Customer Reviews

New Directions in Cello Playing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So, after 30 years of semi-professional recording and performance, my back is getting pretty tweaky. Plus, I was starting to get some repetitive stress injury after a dense season. My doc said I may have to quit. Well, this book is totally revolutionary. It gives many many ideas about how to reposition myself while playing; things I'd never thought of. I am back playing. I have many ideas still to incorporate, but I already feel much better. I now require my students to get this book. Everyone is excited about these ideas. This is, I repeat, revolutionary, and should be required for those of you who want to play without pain for many years. I deducted one star because there is just so much information, that it looks a little overwhelming. It would probably have been better to do two books. But, since it's not, take a look at it.

This book is well written and easy to read, but as a beginning cello player, it ended up being more confusing than helpful. The suggestions made in the book seem like logical contradictions to traditional instruction, but when trying to learn the basics from all of the cello teachers I tried, they were irritated by alternate methods described in the book. I think the major problem is that instead of posing the "new directions" as alternate methods to an old system and explaining the initial reasons for the old methods coming about thereby allowing the reader to choose for herself, it just discards traditional methodology altogether.

The problem with teaching anything is that teachers tend to pass on 'received knowledge' in the mistaken belief that all those before them (and around them) teaching the same thing couldn't possibly be wrong. Very often, at best what is taught is simply arbitrary; at worst, it is just plain destructive.

Mr. Sazer does not tell you what the 'proper' playing techniques are. Instead, he teaches you how to find out what is best for your body. There are plenty of pictures to illustrate the experiments he wants you to try. These experiments cover all aspects from how to sit, placement of feet/arms/hands, how hold the cello, bowing, fingering, etc.

In each experiment you are told what area you are investigating. He has you perform various movements and record what your perceptions are. After each experiment he tells you what his perceptions were but your results and conclusions are more important. Quite often the results you find are at odds with the standard teachings you will hear from your cello teacher. For example, real cellists in performance do not bow perpendicular to the strings nor keep their fingers down on the strings nor quite a few other things that are taught beginning and intermediate students.

As pointed out by an earlier reviewer, many teachers don't like someone who tries to understand why. It challenges them to come up with a reason other than "that's the way we do it". I would disagree that the book is not for beginners. Why not learn the best way from the beginning rather than suffer pain and have to relearn later?!

An earlier negative reviewer claimed (without evidence) that Mr. Sazer didn't know anything about musicians' injuries and then pushed a book by a psychiatrist whose claim is that all your problems are in your mind. While some physical problems may stem from anxieties and stresses of performance, neither of the reviewer's claims are valid. Sazer demonstrates a profound understanding of the cellist's physical problems and these are not imagined but quite real.

If you are not afraid to learn for yourself the best way to play, buy this book. If you are a timid follower and don't mind the debilitating pain, carry on.

Author is a cellist who has practical suggestions for prevention and amelioration of symptoms related to posture and technique. The line illustrations are useful. Relaxation issues are discussed in relation to repetitive stress conditions. This book can be useful for beginners and professionals alike.

I strongly recommend this fine book to all cellists and all cello teachers who in general have not got a clue about ANATOMY. After having suffered several tendinitis and excrutiating back pain I found immediate relief following Mr Sazer's recommandations.

The insights in this book have revolutionized my playing and teaching of the cello, especially fingering on the side of the string, elbow dynamics of bow change, and use of bow speed in preference over weight. Very instructive pragmatic exercises are presented that validate Sazer's points by a "breath test," as a measure of relaxation.

This book will be most useful to teachers and more advanced players with an open mind willing to devote time to experimentation over a period of months.

First some warning, to my opinion this book is not for beginners. And, to benefit from this book, you have to prepare to throw away some practices that we cellist considered sacred. :)

But if you have an open mind with some basic cello skills, you will get the concept easily. It is written with clarity and simplicity.

And for me as an amatuer cellist, it helps a lot. The results i get is that i can now play for hours without feeling pains and fatigue in my left/right thumbs, back and shoulder anymore!! Thank you Victor.

That key concepts that help me are that our body moves naturally as a single system and how we can use that to our advantage; then it's the steps to discover the optimal sitting position and the alignment of the cello relative to our body.

It is also not merely about avoiding pain, but the many tips on various bowings, fast/slow playing, shifting etc. also helps me to greatly improve my sound and articulation.

I was thinking for a 4 star rating, because the part about left hand fingering technique is totally unheard off (pardon my ignorance), a clear break from the traditional cello technique. I find that too radical to completely adopt it, at least for now. But then this book is about "new direction" of cello playing right? it can't be full of stuffs everyone knows for hundreds of years. And hasn't the unorthodox advice about the left thumb placement already helps me improve my intonation, sound and confidence?

So a 5 star from me!!

This book does an excellent job of describing some crucial technical skills needed to understand how to play the cello efficiently. It's focus on specifics, especially when it comes to the circular nature of the bodies motions, is excellent.

The writing regarding "playing without pain" is unfortunately incorrect. There is no need to be afraid of playing the cello. For those cellists who are experiencing pain that is attributed to "over playing" or "tendinitis," I highly recommend John E. Sarno's book "Healing Back Pain" or "The Mindbody Prescription." These types of pains are purely psychogenic, and have no physical origin. "New Directions" is spreading misinformation regarding the causes of muscle skeletal pain.

I can speak from experience: I suffered from RSI for 2.5 years, and I thought it was because of the cello. I tried desperately to apply the technique in this book to "solve" the problem. It had no effect on my pain level, but it did help me think of how my body moves. I recovered from RSI in 2 days after reading "The Mindbody Prescription" by John Sarno. Sarno even mentions cellists in his books!

Read "New Directions" for the technique ideas and ignore the unsupported claims about pain syndromes. If you want to heal your RSI, read John Sarno's books.

Este libro es muy útil para la gente que se sienta mal o sufre dolores al tocar. Te explica cómo hacer para tocar libremente y sin dolor.