Cello Lesson Number 8

Yesterday, July 10, 2026, I had my eighth cello lesson with Ana Ospina at New School of Music.

Lesson Notes

I asked Ana to help me with my posture, holding the cello, and using my left hand. I need to establish a stable triangle with my knees and the end pin of the cello without squeezing the cello between my thighs. I need to stretch my left hand and fingers before playing. I need to keep the fingers of my left hand on the strings as much as possible.

Ana said I have fingers 2, 3, and 4 in the correct position when I play in first position; I only need to adjust the position of finger 1. When I played with my eyes closed, I did much better at positioning my fingers. Ana said to practice using pizzicato so I don’t need to worry about bowing at the same time.

Ana taught me some exercises playing half the D major scale on the D string and then, without removing my third finger from the string, sliding along the string to the first, second, and third harmonics, and playing those with a very relaxed left hand. Repeat this with the other half of the D major scale on the A string. The idea is this will help me relax my left hand.

We played “French Folk Song” a few times from Suzuki Cello Book 1. I still do not recognize the notes on the D string when reading music; I get confused from what I know about reading the treble clef.

The hour passed very quickly; I am always sorry when the lesson comes to an end, because I would like to keep playing.

Assignments

My next lesson will be in six weeks, on Friday, August 21, after Ana’s summer break.

• Practice the exercises playing the D major scale and harmonics
• Focus on the pieces in Suzuki Cello Book 1, because these contain real music
• Continue with Schröder; if I reach Exercise 23, bow the slurs two different ways as indicated
• Continue with exercises in Blue Book of Tunes
• Spend ten days at most on any individual piece, and then move on

Additional Notes

I have registered for Mike Block’s online course, Learn Multi-Style Cello with Mike Block, at ArtistWorks, and I plan to work on it, too, during the six-week summer break between lessons.