SummerKeys Summary

Well, now that I'm back and rested, I thought I'd sum up the SummerKeys experience.

For 95% of cellists, I think it's awesome.  We had people in our class that had been playing less than 6 months, to those that had been playing 20 years or more.  If you play the cello and consider yourself less than an expert, SummerKeys is a wonderful experience.  The ability to learn without tremendous pressure and in a beautiful and supportive environment make the travel worth it.  Actually, the beauty of the surroundings makes the travel worth it all on its own.

The one group who I think may not enjoy SummerKeys are those who are already playing at an extremely high level. If so, SummerKeys may not challenge you. You can of course challenge yourself, but given the wide variety of skill levels of the participants, the group sessions will likely be below your skill level.  Now, on the other hand if you are the kind of person that enjoys helping lesser-experienced players, then there's plenty of satisfaction to be found.  But, if your desire is to be challenged by a group of players of equal or greater ability than yourself, then one of the by-audition-only music camps may be better suited to you.

I think though the best recommendation I can give is that we're already planning our next trip to SummerKeys and can't wait to go back.

And finally, some more pictures to show why the trip to SummerKeys is worth it. (Note however, that Niagra Falls was not exactly a side trip)

 

SummerKeys Tips for First-Timers

Here are some tips for anyone attending SummerKeys for the first time:

   •  There's no (or little) air-conditioning in Maine.  

While 75 degrees sounds great (and it is), realize that even with it 75-degrees out on a sunny day, it can still get hot in a non-airconditioned house.  Bring a mix of clothes - shorts and jeans (or whatever you want).  Houses only have heat.  Some of the Inns probably have air-conditioning, but most homes do not.

SummerKeys is very casual.  A few townspeople did dress up for the faculty concert and a few students put on some nicer clothes for the various receptions and socials, but at every event, whatever you had on was acceptable.  I wore jeans to the "fancier" events and never felt out of place.

•  Bring an alarm clock and a wristwatch

If you depend on your cellphone for the time, bring some old-fashioned timekeeping.  Lubec sits right on the border with Canada.  It's so close in fact, that your cell phone will constantly be picking up the Canadian telco cell towers (Tellus or Rogers).  Those cell towers are on Atlantic time, which is one hour ahead of Eastern time, which is what Lubec is.  This can play havoc not only with your mind, but also with trying to be places on time. 

For example, on the first day, I set an alarm to get up at 7 am (my class was at 9 am).  I woke up about 6:30 and realizing I had another half-hour until my alarm went off, I rolled over and went back to sleep.  The next thing I knew, I woke up like I'd been shot, realizing I had overslept.  With great fear I reached for my phone, knowing it was going to tell me was 11:30 and I'd missed half of the first day.  Luckily, I still had plenty of time to get ready and get to class.  It took me a bit, but I finally figured out what happened.  What happened was sometime before my alarm was to go off at 7:30, my phone picked up the Canadian cell tower, which changed the time to 8-something.  My phone, then thought the time for the alarm had already passed, so it didn't bother ringing it.

The solution I came up with was to figure out how many hours I had to sleep, and then to set a timer for that amount of time, rather than trying to set an alarm.  That worked fairly well as long as my math was right.

•  Add an international voice, text and data plan to your cell phone

As stated previously, your phone will constantly be picking up the Canadian cell towers.  If you make voice calls, send text messages and use the Internet on your phone without signing up for an international plan, you could be looking at a cell phone bill running into the thousands of dollars.  Seriously. International roaming is ridiculously expensive.  Don't do it.  

You can add the international stuff to your phone for just the one month and then cancel it after, or at least you can with AT&T.

If for some reason you don't want to sign up for an international package, make sure to keep data roaming turned off on your phone, and don't send text messages or make calls.  Basically your phone will be an expensive wristwatch, which won't even work for that (see above).

You have been warned.

  •  Eat early

Lubec is a very small town.  They roll up the sidewalks around 8 pm.  If you want something to eat after 9 pm, you better have some peanut-butter-and-jelly back at your room, because NOTHING will be open.

