All About My Bow – Cellist Catherine Black

Our bow is our voice. We want it to breathe, speak, dance, sing and emote. This is an infinite subject but we do need to start somewhere! I feel we learn best with clear explanation, demonstration, focus and experimentation.

We will explore in varied ways, how our bow use can become increasingly natural to us – to become truly, an extension of your arm and hand. In going slowly and in detail, you will more truly find your own voice and feel able to express yourself more fully and authentically as a cellist & musician.

This series will build your understanding in stages. Some classes may be repeated too.

The instrument we play is large and physical and we need to know how to use energy well and understand movement because sound follows the movement.

I will send you materials for the class ahead of the day and then afterwards I will send documents that help you consolidate and develop our work. The groups will be small enough that we will be able to work individually too to check things are understood.

Venue: Zoom (waiting room opens at 5.45 PM for tuning)

Fee: £30 per class

Click here to register and get more information.

10 December

Online Timeline Series – Cellist Catherine Black

We all want to be as rounded a musician as possible and that’s a pretty big ask. We all have our preferences, and the groups & orchestras we play in, take us down certain paths which enrich and educate us, but sometimes we find a hole in our knowledge!

The Online Time Line Series has really found a place in your lives. Join us to learn more about a remarkable piece of music, its composer, an era, its style that may otherwise have passed you by. Musical architecture, polyphony, phrasing, the place of music in society are all a part of this quest for a better understanding and roundedness.

We will play, discuss & explore from your – the player’s point of view – a particular piece of music from the wide library of Unsung Heroes Cello Ensemble scores. These now range from Josquin and John Taverner (1490–1545), through to Tchaikovsky & Elgar and far into the twentieth century.

Though there are some restrictions online, we can all play using the mute button, though not as a group. This is an exciting opportunity for players to have the chance to play as many parts as they wish as we play together.

You may want to bring a notebook too and I do send out further notes to help you continue the development after the class. I see this as a massive opportunity for us to do detailed work that really moves you on, because we have these apparent restrictions.

Just a thought: you may think a particular composer, (say Josquin for instance) isn’t for you. Don’t rule things out too easily as all these people, whose music I want to share with you, have so much light to shine for us. As cellists, there is so much music we miss because we have so much already written for us. This is an opportunity that I personally have loved developing.

Your score is sent to you on booking your place and there are 15 places per class so we keep the lesson small, detailed and personal.

Do look at all the parts if you can, so you get under the skin of the music.

Venue: Zoom

Fee: £25 per class

Click here to register and get more information.