人気ブログランキング | 話題のタグを見る

チェロ教師のつぶやき。

endpin.exblog.jp
ブログトップ
2011年 02月 16日

First snow for max

I was really surprised at the snow we had a few days ago in Tokyo. It was only perhaps 5-8 cm, but I thought Max would have been more ....excited about it. He saw about 2 cm of snow (or less) a year ago, but it didn't stay long.

So, how did he react? almost no interest at all. He really seemed to be more interested in snow on the 2nd day after the snow fell. But, I did get a few good pictures of him.
First snow for max_a0157346_21574570.jpg




First snow for max_a0157346_2203492.jpg


I got more tired than he did, he has '4 feet drive' and I only have 2. So walking in snow is much more difficult for us 2 feet people. 4 legged people have much more advantage.

We went on our normal 2 hour + walk, and I guess he enjoyed something different. He did meet Rick, an Australian Kelpie. I guess these are rare in Japan, I know of just 2. Rick is not so sociable, but nice dog. Good with Frisbie!
First snow for max_a0157346_22627.jpg


Here he is with Max's ball. He really loved it. Hard to get it back from him. (Max will not fight for his ball. He is too timid.)

Endpin

# by endpin | 2011-02-16 22:07
2011年 01月 23日

well done!

On November 21, 2010 I held my 4th student concert. I was so surprised at how well the students did.
11月21日は第4回となる生徒たちの発表会でした。 生徒たちの出来の良さにとても驚かせられました。


Yes, I am writing this near 2 months later, but.... there are many reasons for the delay.
ええ、もう二か月も経って改めて感心してこんなことを書いていることになります。 それには理由があります。


Mostly, I guess as I was editing the recording in order to make CD's for the students, I got to listen again to them. On that day, I was too busy (mostly playing accompaniments) to listen closely. Then, while editing, I could really focus on tone and musicality of the students playing, and I have to say, good job to all.
つまり、生徒に発表会当日の録音CDを作るにあたり、今一度生徒たちの演奏をよく聞いてみたのです。 当日は生徒の伴奏やら何やらでとても忙しくゆっくり聴いていなかったのですね。 なので、編集をしながら、ほんとうにトーンや音楽性に注意して聴いてみたところ、ええ、”Good Job”と言わざると得ません。


It was smaller than other recitals that I have had. Many were busy with school or work, but still it was fun. Music for students ranged from 'not too difficult' to 'very difficult' but they all tried very hard. Some have even chosen music for the next concert, perhaps also in November of this year.
これまでより小さな規模の発表会でした。 何人もの生徒が学校やら仕事に忙しく出場できなかったのです。 それでもとても楽しい発表会でした。 生徒たちの選んだ曲もそんなに難しくないものからとても難しいものまであり、それぞれが一生懸命弾きました。 何人かはもうすでに今年の11月の発表会の曲すら決めています。 


The place was a small hall near Ogikubo station. The web page can be seen here.
http://kangeikan.jp/
会場は荻窪駅近くのかんげい館という場所で、WEBは以下のとおりです。

Small, but very nice, and good sound there also. I think about 40 guests can be invited. Unfortunately, we did not reserve the attached gallery as a green room. That would have made it much nicer.
小さいけれども、とても素敵で音響も良いところでした。 40人くらいお客様が来てくれました。 「控室」としてとなりのギャラリーを借りられなかったのが多少不便でした。 それがあればもっとよかったのですが。
well done!_a0157346_17281075.jpg


I will only post my pictures from the concert, as I have not received permission from the other students if I can post theirs or not.
ここでは生徒さんの承諾は得ていないので、私の写真のみ載せます。
well done!_a0157346_1730178.jpg


Not me playing, just talking.
弾いているところではなく、しゃべっているところですが。

It was very interesting to edit the CD also. I used a recorder from Roland, Edirol (R-09HR) and did the editing using free software (in English, as Edirol JP does not have English support) using Audacity. It was interesting to see the graphs of the music that was played. That showed me the volume that the students could produce, as the recorder was set at the same distance, and settings on the recorder did not change. Some had such a small graphs.
CDの編集もなかなか興味深いものでした。 私はローランドのエディロールというものを使っていて、AUDACITYというフリーソフトで編集しています。 録音された演奏のグラフが面白かったです。 レコーダーはいつも同じところに同じ状態で置いてあったので生徒がどのくらいの音量を出せていたかを見ることが出来ました。

well done!_a0157346_18155150.jpg


This is a graph of one of my students. これは生徒の演奏のグラフです。

well done!_a0157346_181623100.jpg


This is mine. これが私のです。

Big difference!!!!! やっぱり大きな違いがありますね!

Practice hard!!! 一生懸命練習してくださいね!