•  A hard case is good

While some people rent cellos and don't have a choice, if you do have a choice, prefer a hard case.  It rains in Lubec fairly often, and while many hard cases are not waterproof, they're generally pretty-darn water resistant and you'll be glad you have one on those rainy days.

•  Have a strap on as many things as possible and wear comfortable shoes

You'll be doing a good bit of walking in-between sessions at SummerKeys.  It's nice for example to be able to take a portable music stand and sling it over the top of your cello on your back rather than trying to carry it.

•  Bring your passport

You won't want to miss the opportunity to see some of the sights in Canada.  You'll need a passport or passport card (if traveling by land into/out-of Candada).

 

Day 5 - Final Day

Day 5 was another gorgeous day in Lubec.  Our group class begin with the masterclass-style performances and critiques again.  However, this day was focused on those who had not gone yet.  There were some impressive performances, and a few where folks struggled like me.  Of course everyone was working on much harder repertoire than I, so their struggles were more understandable.

I had a short 30 minute window for some individual practice after the group lesson and then headed off to my individual lesson. We went over the Musette sectional piece, trying to get my rhythms straight.  Rhythm and subdivision counting is starting to come more naturally to me, slowly, but it still amazes me what a difficult time I have counting to four sometimes.  On in this case, counting to 2, as the piece was in 2/4.

We also worked on my Minuet piece for the Friday night performance.  Again, the focus was on having fun and trying to express the music, not just robotically play the notes.  Joachim was accompanying me on piano, and by the end of the lesson, it was going really well.  I had a few minor slips, but I was really happy with the quality of my tone and the expressiveness with which I was playing.  I was confident I could take that into Friday's performance.  

After the individual lesson there was a couple of hours of individual practice time and then we spent 2 hours as an ensemble before getting together with our coach for our actual ensemble session at 5:30.  By this time I had done so much practice during the day that my left-hand fingers were very tender and I was having a bit of pain in my back, in the shoulder-blade region.  I took some breaks to prevent it from getting worse.

After the ensemble session we ran to get some dinner and then headed to the concert.  We had a HUGE group of students and ensembles to perform.  In fact, we had so many that 2 intermissions were scheduled.  The audience for these sessions is nothing but SummerKeys students and faculty.  The mood is casual and as always, VERY supportive.  

Our cello sectional was the second performance.  I thought I did well on the Chorale we did, except for the fact they said "no repeats" right before beginning and of course I immediately tried to take the first repeat.  It didn't take long to realize I was off, and fortunately, it didn't take long either to get back on.  So other than that major flub, when I was in the right place, I thought I played it fairly well.

The Musette was tougher.  I had just gotten most of the rhythm down earlier that day, but unfortunately, the pace we played at was too fast.  While I had gotten much better at the rhythm, it was just too fast for me to keep up, so I had to rest during some of the more tricky sections.

My ensemble was next.  While I wasn't perfect, I thought I did a good job of holding us together.  We were not as good as in earlier practices, and nearly lost it at one point.  However, we did keep it together and finished without a major gaffe.  All in all for three beginners, I thought was did OK.

After a few more performers it was time for the first solo of my young cello career.  I was completely relaxed ahead of time and determined to apply the lessons I had been taught but forgotten during my masterclass practice session.  However, from the first note, I did let the nerves get to me.  I played in FAR too much of a hurry.  Again, I think I lost the fun and musicality of the piece.  On the positive side, other than a couple small gaffes, I did get through it.

Lots of people told me I did great.  While I don't completely buy that, John Newell, a super nice guy and extremely talented pianist who was accompanying lots of groups and individuals told me my intonation was outstanding.  I don't think he would have complimented me on it had there not been at least a shred of truth to it, so I was happy with that remark.

While I was not happy with not achieving what I thought were realistic goals for the performance, I quickly took it in stride.  It was my first solo ever, after all.  I see it as a learning experience and I'll only get better the more I do it.

I do think for the next one, I'm going to consciously try to play at a slower tempo and find some way to remind myself to have fun.

There were some great performances by the students.  The clarinet ensemble stole the show I thought.  I think their group was comprised of more experienced students and they played a really fun piece without any noticeable gaffes.  I was also impressed with the flutists and the voice performances, especially as some of the voice students were first-timers.  To get up there and sing takes even more guts than playing an instrument.

