practice habits Archives

In the Practice Room with Brant Taylor

What is on your music stand right now? https://youtu.be/Regfkiv1UiM What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/neIt_yb0hYc Why do you practice? What drives and motivates you? Anything that helped during the pandemic? https://youtu.be/gDuModB0VO0 How do you cultivate inspiration in the practice room? What motivates you? https://youtu.be/pyN0D2lwaW4 How do you stimulate creativity and imagination in the practice room? What is your favorite way to change things up/get new ideas? https://youtu.be/7Tv4EAeAPtE In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/Regfkiv1UiM https://youtu.be/MAxveqAY5oI What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/pLVxnguxoS4 What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/F3ha0jwZGOM How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/as5W_gi6tlA How [...]

By Brant Taylor|2024-06-25T20:12:31-04:00June 9th, 2024|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interviews, In the Practice Room, Performance|Tags: how to practice, New Piece, Practice Room, Learning a new piece, motivation, effective practicing, practice habits, practicing, Brant Taylor, practice tips, creativity, daily practice, inspiration, Chicago Symphony Orchestra|

In the Practice Room with Jan Vogler

What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/JswhAsx3kkA What is on your music stand? https://youtu.be/rHybqTPRuoA What do you enjoy the most about practicing? What inspires you? https://youtu.be/x_tlqo6aeDs What is your favorite way to change things up/get new ideas? https://youtu.be/1rVZVbzNcZQ When do you feel the most inspired in the practice room? https://youtu.be/eWkJEtgBx_g Is there a particular practice method that you swear by? https://youtu.be/guW6r90BN2w What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/ZrEkl2LqHSA What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/gzvNZknCoXE How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/K-vwv7TDo2I With such a big workload, how do you avoid burnout and maintain balance? https://youtu.be/P7Vgl4hy2Eo How do you start learning a new piece? [...]

By Jan Vogler|2024-05-13T13:32:29-04:00April 23rd, 2024|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interviews, In the Practice Room, Performance|Tags: practice tips, daily practice, creativity, how to practice, inspiration, New Piece, Learning a new piece, Practice Room, Jan Vogler, motivation, practice habits, practicing|

In the Practice Room with Amos Yang

What is on your music stand? What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/j2UprmXuKHA Why do you practice? What drives and motivates you? Anything that helped during the pandemic? https://youtu.be/uyRoihCEpcQ When do you feel the most inspired in the practice room? https://youtu.be/qfqR7FtbQqg How do you stimulate creativity and imagination in the practice room? https://youtu.be/UJ6zIOvn7TM In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/QBj4xUBEKfk Is there a particular practice method that you swear by? https://youtu.be/aWziSVbS5n8 What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/nvkbfqoCEe8 How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/MF2C0XPYric With such a big workload, how do you avoid burnout and maintain balance? https://youtu.be/Xb-IYAm6GTk How do [...]

By Amos Yang|2024-03-18T13:24:37-04:00March 11th, 2024|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interviews, In the Practice Room, Performance|Tags: Amos Yang, motivation, Self-Recording, practice habits, practicing, practice tips, daily practice, San Fransisco Symphony, creativity, inspiration, how to practice, Orchestral Playing, Practice Room|

In the Practice Room with Julia Lichten

What is on your music stand? What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/NQveC_g1obo Why do you practice? What drives and motivates you? Anything that helped during the pandemic? https://youtu.be/A83d7hlJf1s How do you go cultivate inspiration? https://youtu.be/lUSyaGCz4kQ In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/mUCa2v09_7E Is there a particular practice method that you swear by? https://youtu.be/QYa9fY0QIMY How many hours a day should one practice? https://youtu.be/bAZz3zzqybQ What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/6AQk74UIXzg What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/MFbf-eRbvcw How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/rt5B2LeosnQ With such a big workload, how do you avoid burnout and maintain balance? https://youtu.be/FSUCcT-PxOE [...]

