3 Tips to Maximize Your Cello Lessons (and be your own practice parent)

Feb 18

Today I’d like to talk about 3 things you need to do to get the most out of your lessons.

As an adult learner, the name of the game is efficiency.

We have busy lives and adult, mature musical thoughts and feelings.

So the more efficiently we use our time and improve our technique, the faster we really start to enjoy the sound we’re creating and begin to express ourselves musically.

So let’s jump right in:

Number 1: record your lessons, from day one.

Seriously.

Ideally I’m talking video recordings, but next best would be audio recordings.

For video, I suggest keeping the camera focused on your teacher.

There’ll be moments when your teacher mimics a motion you’re making and then demonstrates a correction; these are the moments you want to capture.

After a lesson I would go home and rewatch the lesson, but bring a pen and a piece of paper with you.

Usually I find 4-5 critical moments when I think, “There! That’s what I need to be doing!”

Mark down those times so that each day you can go straight to them and review before you start practicing.

If you’re interested, here’s what I use: the zoom Q2n, it was $160 when I got it a few years ago.

To be honest, I’m not thrilled with the audio or video, but I find it perfect for capturing long lessons because it’s tiny and uses its own memory card.

To keep the file size down, I put the video on the lowest setting and the audio on the highest, and I always use an external battery pack because anything over 30 minutes will devour your AAA batteries.

Moving on, the Number 2 way to maximize your cello lessons: Video yourself playing or practicing, and do it often.

Even if you don’t feel like an expert connoisseur of string playing yet, you know what a top player looks like, the relaxation, the natural, efficient motions….

What I would do is go ahead and get a full practice session in and then record yourself at the end playing what you were just working on.

For you perfectionists out there: don’t stress out if you don’t feel “ready to perform” it yet, you’re capturing where you’re currently at.

The point is knowing what you actually physically look like along the way.

Often what we think we’re doing and what we’re actually doing are two very different things.

Imagine how helpful it would be to pull a straight bow along the a string only to realize after watching yourself on video that your bow isn’t nearly as straight as you thought it was…

Also, please do yourself a favor and KEEP those clips.

I’m so bummed I didn’t keep a video log of my entire journey, I would do anything to have that footage now as a memento of all the hard work I’ve put in.

And finally, the Number 3 way to get the most out of your lessons is practicing in front of a mirror.

Okay, so of the three tips, this is the only one that happens while you are actually playing the cello so it can be a little tricky to do it well.

Watching yourself in the mirror, especially your bow arm, is an excellent way to self diagnose.

Maybe you notice that your right shoulder is always unnecessarily raised when you’re bowing, or maybe your arm just looks clumsy when crossing strings on separate bow strokes.

I suggest playing very very small passages, like 2-6 notes at a time, when using the mirror.

I find that if you play longer passages in front of the mirror, the tendency is to gradually shift focus back to your hands and pretty soon, even if you’re still gazing into the mirror, you’re not actually analyzing yourself visually but doing something more akin to playing with your eyes closed.

So, find a tiny passage that contains a challenge and watch yourself.

You want to feel like you’re watching and analyzing someone else play, so you’ll need to be somewhat on autopilot for those 2-6 notes.

Using a mirror effectively will take a little bit of work, but I found it can really pay off.

So there you have my three tips on how to get the most out of your cello lessons.

These are things that I started incorporating through trial and error about 2 years into my own journey.

Lately, in a conversation with my wife comparing our very different journeys on cello and violin, I realized that essentially I was teaching myself to become my own parent figure.

I want to explain this concept because I think it’s very enlightening for us adult learners.

To do so I’d like to share the story of how my wife, Lydia, started playing the violin….at age 3.5.

So I know we’re adult learners here and this may not seem relevant, but just hear me out for a second, it is…

To me her story helps disprove two of the major assumptions most adults make that might stop them from ever even trying to learn cello.

The first assumption is: “I am too old. You have to start as a kid to become a real cellist”.

The idea here is that as an adult you could learn to play cello, but your chances of becoming a legit cellist are basically zero.

And the second assumption is “I might not have enough talent. You can’t become a real player unless you’re gifted with talent.”

Just to be super clear, I totally believe these assumptions are false and that they shouldn’t stop you from setting serious, impressive playing goals for yourself.

So here we go, let’s do a little story time:

Like I said, Lydia got off to a pretty early start at age three and a half.

However, in that first year, she was essentially in the back of the pack and making very little progress.

About a year in, however, her mom had kind of a lightbulb moment.

Instead of simply giving up on her daughter and taking her out of violin, she doubled down and started taking meticulous notes during the weekly lessons and also started recording them as well.

Between lessons, she would review the notes and the latest audio recording and then lead and coach Lydia during her short daily practice sessions as a 4.5 year old.

So Lydia’s mom, even though she wasn’t a violinist herself, essentially became a teacher’s assistant and made sure on a daily basis that her daughter was absorbing and incorporating the techniques being introduced.

Within a few months, Lydia had completely caught up to the rest of the pack, and a few months after that, she was WAY, way, past them.

I LOVE this story, because in the case of Lydia, her success with the violin was not really because she started at a young age.

It was the new role her mom decided to play that really put her on the path towards becoming a great violinist.

Hearing this story confirmed something I have been telling myself since the day I started cello at 25: “It’s not about when you start, it’s about how”

You know, when we think of talented children making fast progress on violin or cello or piano, we DON’T take into account the supportive environment enveloping these kids and maximizing their potential.

I think this is HUGE for adult learners!

We can’t travel back in time to start cello as children, but what I’m saying is we CAN figure out ways to recreate the environment!

So what does that mean for us?

One part is finding the best possible instruction, but the other major part is filling that parent role that is watching us practice and helping us stay on track.

So we need a parent figure….but let’s be real.

Even if our parents were willing to accompany us to our lessons, take notes, and supervise our practice, that’s a little odd considering we’re already 25, 35, 45 years old…

So with that in mind, I’ve offered you three ways to become your own parent and monitor your practice so that you can get the absolute most out of your lessons.