#The cellist plays the prelude of Bach's first cello sonata

[fangirling-throughlife]

I watched High Strung for the sake of watching something with Nicholas Galitzine that's not Cinderella (because once was enough). It only dawned on me after 15-ish minutes that I'd already seen that movie, but went on anyways, in spite of my generalized dislike of dance movies.

I really hate watching these sorts of movies about musicians (which are usually string or piano players). I'm a cellist myself, so I can usually spot in under 2 seconds if it's playback, or if the actor in particular has any kind of skill, because usually they don't. And the moment I notice that, it's cringe non-stop. And then there's the very typical "stereotypes of classical music". In Christmas movies, for example, it's the "making Christmas songs sound like Mozart minuets or romantic waltzes". In this one, there are several: the "let's play a well-known melody and start putting random embellishments to make it sound different and more difficult" (when it's really not, because trilling and vibrato are things we have to learn to repress once we know them, because they become automatic). Its horrible variant (in this movie) "let's play 8 bars of La boda de Luis Alonso in a loop and hope nobody notices". Then there's the so-called virtuoso. Honestly, it's not that I cringe, it's that I'm transported to those assholes in the conservatory who played with their nose in the air (literally), who made the rest of us feel like we were less, and who ended up being criticized by the faculty themselves because they were way too hard to teach without any real talent they could work on, and who ended up being lost to the system before they hit 20. Plus, in these movies, they're never actually good. Like, you'll hear another character be like "That was outstanding", while I'm thinking "Well, I do that when I try to sound like I play better than I actually do, because to non-musicians, this sounds amazing, but it's actually basic mechanics".

Just overall, I know I don't like these movies, I know I should've pressed stop the moment I saw Nicholas make that (also very typical) constipated face that they always do when they're "very much in the zone". And I really resent that I cannot watch a whole genre of movies because I've studied too much :)

#Also #The cellist plays the prelude of Bach's first cello sonata #of fucking course

[beachboysnatural]

random question: whats your favorite piece on the cello

Oh my god this is so difficult to answer!!!! Just a quick selection of my favorites to play or to listen to:

3rd Bach Cello Suite in C Major (this one's obvious, Bach is my favorite composer and this is the best cello suite to play and to listen to!! I really love playing the Prelude Allemande and Sarabande especially) Elgar Cello Concerto (I've only played the third movement but this piece is all around wonderful, particularly the Du Pre--my favorite cellist--recording) Schumann Cello Concerto (it's so difficult to play but it's so rewarding, it's gorgeous and gritty and emotional) Breval Sonata in C Major (Suzuki piece that I'm very attached to :D) Schelomo (it's SO cool to listen to) Shostakovitch Cello Concerto, 1st mvmt (I don't think I need to explain this one. Don't love the other movements but listening to the first is like. Yeah this is why I play the cello)

Thank you for asking :D there's more that I'm forgetting I'm sure and there's more that I could say (Brahms/Beethoven Sonatas come to mind) but that's all for now!!

#cello stuff #asks

[slowdeathbyetudes]

just kidding everyone im doing them all unprompted (except the ones that @if-it-isnt-cello gave me and i did already 🥰)

7. favorite instrument to play? & 8. fav to hear?

cello!

9. favorite instrument that you don’t play?

oof probably bass guitar lmao i wanna learn

10. least favorite instrument?

i hate to say it but basses frustrate me and it’s probably just because of my experiences with them in school

11. instruments you want to learn?

i wanna get better at viola, but instruments that ive never learned and i want to are def bass/acoustic guitar and saxophone

12. what stereotypes about your instrument do you fit?

chaotic for sure, competitive, a lil aggressive

13. piece associated with instrument and what do you think?

i immediately thought of the elgar cello concerto, and i adore it! but another would be the prelude to the first bach suite and that one aggravates me

14. if you had to switch instruments for the foreseeable future, which would you choose?

i actually played viola in orchestra for a few classes instead of cello last year, boy was that an experience (considering the entire viola section aka 3 of them are my best friends)

15. instantly become best at one instrument for a year but never be able to play it again, which would it be?

i couldn’t live without my cello so viola

16. how many clefs can you read?

bass, tenor, treble, alto

17. which is your favorite

anything but treble, but i guess bass bc that’s how i started

18. whos your favorite composer?

shostakovich, my manz

19. what’s your favorite musical era?

romantic

20. favorite musical form?

sonata

21. do you compose?

i arrange frequently, but if composition is necessary i’ll make it happen

22. do you plan to become a music major?

hell ya

23. would you rather teach music or perform?

dammit, if i had to choose i’d perform but i hope to do both

24. favorite key to play in?

e minor but only because brahms and elgar

25. fav major scale?

g major because it’s easy

26. fav minor scale?

a minor because it’s easy

27. favorite type of minor scale?

melodic because it’s cool

28. favorite mode?

lydian

29. like playing scales?

no

30. sharps or flats?

sharps

31. ideal # of sharps? (haha number looks like sharp)

1

32. ideal # of flats?

0 bye

33. preferred names for enharmonics?

f#/Gb, a#/Bb, c#/Db, d#/Eb, there’s more but i’m lazy

34. do you have perfect pitch?

no, but i have relative pitch

35. band or orch?

ORCHESTRA ALL THE WAY

36. marching band or concert band?

concert

37. ever played in a pit orch?

next year !!!

38. in jazz band?

nope (imagine my cello and i tho lmao)

47. something funny your director said?

mine is a walking meme, he constantly says weird things but a favorite is when he called geometry “shape math”

oh my god or when i told him that a parallelogram was an italicized rectangle and he was spooked for the rest of the day

why do we talk about shapes so often?

48. something helpful your director said?

this guy made me wanna be a cellist for real. when he told me that brahms was the reason he became a cellist, something clicked

49. ever taught a private lesson?

nope, kids scare me

50. if you could travel back in time and meet a younger version of yourself, what would you say?

you are not gonna be a doctor. listen to jacqueline du pre. do what makes you happy (it’s music). don’t worry about what your family would have to say, it’s much better to be happy doing what you love then doing something you’re miserable in for someone else. they are NOT going to be disappointed in you!!! also fix your bow hold and make friends with your section sooner