By Julia Lichten|2024-04-23T16:22:21-04:00April 24th, 2023|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interviews, In the Practice Room, Performance|Tags: practice tips, daily practice, how to practice, Julia Lichten, Practice Room, practice habits, practicing|

In the Practice Room with Austin Huntington

Why do you practice? What drives and motivates you? Anything that helped during the pandemic? https://youtu.be/fyamIbQ1_CM What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/I9cUZQpPRH4 What's on your music stand right now? https://youtu.be/YqliVUNn01M How do you go about deepening your musical imagination? https://youtu.be/-z6osWAf7Vg In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/Pg1sxCnTYh0 What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/NNdSjzkHqM4 What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/qon0C3NpJJc How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/NNg7X7BvRMw How has your practicing evolved over the years, or even recently? https://youtu.be/Bv4hX30eYYg

By Austin Huntington|2024-02-13T16:30:57-05:00April 3rd, 2023|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interviews, In the Practice Room, Performance|Tags: practice tips, daily practice, how to practice, Austin Huntington, Practice Room, practice habits, practicing|

In the Practice Room with Michael Haber

What's on your music stand right now? https://youtu.be/zXnE9O5u4ec What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/Ee5QTrThKU4 Why do you practice? What drives and motivates you? https://youtu.be/GbBtU4uuhIA What do you enjoy the most about practicing? What inspires you? https://youtu.be/LJ0CLr_2LZI How do you cultivate inspiration in the practice room? https://youtu.be/GRqq0Bl1bec In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/hcj0Y8wD3BA Is there a particular practice method that you swear by? https://youtu.be/xUJpfvFVVcw What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/nrH40qfgsAc What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/L36UMRi3MpQ How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/PbEEHJL226M How do you start learning a new piece? https://youtu.be/lKvv6ytQY2Y How has [...]

By Michael Haber|2024-02-26T13:29:55-05:00March 6th, 2023|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interviews, In the Practice Room, Performance|Tags: practice tips, daily practice, Michael Haber, how to practice, Practice Room, practice habits, practicing|

In the Practice Room with Zlatomir Fung

What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/3q5J63LDfB8 What is on your music stand right now? https://youtu.be/C89OAY5MU-s What do you enjoy the most about practicing? What inspires you? https://youtu.be/i1hkEubvKbY How do you stimulate creativity and imagination in the practice room? https://youtu.be/kIYTEkPtelE What is your favorite way to change things up/get new ideas? https://youtu.be/1ZNM7KDmiMs How do you go about deepening your musical imagination? https://youtu.be/4b7aJo8wRFc In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/4e5oFe_FLi4 How many hours a day should one practice? Quality or quantity? https://youtu.be/rde85_02Pg4 What are the best ways to prevent injury? https://youtu.be/8ET5esbCVnk What is your balance between technique and repertoire? https://youtu.be/xe-8YubBfGg How has your practicing evolved over the [...]

By Zlatomir Fung|2023-06-05T13:34:55-04:00October 22nd, 2022|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interviews, In the Practice Room, Performance|Tags: practice tips, daily practice, how to practice, Zlatomir Fung, Practice Room, practice habits, practicing|

In the Practice Room with Edward Arron

In our third installment of this series, we get an inside look into how Edward Arron approaches practicing. What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/L2q6chbDQrY What is on your music stand right now? https://youtu.be/zXs9XfzE85w What do you enjoy the most about practicing? What inspires you? https://youtu.be/BwCBbFDkQQg In your mind, what is it that makes an effective practice session? https://youtu.be/Dw92UGiatjM How has your practicing evolved over the years, or even recently? https://youtu.be/49kOrlWa4qM How do you stimulate creativity and imagination in the practice room? https://youtu.be/GjH0_HPhsdw How do you manage lots of repertoire at the same time? https://youtu.be/j8QjSCAI3Ho

By Edward Arron|2024-06-09T19:23:43-04:00September 19th, 2022|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interviews, In the Practice Room, Performance|Tags: practice tips, daily practice, how to practice, Edward Arron, Practice Room, practice habits, practicing|

In the Practice Room with Anssi Karttunen

Welcome to our second installment of In the Practice Room! This week we have Anssi Karttunen with a few very interesting answers on how he approaches practicing. Why do you practice? What drives and motivates you? Is there anything that helped during the pandemic? https://youtu.be/c6Bf-qkrsAw What is on your music stand right now? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3ga11BKjRQ Are there other genres you find particularly inspiring or motivating? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF5bXl8yOew

By Anssi Karttunen|2022-09-19T13:44:53-04:00September 12th, 2022|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interviews, In the Practice Room, Performance|Tags: daily practice, how to practice, Anssi Karttunen, Practice Room, practice habits, practicing, practice tips|

In the Practice Room with Benny Yi-Bing Chu

CelloBello is thrilled to present a blog series: In the Practice Room! We wanted to expand the conversation around practicing and help our readers get an idea of how each of our wonderful contributors think about and approach their own practice. Throughout these series, we will ask our CelloChat hosts a series of questions that revolve around this topic, and include short video clips of their answers to each question within these blog posts. We hope this will be an informative and exciting way to get an inside look at the practice process of some incredible cellists. In our first installment of this series, we begin with Benny Yi-Bing Chu. What is the first thing you do on the cello every day? https://youtu.be/Odgsqjw2-Rw Why do you practice? What [...]

