Little Black Book

Well, big black book. Or, big but not-too-thick black book. Actually, it's a 3/4" black 3-ringed binder. It's my practice partner.

I don't exactly live in two cities. I know this because I have cats in only one city. I do, however, have cellos in two. And I frequently visit the one without the cats, and have chamber music play dates there, and want to practice while I'm there. To facilitate that I photocopy all of the pieces I am working on, punch holes, and put them in the notebook. To go city hopping I throw it in a backpack and go. To go to my cello lesson I throw it in a music bag and go. To look up anything I am currently working on I grab one book and it's there. Takes a little up-front work, but really simplifies things.

Until... the notebook gets full. Like now. I should have done this at the start of this academic year, but I didn't. Because I wanted to do this, which I'm doing now. The changing of the book.

To mark the next era in my cellistic development, and remember the last, I'm going to list the contents before I remove them (or not). This is what I worked on last year. I'll mark the stuff that stays with +, the stuff to be filed elsewhere with -.

+ Directions to Studio Class location as many times as I've been there, sometimes I forget
- Excel spreadsheets with a log of Cello Gym exercises for left hand, right hand, and third hand (brain) a failed experiment
+ Bach 2nd Suite this will take at least another year
+ Faure Elegie started over the summer, this year's project
- Tchaikovsky Chanson Triste move to review
- Breval Sonata in C Allegro move to review
- Yampolsky E MAJ 4 octave scale and arpeggio variations
- Sevcik Op 8 I, II, VII, VIII, XXIII-XXVI I'll use the book when I'm here, and make up shifting exercises elsewhere if I'm so inclined
- Jensen Fun in Thumb Position preparatory exercises and 5 lessons
+ Saint-Saens The Swan I use this as a thumb exercise (swan on the thumb) and rarely need to look at it anymore, but it's nice to have it there when I do
+ Grutzmacher 13 first thumb position etude, will stay in the book until it's memorized
+ Grutzmacher 14
+ Duport 4,6,10,19
+ Grutzmacher 1 can't complain I don't have an etude to practice
+ Lee Op 31 1-8 still do these periodically, will probably stay here until I move beyond #8
+ Popper HS 6 for extra credit
- Goltermann Concerto #4 1st year project, move to review
- Romberg Sonata in e 1st year summer project, move to review
- Bach Suite #2 Prelude, Continental ed. I'll look it up if I need it
- Grieg Sonata Op 36 will pull it out if I need it again
+ Bach Arioso my first piece with T-. I like to beat my ahead against the wall.
- Schubert Trio in B hard. But I'm not working on it right now.
- Schubert Song Cycle I was supposed to use these for thumb position practice, but that never worked out

In the back pocket
- some cryptic notes about a piece with sections and patterns, but I have no idea what it is toss
- a copy of the famous Leclerc/Ramaeu duet move to duets folder
- Gabrielli Canon a due return to duets folder
- an uncompleted financial disclosure form for a journal article what's that doing in here?
- yet another Bach 2nd Suite, I think the Icking downloaded version
- Previn Vocalise score and cello part was I going to work on that with someone here?
- two pages of something in Eb beginning on m 104, with one line of treble clef and one marking: lamentevole. What on earth is this from?
+ de Swert 25 a nice warm-up exercise from the T2- era

In the front pocket
- A few pages from a Duport Sonata in G another huh?
- a copy of our wedding arrangement of All You Need is Love file
- a few pages of master class and lesson notes mine for blog topics, then file
- a music school tuition receipt or two file
- assorted concert flyers toss

Plenty of room now for another year of celloing.