Theory is good in theory

Ha! Last night, I found an old box of newspaper clippings and exam results and delved into the contents. My old Grade 7 cello exam result paper was in there. Grade 7 is the last big one before the AMUSA and LMUSA. I did this when I was 15. At the time, I was so impressed with my talent that I was horrified to discover I'd only been graded a "B" out of an A B C D E rating. Actually, I seem to remember I was mortified!

It was quite amusing last night, reading back the examiner's comments with my slightly more mature outlook these days (note, I use the word "slightly").

I see why I wasn't given an "A". I didn't even attempt to play some of the scales - the dominant 7th and diminished 7th 3 octave scales were refused point blank. How I laughed when I read that, as I never was very good (and I'm still not) at remembering scale names and applying chord names to chords. Yes, I should have studied and learned them. Oh well. The irony is, dom 7ths and dim 7ths are my two of my absolute favourite chords in my songwriting now.

It was really interesting looking deeper into the comments. Not having thought about it for such a long time, I was almost instantly transported back to that moment in time. My aural was marked as very good with some minor hesitancy and sight reading was - "very accurate and musical". Actually, I've always been very good at sight reading...maybe cause I like exploring new stuff so much.

My technical studies were "obviously well prepared" with a light hearted feel in difficult bowing styles. The pieces were marked as musical and apparently I had done extremely well in keeping on going through a Beethoven Sonata even though the pianist had got lost! I don't remember that part...must have been too traumatic! LOL.

The examiner suggested that I didn't rush into the AMusA exam. When I read that at the time, I took it as an insult, but that was proof that I wasn't ready to go through it. When I was young, I just didn't have the emotional maturity. I thought I did, but now, I realise these things can only be learned with life experience and heartbreak. While I had great tone, and played what I heard with my interpretation of musicality, I didn't know fully how to feel and express the music, the feeling, the passion because I'd never had those real feelings.

So, Mr Roberts, I forgive you for giving me a "B". You were right! LOL.

Moral of the story? Learn your scales and be patient.

Cellocompaniment

Well, I tried it, but don't think it's the thing to solve my non-accompaniment blues. After the bright idea hit, I decided to pick up my cello and accompany myself with the view to doing some gigs that way.

Hmmmm, it all seemed very good in theory. An accomplished cellist, songwriter and vocalist, adept at all three, combining all three, it just had to work, didn't it? After three hours of trying, it seems that not everything is possible after all.

I think if my music was a little simpler in rhythm and harmony, it might have worked really well. Having listened to other cellist/vocalists, their music is much simpler, much less complicated with extremely simple accompaniment on the cello. I wanted the rich lushness of my chords to come through, but what works on piano, doesn't quite work on cello as well. 7ths & 2nds work great on piano, whereas a cello is happier with 3rds and 5ths.

Well, it was an interesting experiment nonetheless, and while it might not be something I'll pursue with my current songs, it might be a nice avenue to explore with some more folky, bluesy, artiste-y stuff in the future. Had lots of fun trying it!

Anne-Lise