Nature and the String Bass

Melissa Weidman wrote this article about attending string bass camp in the wilds of Tennessee:

The Nature of Music: A Week in the Wilds of Listening

I think cellists would enjoy this story too, so encourage you to read it.

Friday at Fiddle Camp

In Friday’s Beginning Fiddling class, we went over all four parts of “High Road to Linton.” It, like the other beginning fiddling tunes, is in A major. I’m still having trouble reliably fingering the high G sharps, but this tune is coming together. Each of the four parts is pretty easy; it is just a matter of remembering them all, and the order in which they go, as we learned them out of order. The whole tune is on the A string for the cello. I ought to try playing it an octave lower, just to move around the strings a little. But then it would start on a low C sharp, E, A, probably creating more problems than it would solve.

Getting the notes is only the first step of course. There are slurs and accents that must be played for the piece to sound good and authentically Scottish. Correct bowing is crucial. Then you have to bring it up to speed, in order to play with others. I’ll try to continue to work on this when I get home. The Scottish tune book that I donated to the auction has “High Road to Linton,” so I know where to fine the notes if I need them. Most of the non-copyrighted tunes will be on the camp website shortly, too, so you, dear reader, may play them too.

In Friday’s first cello class, we learned “Sister Jean” and an interesting (and easy) countermelody to it, as well as a somewhat complicated bass line, which I did not pay too much attention to, figuring I would just stick with the countermelody for our performance tonight. We’re also going to play “Kinrara” so we went over that again. I’ll take a bass line on this one, as I cannot play the melody fast enough. I can play it almost up-to-speed, or up-to-speed with a couple of hesitations, though. A hesitation or two, and it is hard to keep up! I’m not as clear on the bass line as I should be, but am getting most of it.

At lunchtime, I grabbed a plate of salad and some uncharacteristically delicious tofu and vegetable concoction left over from last night’s feast, and headed for my room. I wrote down the “Sister Jean” countermelody so I wouldn’t forget it, and played it over and over again.

We reviewed the tune again in the afternoon cello class, along with all the other tunes of the week. I didn’t play anything perfectly, except maybe the countermelody once or twice and the waltz, but am feeling good about what I did remember and could play.

Abby taught an elective class right after the cello class: Baroque Scottish chamber music composed by James Oswald. She and Anne Hooper demonstrated a few violin/cello duets. Outstanding! I was a little worried about playing the pieces because they sounded complicated, but, when the music was passed out to violinists (for the moment, they were no longer fiddlers) and cellists, I found it easy to keep up, and felt so fluid, just being able to read the music! Ok, I got lost once or twice. It was so much fun being able to play along with Abby. Most of the tunes we played are on Abby’s CDs, and will be in her next sheet music book. Highly recommended! What a delightful way to end our classes here.

Friday night was the Ceilidh, which included performances by some very talented campers, as well as skits and nonsense. I was in a skit involving the Ministry of Magic (cellists, pianists, and guitar players formed the Ministry) giving out points to the various houses. The Beginning Fiddling class did a little skit involving warm-up exercises in which the fiddlers, while playing our waltz, dropped to their knees, and then to the floor where they lay on their backs, continuing to play. I let my endpin slide in and knelt, then sat on the floor, but could not, would not lie on my back. The other cellist did. Finally, the cellists performed our two tunes, “Sister Jean” and Kinrara. All went well, and I enjoyed doing it. Then, as on the first night, there was much playing of commonly known tunes, led by various instructors. I still knew only a couple of tunes, so I played backup, a touch more intelligently than last week.

We leave on the 10 am boat on Saturday (today), and we’ll be back in the real world where people go to work and carve out only a small portion of the day for cello playing. I’ve learned a lot about learning by ear and playing accompaniment. I have met lots of great people. It’s been a wonderful experience, but I am looking forward to getting home, too, and seeing family and friends. And sleeping in my own bed!

Thursday at fiddle camp

View of Boston from The Hollow.

