Cello Playing for Music Lovers : A Self-Teaching Method

Jiji, Vera Mattlin

ISBN 10: 1412095603 / ISBN 13: 9781412095600

Published by Trafford Publishing, 2007

Used book that is in almost brand-new condition. May contain a remainder mark. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 39832606-6

Synopsis:

Cello Playing for Music Lovers provides beginners and intermediate students with an authoritative, step-by-step guide to learning to play the cello. Gifted cellist Erik Friedlander plays the 116 musical figures discussed in the book on the accompanying play along CD. The book includes musical examples from folk, Broadway and classical traditions. It illustrates correct playing positions with twenty photos. Written from the student's viewpoint, it teaches all the required skills, including reading music, using the bow effectively, analyzing musical structures, improvising, and playing by ear. The book starts from scratch with songs transcribed for beginners and includes 4th, 2nd and 3rd positions. Included are folk songs, hymns, Broadway standards like Some Enchanted Evening, and classical selections like a Bach Prelude and Sarabande. Later sections explore some music theory and how to play in chamber music groups. The author, a Ph.D. and experienced teacher, presents this fascinating material in small, logical steps. As cellist Aaron Minsky said, Your idea that the cello can be enjoyed on a simple level even within a few weeks of study is very true. . . This book will bring the joys of cello playing to many people who would not have believed it possible. This book is divided into four parts. Part One helps you to acquire a cello and teacher (if circumstances permit), a musical vocabulary and other essentials. The book progresses step by step, dealing with notes, fingerings and bowings, scales and chords. It includes excerpts and selections from over sixty songs, some simplified for ease of playing. Parts Two and Three explain both how to read music and how to play songs you like on the cello by ear. It introduces the reader to musical structure and theory. Part Two stays entirely in first position. Part Three introduces extensions, minor scales, arpeggios and accidentals. Part Four explains more music theory and cello positions 4, 2 and 3. It details the essentials for success when exploring chamber music with other amateurs. Depending on your previous experience and background, the book is arranged so that you can skip around in it, focusing on chapters that are of interest to you, although it is better to go in order. Playing the cello will give any music lover unparalleled satisfaction. If you always wished you could do it in your next life, do it now.

About the Author: Many years ago, during my four years at the incomparable High School of Music and Art in New York City, I treasured my opportunity to study the cello. I was fortunate enough to receive a cello scholarship from Janos Scholz, a co-founder of the Cello Society. However, once I entered college, other demands on my time forced me to give up the scholarship and my music. During the next forty-two years, I embarked on a career as a teacher of literature, raised my four children and seldom thought about my cello. Still, I refused to relinquish the silent instrument. I kept it safe, untouched, encased and hidden in the back of my closet. When I retired from teaching in the 1990s, I took up the cello again, although with great trepidation. Like many people who took music lessons during childhood, I feared that my musical knowledge had been completely lost. I can tell you from personal experience that your musical training is tucked away in the back of your brain, as my cello was hidden in the back of my closet. Many people who never studied music in childhood won t even try in adulthood; they feel so overwhelmed by the prospect. They have been told that unless you studied music as a child, it is impossible to learn later on. But that is simply not true. Playing music is one of life s most glorious experiences. Nobody should be deprived of it, especially through an unwarranted fear of music s difficulties. It s shocking to read message boards on the internet with people asking, I am over forty: am I too old to learn to play the cello? I wrote this book because I believe that if I could return happily to music after so many years, so can almost anybody. I play with other amateurs who have done it. It requires patience and determination, but older adults have patience and determination. It requires only that the student be in reasonable physical health, discern higher and lower pitches, be able to follow instructions closely, and have the patience and persistence to study every day. Cello Playing for Music Lovers has been carefully scrutinized for accuracy and comprehensiveness by my cello teacher, Diliana Momtchilova, who holds a DMA, a Doctorate degree from The Juilliard School. If the book's technical expertise is the teacher's province, the approach and contents are mine. During my many years of teaching at Brooklyn College, I learned how to organize material clearly, logically, and in an appealing way. I particularly enjoyed making complex subjects simpler for my students. Accordingly, once I had advanced beyond the basics of music making, I wanted to pass on to others the gift I had received from Janos Scholz and my years of experience by setting the basics down in this book. Usually in this field, instruction is conveyed one to one, teacher to pupil, through spoken communication. However, it is easy to misinterpret or forget important instructions. Here, written out, are the fundamentals from a learner s perspective. You can study, review and absorb the information at your own pace. Studying the cello will keep you mentally alert and happy while it keeps your body active and moving. The rewards of music making, even for beginners, are great enough to keep me and many other seniors studying for years with astonishing tenacity. There's a saying that dancers do not age while they are dancing. I think musicians don't age while they are playing, either. Of course, young adults can also learn from Cello Playing for Music Lovers. My point is merely that learning to play the cello is neither forbidden nor impossible after you reach a certain age, defined as whatever your age is now when you are tempted to try it. Come join the party.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Cello Playing for Music Lovers : A ...
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Publication Date: 2007
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: Fine