Practicing progress

I am happy to report that I have had a very good practice week. Often, at this point in the week, I am thinking, "Oh, no, my lesson is on Monday, and I haven't really practiced yet." Then, I spend the weekend trying to catch up. This week, I decided to take my own advice, and practice every day for 1-2 hours, including all that good slow practice. I am still concentrating mostly on pieces, with only minimal time for scales and exercises, but it is progress.

Baby Einstein plays the cello, sort of

President Bush has been criticized for honoring Julie Aigner-Clark, founder of Baby Einstein, in his State of the Union Address, essentially giving her product, educational videos for babies, free advertising and presidential approval.

Baby Einstein (and products like it) is considerd by many to be a wrong-headed approach to education; at worst, a contributing risk factor for autism by promoting passive tv-watching over active engagement; at best, simply a video baby sitter to keep the kids amused while mom makes dinner. Anxious parents, eager to give their children educational advantages, are a ready market for such products.

A suit was brought against Baby Einstein by Commercial Free Childhood last May for deceptive advertising. According to CFC, tv viewing will not make you smarter, but may in fact be harmful to children, interfering with cognitive development, language development and regular sleep patterns. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that children under 2 not watch television at all.

The name Baby Einstein implies that the videos will increase your child’s intelligence. An odd choice of names, since, of course, Einstein himself was not considered brilliant as a baby himself. He didn’t talk until he was three, and not fluently until he was 9.

Twenty years ago, when our children were babies, there were similar products on the market. Even then, these videos and educational television for young children, in general, were criticized, in books like The Hurried Child (Elkind).

I haven’t seen any of the videos or listened to any of the CDs, but would have to say that the content of the Meet the Orchestra CD/DVD sounds fine. It introduces the various sections of the orchestra and works which feature those instruments. However, any parent can introduce their children to classical music (and jazz, folk music, etc.) by playing CDs, turning on the radio, providing music-making toys, and/or taking them to concerts and similar events. Or playing his/her cello for them.

My big complaint about the product is about the illustration on the cover of the CD/DVD. Look at that duck’s bow hold! Not to mention the inefficent use of the left hand and total lack of a cello chair.

“But I played it perfectly at home!”

In cello choir class the other night, after we both bumbled through a tricky passage, the woman who was playing first with me turned to me and said: “I practiced this part! I played it perfectly at home! I really worked on it.” I stopped her by saying, “I did too, and I marked all the fingering, but now when I look at those numbers they mean nothing to me.” She, too, had worked out the fingering. Then I admitted I only worked on it in one or two practice session, over the last two weeks—and so did she. We both finally did get it right, but it was a struggle.

This is something one should learn early on in practicing, that, to “set” a passage, you have to slow it down and play it over and over again, even after you get it right. The brain remembers all those times you flubbed it. Another woman had trouble because she kept slowing down when she got to her tricky passage. This is another reason to play the whole piece slowly in practice, rather than to try to play it up to speed immediately. I’m working on this!

The cello choir is one of several adult cello choirs at the local conservatory. The more advanced choir has eight players; ours, an intermediate level group, has five. There are one or two less advanced groups with 3 to 5 players. There is also a string orchestra (which I joined for a time) and a community orchestra, both of which have numerous cellists.

It is amazing to me that in this small area there are so many adult cellists, all of whom absolutely love the cello. I think it is largely due to the cello choir teacher, the teacher of most of the other cello choir students, who welcomes adult students with endless patience and gentle support. My own teacher has group classes only rarely, and far fewer adult students, so the cello choir classes are a great way for me to play with other cellists.

This week, however, we were teacherless, as our teacher had another commitment. We did just fine on our own—there is much we students can learn from each other and from being left on our own to figure things out for ourselves every now and then.

Stringfever Bolero

A friend sent this amusing cello quartet.