Yesterday’s clam bake/lobster meal was great! What a delight! We ate outside, in an area called The Hollow, where the chairs can be arranged for performances or for eating. There was some entertainment beforehand. Our fiddle teachers played “French Folk Song” slowly and out of tune before launching into another exquisite set of Scottish tunes. There was also an auction items and services donated by campers to raise money for a former camp instructor who is being treated for cancer.

There was a dance afterwards, but I returned to my room with the idea that I would practice. I didn’t though. I went to bed early. It had been a busy tune-filled day.

Anne returned to teaching Beginning Fiddle, and we continued working on “High Road to Linton,” which has four parts. We reviewed the first part and learned two more parts. I missed Hanneke’s “close-your-eyes-and-listen” approach, but for one of the parts and analytical approach worked better. There were repeating four-note sections, in which the first part of each section was the first note of a turn (C-D-C-B).

In Cello class, I have been sitting at the edge of the class, where a view of Abby’s hand is often unclear. Thursday, I had a clear front-and-center view and had no problem starting of the tune because I could clearly see which notes she was playing. (The woman who took my end seat, who usually has no problem getting the tunes said what I had earlier: “I don’t even know what note you’re starting on.”) When things got complicated, it actually helped to look away though and just focus on the listening. The new tune, a jig, moves around from first to second to third and fourth positions and features a Shetland bowing. Watching was confusing though because I always fell behind trying to analyze what Abby was doing. So, I was torn between taking advantage of my great position visually and ignoring that position to focus on the tune.

One of the cellists who had been in Hanneke’s class with me said it was helpful to keep a free brain: to focus on the listening and the music and rid yourself of other thoughts, especially those “I can’t possibly do this” thoughts.

Another of the cellists who usually gets all the tunes said the standard session tunes were easier to learn than Abby’s more unusual music. We all agreed we loved Abby’s selection of music though.

After class I was torn between practicing, taking a nap, or going for a walk. I went for a walk, to the end of the island. I picked the closest end, the one heading in the direction of Scotland, and enjoyed a peaceful journey along a path through woods and meadows, with views of the ocean and Boston’s Logan International Airport.

It is hard to play in class for three or four hours and then find time and energy to practice. Still, I like the schedule here. There is a half hour between classes in the morning, an hour and a half break for lunch, and classes are over by 3:30. Dinner is from 6 to 7, and the evening’s entertainments start at 8 pm. There is always an opportunity to play at sessions or with other people.

Tonight there is another big party, the Ceilidh, preceded and followed by sessions. The Ceilidh include performances, skits, amusements, and dancing. It will be hard to leave this little island in the morning, but it will be nice to have time to practice some of these tunes (and all that other music I should be working on but have been neglecting).

This is my dorm building. My room is the basement room on the left end of the building. My cello class meets under the trees (where the cellos are), and my wi-fi center is the table. Pretty easy commute.

This is the side view of my dorm building. My side window is the one in front, on the right. Behind the building, you can see the soccer field. At the end of the soccer field is a path to the end of the island that I followed yesterday.

Logan airport from the walking path. (This is where I was when I called you, Glenn!)

Tuesday and Wednesday at fiddle camp

I’ve been writing these entries offline, in my room, rather than outside in the Wi-Fi center. Here’s an update on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday’s classes just ended (except for the electives, which I may skip today), and I will write about them later. I am catching on and learning much, but I am also getting tired, and the tunes are beginning to meld into conglomerate tune, or, as they say, “chune.”

Tonight is the clam bake (with lobster), a welcome break from standard camp food, which is often entirely yellow (corn, rice with leftover scrambled eggs mixed in, pasta, some other pasta, fish sticks, some sort of potatoes, and lemonade), with an occasional salad. I thought the world had embraced nutrition! The last two camps I went to had fresh organic fruits and vegetables, creatively cooked and presented. Oh well, the music is excellent here.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

In Beginning Fiddling, we reviewed our March tune and learned a harmony part to Lovely Stornoway. We will be playing this waltz Wednesday night at the Harry Potter dance. Since there are two cellists in the class, we will alternate on harmony and sometimes both play melody with other fiddlers playing the harmony part.

