Let’s take a long, deep breath together. Later, when you have finished reading this article, you might like to try visualizing with your eyes closed while listening to your favorite cello music but, for now, imagine this:

You are playing your dream cello in a perfect acoustic space. This space could be a large concert hall or cathedral. Or you may be outside, sitting confidently on top of a mountain or by a grand waterfall.

The music you are playing fills the space. The sound dances with effortless grace over the surfaces of your scene. You feel your body, cello, and environment as one entity. The sensory experience fuses with the music in your mind… In Flow… Effortless

Now rewind your imagination a few minutes…

Before this perfect musical scene can happen there is a less glamorous but equally important series of events.

The steps; techniques, discipline, and mindset reframing that will get you to this state of perfect harmony.

Practice alone will not get you to the “zone”.

If you are like many cellists, you are trying too hard and you are intimidated by the masters.

You likely heard that Yo-Yo Ma and other cello masters, practice 5 hrs a day. You believe that if you started the cello later in life that beautiful sound and effortless technique are beyond you. But you diligently practice anyway and you make steady progress.

But what if I told you you could experience more focus, flexibility, and freedom in your playing right NOW by embracing an important paradigm shift. This shift is fundamental to making beautiful music, no matter what your technical level is or how long you’ve played. Here it is:

A truly great musician understands that music is a vehicle for the expression of thought and emotion and not a series of technical hurdles and problems to overcome.

So let’s go back to our visualization for a moment. What is it about this imagined scene that specifically inspires you? If you can identify the elements of the scene that you are most excited by, then you can identify your “raison d’etre” as a cello player. Knowing this will help you with every other hurdle you might encounter on the way.

Are you inspired by the tension-free graceful movements of your body as it produces the music?

Do you feel strong and calm in your confident musical phrases, anticipating the changes in the music with total awareness?

Are you performing your own creative works, composed or improvised?

Who is this music for? Yourself, a member of your family, a larger community?

And an even bigger question:

What are you communicating?

Wherever you are on your cello journey, you can experience the most joy and the least physical and mental resistance by becoming attuned to your own unique musical voice.

Finding that voice will take you from being just another cello player learning to play the Bach Suites to a creative, expressive artist on a path to deeper understanding and better communication with an audience.

What do you want for yourself and your cello? What do you want to say? How do you want to show up in the world as a cello player?

Visualization can be a touchstone for you whenever you feel frustrated or lost to remind yourself what you are trying to do. It’s such a powerful tool that I recommend that if you have a goal of becoming a better cellist that you spend a minute or two before every practice visualizing your desired future as a cellist.

If at any time, you feel stuck or confused, please feel free to reach out to me at mea@celloyoga.ca and I will do my best to clarify the process for you.

If you’d like to learn more about the power of visualization and what it can do for your cello playing, then check out this free training at www.cellogo.com/training

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