Cello lessons

I have decided to learn to play the cello. I've always loved it and figured now was as good a time as any to learn. I have hired a cello from the local music shop and found a teacher in my town. He's very good - still doing his degree in cello performance, but he also teaches piano and violin. I had my first lesson last weekend and was excited to get practicing on Sunday. Then I got the bright idea to try my hand at tuning and managed to break the C string. That's the really big fat one that is the equivalent of the C two octaves below middle C on the piano. When I told my teacher he said it was quite an achievement and he has never broken the C string. Guess I didn't know my own strength! I have managed to buy and fit a new string, but I think it's pretty bad quality because, even though it's now roughly in tune, it just sounds so much worse than the other ones. Think I'll be string shopping again this weekend once my teacher has had a chance to look at it and recommend the best one for the instrument (that won't cost the earth as I can't afford to keep replacing good strings on a weekly basis!) I have already managed a C major scale though and am learning how to hold the bow and make a sound that isn't too painful for the ears! (Poor J and the kitties!) But it gives me something to look forward to in the evenings to spend a little time practicing something and it has also inspired me to get back into practicing the piano. I really appreciate being able to sit down and actually make music on that instrument! Stay tuned for some pics with me and my beautiful cello :)

Happy Easter!

In the evenings, J and I have been reading a poetry book we picked up during our last weekend away. Here is one of our favs - which is perfect for this time of year. I never knew daffodils until I moved to Britain.

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth
1804.