Creative Cello Workshop 2020
Studying with Eugene Friesen again…
As is so often the case, there’s no “deciding" what to do next. If I sit long enough, the answer comes and finds me. I am leaning farther and farther toward taking a swing at Kagel’s Siegfriedp’ but for the time being, the formidable Eugene Friesen is keeping me busy with a deep dive into improvisation. This first week went over basic modes and seventh chords, and we’re learning “Autumn Leaves” as a sort of test piece.
I’m clearly in the right place; the sessions are energizing, and I leave each session eager to get my fingers into the exercises. Dr. Friesen is as patient and supportive as ever, and he works with his assistant Marta Roma as though they are on the dance floor. The online experience has been remarkable as well. I was interested to see how a performance course with sixty-some students would work, but I like the way that we can all try something out together without all the racket, as it were. There was an option for individual lessons to supplement the group experience, but I didn’t spring for them. Instead, I’m incorporating some of the ideas from The Advancing Guitarist that I had tabled during the Wuorinen project.
As a part of the course, we use iReal Pro: a sort of programmable canned rhythm section, which has been fun to play with. After working some of the exercises, I programmed Beck’s “Eyes that Say I Love You” into it, and started fooling around with it in the way that we are approaching “Autumn Leaves.” Unsurprisingly, I have many of the same habits I did when I was a student some thirty years ago: even though I know I’m supposed to be saying the chord roots (and even counting out loud) I tend to drift off into “JW World” and play from there. It’s probably good that I still have access to this place, but discipline is really something I will really have to master.
Incidentally, I found this video of John Taylor from Duran Duran playing and talking through the process for creating “Rio.” I love it that he can’t seem to play for more than a few seconds without breaking into this silly grin.
How many times has he played “Rio”? and yet, her he is, having the time of his life. I want to play the cello like that.