Bach’s music is usually held in high esteem as a model of musical perfection. In fact, a quote, attributed to Schoenberg, goes “There is no greater perfection in music than in Bach!” The Suites for Solo Cello, BWV 1007-1012, are also extensively played and studied, not only as cornerstones of the unaccompanied cello repertoire, but also as examples of harmony and self-accompaniment in unaccompanied string instrument writing.

A little-known fact, however, is that a close examination of the suites throws up several imperfections in Bach’s writing, which take the form of unplayable chords. Some of the chords have notes which are spaced too far apart; some others have awkward finger placement. From a performer’s point of view, they are chords which require special handling, or just a pain in the ***.

From a compositional viewpoint, however, they are mistakes. Which means to say that if a composition student wrote like that, he would be marked wrong; and if a professional composer wrote those chords, the cellist would probably need a word with him. That’s right. Bach made mistakes too.

The most likely explanation I can think of for these mistakes is because Bach was documented to have played the violin and viola, but it was doubtful whether he actually played the cello, and could have transferred his violinistic instinct to the Cello Suites with less than desirable results.

Note that Suites 5 and 6 are not discussed in this article, whereas the first four are written for C-G-D-A tuning and hence are examined in their original context.

Mistake 1: Suite no. 3 in C Major, Prelude, b. 80

Unplayability rating: 1.5/5

This chord is actually not difficult to execute. It is just a mistake compositionally because of the need to use the same finger on the highest and lowest strings. The obvious way around it is to roll the chord.

Mistake 2: Suite no. 2 in D Minor, Gigue, bb. 19 and 49

Unplayability rating: 2.5/5

Unplayability rating: 2/5

These are two mistakes in the same vein. In both instances, holding the dotted crotchet for its full value is clearly impossible, so the cellist will instinctively (and rightly) cut it short, but even then, the interval of a tritone between E and Bb makes for very awkward finger placement. The top passage is slightly harder than the bottom one.

Mistake 3: Suite no. 2 in D Minor, Menuet I, b. 2

Unplayability rating: 4/5

From the first minuet of the same suite comes this hand-breaker in the second bar. This is the first of the three examples of chords with notes which are spaced too far apart. Playing this chord probably requires replacing of the fingers when spreading the chord, most likely 4/1->2/1. The Fournier edition gives the fingering of this chord as 4/2/1, on the C, G and D strings. So the bottom C is played with a 4th finger harmonic on the C string. I’d also contemplated using thumb on the Bb but… naaaaaaah.

(Fun fact: I usually fake this chord by changing one of the notes. Not many people can tell. =P)

Mistake 4: Suite no. 4 in Eb Major, Sarabande, b. 30

Unplayability rating: 3/5

Another example of a chord whose notes are spaced too far apart. However, problem is easily solved by truncating the top E flat, since it’s a tie-over.

Mistake 5: Suite no. 4 in Eb Major, Prelude, b. 60

Unplayability rating: 4.5/5

I saved the best for last. This chord is a mistake whichever way you look at it, and it is Bach’s most severe, hand-breaking brain fart in his Cello Suites. It’s related to the third example, but even worse. Mischa Maisky actually used thumb on the top Bb, though I haven’t seen how other cellists do it. I wonder how period performers cope with this chord, given that 1) it’s difficult to use thumb on a cello with no endpin and 2) cellos in the 18th century tended to be even bigger than they are now.

BONUS - Parallel 5th: Suite no. 4 in Eb Major, Sarabande

One may argue that the D changes the chord and hence it isn’t a parallel 5th, or one may argue that it’s an anticipation and hence it is. What do you think?

I’m just back from the land of blue birds, gorgeous girls, and meals which cost 15 grand. o_o (And that considered cheap, too.)

Okay, I’m actually back from Jakarta, from a Suzuki training course conducted by Suzuki Music Association of Indonesia (SMAI). More on that to come, but I need sleep first. Suffice to say that I decided to be brave and hurl myself into the deep end of Indonesian culture, starting with buying a phrasebook at Changi Airport, and it has proven to be an awful lot of fun.

