Last night, I went to see a New York band called Rasputina. I've had them on my radar to check out for a while...but missed them when they were in town 2 years ago. The band consists of 2 female cellists (both on vocals) and a drummer. They came out in Victorian costumes...feathers and all. How cool is that?? The music was great (think Dead Can Dance, Portishead, PJ Harvey mix) and both cellists impressed me with the range of sounds they could create for that kind of music. LOTS of spiccato bowings and endless double stops...resulting in a need for a rehair the next day I'm sure!! I was also pretty impressed with them doing all this and singing at the same time. I'm just not that coordinated!!
I've been playing in a string quartet now for 3 years. It's my favorite kind of ensemble. Sometimes I feel so lucky to have met 3 other people who can put up with me (as well as my technical limitations) on a regular basis. My personal playing improved greatly after joining this group but the big high for me was when we started some coaching sessions and improved as a group. What an experience! I also discovered a huge love for string quartet literature.
That said, I've also experimented with playing pop music. The tough part for me is to "jam". Pop musicians get together and they just start playing...whereas I'm still looking around for some music to read. It's a leap that I haven't quite made but would like to do more of in the future. Has anyone done this? I think I'm a classical stiff - how do I loosen up and jam? I've gotten many invitations from band people to come and "play" with them. Like me, I think bands LOVE the idea of a cellist in the group. Unfortunately I've turned a lot of them down. My confidence is not too high when it comes to improvising and it makes the whole experience very uncomfortable for me. I guess if I just tried it more often, it would become easier.
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It's my dream to become good enough to play in a string quartet. How did you connect with yours?
I got really really lucky in finding my quartet. After I had been taking lessons for 2 years - I was kinda bored with just playing by myself. One day, I saw this posting at the music school where I was taking lessons. Another adult student(violinist) had posted a little note on the bulletin board about creating a quartet - cellist needed. I was really nervous but I called anyway because I really really wanted to do it. I've been with them ever since.
Since then, I have met other musicians a variety of ways. CraigsList.com is a big one. I would put a posting in the musicians section about you being a cellist looking for a quartet. Also, through existing postings - there may be a quartet looking for a cellist at this moment. I have also attended several chamber music gatherings - basically a bunch of musicians get together with a bunch of music and start playing. I found these through people in my quartet who knew other musicians.
The only way to get "good enough" to play in a quartet is to play in one. I am still not "good enough" to play in a quartet, but I have learned to fake it!!! I would find a quartet as soon as you can and give it a whirl. You could just start out playing some of the really easy Mozart quartets. A lot of the cello parts are just steady eighth notes in first position.
Thanks for all the info and ideas about forming a group. Right now I'm still learning how to keep my place in a large group as I'm playing with the pops orchestra that I joined last fall. I'm actually having a lot of fun doing it too. Right now I don't think I could juggle both orchestra and a quartet, but one of these days ...
cellodonna - you'll get there one day. It's one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done.
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