Keeping track of my cello progress

It’s been 2 years and 2 months since I started learning the cello.

I’m happy to report that I recently obtained a Merit result in my Grade 5 ABRSM cello exams. What an adventure it has been!

Now that I’m officially a postgraduate student, I suddenly have a lot less tension in my life and lately, I feel very enthusiastic about practicing my cello. For the past week or so, I’ve been video recording myself to track my progress in learning some repertoire. I also realized that I have a lot to work on too!

On top of that, I was feeling very up for a challenge to learn a pop piece so I asked my friends on instastory what I should learn. It was at the back of my mind but good minds think alike. At least two friends said I should learn to play Memory, a popular cello soundtrack from the Japanese movie, Okuribito aka Journey. It’s a really good movie and I’m not going to spoil it for you, if you haven’t watch it already.

I’ve been practicing this piece for a little over 3 weeks already and I’m getting more and more confident with other pieces too. I’m able to borrow techniques from one song to another. I’m glad to say my application skills are slowly improving.

I thought I’d share some playlist that is going to display my progress in learning some standard cello repertoire. I’m especially looking forward to see how I will progress in Bach’s Cello Suite. Currently I’m learning the 1st minuet and it’s very, very challenging already. Slowly but surely, I’m getting a hang of it in this short few weeks.

Bach’s Cello Suite – Minuet no.1

Humoresque by Dvorak

Memory from Okuribito

Published by Cherylyn

Cherylyn is a general music teacher for KS1 and KS2 at a Malaysian international school. She writes articles related to music teacher development which includes productivity tips and professional development. She also has interests in music arrangement and production as well.

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