A View From the Cello Section

Fluffy snowflakes have covered the ground. Coats and boots have become part of everyday wear. We have already had our first snow day off from school. It is November in here in the Midwest.

November also means the first orchestra concert of the school year is coming up!

Ugh.

I love the cello very, very much. But concerts just aren't really my favorite. Walking onto the stage, playing for everyone, all those glaring lights...

*sad noise*

But really, orchestra is great. Especially the cellos. I mean, we kind of have an infestation, uh, I mean blessing of cellos in my orchestra. There's quite a few of them, especially if you compare to our very meager viola section. When you have that many of us, there can be kind of a problem with how much sound we produce. Let's just say that the command to play louder is a very rare thing for our cello section to hear. (Oh, but when we get the melody... :D)

So, sure, there are some problems we have. Concerts are one problem for me, but there are others. November, for instance, not only brings joy with the snow, but also brings groans with the tuning.

Tuning, tuning, tuning. It's a problem year round, but especially here when the weather is shifting. Bridges popping, pegs slipping, and strings snapping are in unfortunate abundance. The pain is real, guys.

(via pinterest)

The cello is a lot of resting and simple harmony a sad amount of the time. As the cellos say in The Composer is Dead, "You can't waltz without a reliable one-two-three, one-two-three. It's boring, but it's steady work." The first violins, however, along with other sections, have some more tricky parts. Thus, our army of cellos is often left sitting for the other sections to get things figured out.

Being an orch dork is a hard life. ;) Not only do we have to deal with those things, but also non orchestra people. "Is that a guitar?" people ask as I carry my cello case. "The cello..." another says thoughtfully when I explain what actually is in the case. "That's like, a big violin, isn't it?"

Uh....no. Just no. :D

Anyway, I'm getting a little off the point. The point is, there are some little annoyances, but there's so much more benefits. In orchestra, you get such a wide variety of people. You get to learn so much from each one as you play music along with them, and talk to one another outside of playing. It's just kind of a big orchestra family, and it's wonderful.

And we haven't even talked about the music yet. Music is such a beautiful gift, as J.S. Bach said, "for the honor of God, and the permissible delights of the soul." It captures so much of the human heart. Engulfed in music is such a lovely place to be. Being in such a musical group is a great blessing, even though performance is part of the deal.

As the band director at my school said, "there comes a time in every musician's life when suddenly he loves the soft, pretty music more than the loud, exciting music. Or maybe it's just that the pretty music suddenly has become more exciting." Orchestra is one of the most beautiful experiences I have the privilege to be part of, and I wouldn't want to trade it, even to pick up more electives. ;)

How has music impacted your life?