Posted by Bill on May 12, 1999 at 13:05:05:
In Reply to: have you ever experienced this? posted by Paul Tseng, ICS Cello Chat Moderator on May 12, 1999 at 10:27:59:
absolutely. i saw a recital last friday and thought, I can do better than that. it made me realize that i have been doing some pretty nice things. not being stuck up, i just realized i wasn't that bad. anyway, i went to the cello the next day and played my usual stuff with a new sense of enthusiasm and confidence. AND, most of all, I was confident and RELAXED. My playing was even better. the more I relaxed, the more i could make that big nice intense beautiful sound i had been searching for. no scratching. it's hard to put into words what the difference was. i just felt more free and confident. sometimes, after a particularly hard day of getting beaten up at work or traffic or whatever, i am a bundle of nerves. in this fragile state i can barely play a 2 octave c major scale and nail half the notes. i know, incredible difference. relaxing, I have come to believe, is key. like my teacher said once. (after i had beat the piece to death working on every detail)
'i hear you play the concerto and it sounds like a bunch of phrases that you have analyzed (sp) so much, that it seems like little blocks of music, I am hearing this phrase and that phrase; but there is nothing cohesive. NOW, QUIT PRACTICING, relax, and play! you've done the work, now play the piece, and enjoy what you are playing.' Will try prayer too.