By Benny Yi-Bing Chu|2024-01-22T02:00:42-05:00September 7th, 2022|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interviews, In the Practice Room, Performance|Tags: daily practice, how to practice, Benny Yi-Bing Chu, Practice Room, practice habits, practicing, practice tips|

Looking & Seeing — by Selma Gokcen

In my last column, I mentioned getting to know some of your habits at the cello…the worst ones can become your best friends, in that they will offer the richest material for work on yourself. So now we step into the arena. Looking at oneself is not easy. The same instrument that presents the problems is also doing the observing, so how reliable can our observations be when the instrument itself is faulty? This was F.M. Alexander’s dilemma. His vocal problem was hidden within himself, and so he set about observing himself in a mirror, later three mirrors, to see if he could discover any correlation between what he was doing with his whole body and his specific vocal defects. After long and patient examination, he identified several harmful habits, [...]

By Selma Gokcen|2017-10-08T02:56:56-04:00July 9th, 2011|Categories: Alexander Technique for Cellists, Playing Healthy, Self Discovery|Tags: Observation, cellobello, movement, seeing, Practice, self-observation, Awareness, Selma, body awareness, sound production, patience, practice habits, attention, Technique, body, Habits, breathing, Instruments, discovery, artistry, Coordination, Mind, cello, Gokcen|

Summer Music Camp — by Lev Mamuya

Ah, the joys of summer music camp—one of the greatest ideas of the human race, right up there with Snickers ice cream bars and compound interest. The experience of a summer at a good music camp is an essential part to speedy, varied, and interesting musical growth, and the friendships you make there can last you a lifetime (at least I think they will). I’m writing this as a break from packing; I leave tomorrow and I can’t wait. Summer music camp, as well as being an enjoyable social experience, can be the most productive time of the year to improve on your instrument. During the academic year, it’s easy for even the most focused individuals to lose track of musical goals because of the demands of school, sports, etc. [...]

By Lev Mamuya|2017-06-17T22:51:22-04:00June 20th, 2011|Categories: High School Blogs, In the Practice Room, Self Discovery|Tags: rehearsals, conservatory, cello, stress, cellobello, passion, music, lessons, Summer, classical music, festivals, Lev, freedom, Mamuya, practice habits|

Practicing What You Preach: Some Thoughts on Balancing Performing and Teaching — by Natasha Brofsky

During my preparation for playing a faculty recital at NEC’s Jordan Hall at the end of March, I found myself thinking a lot about the challenges of maintaining a teaching and performing career. I always find it the most challenging to play for the “home crowd,” especially students and colleagues, because I hope that I will in some way be able to “practice what I preach.” As a cello teacher my listening is focused on how a phrase could be played in a different, more compelling way, and how technique can serve the music. I find that turning my critical teaching ear on myself can inspire me but also paralyze me, because while I am playing I am hearing all the possibilities for doing it better: all the ways I have taught [...]

By Natasha Brofsky|2018-11-19T02:48:09-05:00April 11th, 2011|Categories: Artistic Vision, Performance, Teaching|Tags: cellobello, practice habits, solutions, NEC, practicing, New England Conservatory, students, Habits, Preparation, Brofsky, perspective, expression, emotion, balance, inspiration, Natasha, possibilities, bow speed, performance, Listening, vibrato, challenges, quality, cello, focus, colleagues|

Thirds, Thirds, Thirds… — by Lev Mamuya

Practice your thirds. As well as improving your technique, it can be…sigh…well, even a little bit fun. Many people give thirds an unfair label: they’re boring, they’re tedious, and they’re hard… Thirds are hard at first, and require daily repetition to maintain to the fullest, but never fear! A good daily method can change you from someone who hates thirds, to someone who can look forward to practicing thirds every day. Scales are always good. Thirds scales are even better. Practicing thirds scales slowly and repetitively is an important way to improve technique such as left hand finger rounding and intonation. Plus, a slow tempo can give you more time to focus on right hand/arm technique. This may not be the most fun part of practicing thirds, but JUST DO [...]

By Lev Mamuya|2017-06-24T03:42:45-04:00December 14th, 2010|Categories: High School Blogs, In the Practice Room|Tags: success, repertoire, challenges, scales, consistency, Technique, focus, thumb position, Lev, Mamuya, control, Martha, Awareness, motivation, practice habits, intonation, practicing|