me and my cello~

I remember it as clear as day, the day I took my diploma exam. It was just three of us is in the exam hall – me, my teacher as the pianist and the examiner. Make it four, if you want to count in the recorder. A lot of preparation went into the exam. Preparation was as early as nine months before the exam. A lot of thought went into selecting the best repertoire of songs that could best suit my playing style and songs that I could interpret well.

I can say with absolutely certainty that it is nothing like what you see on American Idol. Playing the cello is more than just singing your heart out to a million fans watching national tv. Playing the cello or any other musical instrument is about reaching out to your listener through the sounds it produces. With the ever popular electric guitar, most of the sound it produces is manipulated by the amplifier and all the other gadgets thrown in but with the cello or violin, your very fingers that press the strings and the amount of pressure you apply with the bow become the core and source of the sound it makes. In a nutshell, you are the player, the amplifier and the synthesizer.

When I finally selected and finalized my repertoire of songs for the exam, I knew I had to sit myself down and really think about how I wanted to represent the song to the examiner. The examiner is human like me, which means he will also be driven by a set of emotions. I knew it was going to be up to me to bring out a flare of emotions from within him if I was going to even stand a chance to pass the exam.

I started reading up on the composers. I wanted to step into their shoes to understand why they wrote the songs I was going to perform because behind every song written, there must be a specific inspirational motto or theme to it. I haven’t heard of anyone composing a song for the sake of composing one. Even if there were such a person, I am certain as day that the song will be of no value.

After understanding the songs from a more historical perspective, or at least I think I understood them, it was getting down to practicing the songs. Trust me when I say performing the song is the easier part of the process actually. Practicing the song to the point where you are comfortable to perform it is the grueling, painful, nerve-wrecking, finger-breaking process.

If you think I am kidding, here’s an overview of my practice menu. It was either a 5 day week practice or full 7 days:-

1. It’s about 2 to 3 hours per practice session;

2. Break a particular song into smaller sections;

3. Practice one particular section per song until I am familiar with the notes only. This involves a juggernaut amount of repetition of the same section.

4. Once I am happy that particular section, I move on to the next.

5. When I am finally done with knowing all the notes, then I finally move on to so called “adding” the emotions to the song.

6. When I am finally done with all the above, I try playing through my entire repertoire without stopping and start troubleshooting areas of concern in any particular song.

As much as the practice session sounds extensive, the professionals go deeper into it like 6 to 7 hours of non-stop practice and really go into more than just understanding the composer. It’s almost as if they want to be the composer. It’s amazing when you think about it!

Which reminds me, my practice sessions included a lot CD listening. Picking up CDs of different performing artistes to listen to how they interpret the songs. I really was trying to come as close as figuratively asking, “How do you express this song emotionally?”

Looking back at what I have achieved so far with my cello, if someone asked me if I am happy with where I am, I’d say no. There’s so much more I can do with the cello and there’s definitely more to learn about the cello and my cello. What I have learned so far, is probably just the tip of the iceberg or maybe even just the tip of the tip of the iceberg.

At the end of the day, be it learning a musical instrument or simply learning to do something. It’s more than just having the right set of tools but it’s more important to have the right mindset to approaching it. Above everything else, it’s about liking what you are doing. I doubt I would have gotten anywhere if it weren’t for the fact that I really do love the cello and the sound it makes.