Practice for Performance provides a rare and intimate view into a very thoughtful and successful performer's personal toolkit. Set in the context of his own personal history of growth as a performer, cellist Daniel Morganstern (principal cellist for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York) displays rare honesty in discussing the problems that faced him at various point of his career, and the ways to solve them. The discoveries sensibly unfold in a fascinating account of experiences with many notable artists whose comments and examples shaped the author's thinking. These ideas are not to be found in any other treatise on the subject of musical preparation. The examples in this book, both musical and non-musical, offer a foundation to help evoke instinctive musical responses in the mechanical processes of playing the cello, and have been advantageously applied to other instruments as well, including voice.

Introduction

I. How I Studied the Cello

II. Scales

Trilling double stops, shifting, and fast moving scales

The E major scale with added helper notes

Two diverse rhythmic patterns

Scale of D. C. Dounis to develop forte pressure and endurance

Incrementally faster scales

Long tones & bow changes

III. Creating a Context

Play from beginning to end

Conception and execution

Using syllables

Rhythm and tempo

Sound and bow arm development

Melody and accompaniment

Orchestral applications

IV. Non-Contextual Practicing

Practice forward and backward

Practice fast music with breaks

Accent shifts

Listen for the chord or tune produced by the first of three or four notes

Feel the string through the bow

Use bilateral transfer advantageously

Pay attention when things are going well

Practice one fifth lower to intensify tone

Always warm up on slow pieces

Practice in rhythms

Intonation

Use a tape recorder

Use the process of association to improve intonation

Relate the ear to the most stable notes

V. Extra-Musical Aspects of Performing

The psychology of performing

Be prepared

Give yourself permission to fail

Show up

Career development

Credibility and visibility

One final thought

VI. Musical Examples

Cello Concerto	Antonin Dvorak
Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A Minor, D. 821	Franz Schubert
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40	Richard Strauss
Un Ballo in Maschera, Act III No. 7	Giuseppe Verdi
Suite No. 5 in C Minor, Fugue	J. S. Bach
Suite No. 5 in C Minor, Gavotte I	J. S. Bach
Suite No. 5 in C Minor, Gigue	J. S. Bach
Ariadne auf Naxos	Richard Strauss
La Sylphide
Etude No. 26 (Forward and Backward)	Popper
Variations on a Rococo Theme, Variation I	Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Sonata in E Major	François Francoeur
Etude No. 4	Popper
Etude No. 12	Popper
Variations on a Rococo Theme, Variation II	Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Variations on a Rococo Theme, Variation IV	Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Trio in B flat Major, Op. 99 D 898	Franz Schubert
Etude No. 6	Popper
Etude No. 6	Popper
Sonata No. 6 in A Major	Luigi Boccherini
Un Ballo in maschera, Act III No. 7	Giuseppe Verdi
Trio, Movement II	Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Lucia, Finale	Gaetano Donizetti