u/KirstenMcCollie

I play a 7/8 cello with a small scale. I still own a 4/4 cello which I just picked up from a shop where I had brought it for sale. The shop is going out of business so I had to get it back.

When I tried it I was expecting that I couldn’t hit a note because of the scale length difference. (Edit: The scale/string length IS different, I checked). But it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Which I find surprising. Can the hands/the brain adapt? Are there people who can play both?

I am still going to sell the 4/4. But at least I can play a few notes.

Anyone looking for a nice cello in Munich, Germany?

Does anyone know of a source where I can find this kind of arrangements? More popular tunes, not too hard to play. I looked on Musescore and lots of other places, but its a very small niche.

I can rearrange choral music if necessary but it would be nice if I could find something that actually has six parts. Lots of quartets out there.

I came across this book because someone mentioned it. It‘s about creativity in general and how to overcome barriers and unlock potential.

I don’t have issues with my creativity, it’s more confidence in my body I am struggling with.

My body isn’t very good in just doing things. My movement repertoire is limited, always has been. I can’t „just do“ vibrato for instance. Most people have a natural approach to it, they have to refine and train the motion but they can play with some kind of vibrato. I can‘t. All my body can do by itself it a short, non-musical wiggle. Which is pretty useless. I have to learn the slow and hard way, which is frustrating and takes ages.

So I was hoping there might be a book that addresses this. The lacking confidence in the body, barriers between mind and body and personal baggage.

Years ago when I was kind of an advanced beginner I learned thumb position. I spent many weeks studying the patterns, how to hold my arm, how to move my fingers. I learned two etudes about thumb position. After that I forgot everything because thumb position never came up in anything I played.

I am not a beginner any more and I am going to give thumb position another go. I took out Mooney Thumb Position Book 1. This will keep me busy for a while.

I am concerned that I will forget it all over again because I can’t play fancy stuff like the big concerts or advanced orchestra parts. How do you use thumb position? Is it something for special cases only? Is it connected to advanced repertoire or do you just „decide“ to use it on intermediate pieces as well? And if so, how do I even know something can/should be played in thumb position?

I thought practising and time would solve it. Give it another year. And another. But I am not sure I‘ll ever get anywhere with my cello sound. I am getting better, I am making progress, but after eight long years with constant practise I still can‘t play what‘s in my head. I have an idea how I want a piece to sound but I can‘t do it. Take The Swan for example. It’s not a hard piece, I know where the notes are, I can put them in a row, intonation is ok-ish. I practised the piece many times. But to me it still sounds awful. I can‘t control the sound, I feel the notes have a life of their own which I can‘t control.

Just venting.