Repertoire

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Permalink Reply by John Reed on February 6, 2009 at 6:41am

Mona Lisa Sound music! Can't get enough of that rock - of course, I'm a tad biased...

Seriously - when I teach, it's straight classical, tried and true method - scales, etude, Bach, Sonata and Concerto - every week. But strangely, whether I'm playing Dvorak or Piatti - I still find playing my own arrangements of rock the most challenging. It's the repetitive, rhythmic nature of the rock on cello that I find so challenging. A relatively simple (at first glance) arrangement such as "Sweet Dreams are Made of This" for example, has what looks like a simple ostinato for cello and viola at the top. But to play each eighth with equal attack, volume, and clarity for an extended time is truly hard. I have 100s of examples of these types of challenges in our rock repertoire. Try the pizz. in "Helplessly Hoping" at the prescribed tempo - brutal. Try page two in "No Quarter" up to speed to see just how good you are at clean string crossings. Want to see how good you really are at grabbing chords cleanly and in tune? Try "Gallows Pole" for a possible awakening. If you want to hear more examples - I could go on, and on.

- John Reed

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