Only thing that ruined it for me was that my cello didn’t survive the return flight. Gotta see what my luthier says tomorrow. q_q

It’s already Boxing Day at the moment I’m typing this, but whatever. I’ll not mince my words. This Christmas sucked. I had to teach on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but that wasn’t what sucked about it.

I petted two cats in the morning. One of them bit me.

Of my two students on Christmas Eve, one canceled on extremely short notice, so I took the opportunity to grab a pint of the new beer at Red Dot Brewhouse. (Yes, I sometimes turn up for rehearsals and even performances drunk, but when I have to teach, then you’ll witness my amazing capacity for abstinence.) Resonance had a wedding gig that evening - apparently someone decided on December 24th as their wedding date - in which I aced the treble clef solo in Ice Castles, and my arrangement of 月亮代表我的心 looks like it is slated to be our next showstopper.

I became emo after the gig, when it turned out that everyone was probably partying away and I had nothing to look forward to when I got home. I walked with WJ back to SMU, where he grabbed his laptop and sat with me at the bar. I was so unhappy I got drunk. Stella Artois, Leffe Brun, and a Duvel as a finisher.

True enough, when I got home, dad was watching football on TV. He grunted in reply when I said ‘Merry Christmas, Dad’. Mum was in the room, probably asleep. I returned to my room.

Then I broke down.

Christmas Eve came and went. Exactly like an ordinary day. It’s not like the parents are overseas, or they’re dead and in hell. No, they are around, and I felt it was just criminal for them not to give a damn. It’s not even about the gifts. Screw the gifts. But, a Christmas without ANY warmth at all was just kinda too much for my poor little unhappy heart.

I woke up, surprisingly, with no hangover symptoms. It was a cold (by usual standards) and rainy Christmas Day, and I was determined to do something special or at least interesting - I was going to be really, really emo if I had two ordinary days in a row for Christmas.

So I made this.

This is already in a separate Tumblr post, for easy reblogging (hopefully). Making it lifted my spirits - I felt much better afterward, and for the rest of the day. So there you go. Merry Christmas everyone!

String players

Teamwork!! Or at least give the visual impression that you are indeed playing together (this is unique to strings).

Violinists

Sometimes life gives you lemons. Sometimes you are the one doing a lot more work than others, for the same pay. (If you’re a violinist, you asked for it, sucker.)

Second violinists/violists

You may be underrated and underappreciated (or the butt of a lot of jokes), but know that life just isn’t the same without you.

Cellists/bassists

Listen. Empathize. Harmonize.

Bad string players

Fucking practise your fucking part, you fucker.

Woodwind players

Every member of the team is IMPORTANT. (Unlike strings, woodwinds - and brasses - are usually one per part, meaning they are all soloists in a way.)

Flutists

A beautiful, sweet tone is the best way to get the audience’s (amiable) attention.

Oboists/Cor anglais players (also bassoonists)

Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you. (A bad reed is a lethal weapon both to you and the audience.)

Clarinetists/bassoonists

What’s a party without someone (you) injecting life into it?

Bad woodwind players

If you have no passion, go find another job.

Brass players

Nerves of steel required here, to go for those high partials.

Trumpeters/Trombonists

When a voice of authority speaks, people listen. But abuse the voice too much and people stop listening.

Horn players/Tubists

Be cool. Be nonchalant. Be unassailable.

Bad brass players

Be considerate. Play in tune.

Percussionists

Always be prepared for work. (Percussionists are always the earliest to arrive, because of instrument setup and arrangement.) Also, multiple marketable skills (aka multiple instruments) are good - you never know when you may need to cover for a colleague.

Bad percussionists

A. Percussionist. Who. Can’t. Keep. A. Steady. Rhythm. Has. An. Identity. Crisis.

Conductors

People skills, people skills, people skills!

Bad conductors

When you point at someone, remember that four fingers are pointing back at you.

Singers

Always take good care of your body. (Yes it’s sooooo a singer thing.)

Bad singers

Reality checks are good.