I did have to leave slightly after the second intermission, as we had an early whale-watching tour to attend the next day.  However, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, as did my family (who had stayed through the first intermission).

Day 4

Day 4 held the threat of rain, but not much ever materialized.  While it was very foggy, it turned out to be a nice day temperature-wise.  Our group class started with a masterclass-style session by our instructors.

Unfortunately, my session did not go well.  I worked on the Bach Minuet #2, but was really, really unhappy with my performance.  Somehow, I started with my intonation off and simply couldn't get past that.  I stopped and started a few times and eventually got through it, but it was a horrible performance.  I'm not a good cellist, but i'm better than that.

The students and instructors were tremendously supportive and encouraging, as always.  After running through a few others' performances, I worked on my issues with my instructor. The main thing we worked on was having fun, trying to enjoy the music and express the purpose of the music.  The biggest frustration was that we had worked on those things before.  But, with the continued focus, I felt pretty confident I could remember those things when my Friday-night performance came around.

We also worked in our sectional pieces, both of which I enjoyed.  I do wish we could dedicate some more time to the sectional work.  We were squeezing it in here and there and I think it will turn out OK, but some more dedicated time to sectional work would be fun.  I enjoy playing with the entire cello section.

Thursday afternoon consisted of solo practice time and some extra practice time where I got together with my ensemble-mates.  By the end, I thought our ensemble piece was starting to come together.  It wasn't going to sound anything other than beginners trying to play an ensemble piece, but it was starting to show consistency.

There were some student performances Thursday night, mainly by pianists. However, I was unable to attend since I wanted to spend one night with the family.

Day 3

Wednesday was fairly uneventful from a SummerKeys perspective.  Our group class with Kathy focused on effective practice strategies.  She showed us how to break a piece down into manageable problems, which was helpful.  We also did a bit of sight-reading on an easy ensemble piece, which was fun.

The one big difference Wednesday was the weather.  We awoke to the sound of rain.  It rained pretty much all day, though by the late afternoon, it had abated a great deal.  I was super happy to have a hard case on this day.  While my case isn't waterproof, it was certainly good enough to get me from my group class to my practice sessions.  My cello stayed good and dry, though I was pretty damp.

We also attended the faculty concert on Wednesday.  It was held at a local church and was very well attended. I'd guess that 70% of the audience was local townsfolk, not just SummerKeys participants.  The faculty did a nice job with a wide variety of repertoire.  They did play a Cerha piece was was quite atonal.  It was expertly played and appeared incredibly difficult.  However, given the atonality of the music, they lost about 25% of the audience after intermission.  It was a long piece, and I wonder had they left some movements out whether they might have avoided turning some people off.

The kids were a bit fidgety, so we left after the Vivaldi piece after intermission.  I'll see if I can scan the program later.

Oh, it's apparently impossible to get anything to eat in Lubec after 8 pm.  So, we had sandwiches.

Day 2

Day 2 was a bit different.  My family decided to go see one of the only Puffin breeding grounds in North America.  It was about an hour offshore and the boat left at 7 am, meaning they had to be up on the way to the dock by 6:15.  That also meant they had to drop me off at about 6:10.  So, I had 3 hours to kill before class.

Here's one result from the Puffin trip:

Anyway, my initial plan was to sit on the porch of the SummerKeys building.  However, after sitting there for a moment, I thought, "what the heck am I doing here?"  I couldn't practice there (there was someone asleep upstairs), and there was nothing to see (the sun comes up VERY early in Lubec, being the easternmost point in the US).  So I tramped down to the waterfront and sat on bench.  I played pizzicato scales while watching the fisherman go out for the day (I wasn't about to actually bow out there in front of regular citizens).

Anyhow, here was my practice / time killing spot:

When the SummerKeys sessions started, day 2 started much as day 1, with our group cello class.  However, we split into two groups, each going with a different instructor.  We talked a lot about posture with Joachim and how to remove tension from our playing.  

