Cello+Thoughts: Archive

19 tags

May 15th

1 note

4 tags

Apr 8th

2 tags

Beethoven and the Quality of Courage - Daniel... →

An excellent essay on Beethoven in the NY Review of Books.

Mar 21st

3 tags

“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my ax.”

– Abraham Lincoln

Dec 11th

3 notes

6 tags

National Youth Orchestra (NYO) Cello Audition... →

My suggested bowings and fingerings for the audition excerpts required by the Carnegie Hall National Youth Orchestra (NYO): http://bit.ly/Qtq56Q (PDF file) Brahms: Symphony No. 2, Second Movement Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Scherzo Beethoven: Symphony No. 5, Second and Third Movements Alistair MacRae www.alistairmacrae.net alistairmacrae.tumblr.com twitter.com/MacRaeCellist...

Sep 24th

2 notes

5 tags

Watch

This is a video of Bruce Lee doing a screen test at the very beginning of his American film career. [video was removed, but can now be found at http://mysp.ac/11kRjje] Watch especially from about 4:30, when he starts demonstrating kung fu. Notable details: speed, fluidity, and economy of motion; stillness and ease in the parts of his body not in use; balance and poise: a true master of...

Sep 12th

16 notes

4 tags

““πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει” καὶ “δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν...”

– Heraclitus of Ephesus as quoted by Plato in his Cratylus

Jul 31st

2 notes

5 tags

Jul 30th

1 note

4 tags

Jul 30th

7 tags

Watch

David Finckel on the variable and excellent vibrato of the renowned baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Jul 30th

5 tags

Watch

David Finckel on Vibrato Consistency

Jul 30th

3 tags

Jul 25th

2 notes

3 tags

“A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a...”

– Mark Twain

Jul 20th

8 tags

Jul 12th

4 tags

Jul 12th

2 notes

7 tags

Voltaire

Voltaire wrote: “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.” The best translation, I think, is: “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” What this means to me, in relation to performing music, is that we should not strive for perfection but, instead, for excellence. Especially in an endeavor where our self-perception conditions our artistic ambitions and determines the manner...

Jul 8th

1 note

4 tags

“Trust yourself: ‘I can’. ‘I can not’…no!...”

– Morio Higaonna Sensei, GoJu-Ryu Karate Master

Jul 8th

20 notes

2 tags

Key practice concerns

A list of key concerns for practicing the cello, in order of priority: Ease: practicing playing in a relaxed and focused way (creating a productive context in which to learn and build specific playing habits) Rightness: ensuring that the habits formed are good ones; practicing playing well as opposed to practicing playing badly (good use of self and technique; good sound, intonation, and...

Jul 8th

1 note

4 tags

Jul 8th

2 tags

Two good books on Alexander Technique

Michael Gelb: Body Learning http://amzn.to/BodyLearning Pedro de Alcantara: Indirect Procedures http://amzn.to/IndirectProcedures

Jul 8th

4 tags

Don Greene: Performance Psychology

Dr. Don Greene was a sports psychologist for many years and has worked extensively with performing musicians on how they can develop mental skills to deliver their best performances. Audition Success is a good read for any musician. Other books by Greene

Jul 8th

5 tags

Nov 6th

18 notes

2 tags

“Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws, which otherwise would have...”

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Nov 6th

1 note

2 tags

Key technical concerns

A list of key technical concerns for playing the cello, in order of priority: Shape (organization of the body in functional and natural alignments) Balance (orientation of body parts relative to gravity and support) Motion (creating movement through the activation or release of muscles, in the context of gravity)

Nov 6th

10 notes

5 tags