Monday, January 20, 2014

Hard at work

So Jamie was promoted to the advanced cello group this year, which he was very proud of, but which has also meant quite a lot of work. There is a Suzuki workshop coming up in a couple of weeks, which is followed by concert that is sort of the centerpiece of the year. His teacher has chosen a very challenging piece, Breval's Sonata in C Major, for them to perform. She knew this would be a stretch for Jamie, but he has been really dogged in working on it. At his last lesson though she told him very frankly, and without any reproach, that while he's been working hard if he can't improve some technique things he won't be able to perform it. She asked then if he wanted to keep trying, with no guarantee of being able to perform it. He actually thought for a minute and said yes, which impressed me. So here is a progress update, with him playing a couple of sections...



Oh, and yes, shirtless is the preferred state for practicing cello, as for so much else.