Nan Kemberling, Atlanta Cellist
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Cellist, Teacher, and Coach

Smart, Music.

5/12/2016

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PictureGimme that diploma--I'm outta here!


It's that time of year again... Graduation. 

As I write this, Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance is on repeat in my mind, and it takes me back to the very end of my high school days.

There's a young, sweaty me, sitting on a folding chair on the football field, wearing a robe that feels as though it might melt onto my skin. The tassel on my mortarboard keeps hitting me in the eye, but at least it mops up a little perspiration as it swings across my face...


​
Who knew back then that I would be a cellist and teacher a mere *mumble mumble* years in the future?

Back to the Future!

PictureSpeechifying.

Uh, I meant to say, back to the present ...

During lessons this week, I discovered that both of my students who are high school seniors this year are valedictorians.  

And so was I all those years ago.

How crazy is that?  It's all a big coincidence, right?

I'm not so sure!

This got me thinking about the connection between music and the mind. 

Listen up

You have all probably heard about the Mozart Effect --the idea that simply listening to Mozart's music can help kids perform better on tests.  Mozart's music has also been shown to decrease the amount of epileptic activity in the brain of patients who have seizures (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9660010/). 

Even listening to non-classical music can have significant performance enhancing benefits (http://www.livescience.com/2953-amazing-power-music-revealed.html)!


So if listening to music is helpful, what about playing music on an instrument?  
​

InstruMental


​​
​Well, it turns out that kids who learn to play a musical instrument undergo physiological changes in their brain which can aid in their academic endeavors (http://time.com/3634995/study-kids-engaged-music-class-for-benefits-northwestern/).  

​In addition to that, learning a musical instrument can also help with developing mental toughness
(http://www.musicparentsguide.com/2016/03/07/why-teaching-grit-through-music-instruction-is-needed-in-every-school/)

​​...and curbing behavioral problems
​(https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/01/07/music-lessons-spur-emotional-and-behavioral-growth-in-children-new-study-says/).
PictureA poster I made for a friend's recital in college that seems to capture the music-mind connection
​

String theory

Okay. So playing an instrument can help your brain in a bunch of ways.  

What about playing a string instrument? 

Some scientific studies have shown that string players' brains are larger than the brains of other musicians
(http://stringvisions.ovationpress.com/2011/05/string-players-brains-are-special/).

But maybe that's just because we have big heads...?
​
This cute video sums it all up!

Not just for kids!


Those of us who are more mature can reap major benefits from playing a musical instrument as well.  Not only can it improve your health--staving off anxiety, depression, and general cognitive decline (http://www.livescience.com/40597-playing-musical-instrument-good-health.html)--but it can also help prevent dementia
(http://dementiaresearchfoundation.org.au/blog/playing-musical-instrument-later-life-protective-factor-against-dementia).

Learning an instrument could be just about the best thing an adult can do to improve his or her brain health
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2996135/#S4title).  

​And it might also be a little bit fun! 
​

For further reading


If you're interested in seeing a few more articles on this topic, check out these:

  • http://portlandchamberorchestra.org/what-happens-when-the-brain-plays-a-musical-instrument/
​
  • http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/09/10/343681493/this-is-your-brain-this-is-your-brain-on-music


And this one, specifically about the defiant nature of cellists (who, us?):
  •  http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2016/05/why_cellists_like_sergei_roldugin_are_the_most_rebellious_musicians_in_the.html

Do you have personal experience to support or debunk these ideas? Let me know what you think about all this in the comments section below.  

And in the meantime, congrats to all the graduates!  For the rest of us, we'll just enjoy all that Elgar wafting through the spring air!
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For Mature Audiences Only

9/10/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
Adult cello.  

It does sound a bit risqué, but I am trying to refer to learning to play the cello after you have become a fully mature human being (I'm still waiting to achieve this status, hence all my "adult cello" jokes).

It's one of the most rewarding and intriguing (some of my students might prefer to substitute the word "frustrating" here) endeavors I have ever been involved in.  And it is not for the faint of heart. 

Learning the cello as an adult takes some serious guts!