We had an open period prior to Cello class in which one of the other cellists and I worked on the tunes. He was very helpful, reminding me to sing the tune and listen for the intervals. I now have one of the tunes memorized and almost up to speed. The other still need some practice, but it is coming. Playing these fiddle tunes and accompaniment by ear requires a bit of knowledge of music theory, so there are benefits beyond “merely” fiddling and memorizing.

In Cello class, we reviewed the two earlier tunes, with accompaniment, and learned a new air. I am catching on a little faster now. It helps to do a slow tune, though this one, “Da Auld Resting Chair,” is not all that slow, and it seems to have many sections to it, not just an A and a B part. The tunes always seem more complicated when you are first introduced to them, then make more sense when you work on them. I have not had time to work on this tune, as the day has been busy, as always. I went over some of the fingerings in Abby’s book, “Crossing to Scotland,” with her. Abby’s fingerings are simpler than those my teacher gave me, and I am happy to have them. She will have another book out soon, by the way, with music from her other CDs.

I did not play fiddle in the March down to greet the visitors boat because I loaned my fiddle to a woman whose fiddle was hit and cracked by a flying Frisbee while she was practicing in the meadow. (This was actually a relief for me, not having to worry about playing both fiddle and cello here!) I spent some time relearning the March tune on the flute, barely getting down to the dock on time. I didn’t play, as they were already into the fast version of the tune by the time I got there. The march was fun though, even (especially) not playing.

The march led to an open-air concert featuring our stellar teachers. Abby played in many of the sets, and I enjoyed that particularly. All the teachers are outstanding players and multitalented. My beginning fiddle teacher, Anne Hooper, also plays with the Boston Philharmonic. Hanneke Cassel, who will teach the beginners on Wednesday, teaches at multiple fiddle camps, plays with Rushad Eggleston, and is sort of a female version of Rushard, in that she plays chops/grooves and is a little loony. But she is much more articulate than RE and shares the stage much better than he does. She is behind the Harry Potter theme, and has assigned each fiddle class to Hogwart Houses and given roles to various teachers and administrators. She is energetic and creative and always seems to be having a good time. Catherine Fraser is an excellent fiddler from Australia. She’s probably my favorite fiddle player: lyrical, musical, expressive, and makes it look so easy. There are guitar and piano teachers too, but I haven’t gotten to know them.

Lots more playing tonight. In other camps I have attended, there are individual and small group performances, usually daily. Here, the focus is on playing in the larger ensemble. So we all played various tunes that each class has been working on as well as other Scottish session tunes. The cellists did have group performance though. I played accompaniment, as I do not have these tunes up to speed yet. I love them though and will continue to work on them, though I am getting increasingly snowed under with tunes as the week progresses.

I like the fact that this camp is so focused on one genre of music. At other camps, I have felt torn in many directions. But here, especially now that I loaned out my fiddle, I play only cello (except for that brief flute diversion), and I play only Scottish tunes. I am trying to decide if I would come back here next year. I would have to build a repertoire of Scottish fiddle tunes over the coming year. Not Abby Newton cello-oriented tunes, but standard session tunes that everyone else is playing. That means I would have to find someone to play Scottish tunes with throughout the year. We have Celtic groups on the Cape, but not specifically Scottish groups (except for the bagpipers).

Once I get back home, the other genres of music in my life will clamor for attention, and I don’t know if I will have time to learn even a small Scottish repertoire. I’ll keep working on learning by ear and accompaniment. I can teach the Scottish tunes I have learned to the Old Time fiddle group I play with, as they also play some Celtic music. I am inclined to come back here, just because it is so well-organized, friendly, and focused. Of course, it will depend on who is teaching cello.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Beginning Fiddle was taught by Hanneke Cassel today. She has a completely different approach from Anne. We started with physical rhythm exercises to prepare us for the new tune, “High Road to Linton.” This involved standing, stomping one’s feet while clapping out a 1-4-7 rhythm. (There are eight 8^th notes in a 4/4 measure, and the accented notes are on the 1^st, 4^th, and 7^th eighth notes.) We have do something similar in cello class, which just involves counting one-2-3, one-2-3, one-2, while playing a rapid accented accompaniment. We also did a little primal screaming, something Rushad did frequently in the camp I attended with him.

