relaxation Archives

100 Cello Warm-Ups and Exercises Blog 13: Breathing and Relaxation — by Robert Jesselson

We all know how important relaxation is in playing the cello – if the muscles are tight our body and brain do not work efficiently and effectively. If we are tense we can’t shift properly, we are more prone to silly mistakes in a performance, and if our breathing is shallow then not enough oxygen gets to the brain. We need to figure out how to release tension and relax as we play. As Janos Starker said, his entire life was a search for more and better ways to relax. Playing the cello is difficult enough as it is, so whatever we can do to relax will help us perform better and be able to play longer in our lives. I tell my students that I hope that they will [...]

By Robert Jesselson|2023-06-05T13:35:17-04:00November 16th, 2015|Categories: In the Practice Room, Playing Healthy, Teaching, Videos|Tags: breathing, CelloBlog, Robert Jesselson, Cello Exercises, Cello Warm-Ups, cellobello, relaxation|

Improve Your Talent: Breathing Awareness and Control — by Gregory Beaver

In "Developing a Technique to Improve Your Talent," I laid out 6 things that I have been using actively in my teaching to improve my students’ talent. This post will investigate the first of these, Breathing awareness and control. “I am so totes aware of my breathing!” you might be thinking, especially if you are a vocalist or a woodwind/brass player. However, in my experience, there are very few people who are truly aware of their breath. Breath awareness is not just about being able to breathe in and out and notice it. It is the ability to do something very complicated and still notice your breathing. For those who do not use their breath to create the music, it is about using your breath to provide energy and power when needed, and [...]

By Gregory Beaver|2022-02-28T11:40:29-05:00May 27th, 2013|Categories: Beyond the Traditional, In the Practice Room, Playing Healthy, Self Discovery|Tags: CD player, musicians, stomach, muscles, chest, practicing, strengthen the diaphragm, body, controlled frenzy, Technique, trouble passages, breathing, diaphragm, improvement, T’ai Chi, yoga, cello, emit sound, unbalancing the body, Beaver, cellobello, heart rate, talent, weakness, Gregory, cellists, Improve your talent, balance, advanced breath control, control, light-headed, Coordination, aerobic exercise, Awareness, oxygen, relaxation, breath control, simple formula, skill, breathing with scales, smoothness|

The Holy Sextet (Part 1) — by Brant Taylor

Think back to when you were shown how to use the bow to successfully produce different sounds on the cello. In all likelihood, you learned that there is a trio of "variables" that are combined in certain ways to achieve a desired result: WEIGHT, or how much of the right arm's heft is placed into the string from above (I prefer the term "weight" to "pressure," though they refer to the same idea). SPEED, or how quickly the bow is moved laterally. CONTACT POINT, or where the bow hair makes contact with the string relative to the bridge (or fingerboard). While each of these variables is critically important to sound production, the complete recipe for successfully controlling the string with the bow involves more. There are at least three other basics [...]

By Brant Taylor|2023-04-17T14:09:04-04:00November 28th, 2012|Categories: In the Practice Room, Self Discovery|Tags: bridge, Brant, Vibrations, Taylor, variables, control, variation, pressure, bow speed, relaxation, tone, struggle, weight, contact point, cello, bow technique, cellobello|

The Eyes Have It (Part 1) — by Selma Gokcen

One of the most valuable indicators of well-functioning coordination is eye movement. I have noticed for a long time now that there are different types of gaze in musicians. The "well-trained" musician of today often exhibits what I call blinkered attention, the result of years of too much effortful practice. The strain around the eyes is visible and often accompanied by laboured breathing. Caught by inward feelings and sensations, this musician is "concentrating." In the words of my Alexander teacher, the original meaning of concentration used to be: to relate a set of factors to a central point. It has been increasingly misused in our educational system to encourage the shutting out of everything else out to focus on a single thing. Concentration therefore as a useful aim has been [...]

By Selma Gokcen|2017-10-09T02:04:27-04:00October 22nd, 2011|Categories: Playing Healthy, Self Discovery|Tags: practicing, attention, communication, seeing, Coordination, effort, exploration, Feuermann, Casals, Listening, Heifetz, cello, relaxation, strain, cellobello, Alexander Technique, music, Gokcen, Awareness, concentration, relationships, Selma|

In the Zone — by Talya Buckbinder

I received my most memorable lesson in distraction during my first year of playing the cello. My teacher sat me down one day, instructed me to play the Gavotte from Suzuki Book 2, and then proceeded to demonstrate the most amusing display of histrionics I'd ever seen, even going as far as to caterwaul loudly and spill her coffee down the front of her dress. My teacher thought she could train me to focus on the music if she presented me with an array of possible distractions. At the Perlman Music Program, Toby Perlman would tell us the story of how Mr. P played a concert through an earthquake and continued performing, completely unaware that the earth was trembling below the concert hall. We all laughed incredulously, though I couldn't [...]

By Guest Blogger|2017-10-24T04:17:45-04:00April 6th, 2011|Categories: Performance, Self Discovery|Tags: Teaching, effortless, cello, lessons, cellobello, relaxation, music, goals, student, focus, Technique, Concerto, Haydn, Distraction|