exploration Archives

Enharmonically Equivalent: Greetings from Kingston! — by Avery Waite

What a month is has been! It has been an absolute whirlwind of teaching, cultural discoveries, new friends, new landscapes and rainy October downpours. Despite the consuming teaching schedule, I've been able to absorb different aspects of Jamaica bit by bit. From the breathtaking views of mountainous junglescapes, to stunning sunsets, to torrential thunderstorms, the natural beauty is both staggeringly vivid and refreshingly wild. But, it's a place of extremes and contradictions. The downtown area in which I teach five days a week is definitely tough and worlds away from the well-guarded mansions that dot the mountain-sides above the city. One of the schools, St. Andrews Technical High School, is bordered by a maximum security prison and several violent ghettos. There is a constant turf war in these neighborhoods as rival gang-lords called "dons" [...]

By Avery Waite|2017-09-21T04:25:35-04:00October 22nd, 2013|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interpersonal Relationships, Performance, Self Discovery, Teaching|Tags: Jamaica, Kingston, challenges, Avery, neighborhoods, energy, Waite, violence, after-school music, Teaching, Community, contradictions, cello, culture, El Sistema, music, Enharmonically Equivalent, students, balance, fruit, beauty, activities, gangs, safety, passion, healing, Travel, exploration|

THINKING IN A NEW WAY—Overcoming Habits (Part 3 of 6): My Cello and Me, a Dynamic Partnership — by Selma Gokcen

Trying is only emphasizing the thing we already know. —F.M. Alexander Just as you have the impulse to do something, stop. —Early Zen scripture (anonymous) Once a reasonable base of understanding is established and a student is able to stop, wait and stay back (this means leaving their back back rather than rushing forward) in the face of simple activities like sitting in and standing up from a chair, going up on the toes, all basic procedures long established in the Alexander Technique, the next challenge is to take up the cello. For each player, their instrument has associations, sometimes happy, sometimes fraught with tension and negative experiences. Just seeing their instrument makes some of my Alexander students anxious! And they are surprised that they don't have to pick up [...]

THINKING IN A NEW WAY—Overcoming Habits (Part 1 of 6): The Value of Quietness — by Selma Gokcen

We can overcome habits of a lifetime in a few minutes if we learn to use our brains. —F.M. Alexander The obstacle is the path. –Zen proverb I offer this six part series of articles to demonstrate how I work with the Alexander Technique to help musicians to overcome deeply ingrained habits. If a quick and easy fix is what is wanted, then the reader won't find it here. The process as I see it is multi-layered—the same habits that affect our cello playing and music-making are also our habits of life, the way we perceive, react and behave, moment to moment. Such observations are at the heart of Alexander's work. Albeit with the help of a good teacher the process of unlearning habits can be easier, there are no shortcuts. [...]

By Selma Gokcen|2019-10-31T15:42:33-04:00February 3rd, 2013|Categories: Alexander Technique for Cellists, Beyond the Traditional, Playing Healthy|Tags: arms, Patrick Macdonald, thinking, automatic movement, Habits, perceive, back, behave, learning, powerful expressiveness, nature, collapse, pressure, primary information, attention, Pablo Casals, doing, exploration, pushing, Observation, fingers, feet, hands, react, strain, cello, laying on the floor, Alexander Technique, rediscovering, music-making, cellobello, legs, Gokcen, shortcuts, force, music, manifest, shoulders, brain, process, mental messages, re-education, stretching, animate, neck, overcome deeply ingrained habits, Selma, the value of quietness|

Playing Audition Excerpts: Yes, the Devil’s in Them — by Brant Taylor

Although the collection of excerpts on an audition repertoire list may seem arbitrary, each one has a purpose: giving the audition candidate an opportunity to demonstrate certain things about his or her playing and artistry. Audition success involves showing a command of certain basic elements—such as rhythm, dynamics, intonation and articulations—as well as conveying a nuanced understanding of the music and the composer. A well crafted audition list will include excerpts that emphasize each of these elements, and a candidate’s ability to demonstrate control and understanding of them will determine his or her chance for success. Let's put these goals into concrete terms using a common cello audition excerpt as an illustration—the opening of the second movement of Brahms' Symphony No. 2: Brahms Second Symphony, 2nd Mvt. [...]

