It's been quite a while since I started playing the cello right after retiring. Whoever said "practice makes perfect" must have been joking. My skills haven't improved one bit. Long ago, at a Rostropovich concert, I was moved by the resonant sound that seemed to burst from his belly like flying rosin. I decided that once I quit my job, I absolutely had to try playing myself. I found a good teacher, and after I could produce a decent sound, through the teacher's recommendation, I also found a reasonably good instrument. But alas, the age when you can do different things with your right and left hands simultaneously is long gone. On top of that, when the position moves up the fingerboard, the notes and the finger positions just don't seem to match up! And then, at every lesson, I get pushed forward with the repeated "Sing more!" I understand that in my head...
Even so, when I'm stumbling through duets with my teacher, I feel like I'm actually doing something musical in my own way...
*Great Master cello player Anner Bylsma says that playing is not singing, but talking. (From "Bach, Ancient Music, and the Cello: Anner Bylsma Speaks") In the introductory level, it is difficult to even sing!