Hanneke played the tune and we sang it. Then she asked us to close our eyes and listen while she played the first few notes of the tune and asked up to copy her. She gave us no clues and we weren’t supposed to look at her fingers to see what notes she was playing. We did this for about 20 minutes, repeating sections of the tune, building on them, adding to them, until we could all play the A part of the tune. Amazing. I found the tune easy to learn this way, and it was a very soothing, comfortable experience.

Next, in cello class, we decided to play a waltz for the big Hogwart’s Ball this evening. We selected the “Tombigbee Waltz,” and I closed my eyes, listened, sang it, and learned it fairly quickly, without too many clues. I was so proud of myself, even though this is a much easier tune than the others we have learned this week. Then we worked out a couple of accompaniments, which the others had no trouble memorizing, but I wrote down the chord names.

Later in the afternoon, I was worried that I wouldn’t remember the tune, so wrote it down, listening to the recording I had made in class. I realized I had made a couple of mistakes, including not recognizing when two notes of the same pitch followed each other. I had that problem with two of the other cello tunes we learned this week too. At dinner I mentioned it to two fiddle teachers I was eating with. One said that that was one of the most common mistakes people make, not hearing repeated notes of the same pitch correctly. Whew! So, it is not just me.

Excitement about the Harry Potter party built during the day, with everyone trying to remember details from the book to create costumes and activities. Our cello band, for instance, was called Hagrid and the Magical Beasts (the beasts being the cellos, not us). The fiddle classes were named for the houses at Hogwart’s. The Beginner class was Griffindor because we are so brave. The costumes were varied and creative. I simply wore mismatched clothing, as did several others.

I don’t know what they do at Hogwart’s for fun, but we danced Scottish dances while various bands played. I played the “Tombigbee Waltz” with my cello group (five of us and an accordion player) and “Lovely Stornaway” with the Beginner Fiddling class with piano and two of us cellists. Both from memory and without too many mistakes, and I was comfortable enough to watch the dancers, not my cello. When you play a short waltz for dancers, you play it over and over again, maybe 10 times, so you have plenty of time to correct errors!

So, I feel pretty good about making progress in learning by ear this week, and it is only Wednesday. Two more full days of camp lie ahead. There will be more performances Friday night. The cello class with perform “Willie’s Auld Trews,” which I still have much work to do on. And there is another tune or two to learn tomorrow.

Friday, we will play 18^th century Scottish chamber music by James Oswald, from sheet music! I am looking forward to that. Oswald was a cellist and so made the cello parts interesting, according to Abby.

Some quick photos of fiddle camp

A sunset. They are always beautiful.


Two camp buildings. This used to be a school. The one on the left is the cafeteria. The one on the right is a music classroom and music hall. The bare grass makes it look a little dreary, but it isn't. In the distance, between the buildings, is Boston Harbor.


A dorm just behind the cafeteria.

Sunday and Monday at Fiddle Camp

August 12, 2007

Sunday was the first full day of Scottish fiddle camp. Saturday was spent arriving here, by car and by boat, hauling luggage and instruments, computers and electric fans (for the anticipated heat wave), meeting people, touring the facilities, eating dinner, and sessions. There are 85 people here, and most of them filled the hall Saturday night, playing Scottish tune after Scottish tune. I am so impressed by the high level of musicianship here and most people’s long-term interest and involvement with Scottish music. I am not here because of a long-term love of Scottish music, but because I love the way Abby Newton plays the cello. Since she plays Scottish fiddle and Scottish Baroque music, so I would have to say I am also a fan of Scottish music.

I was one of four cellists playing on Saturday night. I knew one tune (Mairi’s Wedding, an easy piece for both fiddle and cello), but most of the time, I improvised backup, watching the other cellists and listening to the piano.

