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Cello Lessons

Every week I get to have a luxurious lesson with my cello teacher Bob Ng – learning, exploring, being nervous when playing for him, hoping that I can memorize the prelude just a bit better, with clearer intonation, looking for progress. He is so encouraging, but also precise, and knows just when to introduce the next challenge! I am lucky to have found such a great teacher. We often also talk about life, culture, and the wonders of the mind and brain. Like today it was the art of simultaneous translation, which we both are in awe of. Bob is a cello wizard, but also a wizard in many other things, like B&W Art Photography, translating English, Japanese and Chinese – and I only know the tiniest bits of his life. But his open and highly perceptive mind is a true delight for me.

Tuesdays is my precious Cello Day. So I protect my Tuesdays. Back home from the lesson, I eat, and then try to recapture Bob’s comments, new exercises, the way he uses bow and fingerings, his sound on the cello, and other finer details he has explained to me. I don’t want it to slip away. So usually that day, I schedule no other involved enterprises, not even giving private sessions.

Last night it was very hot in my cottage on the hill where I sleep. I was awake till earlier morning. And then when falling asleep finally, I dreamt it is Wednesday, and how come I cannot recall any of Bob’s teachings? My memory is blank and I am puzzled and shocked about this loss. So at this moment I wake myself – thank goodness I know how to do that – and it is Tuesday morning, wow, so my lesson has not yet happened. And that’s why my brain could not remember in the dream! I laugh, hugely relieved – my precious Cello Day just about to start… for new adventures with the cello…..

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