Cello Lesson Number 4
I received guidance on my form while bowing. I learned some new tunes.
Yesterday, June 4, 2026, I had my fourth cello lesson with Ana Ospina at New School of Music.
Lesson Notes
Ana wants me to keep my elbow above my bowing hand.
We worked on flexibility of my right wrist when holding the bow; my thumb should be bent and flexible, and I should be able to flex my fingers, straightening and bending them to flex my wrist up and down. I am still using the Wada Bow Grip for comfort and ergonomics.
When playing notes such as C# and D on the A string, I need to press the string with all lower fingers of my left hand.
We continued working on tunes in Blue Book of Tunes - Cello. We played together, but my intonation was usually bad. We played the following tunes:
- Slow Slithers (pp. 12-13)
- Songs & Dances (pp. 14-15)
- Touchdown in D (p. 16)
- Touchdown in G (p. 17)
- Twinkle (p. 33)
We also played “Jazz for the Open Strings” by Jiyoung Um using the music track on YouTube. The cello score is available at J. W. Pepper.
Assignments
Practice the tunes we played during the lesson.
Play “Twinkle” on the D, G, and C strings, using pizzicato for the first three days to learn the fingering of the notes, then bowing.
Begin learning the following tunes in Blue Book of Tunes - Cello:
- Sad Brother John (p. 17)
- Close Friends in Dm (p. 18)
- Close Friends in Gm (p. 19)
Practice “Jazz for the Open Strings.”
Additional Notes
I need to squelch my self-critical voice during my lessons. Ana says I’m progressing very quickly.
My new friend Peter, whose lesson is immediately adjacent to mine, would like to get together to play music (once I can actually play notes other than open string notes). I’m looking forward to this.