Elvis and Mom

Music blared, lights flashed, nursing home attendants dressed in poodle skirts and jauntily tied scarves cheered and yelled, and an aging, pockmarked Elvis in a bejeweled jumpsuit bounded through the doorway and up to the front of the nursing home chapel filled with elderly ladies with walkers and wheelchairs and immobile expressions. He grabbed a microphone, and intoned: “Hi, I’m Johnny Cash.”

I remain puzzled as to whether he was acknowledging his greater physical similarity to Johnny Cash than to Elvis, whether someone had put on the wrong theme music and he was making a joke, or whether he had just forgotten which dead singer he was portraying at this nursing home. Possibly I was hallucinating. I choose to think he was making some subtle joke. He quickly returned to the task of being Elvis, and, with a “Thank you very much,” launched into “Return to Sender” to celebrate what would have been Elvis’ 72 birthday.

It had been somewhat of a struggle to get my mother to the concert. I was visiting for her birthday, and she was complaining of feeling exhausted all the time, just wanting to sleep. I thought it would be good for her to partake of some of the activities offered by the nursing home, and I really wanted to see Elvis. She finally gave in and we found a spot in the very last row.

Elvis started moving about the room, crooning to individual women. One elderly man was dancing. The nursing home attendants were beside themselves with glee, and I thought how nice that Elvis is connecting directly with the residents. (I play, in various ensembles, in nursing homes, and it took us a while to figure out that talking to the residents before, after, and during our performance as important as actually playing for them.)

But, then, when Elvis got to my mother, I suddenly felt outraged that this man-in-an-Elvis-suit might flirt with her for a laugh, even a loving, laughing-with-you sort of a laugh. He didn’t. He shook her hand and shook mine. Very respectful and proper. My mother said later, “Who does that old geezer think he is, trying to be sexy?”

She did enjoy her root beer float, and agreed that it was good to get out of her room on occasion.

By the end of our visit, she was feeling stronger and more energetic than she had in some time, and, in the weeks since our visit, she has gone to other events. But, recently she said that these activities were boring. "Would you play Bingo?," she asked me. Ah. . . no. Fortunately, she enjoys reading, but I wish there were more entertaining activities that would entice her out of her room, as it is (generally) good to connect with other people.

I live quite a distance from my mother, but I am going to try to do more performances at local nursing homes, and try to figure out ways to involve the residents. I would love to hear from others who play in nursing homes.

Cat in a Fiddle Case

One of our two cats, snoozing on my fiddle, which is balanced on a chair in front of the digital piano. Resting on the keys are two native American flutes. The music on the piano is easy Christmas music from around the world. There is a conductor's baton and a container of guitar-shaped paper clips from the Hard Rock Cafe. The photographs are of our children, and Andre Previn, who autographed the photo to the kids as follows: "It is awful to practice, but we all have to do it. Good Luck!"

The kids are excellent musicians, despite the fact that they don't practice much. I, on the other hand, need to practice (and also enjoy it). I read in the New Yorker that string bass player Edgar Meyer does not practice at all, but also that in a survey done of musical achievement, that the single most important factor in a musician's success was not talent or teacher, but rather amount of time spent practicing. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Most people improve through practicing. Some are really gifted. And Edgar Meyer must practice a little!

The cats seem to enjoy music, in that they hang out with me when I practice, but you never catch them swaying to the beat, or letting an emotional tear fall at a particularly good (or bad) passage. I wonder if they hear the music at all or if they are just waiting for me to go to the kitchen to get us all a snack.

Denise Djokic, again

Folk Lore, by Denise Djokic.
This is a wonderful CD.

http://www.denisedjokic.com/

She plays with strength, passion and sensitivity, making it sound effortless. I am equally impressed with David Jalbert, the pianist. Together, they are delightful.

Folk Lore includes folk-style classical music by Vaughn Williams, Stravinksy, Schumann, Janacek, and Cassado.

I am looking forward to her concert here; she will play Saint-Saens, Cello Concerto No. 1.