The Complexity of Sound

Right now in my Bible class, I am reading a book called The Day Metallica Came to Church. It is mainly the thoughts and experiences of John Van Sloten as he proves that God is in everything and can be seen everywhere in creation. On page 65 he talks about the complexity of sound and hearing that I have found God working in time and time again.

"The gifts of voice and melody were preaching before the first lyric was uttered, as were the elements of sound and hearing. When you think about it, the fact that this aural feast could even be perceived at all is itself a miracle. God came up with the idea of sound, made our ears, and gave us the capacity to hear. The nature of our hearing must have something unique to say, then, about who God is and what God is like.

And it does if you're listening. Unlike sight, taste, or touch, hearing is multidirectional... When I consider that God intentionally designed our hearing this way, I think, 'Of course!' If God really is everywhere, speaking to us from all angles all the time, then hearing in a multidirectional way makes perfect sense."

 I believe the reason that music gives me so much joy is because God moves through it. It is one of his good and perfect gifts that can be used today to praise him. Even when my cello practicing sounds more like a moaning cat than anything musical, God is still present in that moment!

* My best friend and classmate is also using her passion project to find God in music as she learns to play guitar. Check out her blog called This Old Guitar

Don't Fret!

Last week I played that beautiful cello for the first time, and my goodness- it was a joyful noise. But really, I wouldn't put those sounds into the music category just yet!

Since then I've watched many, many tutorial videos on the D'AddarioBowed Youtube channel and have learned some important things like a proper bow hold and sitting position, how to do full bow strokes, and some left hand positions as well. It turns out that finding the right spot to put my left hand on the fingerboard is very tricky because cellos don't have frets like guitars do. Don't fret though, many teachers say that this will come easily after lots of time and practice. I have also discovered finger tapes that you put on the fingerboard to show the positions, but almost every teacher advises against it because it is better to learn by ear. I don't know, it seems like a good strategy to me!


Rainbow Cello© by Jenny Armitage

Here are a few practice drills that I will be starting over spring break:
 helicopters - picking up individual left hand fingers and hovering over the strings to build finger strength.
bow hold - laying the bow in my hand and positioning my fingers in the right place over, and over again.
wiggle bows - rocking the bow back and forth to find the perfect pressure to make a sound.          

Tuning Up

The first challenge of this project was finding an instrument that I could learn on. My lovely aunt agreed to lend me her cello, but she didn't have a bow to go with it. Thankfully, a cellist from my church had an extra bow and was glad to let me use it. I got the bow a few weeks ago and was very excited to pick up the cello on Sunday.

I needed to do some research before I played the instrument even though I was raring to go!
Here are some of the things I learned from the First Year Technique tutorial videos:
- fine tuners work like screws (righty-tighty, lefty-loosy) and are used for minor tuning adjustments.
- pegs work the same way but are used for major adjustments.
- tighten the strings to make the pitch higher and loosen to make it lower
- open position plays C, G, D, and A
- the bow hairs need to be loosened in storage and tightened before playing

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Where to Begin?

First off, (c)hello and welcome to my blog!

My name is Naomi and one of my main interests is music. I have played piano since my childhood days in Music For Young Children and have progressed to enjoy playing three full movements of Haydn (something I thought I would never do). I've also enjoyed learning trombone in my school band and singing in the choir.

This year, my Bible class has been assigned a Passion Project- doing something you're passionate about which you've always wanted to, but haven't had the time to do. When challenged with the question, "What are you passionate about?" my mind jumped to music. I chose to learn the cello because listening to a lady play cello in church has brought me great joy and I have a general desire to play every instrument I see! Psalm 95:1 has been a favourite of mine, so I decided to make it the central theme of my project. throughout this semester, I will be learning to play the cello with the help of online resources (tutorials and websites), as well as a mentor. I will need to learn bowing technique, the notes of each string, and finger positions before I can play, and maybe even record, a whole song. I'm looking forward to the challenge :)