I began playing when I was 10 years old after seeing the James Bond movie, The Living Daylights.  (Most of my students already know this story, but click HERE if you don't).  Though I technically began cello as a child, I did have to relearn much of my technique when I got to college, so I am no stranger to the humiliating task of having to retrain inefficient or sloppy habits.

But still, learning the cello FROM SCRATCH as an adult is a whole different ball game.

I think about this adult vs. child issue nearly every day, since about half my studio is made up of people of all ages who began practicing the cello as a grown-up.  
Picture
Celli keepin' it fresh
A few weeks ago, we decided during a Celli rehearsal to play a passage of music with our hands switched. (Don't ask why. I'm sure there was some artistic reason for this).  So, we put our heads on the left side of our cello necks, used our right hands to press the strings down, and tried to pull the bow across the strings with our left arm...
 
The results were atrocious and hilarious!  But an interesting side effect of the whole experiment happened to be a renewed appreciation for our beginning students and the daunting hurdles they face...  Especially the grown ups. 

One of my adult students recently sent me a link to an article that she said had helped her immensely:

In the Express Lane: Learning the Cello as an Adult, by Ethan Winer. 

I immediately read it, loved it, and wanted to share it with you as soon as possible, so here's an excerpted passage from the introduction:
I began playing the cello at the age of 43, and at the time considered myself fortunate to undertake this admittedly large project as an adult. As an adult I didn't have to contend with the trauma of outgrowing an instrument. I'd also played other instruments (electric guitar, Fender bass, some piano), and already understood how music "works." Perhaps most important, I had a determination to succeed that few children possess.

But starting as an adult also has unique drawbacks. Playing endless variations of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" is hardly interesting to someone who's studied musical scores and performed publicly. Worse, I knew how good music is supposed to be played, and my early efforts were not even close. Beginner children don't know how bad they sound, and thus are not so easily discouraged! Having played blues lead guitar for many years I knew what it felt like to be in control of an instrument - to play with feeling and conviction. I really hated being demoted to mediocre status as a beginner on the cello, and wanted to get past that phase as quickly as possible. What I hoped would be an enjoyable pastime soon evolved into an obsession to become proficient as quickly as possible that now occupies three or four hours of each day.

In the five years since I began playing the cello I've made a number of observations that I believe other adult beginners and intermediate players - especially those who are ambitious and are willing to work hard - will find useful. Like Sergeant Joe Friday on the TV show Dragnet, I have always been a seeker of "just the facts." I'm not interested in guesses, half-baked opinions, or anything that can't be substantiated. The facts I wanted to know are 1) What skills are needed to become an accomplished cellist, and 2) How do I get there in the shortest amount of time?


Read the rest of his article to find out what he prescribes to help the adult student progress quickly: http://ethanwiner.com/adultbeg.html

For your convenience, I have condensed all the exercises he has sprinkled throughout his explanation into an organized three-page warm-up. Feel free to print these out and add them to your practice routine.  I highly recommend doing so!
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Thanks Janet, for sending me this article.

And thanks to Ethan Winer!
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Sight-reading: A Skill You Can (and Should!) Build

9/22/2014

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Huh?What sight-reading feels like sometimes.

For many of us, sight-reading can be such a daunting task.  No matter how easy the piece is, it seems like we are having to wade through the farcical insanity notated above.  

I know that this skill can be beefed up, especially by simply reading unfamiliar music everyday.  After all, that's how I got better at it!  But sometimes I find it hard to explain the EXACT methods that work for me.  Perhaps they were built unconsciously, driven only by my desire to avoid a musical train-wreck!

Thanks to Nancy Mack, one of my most thoughtful and studious adult cello students, for alerting me to this incredibly helpful article: http://jazzadvice.com/5-steps-to-mastering-sight-reading/  It demystifies the sight-reading process by outlining the tried-and-true techniques in a shockingly clear way.  I urge you to read it-- especially those of you with All-State auditions on the horizon!  

Want to test some of these techniques on your own?  Visit https://sightreadingfactory.com/ for unlimited on-line sight-reading examples.  

Prefer sight-reading from a book?  Try one of the many collections of short examples for cello, like this one by Doreen Smith.

Feel free to share your sight-reading stories or helpful techniques in the comments section below. I love learning about what works for different cellists!
Happy sight-reading!  
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