In Process - More Soon!
Topics
Theory Outline.
Aural Training.
Ears, Ears, Ears
Aural Imagination. Tonal concept. This is the primary guiding force of musicianship. Seeing, feeling, hearing the sound one wants with absolutely acuity and focus. Singing is emphasized in each lesson as is work with drones, perfect intervals, scales.
Tonalization - In the key of each piece played, slowly warm up on a collection of the following : Major Arpeggio (or any of the seven within the set), Double Stops with the nearest open string, Perfect Intervals, Octaves, etc. This choice is driven by the concept of developing the sensitivity and awareness to match the organic resonance of the open string. Pizzicato is a guide for the resonance that lives within the string itself. Mindful to truly match the open strings with all octaves. Rather than perceiving ‘in’ or ‘out’ of tune one is encouraged to feel vibrational alignment and to aim for the center of a pitch. Hear, feel, sink, rebound. It will be reiterated numerous times, but this is the space to use the Kenyan physical and cultural landscape - making references to sounds heard in daily life, colorful descriptions of intervals, references to poetry, stories, song, dance.
Physical Balance.
Posture/Positioning
Concept : The cellos joins the body of the player. Just as the drums of Kenya join the body.
Why : Playing with rather than against the cello allows for the most organic resonance and tension-free playing. Dancing with the cello!
Guidelines
Chair height should allow the hips to be above the knees
Three points of contact : inside the left knee, two inches(ish) to the left of the sternum with the button, C string peg behind the left ear.
Endpin and fingerboard create one fluid straight line to establish a straight cello. Endpin must be stable on the ground!
Cello Hug
Cello Song while hugging
Ski Jumps (left hand cups the string and travels to the end of the fingerboard with a small pizz upon release)
American Viola Society - Victoria Chiang for Viola
Kenyan Folksongs.
The following songs will be used as introductory material for intervals, vocalization, rhythms, bow use, and resonance training.
Ukuti wa mnazi lyrics
Ukuti, Ukuti
Wa mnazi, Wa mnazi
Ukuti, Ukuti
Wa mnazi, Wa mnazi
Punga pepo
Watetema tetema tetema
Rudi nyuma
Wa tetema tetema tetema
The leaf, the leaf
Of the coconut tree, of the coconut tree
When the wind blows against it
It shakes... It shakes... It shakes...
Kanyoni Kanja (Kikuyu)
1. Kanyoni kanja, kanyoni kanja,
Gakugwanja na mītheko
2. Ndakoria atīrī, ndakoria atīrī, (ndakoria atere *2)
Wamīcore watinda ku?
3. Ndatinda kairi, Ndatinda kairi,
Ngiaragania mbīrīgītī.
4. Ī mbīrīgītī, ī mbīrīgītī,
Na ndinainū, kia kagoto. (kia – cia)
5. Kagūa irianī? Kagūa irianī?
Gwa cū cū wa kamirūkio. ( gwa sho sho wa kamerokio)
Translation - Little Bird
1. Little bird, little bird,
Laughing and rolling around.
2. I asked him, I asked him,
“Little striped one where have you been?”
3. “At the quarry, at the quarry,
Spreading little stones.
4. “All the rocks I left, all the rocks I left
And I lost all my little stones.”
5. “You lost them where? You lost them where?”
“All the stones fell into the sea.”
Pentatonic Scales.
For Cello - PDF to Come!
Resource for Expanding Knowledge of Pentatonicism.
Language and Rhythm as they connect to the Bow
Additionally, articulation serves to imitate language. The clarity of consonants and the color of vowels. No note is left unsung or unspoken - each is given a full life with a beginning, middle and end. The tool tasked with this musical and vocal expression is the bow. Mapping the speed and weight above the string is a helpful practice to begin to feel this physical connection between one’s aural imagination, inner ear, and physical motion. Softening the right hand allows for a wider palette of sounds toward this end.