Growing the Inner Cellist

Growing the Inner Cellist involves a focus on all three aspects, or elements, of the Inner Cellist, as discussed in an earlier article; those aspects are:

• Physical

• Aptitude (natural ability)

• Emotional

A cellist’s focus on growing their three Inner Cellist elements can be described by understanding how each of the following musical activities can help with the growth of each element: 

• Instruction

• Practice

• Performance

Instruction

Almost all young, beginning cello students need instruction by an experienced cellist.   Without regular feedback and correction by such an instructor on fundamental issues such as posture, balance, intonation and bow technique (and more), a young student will develop technique that creates tension and bad habits.  Lack of proper instruction will stunt cellist growth, in part the ability to play both faster passages to tempo and more complex music.  Proper instruction includes direction by a musician experienced in playing the cello (can’t teach that which you’ve never done), and with whom the student is symbiotic, around the following elements of the Inner Cellist.

Physical - Instruction of  the physical starts before a student picks up the instrument.  One of the greatest sources of frustration for musicians is physical tension, pain and injury caused by inadequate technique. The balance of a cellist is much different than that of a violinist, for example. An unbalanced cellist will have pain leading to injury after playing many hours.  Part of being balanced is having the proper size cello and chair.  Proper instruction will guide the student in obtaining and maintaining proper balance, among other points.

Aptitude -  Some students need more instructional help in areas where they do not have a natural musical aptitude.  A teacher needs to identify and define those areas and then develop an approach to develop them over time.   For example, a common struggle for younger students is rhythm.  Once a student can say the rhythm, they can think and play the rhythm.  Pitch (hearing a note in tune) is another area where many students need development past their natural abilities (a cello doesn’t have frets on the fingerboard like a guitar).  Pitch difficulties can be corrected with double stops (two notes at once).

Emotional -  Once a student can play in tune and in rhythm, an instructor can work on helping a younger student understand how the music feels: mad, sad or happy, for example. Ultimately, with instruction, the student will be able to decide the emotion of a piece of music and, and along with that emotion, the story being told by the piece.

Practice

Students need to practice to progress, at their individually capable growth rate, in the quality of their cello playing.  Without practice, an instructor can “spoon feed” material to a student at lessons; however, that student’s growth will be stunted by the lack of supportive practice.  Similarly, diligent practice without the proper approach to the following elements of the Inner Cellist will limit a student’s development.

Physical - Muscle memory development is a critical part of any physical endeavor, including cello playing.  Practice is essential to building muscle memory.  Through practice, each student will learn how many repetitions they need to learn a new skill.  The teacher will help make the practice process more effective and efficient.

Aptitude -  As with many skills, understanding a difficulty is often obtained by video and audio feedback.  During practice, this feedback is provided by the student recording themselves and immediately reflecting on their progress through the difficulty.  The self-feedback accelerates the issue correction.

Emotional -  Practice, properly approached by the student, will help each student hear many aspects of their cello playing as they play.  Just as with human speech, once properly heard, a cello student can then work on their musical phrasing to make musical statements.

Performance

Many young students are initially reluctant to perform, even in front of their parents.  While playing cello for one’s personal enjoyment is certainly a delightful experience, greater enjoyment will be realized by learning, being comfortable and, ultimately, excited about playing for others in various forums.  For a student, those forums can include parents, friends (in student ensembles) and during community service (e.g. playing for retirement homes).  Certainly, with social media, the ability to be social and share a talent via various mediums will provide a young student a life advantage.  For those students college bound using their cello playing as part of their application, the inevitable audition will require public performance, best learned way in advance of the event.  The experienced cello teacher, through their individual relationship with each student and focus on the following Inner Cellist elements, can help guide the young student in developing a love of performance over years of instruction and practice.

Physical - Part of performance is learning how to be physically ready in the midst of the normal feelings around any performance (versus practice).  As with a lesson or during practice, the student needs to be cognizant about their approach to the chair and set up the cello (for example, end pin placement).  Performance starts with the parent as the audience.   At the end of a lesson when the student is tuned up, warmed up and has learned a part (i.e. physically, attitudinally and emotionally ready), I like to play a duet with the student for the parent(s) and other family members present.  This activity connects performance with physical readiness to play the cello.

Aptitude - During a lesson, I choose our best song, the one that is easiest for the student to focus on so we can show off the student’s music-making progress to the family.   Fun experiences help to reinforce the process of learning.

Emotional -  Playing with the teacher during a lesson is a beginning form of performance.  These “performances” with an experienced cellist, who can drive the musical expression through a cello, are the initial phases of the experience of music being the language of human emotion.