# by endpin | 2011-01-23 17:48 | concert
2010年 11月 03日

more cello

日本語抄訳は↓にあります

Nothing much, but as I get myself and my students ready for the next "happyoukai, I am impressed at the level of progress they are making.

At the same time, my former teacher asked me to take his students for 4 weeks as he is finally taking a vacation, after some 30 years!!!!!!!

As I teach his students, I am amazed that none of them are working on scales, and only one is working on exercises... hmmm. not the way I was taught. Will ask him more when he comes back.

Very difficult teaching your teacher's students. Do you try to correct the student? Sometimes I know that my teacher never taught what the student is doing. But what if he did? am I trying to undue what he did? Am I doing it wrong? Is my teacher wrong????????

With music, there is nothing 'perfect'. There is wrong! but there is not ...'perfect'. If there were, then there would only be 1 CD of each symphony, concerto or sonata. If it were 'perfect', then there would be no need to do it again, and we should all copy the 'perfect' way. If that were true, then playing music would be truly boring.

But, in correcting students of you teacher.... Well, that is a bit more complicated.

Hope to share more on this later...

endpin in Ogikubo

特に変わったこともありませんが、今は発表会の準備をしています。 生徒たちの上達ぶりには目を見張るものがあります。

かつての恩師が30年ぶりに(!!)休暇を取るというので、4週間の間彼の生徒たちを代わりに教えることになりました。 教えてみると・・・なんと誰ひとりとして音階の練習をしていないし、練習曲をやっている生徒も一人だけ・・・。 う~ん、私が教わったのとはだいぶ違います。 先生が戻ったら聞いてみましょう。

恩師の生徒を教えるというのは難しい。 生徒のやっていることを直させていいものかどうか・・・。 教えるべきことを教えてないなあ、と思うことも。 でも教えているのかも。 彼の指導と違うことを教えてしまっていいのか? 私が間違っているのか、それとも彼が・・・・?  などなど。

音楽には「完璧」ということはありません。 「間違い」はありますけどね。 もし「完璧」があって、それがCDになっているのなら、すべてはそれと同じに引くようマネだけすればいいわけですから。でもそれじゃ音楽なんてひどく退屈なものになってしまう。 

しかし、とにかく、恩師の生徒を教えるのは・・・複雑です。

これについてはまた後程お話します。

荻窪のエンドピン
more cello_a0157346_21482873.jpg


# by endpin | 2010-11-03 21:21 | cello
2010年 02月 01日

Buying your first cello 2

<日本語抄訳は下にあります>

Sorry, left out the most important part, but this will be short.

So, what to look for in your first cello?

Looks? Not important. Sound, sound, sound. How does it sound when it is played? by you or anyone else? Do you like the sound? Does the sound 'speak' to you? Does the cello feel good in your hands? Does it "call" to you? Does it say "I want YOU to play me!?"

You can look a long time to find that in the price range that you can spend. BUT it is there.

My cello came to me after I tied... can't remember but near 50 cellos. Some I really wanted, but they were out of my budget. I got the best that I could afford. Is it the best for me? NO! But until I can afford better, it is the best I could get!

Nothing is more important than the sound that you can get from the cello. Some are easier to play than others. Some are easier to play FOR YOU than others. I have played COUNTLESS cellos. Some sound good when the owner, or others play them, but do not sound good when I play them. They have a personality!

I would make the comparison to pets. You go to the pet store to buy a dog or cat or whatever. Which one do you buy? Looks only? Not a good choice. Which pet "speaks" to you? When we saw Max, our dog, he really 'spoke' to us! (or at least me) Your cello should do the same.

Happy playing!

失礼、一番大切なことに触れていませんでしたので、手短に。

最初のチェロに何を求めるか。

見た目? いや。 音、音、そう、音色です。 弾いた時どんな音がするか。 その音が好きかどうか、それがあなたに訴えかけるかどうか? また、手になじむかどうか、あなたに弾いて欲しいと言っていますか? それが買える値段かどうかなどいろいろ考えるでしょうが、それは出会いです。

私のチェロは、50余りのチェロを試したあとに出会いました。 もちろん他に欲しいものはありましたが値段的に合いませんでした。 決めたものが自分にとってBESTではないにせよ、買える範囲で最高のものを買ったわけです。

音が最も大切です。 あなたにとって弾きやすいことも大切です。 ある人にとって弾き易いものが他の人にはそうでないこともあります。 チェロにもそれぞれ「パーソナリティ」性格というものがあるのです。

ペットとよく比べます。 ペットショップに行って犬や猫を選ぶとして、どれを買うか? 見た目ではなく、その犬や猫があなたに訴えかけるかどうか?  我々がうちの犬、マックスを見つけたとき、彼はほんとに我々に(少なくとも私に)訴えかけてきたのです。 あなたのチェロもそうあるべきです。

ぜひ楽しくチェロを弾いてください!

