Seven things

I was tagged by Maricello to post seven things about myself. So here goes:

1. When I first started kindergarten I thought I was going to get paid. My father was a teacher, and once when I was about 3 or 4 years old I asked my mother why my father went to school every morning; she said it was so he could earn pennies.

2. I once made a windmill out of toothpicks … just because I felt like it. It survived for about 3 years until my cat, Eliza discovered it. We ended up having to give Eliza away. Not because she destroyed windmills, but because I found out I was allergic to cats.

3. I majored in elementary education in college, but only taught for 3 years. I now wish that I’d majored in music or math.

4. I teach piano to young children, but didn’t start piano lessons myself until I was 16 years old.

5. I went to an all girls’ Catholic high school. The priest (Father N.) that used to say daily Mass in the school chapel looked like JFK. When I first got to college I noticed a cute guy that looked a little like Father N. Four years later I married that cute guy. (And as readers of this blog already know, we’ve been happily married for 39 years.)

6. My daughter and I bake cookies together every year at Christmastime. My husband and son can eat them almost as fast as we make them. I’ve gotten pretty good at hiding cookies.

7. I don’t like history, politics, or gardening.


OK … that was fun. Here’s a list of four people that I’d like to tag because I’d like to know 7 things about them:

Musicgal – I feel like I’m 16 again when I read her blog. I especially love reading about her adventures in high school orchestra and wishing I’d had that opportunity.
Jill – She’s busy raising her infant son right now, but I’m tagging her so that readers might visit her wonderful blog filled with beautiful thoughts and photos.
CelloGirl – a slightly younger adult beginner with a very interesting cello blog
Rallentando – another late beginner like me, currently struggling through the orchestra experience

Please feel free to tag as many or few people as desired.

Lost at sea

To elaborate a little further on the waverunner technique: It’s SPLASH … skip/skip, SPLASH … skip/skip, SPLASH … skip/skip, etc. (in 2)
"SPLASH" happens on the down bow (beat one) and "skip/skip" on hooked up bows … especially effective when "SPLASH is the quarter note and "skip/skip" the 2 eighth notes, which is the pattern for most of the cello accompaniment for Drummer Boy. The downside of this repetition is that it’s very easy to become lost in a sea of identical measures. We’ll see what happens tonight at rehearsal as I try to keep my place as I spatter along with my section. I’m hoping that the momentum of the melody will keep me attune to the chord changes if I get lost.


Post rehearsal comment:
It's definitely easier to play this piece with the group than to practice it at home alone. (Also a lot less boring.)

An analgesic analogy

Last Thursday night’s rehearsal was amazing! It was also a very good example of Maricellos’s recent post, “Musical Medicine.” For the entire day last Thursday I felt tired, sluggish and basically had to drag myself to orchestra rehearsal in the dreary rain that evening. But at some point during rehearsal, even though the weather hadn’t changed, my headachy blahs and naggy little hurts somehow magically disappeared as I contentedly played through our not-too-difficult holiday repertoire. And how neat is this? … I finally get to play something col legno for a few measures in “The Little Drummer Boy.” Fun.

Maestro, who is known for his unique phrases and sometimes comical explanations, gave the string section a most effective and descriptive analogy to illustrate a certain bowing technique that he wants us to use in Drummer Boy. He likened the bow to a Wave Runner slapping and skipping on the wave swells and troughs. I just couldn’t stop grinning at that image as I splashed my way through that section of the music. (The grinning itself actually helped ease my headache).

Just say yes to a music Rx!

Images from the field

Late Sunday afternoon, with just enough sun to see us through, the members of our pops orchestra played outdoors at a local town fair.

Noteworthy images and moments:

Watching Maestro lift his homemade podium from the trunk of his car

Glimpsing the group of “penguins” gathering on the field (uniform du jour: white shirts/black slacks) and anxiously joining them

Waiting patiently in our chairs for our turn to play while exchanging smirky smiles as we “politely” listened to three deafening rock bands perform on the portable stage (alas, too small to accommodate our 40+ pops group)

Hugging my poor cello as it shook violently from the amplified blasts, and hoping that the intense vibrations wouldn’t dislodge the sound post

Feeling a bit isolated as we played in the middle of a vast field with a small audience (many having already been driven away by the previous ear-piecing cacophony)

Listening a little disappointedly as our own lovely music dissipated into the field … but (nevertheless)

Reveling in our awesome repertoire of old standards (especially comforting in contrast to the prior attack on our eardrums)

Feeling that wonderful sense of accomplishment that seems to occur after every performance

Knowing that we all played well, even after only 3 rehearsals

Chatting with other orchestra members and their families after the concert