Cool.... a new cellist who is A) on the NDCS BBS and B) is in MY area (Rochester Hills)!

Are you aware of the three string shops in the area?

Wilson Fine Violins
725 S Adams Rd
Birmingham, MI 48009-6902
(248) 258-1125
On Adams, south of Maple.

Ask for Rob Wilson. I am pretty sure he has teachers there.

Psarianos
http://www.psarianosviolins.com/home.html
On Maple, just east of Livernois.

Not sure but I think they teach... or could refer someone.

Garza Strings
Ramon Garza Jr.
586-292-8341 (Shelby.... roughly M59 and Schoenherr)
He definitely teaches from his store in Shelby. My GF is taking fiddle lessons from him and I have had a cello lesson. He is fluent in violin and cello and is a nice relaxed guy to boot.

What kind of music are you looking to play? And do you have an instrument yet? Let's stay in touch! My Email is in my sig. Have a peek at my web site for the kinds of music I like to play.....

Paul Goelz
Rochester Hills, MI USA
paul at pgoelz dot com
www.pgoelz.com

Paul:

Thanks for the quick and thorough response, I really appreciate it. I was just blindly looking for advice/comments and I guess I got lucky. Thank you.

I have zero music experience except for several years (with a trumpet) in my youth.

Thanks again

The only teacher I actually know is Ramon Garza and I recommend him, and especially for a beginner. He is not pedantic and he is very relaxed and un-hurried in his approach. He is also very capable and willing to explain the WHY of something.

Good luck... you have chosen a wonderful instrument, but one that can take a bit of time to get pleasant noises out of.

If you have an instrument but know absolutely nothing about it, I would find a teacher like Ramon and get the very basics under your belt like how to hold it, tune it, hold your hands, and how to care for it. After that step, I went the self taught route. Never regretted it, but I would have progressed FAR faster and made it over a couple hurdles that I still struggle with if I had done the regular lesson thing.

I would be happy to get you going and share what I know too, but it would have to be with the caveat that I am self taught and might not be the best choice.

Paul Goelz
Rochester Hills, MI USA
paul at pgoelz dot com
www.pgoelz.com

Hello. On these same lines - does anyone know of a good cello instructor for adults in the daytona beach, florida area? I have been practicing and attempting to learn on my own (i hear the squealing, I know, I know) and can read basic music.

Hi,

The people on our mailing list in Florida are in the following cities: Tallahassee, Panama City, Orlando, Miami Lakes, Tampa, Tierra Verde and Inverness. Are any of those relatively close to you? As you can tell I don't know my Florida geography. If one of these cities is fairly close, I can give you contact info for one or more cellist on our list. Then you can contact them and see if they are teachers or if they know anyone who might be good in your area.

Please e-mail me directly at chris@newdirectionscello.com

Cellistically Yours,

Chris

Chris White, Director
New Directions Cello Association and Festival

Hi there!

I actually grew up in that area of FL and I would recommend contacting the Stetson University School of Music in DeLand, and asking if they could recommend any of their cello students to teach you. They have a great music program and the cello prfessor there (David Bjella) is an incredible teacher. I studied with him for 8 years before I went to study at the Eastman School up in Rochester, NY.

Here's the main office number at Stetson's School of Music: (386) 822-8950. And here is David Bjella's contact info as well: (386) 822-8967, dbjella@stetson.edu.

Good luck!

Erin Keesecker

www.breakofreality.com