Master Class

On last Monday, Michelle attended her first master class with her new teacher. She played Gorge Goltermann's Prelude from Modern Suite. It was a very nice session. As it was in a room, not in a stage, she dared not look up. Well, as teacher told her, if you don't know where to look, just look at your bow. That's what she did. Haha...

Cello Lesson

Michelle had her cello lesson today. She is lucky to have a wonderful cello teacher who is such a master that he knows exactly what causes the problems of not playing well and how to fix it.

We have learned many things during the lesson and Michelle has new assignments scale, etudes and pieces. It will be a very busy week for practicing.

Mozart Sonata in C Major K 330 first movement

It's really hard to play this piece for Michelle. The trills are especially difficult. I told myself from the beginning that we must have patience on this. I planned it to just practice trill alone twice a day for about 2 to 3 minutes only. Just play it in a very relaxing way and don't worry about if it is perfect or not. I told Michelle it's OK if it is not perfect. The important thing is that we stick on the practicing plan.

After 3 months, I am happy that the trills are improved.One more month to go,  Michelle needs to perform the piece in her school. I have a bit confident that she would be fine with the trills although they may not be perfect. Of course, we need to stick strictly to the practicing plan before the performance.

Sebastian Lee's Cello Etude #2

This Cello Etude by Sebastian Lee is very beautiful. Her teacher asked Michelle to play it like spreading butter on a bread. The bow must tightly getting in touch with the string while playing.

Another important point is to make shift well. Not to push too heavy when slide the fingers alone the string.

For a girl who learned Cello only for a year and a half, Michelle played it very well I think.

Bach Invention 8

Michelle had fun to play this piece with the coordination of two hands. Both hands must play in a very bouncy way. After practicing for a weeks, she managed to do it well!