People are incredibly nice,friendly, helpful, and easy to talk to. I forgot my USB cable, which I need to transfer recordings from my minidisc player to my computer, the camp director directed me to someone who might have such a cable with him. Turns out it was one of the other cellists, the one for whom I brought a rental cello to the camp. That worked out well! [Note: Today, I found my own USB cable—I had carefully stored it in a drawer. I’ve been just a little disorganized, but in an organized way.]

The first class I attended was a beginning fiddle class, playing cello along with one of the other cellists, to get more practice in learning by ear. This was good for me, and the tune was easy enough so that I got most of the notes readily. Shifting was required and high G# fingering required some thought, but we were playing slowly and the fingerings were not difficult. However, to bring this tune up to speed and add the accents and improve the distinctive rhythms that make it such a lively march will take it a little longer.

I just stayed in the fiddle room for the next class, in which I played fiddle, which was called Fiddling for the Very Beginner. A little boring in the beginning, but it turned out to be an excellent review of fiddle posture and bow hold, and the teacher gave me some useful pointers and helpful advice.

After lunch, there were two back-to-back classes with Abby Newton. Abby is wonderful, a caring teacher and helpful in my quest to learn to play by ear. All tunes at this camp are taught by ear, but varying degrees of help are given, depending on the students’ needs. The other three cellists have much more experience with Scottish music than I do, and they can play by ear better than I can. Some of them were familiar with the tune we learned, “Kinrara,” which is on Abby’s Castles, Kirks, and Caves CD. (Listen to this CD if you are at all interested in folk cello music!) So, I got a little more help than the others needed.

Abby likes to use open strings. A fine quality in a cellist. Apparently open strings are just fine in fiddling, though frowned upon in classical music. We learned the tune in the first session and learned two accompaniment styles to use it in the second session. When I say “learned,” I mean some people learned the whole tune. I learned most of it, in parts, but holding the whole thing together in my head was difficult.

After class, with the help of my recording and, yes, the sheet music, I am now able to play the piece. Some people say it is easier to learn by ear than from sheet music. I would have to agree, especially when you are in a class and the teacher is giving you helpful advice, such as “this is a scale part,” “determine the highest note and the lowest not in a phrase,” Note the fingering here carefully (2 on high F, followed by 2 on D), “Bowing here is up-up.” You can get the articulations, dynamics, and nuances better than you can get from the sheet music. For me, learning by ear from a CD or in a session is a little more difficult without those teacher prompts.

Abby says that when she learns a piece, she records herself playing it from sheet music and then learns from the recording, not the sheet music. Of course, I think she means learning as in memorizing, not learning as in figuring it out. But it is an interesting approach.

The concert tonight was outstanding. Gorgeous Scottish fiddle music! Anne Hooper, my beginning fiddle teacher, played, as did another fiddler, both with piano accompaniment. The piano accompaniment really added to the fiddling. I noticed this Saturday night in the jam session, and tried to stay with the piano in my accompaniment attempts.

Accommodations are fine. It’s like a tiny college campus, with several small red brick dormitory buildings, a few classroom and meeting buildings, and ocean views. The island is also used for Outward Bound, but I think the Outward Bound kids are roughing it elsewhere on the island. The weather has been perfect. Sunny, cool and comfortable. But all classes today were inside!

Monday, August 13, 2007

Beginning Fiddle Class was a review of the March we learned yesterday, plus the introduction of a new tune, a slow air, “Lovely Stornaway,” like the March, in the key of A. The March will be played by all when we go to welcome the visitors on Visitors’ Day, Tuesday. Cellists don’t have to march. I may play the March on my fiddle, if I have time to transfer my imperfect knowledge of the tune to fiddle. I like this beginning class because it goes slow enough for me to learn the tune, yet the teacher introduces embellishments and articulations that make the tunes sound good. And when I say “learn,” I mean learning in class. Forgetting it afterward is pretty common, unless you work on it, and even when you do.

