Cello Lesson Number 16

Yesterday, October 6, 2026, I had my sixteenth cello lesson with Ana Ospina-Edwards at New School of Music.

Practice Session Notes

I practiced for 9 hours 15 minutes last week, the most ever for me (this is perhaps two days’ practice for a serious music student). I made a plan before each practice session, and I took notes. But I felt I had too much to work on during the week:

• Position Pieces for Cello
  • “Target Practice,” p. 3
  • “Fanfare,” p. 5
• Suzuki Cello School Volume 1
  • “Rigadoon,” p. 18
  • Tonalization and C Major Scale (Two Octaves), p. 19
  • “Etude,” p. 19
• Blue Book of Tunes
  • “Ode to Joy,” pp. 34–35
  • “Bow & Fiddle” (“Drunken Sailor”), p. 36
  • “Scales with Slurs”, p. 38

I made progress on all of these pieces, but I didn’t feel like I finished any one of them (where for me as a beginner finished means playing through at 70–80% performance tempo with few or no errors).

During my practice sessions, I continue to struggle with tension.

Lesson Notes

We started with “Scales with Slurs” in D major, G major, and two-octave C major. I need to use the entire bow when playing scales. I need to bring my left elbow forward for the G and C strings.

I played “Rigadoon,” and Ana helped me improve bowing measures 9 and 13 more smoothly by using just my lower arm, hinging at the elbow. These measures were awkward for me because I was using too much upper arm.

I played “Target Practice,” but I was inconsistent in establishing second position. I am to work on this 5–10 minutes at the beginning of each practice session.

I played “Etude,” and Ana saw that I was awkward at playing some parts. She had me pluck this piece, and she demonstrated variations that I can use while practicing. I don’t know why I didn’t think of plucking the notes; I did this while learning “Perpetual Motion.”

This was another excellent lesson that left me eager to go home and resume practicing.

Assignments

As I requested, I have no new material to practice this week. My prioritized list is:

• Scales and scales with slurs with a metronome and drones as a warm-up
• Position Pieces for Cello
  • “Target Practice,” p. 3
  • “Fanfare,” p. 5
• Suzuki Cello School Volume 1
  • “Etude,” plucking and bowing with variations
• Blue Book of Tunes
  • “Ode to Joy”
  • “Bow & Fiddle” (“Drunken Sailor”)
• Suzuki Cello School Volume 1
  • “Rigadoon”
  • Tonalization and C Major Scale (Two Octaves)

I want to improve my ability to shift between first position and upper second position. I think I will finish up “Ode to Joy” and “Rigadoon” and perhaps other pieces this week.