This is a post dedicated to my singer friends, who have helped me selflessly in my composition career - Evelyn, Kai Xin, Raymond, Wee Kiat, Jeremy, Gabriel, Yolanda, Jia Yu, Hau Tzeng, Yiwen, Hutch, Yin Yue, Isyana, Xueyuan, and Maureen. I love you all.

Note that this post contains plenty of spoilers but hey, opera isn’t the movies, and if you’re going to watch an opera you’re supposed to know the plot, unless of course it’s a premiere.

So without further ado, I present to you… the top 3 most horrifying death scenes in opera, plus one fail opera death scene.

3. La Commedia è finita! - Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)

Watch From: 6:55

The Story: In an opera within an opera, Canio (played by Pavarotti) murders his cheating wife onstage, to the horror of the audience. She reveals the name of her lover, Silvio, with her dying breath. Canio stabs him as well, before dramatragically declaring, La commedia è finita (the play is over).

2. No!… No!… No!…… AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! - Lulu (Berg)

Watch From: 6:15

The Story: Lulu has a really complicated and whimsical story, but at the end of the opera, she is working as a prostitute, and is murdered by her client, who is actually Jack the Ripper (a real serial killer, in late 19th century London). What is haunting about the scene is of course Lulu’s death scream, which by the way is not handled well by many sopranos (it requires a full-blown metal-style screaming voice, running contrary to vocal technique). Lulu’s death is supposed to be offstage by the way, but many directors can’t seem to resist having them make out onstage before the murder.

       By the way, there’s a NSFW video of the death scene from Lulu, from a 2009 French production (I think), which features nudity. That had the best death scream of all of them, but I chose not to feature that, because of the nudity (of course). You can try looking for it if you’re bored.

1. Give me the head of Jokanaan - Salome (Richard Strauss)

Watch from: Pretty much the beginning, or 4:25

The Story: Salome is actually a twisted retelling of the death of John the Baptist (Jokanaan). It is famous chiefly for the Dance of the Seven Veils, in which Salome gradually strips off her clothing, item by item, while dancing (some productions feature the leading lady nude at the end, but most of them will have her wearing a flesh-coloured body glove, or something else). However it also takes pretty much top spot for the most horrifying opera death scene.

      Anywho, the story (in the Richard Strauss version) is that Salome falls in love with Jokanaan, who rejects her request for a kiss. She dances the aforementioned Dance of the Seven Veils for her father Herod who grants her one wish, anything she might want - and is horrified when she asks for the head of Jokanaan on a plate. He reluctantly grants her wish - and she takes the head and kisses it. (Eww!!! D8)

Fail Opera Death Scene: They have killed Turiddu! - Cavalleria rusticana (Mascagni)

Watch From: 4:00

The Story: Cavalleria rusticana is a verismo opera with a straightforward story and seduction, betrayal and revenge as its main themes. The opera itself is usually remembered for an instrumental number in it, which is of course the famous Intermezzo Sinfonico, but it also has an extremely lame and anticlimactic ending.

      In the finale, Turiddu bids his mother Lucia goodbye and rushes off, having been challenged to a death duel by his rival Alfio (which happens offstage). Santuzza, his jilted lover, comforts Lucia. Soon, the villagers start to crowd around, and someone shouts, ‘Hanno ammazzato compare Turiddu!’ (They have killed Turiddu!) Santuzza, upon hearing the news, sings a high C, and the opera ends, making it the lamest opera ending in my book.

I saw a new student for the first time on Friday. He is learning under my teacher, who very kindly gave him my number when he wanted to continue learning these two weeks (she is currently away on vacation). He is actually my fourth student with violin background, which brings me to this topic:

Is violin and cello technique mutually exclusive?

I used to start out discouraging students with violin background from picking up cello - the more advanced the violin background, the more they were discouraged. My ex-boss (who runs a not very reputable music school) did not agree, saying that she once listened to an ANZCA representative who played violin and cello at a high level.

I dismissed her claim as a myth, saying that I’ll only believe it when I hear it. And til today, I still refuse to believe it until I hear it. On hindsight, she would of course disagree. Why turn down business?