Though I spent at least an hour working on “Kinrara” yesterday, it completely escaped me in class today. We reviewed that tune and learned a new one, “Willies Auld Trewes.” Both are in d minor, and both are beautiful tunes on the cello. Abby says she is teaching tunes that are fun to play and sound good on the cello, rather than just what the fiddles are playing. Makes sense to me. I continue to be the least able to pick up tunes by ear in cello class, but it’s ok. Eventually I will get this.

She is also teaching rhythmic drone accompaniment, as well as more chord-like accompaniment and countermelodies.

Today I worked on the March and the Air from fiddle class. Abby is performing tonight, and after that is a dance, but I might come back after the concert and practice the cello pieces. I should probably drop the fiddle class and concentrate on the cello tunes, but the learning by ear is more my speed in the fiddle class. We’ll see.

You can’t escape the “real world” here at fiddle camp. The theme of our big party on Wednesday night is Harry Potter.

Here at Camp

Camp is wonderful. The people are friendly, talented, and serious about Scottish music. The teachers are very good. Abby Newton is an excellent teacher and all-around great person. Camp has Wi-Fi hotspots and beautiful ocean views. What more could one ask for? Well, the food isn't very good. But, all in all, a great place to be, and I have already almost learned two tunes, almost by ear. :-)

More later. It's almost time for the evening concert.

All my bags are packed....

I am leaving in the morning for Scottish Fiddle Camp. I'm carpooling in to Boston with another camper, a fiddler who lives nearby, and bringing a rental cello for a camper flying in from California. I've also had some e-mail discussion with another camper, and phone and e-mail conversations with various staff members.

So, I almost feel like I already know people and can just jump right into camp routine without going through that sometimes awkward and shy getting-to-know-you phase. :-)

This is a long camp: mid-day Saturday to mid-day Saturday. Other camps I have attended have started with receptions on Sunday night, followed by a Monday-Friday camp. We're going right into classes on Sunday morning. There are four classes a day, and three of them will be cello. I may take beginning fiddling (on the fiddle) in the 4th period, play cello with a beginning or intermediate fiddle group, or just take a nap. Evenings are for concerts, dancing, and playing [music] at parties. And naps.

Dance shoes and water shoes

A photo from last year's Scottish fiddle camp showing fiddlers on the dock, waiting to welcom the Visitor's Day boatload of family and friends. This photo and the one below are from the camp website.

Among the myriad items on the Scottish fiddle camp list of things to bring are dance shoes and water shoes. Apparently there is dancing every night, even in the non-air-conditioned heat. Photos from previous year's camps show people wearing anything from white disco boots to no shoes at all. I've got some ballerina-style slippers that ought to fit right in.


According to the camp website, it is "a bit of a hike" to the beach, and the beach is rocky (thus requiring the water shoes), but is supposed to be beautiful, looking eastward toward the vast ocean (rather than back toward Boston). We've got some water shoes around the house somewhere, if I can find them. Maybe it is time to buy some Crocs.

(It will be interesting swimming in Boston Harbor. It was once very polluted. I used to be an environmental planner and worked on a project involving improvements to one of the then-semi-functioning sewage treatment plants. I understand Boston Harbor water quality had improved dramatically, due to this and other efforts.)

Also on the camp list is "silly costumes" and decorations for parties. I'm not sure about this. My daughter thinks my dancing skirts are silly enough. Add my tie-dyed t-shirt, and I think I'm ready.

Though I don't leave for camp until Saturday, I have started packing already. I don't want to forget anything, as, of course, I'll be [happily] "stranded" on an island for a week. I will bring work with me, and my computer, but I am really looking forward to getting away and concentrating on music for a whole week. And dancing and the beach.

Learning and memorizing a tune

I attended a great fiddle concert tonight by the Kane Sisters, two Irish fiddlers. One of them, Liz, said she could learn a complicated tune in about an hour, by ear. Then, the next day she would have to learn it again. And keep at it until she had it down. It doesn't take her all that long: about five times playing the tune with her sister until they have it down. Less complex tunes take only a half hour (the first day).

This was reassuring to me, as they have been playing fiddle since they were young children. I can easily memorize a tune on the first day and almost completely forget it the next day. Yet, if I keep at it, it doesn't really take more than a few days to memorize a simple tune. Reliably playing it is another story.