By Brant Taylor|2022-03-28T13:44:33-04:00May 2nd, 2012|Categories: Auditions, In the Practice Room, Orchestra, Repertoire|Tags: Brahms, exploration, nuance, Taylor, legato, artistry, control, inflection, goals, shifting, color, fingerings, cello, success, cellobello, tempo, Auditions, Brant, understanding, Excerpts, dynamics|

The Eyes Have It (Part 1) — by Selma Gokcen

One of the most valuable indicators of well-functioning coordination is eye movement. I have noticed for a long time now that there are different types of gaze in musicians. The "well-trained" musician of today often exhibits what I call blinkered attention, the result of years of too much effortful practice. The strain around the eyes is visible and often accompanied by laboured breathing. Caught by inward feelings and sensations, this musician is "concentrating." In the words of my Alexander teacher, the original meaning of concentration used to be: to relate a set of factors to a central point. It has been increasingly misused in our educational system to encourage the shutting out of everything else out to focus on a single thing. Concentration therefore as a useful aim has been [...]

By Selma Gokcen|2017-10-09T02:04:27-04:00October 22nd, 2011|Categories: Playing Healthy, Self Discovery|Tags: Awareness, concentration, relationships, Selma, practicing, attention, communication, seeing, Coordination, effort, exploration, Feuermann, Casals, Listening, Heifetz, cello, relaxation, strain, cellobello, Alexander Technique, music, Gokcen|

Finesse — by Brant Taylor

Any musician who has interests outside the realm of music has probably discovered ideas and concepts important to other disciplines which are directly applicable to the study and performance of music. The lessons we can learn about greatness from outside our own field are often very powerful because the underlying principles tend to be universal and not confined to any single discipline. For the famed American chef Thomas Keller, there is one word he uses to describe his entire philosophy of approaching his craft at the highest level: finesse. Chef Keller apparently doesn't want anyone who works for him to forget it—the word and its dictionary definition are emblazoned directly on the tiles above the entrance to the kitchen at Per Se, his high-end (and delicious) New York City restaurant: [...]

By Brant Taylor|2021-01-20T20:53:36-05:00July 19th, 2011|Categories: Artistic Vision, In the Practice Room, Performance, Self Discovery|Tags: exploration, finesse, Brant, Listening, harmony, Taylor, effortless, Janos, Awareness, lessons, creativity, legato, concentration, solutions, release, Philosophy, concepts, bow speed, small details, skills, weight, Starker, musical, fundamentals, tension, character, aspirations, vibrato, ideas, contact point, cello, details, cellobello|

“Which Hand Do You Hear?” — by Bonnie Hampton

When Paul Katz invited me to participate in the “CelloBello” Blog, I was intrigued and immediately saw his idea of a free exchange of cellists sharing their experiences, exploring ideas together and just being in contact as a larger community. As cellists,we have a rich heritage and spirit and we certainly love that instrument a great deal.  Otherwise, why would we carry it all over the world! There is so much to explore, but one thing which I find an endless investigation is the whole use of the bow. Of course, all the issues of the left hand are immediate. We play the notes. Expressively, our uses of vibratos are part of our individual “voice,” but while one might call the work of the left hand, our craft, how we [...]

By Bonnie Hampton|2019-08-05T15:06:25-04:00May 4th, 2011|Categories: Artistic Vision, In the Practice Room, Self Discovery|Tags: passion, searching, Experience, Bonnie, virtuosity, clarity, Coordination, discussion, exploration, Sound, Hampton, expression, improvement, hands, Teaching, character, individual voice, vibrato, communication, individuality, cello, personality, Listening, cellobello, possibilities, musicianship, music|

The Music of Movement — by Selma Gokcen

It is a great pleasure to tickle your screens from across The Pond, as they call the Atlantic Ocean here in Great Britain. I am honoured to be invited to add a few views to what is already a splendid site for cellists and a fruitful educational resource. The London Cello Society is an important part of my work, and as a nurturer of the cello world in the United Kingdom, I always celebrate a new addition to the Cello Cloud from which we can benefit. Our members are just getting to know CelloBello and they will no doubt enjoy and learn from it. It is said that the best things to write about are those you love. Therefore it makes sense in this first blog to introduce my passion [...]

By Selma Gokcen|2020-09-17T02:36:15-04:00April 25th, 2011|Categories: Alexander Technique for Cellists, Playing Healthy, Self Discovery|Tags: re-education, Technique, reactions, Habits, relationships, Instruments, Selma, exploration, sensory awareness, Alexander Technique, thinking, enjoyment, fundamentals, expression, Gokcen, Awareness, movement, intonation|