online Series
Our bow is our voice. We want it to breathe, speak, dance, sing and emote. This is an infinite subject but we do need to start somewhere! I feel we learn best with clear explanation, demonstration, focus and experimentation.
We will explore in varied ways, how our bow use can become increasingly natural to us – to become truly, an extension of your arm and hand. In going slowly and in detail, you will more truly find your own voice and feel able to express yourself more fully and authentically as a cellist & musician.
This series will build your understanding in stages. Some classes may be repeated too.
The instrument we play is large and physical and we need to know how to use energy well and understand movement because sound follows the movement.
I will send you materials for the class ahead of the day and then afterwards I will send documents that help you consolidate and develop our work. The groups will be small enough that we will be able to work individually too to check things are understood.
All About My Bow
In 2023 All About My Bow will be going, occasionally, to more advanced pieces in our repertoire. I feel that Mendelssohn’s Song Without Words, Vocalise by Rachmaninov, The Swan and Waldesruhe by Dvorak are not so long that we can’t explore their essence so you can develop them further. I will make special announcements for these. Meanwhile, the journey continues on Saturdays (dates below).
Bow Primer
The Bow Primer course classes go deeply into technique and is aimed mainly at players who are newer to the cello. Having said this, we all have holes in our knowledge, so you may want to join this too. As well as technical depth, I will follow up with music for you to put our work into practice, so you have time to cook the ideas and see it all make sense.
Please drop me an email if you want me to create a repeat class.
DETAILS
Time: 6.00pm–8.15pm GMT
All About My Bow: March 25th, April 22nd, June 3rd, September 23rd, November 11th 2023
Bow Primer: April 15th, June 24th, October 7th, December 9th 2023
Venue: Zoom (waiting room opens at 5.45pm for tuning)
Fee: £30 per class (£35 from April)
What They Say
That was the most valuable, and I dare say, life-changing two hours fifteen minutes ever!
What's so good about All About My Bow? There is loads of really useful and fascinating information which you can access at any level of ability. If you're a beginner, there are so many new things to learn. If you're more advanced, you can gain so much because, as you already understand the technical terms and the basics of bowing, you can go deeper and focus on the more subtle aspects of this teaching. It deepens your understanding of complex techniques.
I am still marvelling at how much we value your instruction. Your ideas are so wonderfully shared!
Another really good session. I do admire how you distil all that knowledge in a single piece; I learn so much.
Bach would be so happy to know that his work can be taught by such an accomplished fan and shared by an international audience over the ether. Fantastic things were achieved tonight.
Well, that was just bloody, awesomely, fantastically exciting wasn't it? You are a wonder! Such detail.
Thank you so much. It was brilliant. I was so inspired that as soon as I left Zoom, I sat down and played the whole piece through before any food or drink.
Loved the deep dive into Bach.
Fantastic as usual. So much to think about.
Your excellent tutorial was a revelation not just for the Prelude, but it shone a light on many aspects of playing Bach.
It is a delight to spend these sessions learning from you!