In my individual lesson, we went over some right-hand dexterity exercises and discussed different ways to make scale playing more useful, such as changing up slurs, or even taking a rhythm from a piece you're working on and use that rhythm for each step of the scale.  None of that is earth-shattering and it had been suggested before by my normal instructors, but the discussion really hit home that I was not doing myself any favors by strictly playing quarter-note scales.  This is going to be an intense area of focus for me in the future.

It was also discussed how beautiful bow strokes come out of a circular motion, rather than being completely linear.  It will take some to integrate this thinking into my bowing, but I definitely can hear a difference when it's demonstrated.

I'm trying to use my 3-4 hours of practice a day to my advantage.  I really hope it shows when I get home.

We also started our coached ensemble work this evening.  I'm paired with a pianist (Rosemary) and a violinist (Alice).  Poor Alice, who is also a beginner, has the toughest part, so it's been difficult for her.  Somehow I lucked out and got a super easy part.  However, there's been plenty for us all to learn in trying to make our piece come together well.  We're working an hour a day with our coach (Charles).  

Since I had awoken at 5 am and done 3 cello classes (counting ensemble) and probably a good 6 hours of practice during the day, I was dead tired by the time we got back to the cabin.  Like, I fell asleep on the couch within 20 minutes, tired.  And when I woke up several hours later, I simply dragged my tired self upstairs and went to bed.  What a day.

Day 1 in the books

Day 1 is complete.

 

It started this morning at 9 am with a group class at Sacred Heart Church. We have about 10 cellists in the class, who will be divided amongst two instructors.  

SummerKeys spreads its practice facilities around the town.  Some are at the SummerKeys headquarters.  Some are at churches.  Some are in practice buildings.  Some are in houses.

Instructor Joachim Woitun

More cellists:

The outside of this particular practice facility (Sacred Heart Church fellowship hall):

 

Some of the homes along main street:

 

I'll have a short video tour up probably on Friday.  I recorded one but wasn't happy with it, so I'm going to rerecord it.

 

After our group lesson, I returned to the SummerKeys headquarters, shown here:

And here's some of the practice rooms in the back of the SummerKeys headquarters (each one has a piano):

And two more (the door on the left leads to the SummerKeys office):

 

The practice rooms are available to anyone if they're not in use.  On this particular day however, they were all in use.  So, while I waited on the time for my private lesson to arrive, I made my own practice room in the backyard of the SummerKeys building:

Personally, I think I got the best space.

My individual lesson was at 1:30, with 2 hours of scheduled practice afterwards.  (Scheduled practice means a practice room is scheduled for you)

My instructor certainly seems to be knowledgeable and well-credentialed. We've spent our time thus far working on new drills for intonation and scales, as improving intonation was one of the areas I identified as an area of need.

On day 2 I'll have the same basic setup, but with the addition of a coached ensemble group in the late afternoon.

I'm having a blast at SummerKeys.  It's great to be able to focus totally on the cello for 5, 6 or 7 hours without having to worry about other things in life.  While I haven't noticed a huge increase in my ability after one day (of course) I can't imagine that all this is going to do anything but help.  

I also love the attitude of SummerKeys.  "Come as you are…"  It is incredibly welcoming and encouraging.  Even people who have never touched an instrument or read a note are welcome.  That's certainly rare among summer music programs, if not unique.

More tomorrow...

Orientation complete

We had an orientation meeting tonight for first-time attendees at 4 Bayview Street, the SummerKeys headquarters.

There were about 12 students in our "first-timer" group. They were a mix of cellists, vocalists, pianists and one violinist I believe.  Naturally, I forget everyone's name immediately.

I was shocked to find out I'm not the most inexperienced cellist in the group. There was another student who has only been playing 6 months.  Of course with my luck, it's probably 6 months on cello after a career as a concert violist and she warms up with the Haden C.  But regardless, it seems like we have an interesting mix.

We were told earlier classes in the summer were much lighter on the student numbers.  Last week apparently had 4 students. This week, however, there are nearly 50 students.  Crazy.

We also got our schedules today.  A group class each morning at 9 am, 3 hours of scheduled practice time and 1 hour practice session.  Going to be interesting to see how my fingers hold up.

