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Equipment

Strategies for Speed

January 30, 2021 by Jonathan
Equipment, Pedagogy, Practice

            Once we master the notes and rhythms of a piece, the daunting challenge awaits of speeding up the piece to performance tempo. This process often consumes a large amount of time and can often be frustrating when we get stuck at a certain tempo. Many times it feels like the piece will never reach full tempo. Let’s look at the appropriate time to begin speeding up a piece and three strategies to help overcome the tempo roadblock and truly master playing quickly.

            The first questions we must ask are, “At what tempo can I play the hardest part accurately?” and, “What is my goal tempo?” Too often we do not know what tempo we have already achieved or which parts tend to fall behind if we were to check with the metronome. (As a side note, all of these activities require a metronome, so if you don’t have one GET ONE. If a tempo is not indicated in the sheet music, listen to some recordings, or seek your teacher’s advice on a suitable and realistic tempo. Once you have ascertained a baseline tempo at which you can perform all parts of the piece or movement accurately and consistently, we will build from there. Here are three strategies to use in gaining concert tempo.

Speeding Up - Metronome - Cello Life Blog

To Gain Speed…Bump Up the Metronome

            The most commonly used strategies in speeding up music is to simply bump up the metronome a few clicks per minute. If you can play the piece, hard parts and all with the metronome at ♩=60, you can probably play it at ♩=65. Continue increasing the metronome a few clicks at a time until the music goes by so fast that you can no longer play accurately. At that point, slow down the metronome by a few clicks and continue getting comfortable at your maximum speed. Don’t simply speed ahead and accept mistakes. Find your comfort level and be prepared to push that level the next time you sit down to practice.

Two things to note:

1. Don’t get frustrated. If you hit a maximum speed and cannot overcome it, take a break and come back later.

2. Don’t expect the same level of proficiency the next time you pick up your instrument. Forgetting happens quickly. It is not unusual to feel like you are starting from the same slow tempo for several days in a row. With daily practice, you will be able to speed up the piece, but it may not happen the first (or second, or third!) time you pick up the instrument. This is normal, so do not be alarmed if (when) this is the case for you.

To Gain Speed…Add a Note 

            The Add a Note strategy gives the right hand practice at tempo while the left hand slowly adds the notes. Here is a short example of the Add a Note strategy at work.

First pick one of the hard spots which tends to be difficult playing quickly compared with the work as a whole. 

Speeding up Hungarian Rhapsody - Cello Life Blog
David Popper Hungarian Rhapsody

 Notice that we start with a short segment, as this strategy works best when used with small portions of music.

            To begin, we will take just the first note and play it with the rhythm of the passage, straight 16th notes in this case. The metronome should be set significantly faster than you can play the passage comfortably, even up to final performance tempo. 

Cello Life Blog - Jonathan Simmons - Add a note for speed
Step 1

As you continue, simply add one note at a time until you are playing the passage as originally written. 

Jonathan Simmons - Cello Life Blog - Add a Note Step 2
Step 2 – add the 2nd note
Jonathan Simmons Cello Life Blog - Add a Note Step 3
Step 3 – add the 3rd note

To Reach Concert Tempo…Practice Rhythms  

            In addition to Add a Note, we can speed up the music by playing all the notes yet altering the rhythms. These rhythms work best in perpetual motion passages like the one above, but can be applied to many different types of rhythmic passages. Different rhythms are applied to simple meter (where the bottom number of the time signature is 2 or 4) and compound meter (where the bottom number of the time signature is 8). Here are examples of the rhythms to use in order to speed up passages in each of these meters. Let’s first start with the passage from Hungarian Rhapsody as an example.

Jonathan Simmons Cello Life Blog - Hungarian Rhapsody
As written

            The first practice rhythms we could apply are dotted figures. Make one note long and the next note short at a quicker tempo than you could play all the notes as written. When written out, these practice rhythms would look like this:

Practice Dotted Rhythms to Speed up Music
Practice Rhythm 1 – Dotted Note First
Practice Dotted Rhythms to Speed up Music 2
Practice Rhythm 2 – Dotted Note Second

Once the first two practice rhythms are mastered, move on to playing more notes up to tempo. In the next practice rhythms, only one note per beat is altered. By this point, you are already playing three out of four notes at or near tempo!

Speed up notes 2-4
Practice Rhythm 3 – First Note Long
Speed up notes 1, 3-4
Practice Rhythm 4 – Second Note Long
Speed up notes 1-2, 4
Practice Rhythm 5 – Third Note Long
Speed up notes 1-3
Practice Rhythm 6 – Fourth Note Long

                        Now onto compound meter. Music in this meter being divided into an odd number of three, different practice rhythms must be employed. Two of the three notes can be sped up at once. The following example show three possible practice rhythms.

Rhythm as Written
Practice Rhythm 1 – First Note Long
Practice Rhythm 2 – Last Note Long
Practice Rhythm 3 – Middle Note Long

Gaining speed is an ongoing process, but these three strategies of employing the metronome, adding a note, and utilizing practice rhythms can help speed the journey along. For more great tips on practicing, a wonderful resource is the book Practicing for Artistic Success. Many more techniques for speeding up music can be found in the book.

