
8/22W - Work up "Flowers"

Bow exercises consist on full bow verbalizations -- Papa, mama, lala, tata, Pepe, Meme, Lele, tete, Pipi, mimi, lili, titi, Popo, momo, lolo, toto, Pupu, mumu, lulu, tutu. All on one bow 4 stops, Frog 4x full bow Tip 4x, Silent bow exercises 20x each per string. Suzuki rhythms.

Class Act

Received my transcript evaluation from TESC. Looks like I might be able to complete the Bachelors Degree by the end of the year. I'm going to try for a Music Major. I just have to take a couple of Music History Classes to fulfill the requirements.

Signed up today for a full time load, although mostly easy courses: Keyboard, Chamber Music (not so easy), Music History I & II, Intro to Psych and Human Growth & Development. The main strain will be that I'll be traveling a bit and will have to miss some class time.

Picked up a used keyboard last Sunday for $40 off craigslist. It's much better than the Casio keyboard I gave away years ago since it has a midi interface and touch response. The only drawback is that it doesn't have a dust cover.

Thanks for the warm wishes and encouragement Rallentando. If only I had kept up with the viola studies back in the 1980's, I'd be really good by now.

My husband lets the love birds walk around my work area -- I'm afraid that they might damage something before I notice and can prevent it! My mother had a cockatiel that chewed up a book before anyone noticed.

This week I'm off to Baltimore to visit my sister-in-law and maybe do some hiking. Then my husband is coming up Labor Day weekend for a stamp show. We'll come back to Miami together.

I don't think I'll be submitting any videos in the near future as I'll be concentrating on classes. I'm hoping to prepare "The Swan" for chamber music class.

Brain Music

Finished reading the neuroscience study on music. Looks like there's hope for all of us who practice really really hard. One only has to put in 10,000 hours to become a good musician--that's only 3 hrs a day for ten years. Appears its just like folks in school used to say -- talent is 98% perspiration and 2% inspiration.

Music seems to be closely related to social and courtship activities. The fittest of the species were able to withstand the rigors of dance and music making and therefore got the most dates. Guess that's why young girls go crazy for rock stars.

On Being Bad

Currently reading "This is Your Brain on Music" by Daniel Levitin. It is interesting to note how we categorize and prototype our musical experiences. Supposedly, the pitch, timbre and rhythm of songs are all locked into our memories, especially these days with access to the world of recorded music. Studies indicate that nonmusicians will recognize and sing songs such as "Hotel California" fairly close to the right tempo and pitch.

After recording myself yesterday, my first impression was "How awful. I thought I sounded better than that!" I had been listening to some online recordings of the Gavotte. According to the book, the brain anticipates and "fills in" missing or misplayed notes especially when we know what something is supposed to sound like. It's sort of a musical "optical illusion". Calibration is another factor. Does one calibrate against fellow students or against professionals? After I listened to another cellist playing the Gavotte on YouTube, I didn't feel so bad.

Now what happens when one learns a piece of music just from a score without having heard it before? That's one way to get some creative interpretation.

Day 75 Progress Video

Posted attempt at playing the Gavotte attributed to Lully in the Suzuki Cello Book 3 [M6].

Having the usual intonation and bowing issues. Also rhythm control goes haywire when taken off the metronome leash. Constructive criticism always appreciated.

Boring stats
M 8/6 Weiner 1-4a, Trill, Vibrato, work on M6, Schroeder 11, Bowing exercises. A flat and Fm scales.
T 8/7 No practice - done in by the dentist
W 8/8 Review M1-M4, Work on M6, Schroeder 12, D flat and B flat minor scales, Bowing exercises
R 8/9 Thumb exercises, Look for notes on the swan, Work on M6, Schroeder 13, F# and E flat minor scales, bow exercises
F 8/10 Thumb, Trill, Vibrato, work on M6, Schroeder 14, B and G#m scale, bowing exercises
S 8/11 Trill, Work on M6, Schroeder 15, bowing exercises
U 8/12 Work on M6, Schroeder 16, E and C#m scales, bowing exercises

Morning on the Deck

Well, actually it's a view of Rickenbacker Causeway (Miami/Key Biscayne) from our balcony.

Birdie Duet

I usually don't crosspost on my blogs but our latest arrivals are so cute. I thought I'd share a closeup of our new baby peach faced lovebirds.