Liz also said the first step was "listening until you are blue in the face." An interesting image! This is important. I used to do the reverse in a class--try to memorize the tune a few notes or measures at a time, before I really knew the tune well enough to sing it. It is so much easier to play a tune you already know.

I briefly attended a fiddle session before tonight's concert, in which the same subject came up. One of the fiddlers said he memorized about a tune a week, but it took him about a month to learn each tune. Thus, he's usually working on four tunes at once, in different stages of knowing the tune. This makes sense to me, as it is more or less what I do, but sometimes I'm lucky to add one new tune a month.

Here's a link to a good summary of fiddle practice technique.

Later tonight, after the concert, I got a call from a woman at the Scottish fiddle camp that I will be attending soon. She wanted to know my cello level so the teacher could prepare for the camp. There are only 4 cello students, including me, of a total of 75 students, and we're all over 40 and pretty much on the same level (I hope! All the others have attended this Scottish Fiddle Camp before, so they are a bit ahead of me on Scottish fiddling styles.) Turns out we will be learning by ear. I had a nice chat with the caller (a fiddler) about learning tunes, and she agreed about the importance of listening and the ease of forgetting. She also said that the cellists attending are the nicest group of people you could ever hope to meet. Well, I already knew that about cellists!

Kneisel Hall Adult Chamber Music Institute

Today's Boston Globe has a great article about the Kneisel Hall Adult Chamber Music Institute in Blue Hill, Maine, written by a clarinet player who attended last year. It is a one-week program for musicians at intermediate level and above. One woman attended after only one year of cello lessons because she was told there was a shortage of cellists. She found it challenging. This year's program is Aug. 12-19.

The article includes information on other summer programs, including SummerKeys, which I attended a few years ago after one year of cello study. Blue Hill isn't quite so far a drive for me, and this camp seems better in the sense that multiple instruments are included in the same week, housing (cabins) and food are onsite, and, earlier in the summer, Blue Hill is a camp for talented and accomplished "pre-professional" musicians, so it has great facilities: practice cabins, a concert hall, a chamber music center and library. It also sounds more demanding than SummerKeys, which, at least when I went, was primarily a place to work on your own music, with ensemble playing as an extra.

The article is at: Pack Up Your Viola and Play, Play, Play

I'd like to go in a couple of years, once I feel more securely intermediate, in terms of Beethoven quartets.

Cello camp plans

I have signed up for summer cello camp: The Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddle School, in August. Abby Newton, one of my favorite cellists, will be teaching. I love her book/CD, Crossing to Scotland, and am working on several pieces in it (Wagonwheel Notch, Crossing to Ireland are my current favorites). I highly recommend it.

I picked this camp because of Abby Newton, and because it is close to home, though still in a remote location (Thompson Island, in Boston Harbor) , and the accommodations look good (single or double rooms, in a dormitory structure). I have camped out before, at Maine Fiddle Camp, but think I want the comfort of an actual bed this time. My only concern is that many of the people in the photos on the Camp's web site look so tired or bored. Maybe it is just incredibly hot.

The camp is sponsored by the Folk Arts Center of New England. Their web site is at http://scottishfiddle.org/bh/index.html.

This will be my fourth summer music camp. I have also attended Summerkeys, Maine Fiddle Camp, and Meadowlark music camp, all in Maine. I had high expectations for the first camp, Summerkeys, expecting to learn about a month's worth of music in a week, after just a year of study. I worked on just one piece (Happy Farmer), correcting bowings and timing, memorizing, and making it sound just a little more like music. I played it perfectly once, during a lesson, not at the recital. I was also in a coached ensemble, but the less I say about that the better.

I never learn as much as I want to at camp--I take too many instruments and/or too many classes; I always take work with me; I try to do too much. Still, I find the experience to be valuable, and I always learn something that stays with me. This year, I am hoping the focus will be just right, balancing cello learning, playing with others, under the trees, relaxing, and becoming more familiar with Scottish music. We shall see.