Notice that among the world’s great musicians, many play an instrument and piano at a high level: Rostropovich used to accompany his wife, soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, on the piano, and the conductor of my alma mater, SSO violist Marietta Ku is the first person to have an LRAM in violin, viola and piano.

It may then be said that violin and viola have similar technique. (Most non-violists see them as having the same technique, but all violists swear that they do not, so we can conclude that the technique is similar.) But there is also a high level of interchangeability between string instruments - I know at least two people, both jazz musicians, who are proficient in violin/viola and double bass. I know double bassists who switched over from violin, and double bassists who switched over from cello. I myself picked up the bass guitar a couple of years ago in my old church, and instinctively knew how to play it.

The exception, it seems, is the pairing of violin/viola and cello. There is no musician ever documented who plays violin and cello. Even the great composers like Mendelssohn and Saint-Saens were one or the other. One possible candidate to contest that claim would be Bach, but he was first and foremost a keyboardist, and while he probably played violin and possibly cello, he most likely played neither at an advanced level.

So what makes violin and cello technique so contrary to each other?

My personal opinion is that it’s the similarities between the two that make them difficult to grasp. The technique involved for violin and cello share some similarities, and at the same time display subtle, but important, differences. The technique for violin and viola are similar enough to adapt easily, while for violin and double bass they are more easily distinguished, especially if you use the German bass bow. For violin and cello, however, it’s like the saying: You cannot hate someone unless you have once loved someone - the combination of similarities and differences makes this the most problematic pairing of all.

By far and large, the biggest problem is in the bow grip. As this photo of Jascha Heifetz shows, the fingers of the bow arm are considerably more angled, with the index finger curved, compared to the bow arm of the cellist. The pinky of the violinist is likely to be resting on the stick of the bow, which is not the case for the cello. The violinist’s thumb is also further under the frog than the cellist’s. Lastly, the violinist’s arm (elbow) level is likely to be higher than the cellist’s.

By contrast, the cellist’s fingers meet the bow more squarely, with the thumb more beside the frog than under it. This gives a greater impression of the fingers and thumb on opposing sides of the bow, as opposed to fingers on top and thumb below, for the violinist. Some cellists’ palms will be generally more above the bow than the violinist, whose palm is more beside the bow than above. Note that Jacqueline Du Pre’s (shown above) pinky sits on the bow stick, which is not exactly typical.

Rostropovich’s pinky drapes down over the stick of the bow instead of resting on it. His fingers seem extremely close together - possibly because he had large, powerful fingers?

The fingers of the left hand exhibit similar differences (wow, similar differences XD) to the fingers of the bow hand. The cellist’s fingers generally assume a squarer shape, meeting the strings at a perpendicular angle (this changes at high positions and thumb position, but that’s another story), than the fingers of the violinist, which are more slanted. William Pleeth (Jacqueline Du Pre’s teacher) favoured a slightly slanted left hand in his book, Cello, but I personally interpret what he says as not to insist too much on the square hand shape at the expense of relaxation of hand and fingers, and general playing comfort.

Still on the left hand, the crook of the thumb is an important difference, though you don’t actually need to be aware of it unless you play both instruments. I call it ‘V for violin’ and ‘C for cello’ - the violinist’s thumb creates an angle with the side of the palm, making a V-shape - which is absent in the left hand of the cellist, who forms a C-shape with his fingers and thumb. Occasionally, a confused cellist will form the V-for-violin on the cello and as a result have his/her thumb pointing upwards, or worse, going around the neck of the instrument instead of at the back of the neck.

The left thumb can be a problem for cellists with violin background, as they are used to supporting the instrument and the fingers of the same hand with it. Cellists generally (should) rely less on the thumb, which does not press upwards AT ALL (the term I use for the incorrect, tense neck hold is pinch grip), the cellist’s body instead providing the counterweight to the fingers. Strictly speaking, the violinist’s left thumb does not also press against the neck - an overly tense thumb impedes shifting, after all - but the perceived sensation of not using the thumb at all is usually something new for violinists taking up cello.

