the journey has begun!

It's been a long time since my last post because it's been a long and intense summer, but school has begun again and I am a few weeks into my cello adventure.

First, my cello. I'm no expert or anything, but I love my cello. It's capable of lovely tones, even if I don't always get them (user error, LoL). The majority of the time even I, who have been playing for a total of three weeks, can make it sound good, and I've gotten compliments on the tone. My teacher also confirmed that Cao cellos are good quality, and that the one I have is well worth what I invested in it. My bow is a Cadenza carbon fiber bow, which I got because you can't really study primates and yet be willing to purchase anything made out of rainforest wood. I've heard that they're trying to sustainably harvest pernambuco wood for bows, but I've also heard that it takes nearly 1,000 years to reach average height and can produce only a few good bows, so those are definitely conflicting stories, and I like my carbon fiber bow just fine, so I'm not too worried about it. If I start playing professionally maybe I'll do more research and reevaluate that, but this works for me right now. Besides, my teacher pointed out that carbon fiber bows are much harder to damage, which, considering my clumsiness, is definitely a good thing.

My oh my, playing the cello is an intensely physical experience! I've played a wide variety of instruments, and this is definitely the most fatiguing, but you experience the sound in a much different way as well. It requires a lot more concentration and coordination, and it's going to be a challenge to work both arms together effectively. I've been practicing a couple of times a week, which I need to up to every day, but I can tell I'm improving a little bit every time. It's not just a matter of learning the coordination, though, but the endurance as well. Proper positioning doesn't hurt, but after a while my arms and shoulders begin to get tired and I can tell that this requires a special and refined upper body strength. Especially in the little finger! I'm starting to build up my callouses, though, which is the mark of dedication right? I also got my first battle wound - a blister on my right index finger from playing pizzicato for too long, LoL.

Eventually I hope I can afford private lessons, but so far it's going well, I just need to practice more often so that I can really get the most out of my class.