Think Cello & Speak Cello

What does it mean to think music? What does it mean to speak music? We don't hear every single word in our head before we speak it, we think it or maybe we don't even think it, and it just comes out at will. Many sentences and groups we don't have to pre-formulate for them to be coherent or even spoke well. So my question has always been, how do we get to this point with music? And why has no one told me about it.

I get glimpses of it every once in a while. Mental practice is the thing that has gotten me there. THat is the best name I can come up with. It is when I sit in silence and observe myself playing the cello. I am able to see every single thing I am doing wrong that I don't like. No one told me to do this and no one has ever validated that its a legitimate way to practice and so until a year ago, I cast it aside, I said "well.. better practice the "right way". I finally thought just had to give in because it simply works.

I got another glimpse just now, a really wonderful moment where I was thinking cello, speaking cello. It was glorious. Something I have only experienced a few times in my life but I think I am about to start experiencing it a whole lot more. 

It is difficult, as you are currently experiencing, to describe it succinctly. There are so many parts and variables to this and so many relationships that help to explain.

1. Think cello, speaking cello instead of ____(what we do we when have to hear everything literally before hand, which granted is an important part of practicing and learning)

2. Reactive vs. Proactive playing and practicing. Am I reacting to what I hear or am I letting go? Am I going a step further and proactively thinking ahead what I want the sound to be or proactively thinking about what I want to correct

3. Tensing up and away instead of relaxing into the notes. You have to get to the notes in a relaxed way, thats the only way you learn. You can play the right notes over and over again until you are a 100 and you will never be consistent player if you have tension. 

4. Knowing and understanding the difference between Necessary tension (required to play the instrument) and tension that gets in the way & interrupts the playing.

5. Be your most authentic self when playing don't try to impersonate and be what you perceive to be a good musician, a good player. 

In short, I am trying to describe and talk about something that has never been talked about before. We don't have a vocabulary for this. 

This is evolving. I will be back with more. 

Keep on Keeping on and Keep on Music'ing. Keep on thinking music, keep on speaking music.

Clay