With regards to bowing, new converts to cello will need to adjust to the greater bow pressure required to produce a nice, singing tone, especially on the C and G strings. More often than not, they will try to add the pressure from their fingers or pushing in a downward direction with the arm (probably exacerbated by an overly high bow arm). Playing ‘horizontally’ or pulling from a slightly downward direction could be new to them, but it is critical in the quest for a beautiful tone.

(This by the way also is, in my opinion, the biggest difference between violin and viola technique - the viola being somewhere in between violin and cello in terms of required bow pressure on the string. Finger spacing comes in second.)

The difficulties of handling violin and cello seem magnified when I finally look back at everything I wrote (yes, I’m wrapping the post up, huzzah). Are the problems insurmountable? Given that my best student has an advanced violin background (hello, Nat), I’m hesitant to say they are, but if one aspires to take both up to a high level, my belief is that it is a lot of trouble in the making. I’ll actually go out on a limb and say it’s impossible to get, say, a performance diploma or degree in both instruments. That mystery violin-cello performer is still a myth as far as I am concerned. Maybe my ex-boss had low musical standards. Nyahahaha.

The cello is gaining popularity, and I have relaxed my stance somewhat with regards to beginner cello students with violin background, but I still feel I at least owe them a warning - it is not a curse per se, but it is definitely a mixed blessing. Now I tell them to compartmentalize their technique - one for violin and one for cello. Though it will be natural (though not very correct) to rely on what they know of the violin when playing cello for the first few lessons, once they are given more guidance on cello technique, they should be very clear on which is which, and will (hopefully) fare better in their quest.

Though no one in their right mind would gun for a double degree in violin and cello (for all that trouble, it’s not even a good career move), there might be some people (Nat might be one of them) who will want to prove me wrong with a double diploma, or prove me somewhat wrong with a double grade 8. If so, do write in (use the ask function on the sidebar) and let me know your experiences or thoughts! If you have any thoughts on this matter, do feel free to write in and share your thoughts as well! =D

It all started when my new student played an A major scale with a starting fingering of 1-3-4. I was shocked and asked him who taught him that. It was his previous teacher, he replied. Who is teaching in a recently-established music school.

“Are you sure Ms XXX taught you that?!”

I told him I would slap her (the teacher) if I ever met her.

(For those of you who don’t follow, A major is a scale which utilizes stretch position, and the correct fingering for the first three notes of the scale is 1-2-4, the stretch being between the index and middle fingers. The 1-3-4 fingering places the stretch between the ring finger and the pinky, which is not only out of tune 90% of the time, it is also potentially injurious to the fingers.)

This teacher is one of a growing number of incompetent music teachers from China working here. The problem is reflective of a general trend of foreign workers entering the country in overly large numbers, and, because Singapore has no minimum wage laws and precious little union protection, undercutting job markets because of their lower starting salaries.

But that’s largely another story.

I’d already had a not too favourable impression of that teacher when the student’s mother told me he was at Grade 4 standard after learning cello for six months (admittedly a little too good to be true under normal circumstances), but when I first saw him he could barely play - he was grasping at an exam piece with nary any understanding of shifting or positions. But to make such an elementary (and dangerous) mistake in her teaching speaks volumes about her own competency as a cellist, let alone a teacher. Seriously? She can’t even finger an A major scale correctly and she has the gall to teach?

Where the hell did she get her credentials from? eBay?!

Why did the school not audition her before hiring her?

Granted, not all China musicians are lousy, and I have benefited from lessons with cellists Yu Jing and Olivia Guo, but the good ones such as them - the ones who know what they are doing, market themselves well, and care about their students - are really the exception rather than the norm. From my lessons with them, I have come to realize that China cellists tend to do some things differently from me, most notably their use of the bow arm. However, that stretch position fingering is clearly not one of those subjective issues - any cellist with half a brain can see that it is blatantly wrong.

It is already bad enough that these foreign trash spoil the market by undercharging for their services. Do they have to screw our kids technically and musically as well? If they are so unscrupulous as to teach without having proper knowledge, then they are just charlatans and don’t deserve anything.