My heart says that expression wins the day every time.  My mind says you need to figure out which hand position to use for each note.

My cello teacher Lieven says “Stop thinking”, and at some level of practice and proficiency he’s right.

But here I am with a piece called “Ballade”.  I’ve had the sheet music for three weeks so the music is still new.

The sweet expression of tone and vibration and bow is a world away (though Lieven would say I’m exaggerating).

Now it feels like “grunt work”.  I know four hand positions on the neck of the cello, plus two slight variations.  Lots of thinking as I attack a new piece.  (Hmm … “attack” feels a mite aggressive)

I start my analysis with an erasable red pen.  A circled number means a position.  An uncircled one tells me which finger of the left hand to use.  Here’s what it looks like:

The black marks are the fingerings that Lieven suggests.  But some numbers (such as 1 and 4) look different in Dutch, and I get confused by what seems to be a simple variation.

Anyway, last week I showed Lieven my first red pen effort, and he suggested a different position and fingering at certain points.  I love erasable pens!

I’ve spent the last hour in Lloyd Coffee Eatery, sipping my flat white and copying the red stuff onto a fresh copy of “Ballade” …

I can see black marks more easily than the red ones, hence the change.  On the first line, you see “1” with a backwards pointing arrow.  That means I extend my first finger back from its usual position.  And I blotted out all those Dutch versions of numbers that wilt my brain. 

Tomorrow is my cello lesson.  My brain has figured things out.  My fingers may or may not follow suit.

And the creative expression, the swaying of the body as the bow flows, feeling the music …

Will have to wait a few days or weeks longer

Let’s make it days