Fall Registration

Welcome back parents and students! This year is shaping up to be exciting for music and cello in Eastern North Carolina.

Fall registration begins today. Returning students, time to turn on the practice switch. Be sure to brush off any summer rust by practicing your long bows, scales, and etudes S...L...O...W...L...Y..., paying careful attention to your bow hold and cello position. The fastest way back from a layoff is disciplined slow technical work. Old habits die hard, so resist the temptation of picking up your favorite piece from last year and playing it through over and over in an effort to shape up. Doing so reinforces your habits of a year ago. We all have bad habits, and it is important to focus on developing good ones. Leave those bad ones for last year. Lets make sure your first steps this year are steps forward.

If you have an interesting story about your summer experiences, whether related to music or not, type up a short paragraph or two and I'll post it on our studio blog for all to see!

For prospective students, please contact me for scheduling of your gratis sample lesson. It is my hope that you will be able to join our family @ TWSCS.

A cello teacher weighs in...

Re-post from a NY Times comment posted by the author on March 5, 2007 in response to “How to Grow a Super-Athlete,” by Daniel Coyle published in the March 4, 2007 NY Times. See hyperlink to article below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/sports/playmagazine/04play-talent.html?_r=1

Comment updated and abridged, 3/9/2009.

A cello teacher weighs in…

We are all prone, to a degree, a certain lack of clarity in the evaluation of our own abilities and performances. As a result, the opinions we draw from our performances and that of others based on these assessments are generally flawed. What we perceive as our failures are not in their determinative construct so simple. Neither are our “triumphs.” "Talent" as a word, the description of a presence or lack thereof, is used to explain those dark corners of achievement that are too complex for simple day to day explanation. There are far too many variables to reduce learning to a simple set of formuli. But, it is through understanding of just a few of those variables that an individual may achieve more than her predecessors. The great teachers and coaches of the world know this intuitively. They lay the path for greatness more so than any inborn “ability.” I feel the article in question does a fine job of demonstrating this.

The choice of using the athlete as an example is illustrative of the great capability of disciplined training to change how a body will react under certain circumstances. A body and mind can be trained, but must be done so properly. The maxim, “proper practice makes perfect performance” is a shibboleth of “talent” teaching. But, as applied in professional sports, it is not deniable that certain body types will be able to achieve greater speed, size, and strength. Amongst efficiency equals in sport, those who’s bodies conform to a socially determined preferable type will always prevail in a controlled performance test. Therein lies the difficulty in athletics used as a pure test for “talent” evaluation. The logical conclusion that the better body wins misses the fundamental point. What does that proper body type DO to reach the pinnacle of performance? It is the answer to that question, what the body does- that preparation and performance- which is the measure of pure ability. If the smaller body type moves the same, but on a smaller scale, and yet that body’s motion is just as efficient relative to the larger, wider, or differently built one, the level of “talent” required for the beneficial motion would seem to be the same. The difference of performance then is not in “talent” or the ability of the person in question, but perhaps more accurately in the social construct of what class of body participates in a given event.

Most real failures in ability come from improper learning and/or the misapplication of acquired knowledge. Those who triumph are those who learn, from one source or another, how best to practice an activity and how best to apply that practice. As I myself strive toward self betterment, I attribute any short-falling mostly to a misapplication of knowledge, lack of effort or improper practice on my part. My focus is directed inward on the approach and method. My failures are not blamed on an inherent lack of ability…even though that may make me feel better in the short run.

-CWN

The West Side Cello School

By emphasizing intelligent listening, proper practice, development of music theory fluency, and confident performance, all with an eye toward the teachings of the late Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, The West Side Cello School aims to develop not just outstanding young musicians, but also model citizens. Your child will benefit socially and academically through the balanced discipline and creative rigors demanded by the study of classical music.

Please contact me via email (address located in the Complete Profile View) if you are interested in taking a prospective lesson free of charge.

If the cello is not for your child, please contact a local music instructor who will, with your help, put your child on the path to a lifetime of success and love of music.