I'll have pictures of the SummerKeys facilities and practice sessions tomorrow.

Lubec, Ho!

We have arrived.  Really.  Well, not musically or economically, but at least geographically.

We drove through a misty Maine rain today.  Fortunately, the rain is supposed to end tomorrow.

Lubec is beautiful, even in the rain.  The temperature can't be beat either (currently 67 degrees.)

And now some photos:

 

Scenery?  Yeah, Maine has a bit here and there...

We went on a Mose Safari here:

Of course we're probably the first people in the history of Maine Moose tours to not see a moose.  And no, they don't give refunds. 

But, we had a beautiful canoe trip.

Allie on the pond:

Matthew gets his paddle on:

After the unsuccessful safari, I did manage to find one moose:

Also, blueberries are apparently a big deal up here.  So much so, that we just had to stop here.  Sadly, despite my prediction, it is not owned by Violet Beauregard.

 

 

 

Oh, and did I mention scenery?

And finally, the view from our cabin:

Apparently, I'm not 19 anymore...

We did not arrive in Roanoke until about 1:30 am.  7 o'clock departure?  Who's stupid idea was that?  

Because of our late arrival, we did not end up departing until around 9:30 am.  The scenery in Virginia was gorgeous.  The mountains were awesome, as was the Shenandoah Valley itself.  I knew we were driving through mountains the night before, so it makes me sad for whatever gorgeous scenery I missed.  That's particularly true because the last time we drove through Virginia along that route was in our younger years on the way to a wedding in D.C. and we had decided to drive all night, so I didn't get to see it then either.  

Once on the road again, the drive was fairly uneventful.  Pennsylvania was pretty too.  Not quite as pretty as Virginia, but certainly pleasant at which to look.  I received a pleasant surprise when we hit Allentown, as the sign said 115 miles to New York City.  I was shocked it was so close.  It looked much farther on the map.

However, it wasn't long before we passed through New Jersey and into New York.  New Jersey was quite pleasant too, with lots of green and not much industrial-stuff.  While I knew New Jersey's reputation was no doubt a bit exaggerated, I was surprised to see almost nothing but green nearly all the way until Newark.

We did have a moment of concern in Newark as we accidentally ended up in the "local" lanes for 98 rather than the express lanes.  It slowed us down a bit, but we eventually ended up in the same spot.

Now the mistake.  We had decided to follow 95 through New York, so the kids could get a view of the city.  However, it was now 4:30 pm on a Friday, and once we passed through New York, we would be going outbound.

We got a decent view of the lower west-side as we went up the New Jersey Turnpike, and actually ran into very few traffic problems as we crossed the George Washington Bridge and trekked through the Bronx.  I was happy we didn't break down in the Bronx.  It didn't look like the best place for a stranded tourist.

But then we hit Connecticut.  And we sat.  And sat.  And sat.  Ok, so probably not the best plan ever.  However, I'm still glad we did it so the kids could get a glimpse of New York (or as they used to call it when they were little, "U Nork City."

After we finally got out of Connecticut, it was a short drive through Massachusetts, a shorter drive through New Hampshire, and finally into Maine.  We arrived in Freeport about 12:30 am.  So, 9:30 am to 12:30 am.  15 hours.  Wow.  Apparently I'm not 19 anymore.  I was dog tired.

We had planned to go to kayaking class in the morning at LL Bean (since archery and skeet shooting were full).  However, we decided we really didn't need to know kayaking that bad.  We've slept in this morning to the late hour of 9 am.  Shortly we'll be heading off in search of breakfast, a visit to the LL Bean store (I need a new medium-weight jacket) and then we're off to hunt moose (with a camera) at Moosehead lake.  We'll spend the night in Bangor, and head to our final destination of Lubec on Sunday.

 

And away we go...

Today's the day.  We start our trip to SummerKeys.  

1 van, 2 adults, 2 11-year-olds, 26-total-hours

I'll add some photos later.

 

Today:

Nashville-to-Roanoke, VA:  436 miles, 7.5 hours

We'll depart today around 4 and arrive in Roanoke around midnight.  

