How to Sound More Musical TODAY | Beginner Practice Challenge

Рет қаралды 6,830

2 жыл бұрын

Let's talk about how to sound more musical TODAY by exploring how to change up bow speed/weight and how to take care of the starts and ends of notes. This isn't meant to be a comprehensive guide to phrasing, bow distribution and other aspects of musicality. But many beginners (myself included when I was starting out) struggle with having a decent tone but feeling like their playing sounds 'lifeless.' So, let's try to inject some life into "French Folk Song!"
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Billy Tobenkin is a Los Angeles-based cellist who specializes in teaching adult learners. As a professional cellist who started playing the cello from scratch at 25, he is in a unique position to help others, like him, who found the cello later in life. He has developed strategies from his own musical journey to accelerate the learning process, and he is here to share them with you.
Please contact him at billy@adultcello.com with any questions or comments! Or visit adultcello.com

Пікірлер: 22

@sueneyenhouse4037 Жыл бұрын

How about starting cello at age 70??? Played flute in orchestra since high school. Now I can’t play flute any more due to lung issues. Always admired cello and for my 70th birthday my daughter rented a cello for me and found an outstanding professional cellist to teach me! It’s hard, very hard, but wonderfully beautiful at the same time. Thanks for your inspiration!!!

@matthewmcdermit8744 Жыл бұрын

Hey, Billy, I just finished practicing for today, and I wanted to give you some feedback. So, previously, I always played with that "ka- ka- ka" sound. I just thought that's the way it sounds. Well, I followed that petting-a-sleeping-dog analogy. It worked! It is exciting to hear the notes without that "ka- ka- ka-" sound. Thanks!

@emilychambers 2 жыл бұрын

First time commenter but watched your videos for nearly a year now. Thank you so much for what you do Billy. Week after week you produce excellent lessons, and I take something from each of your videos to develop my playing further. I’ve just started my own channel and so appreciate that creating a resource like this takes a tremendous amount of time, energy, and resilience. This week’s lesson is important in developing a musical sound. I think adults are more sensitive to the sound they create than children (who seem to have a higher threshold for perseverance!), and can easily become discouraged, resulting in giving up the instrument. I’m adding this video to the resources I’ve collected and know that I will return to it several times. I’ve also signed up to your after school cello club! Thanks again Billy. 😊

@janetbonneau6685 2 жыл бұрын

This is exactly what I needed today because I now know I was playing with a dead bow sound yesterday and was so frustrated! Thank you for this great exercise!

@DodieSy-js7cv 3 ай бұрын

This is crazy cuz French Folk Song is my next practice piece 😮 and it’s my first week practicing with the bow

@jeanasmith4024 2 жыл бұрын

Negotiations with the string. Very interesting.

@annsawyer6947 Жыл бұрын

I'm very beginner, and watch several of your videos. I'm going to try this today. It's hard for me to relax, trying to focus on so many things at once. When you were playing the piece, you added vibrato. I'm not good at that yet. I wish you had played all the notes straight (is that the right word?) My instructor wants me to play a few notes on the same bow length. She said it helps it sound more musical, not just bland back and forth. I was thinking that this would be part of this lesson, too. Can you do this for a future video if not done already? It's challenging.

@ToxicJusticeBook Жыл бұрын

Thank you. Excellent exercise for warm-ups. I look forward to each new post. I've been following you since you began this channel. For many older adult cellists, cello is our mental therapy.

@gregjname7227 Жыл бұрын

Good one. This was very helpful for me , adult beginner.

@kencarpenter2785 2 жыл бұрын

A very important aspect to focus upon! Great exercises! One way I’ve also approached this is to try playing a phrase while tapping into different emotions. So, play it with the feeling of joy, the frivolity, then with deep sadness, and then with humor. It obliges you to utilize the points you’ve made! Thank you, Billy!

@jorisArt Жыл бұрын

Excellent! Thanks!

@endo-poptart Жыл бұрын

So glad I just found this! I'm just starting my cello journey at 44. As I was practicing today I said, that doesn't sound right! Dead bow 😢 I'm going to try this tomorrow 😁

@learoberts1032 Жыл бұрын

So helpful thank you! ❤

@ar7223 Жыл бұрын

You are hilarious!! “ a heart monitor”😆

@kimberlymiller6826 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your videos, they are very helpful and simple enough to follow while playing along. Now when I'm playing French Folk Song, it will have more zing to it!

@kimchallis1728 2 жыл бұрын

Great lesson, Billy - I enjoy all your postings! And apply them to fiddle too.

@kitsanyew9676 Жыл бұрын

Will definitely work on this exercise once I get my cello back from repair.. great tips and advice as always.. thank you Billy! ^^

@TiagoCotrim 2 жыл бұрын

10:04 "ya... ya... ma..." kind of sound. Yo-Yo Ma? Will try to think of that when I play, maybe it will work! :) Your vids are awesome and really helpful, thanks a lot!

@TheBereangirl 2 жыл бұрын

Billy, I call it a "flat" sound, but "dead" sound works too. I heard it the most on the 1st position G note on the D string, it was so discouraging. I apparently would go over into A#/Bflat🤷‍♀️ because it sounded SO flat...and then I noticed the way I'd bow; just too light. So I sat up straight, dug in with my bow and was careful of finger position, and wouldn't you know it...it sounded so much better! So how do you know the problem I'm having and then make a video about it?!😉

@emilychambers 2 жыл бұрын

"So how do you know the problem I'm having and then make a video about it?!" I'm with you on this @theBereangirl! Sometimes I come out of my lesson and watch Billy's latest video only to find that it's covering the same topic. I think he must know my teacher 🤣[spoiler alert: unlikely as I'm in the UK]. 😊

@mallinmall1327 2 жыл бұрын

thank you Billy! this is very helpful,. a comment I got constantly from my teacher is that I gave a "dead" sound...and my cello is not "singing". Im going to try these methods and hopefully I can wow him next time! hahaha