//Checkpoint (4)//

One thing I learned from my days as a choir accompanist in high school was to stick a photocopy of the score on a piece of cardboard paper. This has several benefits:

• One can mark up the score freely with ease
• It is more portable
• It is easier to read without glare
• It eliminates page turning
• It stays put in light breeze

This time I used a black cardboard paper as this would be less distracting for the audience.

The Practice Score

For the next several months, I practiced the piece for several hours every weekend. I think I might have played the piece at least hundreds of times in total. The most difficult part was having to practice alone for a duet piece. So after I had memorized the piece, I started wearing an earpiece hooked up to my mobile phone and played along with the YouTube video. That turned out to be quite fruitful for several reasons:

• As Teacher always says “Rule Number One: Whatever happens, don’t stop.” I became more conscious about breaking this rule whenever I had to pause and rewind the video.
• The style and tempo presented by 2Cellos in this piece was in line with my story. I was able to get into the mood quicker. It also made molding the music into the storyline easier.
• Playing “against” the sound of the other cello part and more importantly that of the accompanying piano was like playing in a real rehearsal such that I was able to plan out every detail after countless trials. The most critical part starts even before the first note. I would close my eyes and let the piano introduction led me into the mood of the story. Then I would take a deep breath and opened my eyes shortly before the end of the last bar of this piano introduction to prepare for the cello music to start at the following bar.

However, playing with a live person certainly was not the same. I got to experience such differences during my weekly meeting with Teacher. Teacher would point out deficiencies that I was unaware of as it was difficult to listen to my own playing at home. I recalled several hilarious exchanges we had.

Referring to #2 above

Teacher: Play more softly.
Me: What do you mean by more softly? Quantity or Quality?
Teacher: ……
Me: Oh! You mean like beef stew simmering in a pot?
Teacher: (Almost fell off his chair laughing so hard while nodding)

Referring to #3 above

Teacher: Play more cheerfully.
Me: But they are dead
Teacher: They are in heaven now. R…ight? (*Teeth grinding*)
Me: Umm… But they are dead.
Teacher: ……

A major problem surfaced during these weekly practice sessions with Teacher. I was unable to get into the mood like I could at home. And this had caused my playing to practically fall apart. Not being in the same environment and not playing the same cello were part of the reasons. But there was definitely something more crucial at play. Only a week or 2 before the concert day did I figure it out. “What a close call!” I finally suggested to Teacher: “I will follow your lead for the first few notes of each section (#1, #3, and #5 in Figure 2). But after those first few notes, I will ignore you and do my own thing.” Surprisingly this worked like a charm!