Tomorrow is the big day:

Roanoke, VA to Freeport, ME, 787 miles, 14 hours

I'm hoping we're on the road by 7 am tomorrow, which will put us arriving in Freeport around 9 pm. Unlikely to be any blogging done as I drag my dead butt into bed.

Planning for travel

Planning for this trip to SummerKeys reminded me I needed to make sure my instruments are covered by insurance.  So, a quick call to USAA established coverage for our 2 cellos (mine and my daughters) and one guitar (my son's).

I'll be keeping any instruments we take in the hotel room at night, so I'm not really worried about theft, but should it get lost or stolen while at SummerKeys, this protects me.

Homeowner's rider policies only work if you're an amateur.  If you're a professional, you'll need to get coverage from any number of insurance companies that specialize in musician coverage.

Just a small logistical detail about which it's easy to forget.

Blog, oh how I neglect thee

Wow, have I neglected this blog.

Let's see, how to summarize the last 6 months since I last posted...

Cello-wise, I think things are going well.  I'm becoming more and more comfortable on the instrument and my intonation has improved by leaps and bounds.  It's still miles away from any decent cellist, but the improvements give me faith that over time, I may one day have good intonation as well.

I'm working on more "advanced" positions now, such as second, third, fourth, fifth, etc.  Most cellists probably wouldn't consider those as advanced, saving that designation for thumb position.  However, they're certainly more advanced for me and it's a struggle to think of the fingerboard in the "blocks" my instructor is advocating.  But, like all things which seem impossible at first, I'm sure it will get better with time.

One of the things I have thoroughly been enjoying since starting with my new instructor is the ensemble she runs.  It's comprised of about 4 of her students, all of differing ability levels, with me being on the bottom.  However, it's the one time I feel actually musical, so it's a lot of fun.

The big news is that we're preparing to leave for my first SummerKeys in a couple weeks.  SummerKeys has the advantage of being a cello camp that accepts all levels, which is quite rare.  Some camps expect a lot of experience and some are even audition-based.  SummerKeys is different in that it is open to anyone, even someone who has never played the instrument before. 

SummerKeys is in Lubec, Maine, the easternmost town in the congenital US.  The good news is the scenery should be gorgeous.  The bad news is, it's a 25-hour drive. But, we're going to take the whole family and make an adventure of it.  Whether 25 hours (one way) on the road with two children is a good adventure or a bad adventure is yet to be determined.

A new instructor, a new optimism

Wow.  It's been quite a while since I've updated this blog.  My apologies for any readers I have out there.

The big news is, I have yet another instructor (this one is my third).

When I lost my first instructor, the thought occurred to me that it was the opportunity to perhaps study with one of the higher end instructors in Nashville. I got some recommendations and started making phone calls.  One member of the Nashville Symphony called me back and let me know that he could not take on any more students, which was fine.

However, three of the instructors never replied to any of my emails or phone messages.  This is a HUGE pet peeve.  If your answer is that you don't take adult beginner students because you only take advanced students, that's fine.  I understand that.  Just say so.  But to not even take five minutes to return my call or email is incredibly rude and inconsiderate.

But on to the good news of this post:  I did find a new instructor through one of the local music stores.  She's quite highly-credentialed and while that doesn't make one a good teacher, she has the gift of teaching to go along with the credentials. I love my new instructor.  She's the principal cellist in several prestigious community orchestras, and teaches students of all levels, from children beginning to advanced.  I'm extremely happy with the progress I'm making under her, and feel like I can really move ahead.

My advice to anyone out there considering the cello is to make sure to take your time to find the right instructor.  If I had it to do over again, I'd probably take the time to take lessons with 3-5 instructors and pick the one that felt the most right.

Now, I do want to be clear that there was nothing wrong with my previous two instructors.  They set me up on solid foundation for which I will forever be grateful. However, I just didn't think things were "clicking" so to speak, and couldn't escape the feeling that I was a bit mired where I was.  It's certainly possible that I'm just working harder for my new instructor as a result of my enthusiasm, but regardless of the impetus, I do feel more velocity in my learning.  So, if you're a new student, take some time to find the person who makes you feel comfortable and excited.