# by endpin | 2010-02-01 22:09 | cello
2010年 02月 01日

Buying your first cello

<日本語抄訳は下にあります>

How many people who want an expensive camera would walk into a store and randomly point to a camera and say "I want that one." with out doing some research first? How about a computer? Washing machine? Wouldn't you ask some questions first? Is it more than you need? Or worse, not enough for your needs and you will need to replace it soon?

A cello (AND BOW) is even more important to match to yourself. Each cello, even if it is factory (mostly machine) made still has its own personality. You may get lucky and get something that you can use for years. You may be unlucky and get a 'dog.' (In English, the term 'dog' is both good and bad. In this case, it is bad)

So, what to do? You don't play. Maybe you don't have a kind teacher to go shopping with, or who can give you advice? You don't know any one who is a good cello (or violin or viola) player?

This would be a good time to hire a teacher for 1 day. Could be a good player, could be a teacher, or anyone else.

Here is an example. One of my students wanted a cello. I asked my school to bring 3-4 for the next lesson. And the lesson after that, and the lesson after that. I think she and I tried about 8 cellos in 3 weeks. She has the best cello in that price range than all the others. She "fits" that cello, and that cello "fits" her.

I tell my students that your cello is like a boyfriend or girlfriend. There are many people whom you could meet, but there are few who are special to you.

What do I mean? Well, with out going into all the intricate detail of instrument making, it really comes down to 2 things. The skill of the maker, and the wood itself. Even from the same tree, 2 instruments will be different. My cello has a 'sister' made from the same tree, and the same maker. I played both for a week or more. Mine was the better of the 2, but it was a hard choice. (Both were made in 1991)

If you can not find someone to go shopping with, then I would suggest that you find a shop with a good cello player in the staff. I know of one shop in Ebisu (Tokyo, Japan) where the owner is also a teacher and played with one of the major symphonies in Tokyo. He would be a good person to ask questions, listen to him play different cellos (Last time I was there, he had about 15, from not so expensive, to medium price) and same cello with different bows. YOU WILL HEAR A DIFFERENCE!!!!!

Now, how much to spend?

I would ask you, as will most shop keepers, "How much can you spend?" (as would any computer salesman, car salesman or any other expensive item salesman) In English we have a saying, "You get what you pay for." Some of my students bought cheap cellos. Around $500.00 or 50,000 yen. Another student paid about $13,000 or 1,300,000 yen. But the sound is so different! Basically, you can spend any where between $500-1,000,000 or more. Most people would spend in the 3-10,000 dollar range. (depends a lot on the country you are in!)

Bottom line. 1) How much can you spend? 2) Can someone help you find something you will WANT to play? (nothing is worse than getting something that you don't want to use, or just doesn't do what you want it to do!) and most important 3) Are you going to stay with cello long enough to make it worth the money?

他のもの、例えばカメラやPCなどを買うのと同じように、まず自分が何を必要としているかを前もって調べておく必要があります。 でないとすぐに買い換えるはめになります。

チェロも弓も、とにかくあなたに合うことが重要です。 どの楽器もそれぞれの特性があるので、運がよければ何年も使いつづけられるいい楽器にあえるでしょう。 

さて、どうすればいいかというと、まず先生なり良いチェロ奏者と一緒に行くのが一番です。 例えば私の生徒がチェロを購入したときは、私が楽器屋さんに数台のチェロをもって来てもらうようお願いし、3週間、毎レッスン後に数台のチェロを一緒に試してから彼女にピッタリのチェロを購入することが出来ました。 私はよく楽器択びは恋人選びにも似ていると生徒たちに言っています。 あなたの周りにはたくさんの人がいるでしょうが、あなたに本当に合う人というのはそうそういないものです。

楽器には性能云々よりも、とにかく2つの重要なポイントがあります。 ひとつはそれを作る人の技術、そして材料の木、そのものです。 同じ木から作られたものでもかなり違う楽器が出来あがるのを私は実際に私のチェロ(1991年製)で体験しています。

もし回りに一緒に行く人がいなければ、良いチェロ奏者のいる店へ行くとよいでしょう。 東京恵比寿にある「ゴーシュ」という店では元チェリストのオーナーがいろいろとアドヴァイスをしてくれます。前に行った時は手ごろな価格のものから中レベルのものまで、15ほど試せました。 楽器による音の違いをぜひ聴いてみてください!

さて、どのくらいの価格がいいのでしょう?

アメリカでは、「あなたが払っただけのものをあなたは得ることが出来る」と言われますが、私の生徒も、5万円くらいのものから、130万円くらいのまで、持っているチェロはさまざまです。 最低限、1)あなたはいくらチェロに払えるか? 2)あなたに役立つことがチェロにはあるか? 3)チェロと長く付き合っていくつもりがあるか? を考えて決めることが大切でしょう。

# by endpin | 2010-02-01 21:42 | cello