I hope you feel more ready to begin speeding up your music having read this post. Happy practicing, and let me know how it goes!

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©2021 by Jonathan Simmons. All rights reserved.

 

All About Eqipment

October 24, 2020 by Jonathan
Equipment

            Today’s blog post will be a different sort – all about set up and equipment! I hesitate to write a blog post on equipment because so much cello-centric equipment comes out that seems admittedly “gimmicky.” In addition your instrument and bow are a very personal combination. What works for me might not work for you, and what I prefer may not please you at all! With that being said, the intent of this blog is to both share what has worked for me as well as to thank and promote the shops and individuals who helped me come to my current setup. When I buy a new instrument, I will definitely try out these same accessories to see if they work just as well for me on other instruments. To confirm, none of the shops mentioned in this post have sponsored me in any way. Rather I would like to use this post to show my gratitude for their products and their good service. 

Horvat Tailpiece and Carbon Fiber Tip

Horvat Tailpiece

            Perhaps the most unique part of my setup is a pernambuco/mixed composite hybrid tailpiece by Damir Horvat of Horvat Fine Violins based in Columbia, South Carolina. Although many carbon fiber tailpieces have flooded the market in recent years, this model is the only one of which I am aware that successfully integrates both the natural look and warm sound of wood with the tone-enhancing characteristic of composite materials. Damir Horvat says “the exact ratio is a little trade secret.” My particular tailpiece is a prototype that I fell in love with after trying several different tailpieces on my cello. Now several models are available with various choices of wood. More examples can be seen HERE, and the Horvat Fine Violins website can be found HERE. 

 In addition, my tip plate is also carbon fiber!  

Horvat Tip Plate

This tip plate replaces the broken original one, and I have no worries of this one will be breaking any time soon, or ever! I did not notice any difference in weight or tone after the carbon fiber was added. It is the first carbon fiber tip plate design of which I am aware.

Pegheds

Josef Teller Swiss Model Ebony Peghed

 

            You may have noticed that that tailpiece does not have fine tuners. Although I prefer fine tuners, I am happy to live without them if the sound benefits. That brings us to another innovation in string technology, Pegheds, a name brand of mechanical pegs. Lest you recall tuning nightmares with older mechanical pegs that used a screw to tighten or loosen the grip of the pegs, mechanical pegs have developed tremendously since those early attempts. My early interaction with mechanical pegs was limited to one friend who used a different brand in high school and loved them, although they were always the last one tuning! More recently however several of my teachers had Pegheds installed, prompting me to consider them. Although many off brands exist, to my knowledge, Pegheds are the top of the line and worth the investment.

Chuck Herin, founder of Pegheds was nice enough to both give me a tour of his shop in Winnsboro, SC and also to walk me through the options of different designs for the head of the pegs. In the end, I decided to keep the heads of the pegs that were currently on the instrument and have them installed on the new peg shaft. Watching the process was fascinating, and procedure requires much less time and painstaking detail than fitting a new set of traditional wooden pegs. To create and install the whole set on my cello took well under an hour! Pegheds ships internationally with detailed instructions for luthiers who may not be familiar with the products, or you can go to the man himself at his Columbia, SC location. The Pegheds Facebook page can be found HERE, and their website is HERE.  Note: Pegheds, Inc. is for sale! Contact Chuck Herin with inquiries.

New Harmony Endpin – Cellos2Go

New Harmony Endpin

 

            One final often overlooked accessory on the cello – the endpin. Endpins come in multiple diameters, materials, and lengths. If you are debating switching to a new endpin, consider factors including how long you need the endpin to be and whether you can remove your current endpin easily, or if you need to take the whole unit out. Also consider the diameter of your endpin. They come in both standard 8mm and 10mm sizes, and the two sizes are not interchangeable. Materials vary from composite materials to carbon fiber and denser metals. Some are hollow and some solid.

            So why would you want a new endpin? I admit I was skeptical about what difference an endpin would make. However, there was no risk involved when Cellos2Go shipped me several to try for a week. I came out with a New Harmony hollow carbon fiber pin with the sharpest spike known to man! From behind the cello, I really did not notice much difference in sound, but the response of the cello did become much quicker, especially on the C string. That being said, at my first lesson after switching to the new endpin, my teacher looked up as I tuned the first string and immediately asked, “What did you change?” Perhaps the difference out front is more marked than I can tell from behind. Cellos2Go’s website is HERE. I have always had a positive experience with their advice and their customer service. Note: In speaking with Chuck Herin from Pegheds, I found that he too makes endpins! They include “Bronze, Copper, and brass core in a 10mm pultruded carbon fiber sheath…with silicon carbide tips.” Here is a picture of one of his endpins.

Keeping all these innovations in mind, I would like to share a quote to which I often return when tempted to purchase instrument-related equipment. “Amateurs think hardware; professionals think software.” No matter what your skill level, you can overcome the limits of your instrument and equipment; still having nice gear is always an enjoyable experience, to be sure! Happy practicing!

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©2020 by Jonathan Simmons. All rights reserved. 

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