Practice Room 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|

Behind the Scenes with Brannon Cho

We are thrilled to introduce you to Brannon Cho, First Prize Winner of the 2018 Paulo International Cello Competition. In this conversation Brannon takes us behind the scenes offering insight into his preparation, mindset, and aspirations. Blogmaster: Can you give us insight as to how the competition felt for you? Did you play as you aspired to? Brannon Cho: The competition was quite exhausting. As opposed to other competitions I’ve done in the past there was almost no time to rest between rounds. In some ways I appreciated it because it was similar to the concert schedule of a touring soloist. As a soloist, every two days you have a big concert. In contrast, in Belgium last year I would sometimes have a week before I played the next [...]

By Blogmaster|2021-07-05T18:34:38-04:00December 1st, 2018|Categories: Competition, Interviews, In the Practice Room, News, Performance, Self Discovery|Tags: Paulo Cello Competition, Brannon Cho, Practice, Preparation, Practice Room, Competition|

Hit or Miss — by Selma Gokcen

"Under the ordinary teaching methods, the pupil gets nineteen wrong to one right experience. It ought to be the other way round." —F.M. Alexander A young instrumentalist aiming for a professional life onstage puts in a staggering number of practice hours during their formative years. I heard the director of our Conservatoire recently state the figure of 8 to 10 hours a day for the 18-24 year olds at undergraduate and graduate levels. Does he think that's what's happening in the practice room or wish that it were so? Either way, it's alarming to think that so much time is spent sitting and using the fine muscles of the fingers in relentless repetitive motions. Were we, are we designed for this kind of activity? Maybe the better question to ask [...]

By Selma Gokcen|2017-11-24T02:54:01-05:00March 10th, 2014|Categories: Alexander Technique for Cellists, In the Practice Room, Playing Healthy, Self Discovery|Tags: Primary Control, young instrumentalists, Practice Room, accuracy, results, habit, activity, conservatory, conditioning, Coordination, delivery, Alexander Technique, F.M. Alexander, Gokcen, hours of practicing, necessity, cello, Selma, relentless repetitive motions, cellobello, repetition, the Use of the Self|

“But I Don’t Want To!”: How to Get Yourself (or Your Kid) to Practice… — by Martha Baldwin

One of the most frequent problems my students ask me about is how to get inspired to practice. Old, young, serious and casual cellists alike come to me in frustration: “But I just can’t find the inspiration to practice right now/ever/this month/today etc. etc.” Parents ask even more often how to get their child to practice without a battle. Here’s the thing—there’s a hard truth about being a cellist, about the practicing it takes. It’s not always fun. It’s hard to get started. You don’t feel inspired to practice all the time. Don’t feel bad—you know that student next to you in the practice room who’s there every day without fail? He’s not more inspired than you, you’re not missing the I-Love-To-Practice gene. Parents—you know that mom who says “I [...]

By Martha Baldwin|2017-10-24T04:04:38-04:00March 3rd, 2014|Categories: In the Practice Room, Self Discovery, Teaching|Tags: appointment, Martha, daily routine, practicing, feel like practicing, how to get yourself to practice, Habits, inspiration to practice, cellist, rehearsal, inspiration, problems, schedule, cello, routine, truth, cellobello, Baldwin, structure, Practice Room, discipline|

Raising Your Self-Awareness — by Brandon Vamos

I recently worked with a student preparing a Bach suite for his recital. In his lesson, he was struggling with the many challenges one faces when playing Bach. A week later he performed the entire suite in studio class and I was taken aback by the dramatic improvement. He played the work with great poise, clarity, and a much higher level of solidity and intonation. I was curious about this sudden jump in playing level and asked him what his focus had been during that weeks’ preparation. His answer was that he had become much more self-aware and objective of his playing. He had made a conscious effort to sit back and get a true sense of what was coming from his instrument. The result? He was better able to [...]

By Brandon Vamos|2020-09-17T02:37:28-04:00March 14th, 2011|Categories: Artistic Vision, In the Practice Room, Self Discovery|Tags: musical phrasing, tone, Practice Room, Performing, results, Experience, Preparation, Sound, Awareness, student, Bach Suites, clarity, concentration, intonation|