Hi, Mike.

I think that is wonderful! I am going to start here, and others can point out other things.

I admit, the first thing I think of is finding the right teacher, for a number of reasons.

For starters, your son will enjoy learning to produce all the colors and sounds a cello is capable of. Part of the appeal of the instrument to those who love it is the tremendous range of sound it can produce.

The right teacher will be able to help your son find himself as a musician, not only to help him discover music through his strengths but to keep to minimize the weaknesses that all musicians work on all the time. Of course they do it because they love the results, but it doesn't mean its easy. Bach got mad when people called him a genius - he said that anyone could have done as much if they worked as hard as he did.

Finally, working with the right teacher is one of the greatest experiences in life, no matter what one studies.

Since you are asking this question in this forum, maybe your inclinations match my bias about what a musician should be. In Bach's day, a musician could play, compose, and improvise. I think we are beginning to recover from a long period of specialization, where we developed instrumentalists who only played. That narrowness, to my mind, is way WAY less fun! I mean, go to the New Directions MySpace and listen to all the incredible variety.

So, if you let the group that reads this site know what city you are near, they will probably be able to provide some good prospects for teachers.

Good luck with it, and I am glad your son has your support.

Rex

I have had students over the years who had zero formal training in the beginning & ran into some serious problems down the road because of that. There are a few aspects of cello technique which tend to be - physically speaking - counterintuitive, at first. At least for most people. Even just one or two lessons, to make sure that he's on the right track, would be helpful.

The links section on this New Directions site will open him up to the world of non-traditional playing, and if he's already onto youtube, there is a lot there as well, in all styles of playing. Hearing cellists live (& if possible interacting with them) is of course invaluable as well.

Best of luck to your son, and good on him for getting in there and going for it!

Corbin Keep

Thank you for your comments and suggestions.

Mike

I think the key here is finding "the right teacher". As a 100% ear player, I find that the vast majority of the paper trained musicians I have met (with the notable exception of the NDCA crowd) have limited improv and ear skills. I would be afraid that many teachers would be heavily biased towards paper training at the expense of developing what sounds like a special talent.

Don't get me wrong.... I am not negating the development of basic technique, just pointing out that I don't think that encouraging a talent for ear playing is something that every teacher would do. Finding the right one that can develop this talent along with basic skills may be a challenge.

Paul

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

I'm definitely with Corbin on this one - counterintuitive is the right word. I had an old German cello that I named Heimlich, because it sounded like I was squeezing the guts out of it. It was a shock when my teacher leaned over and played it and made it sound like a Strad. I had five years of lessons from him dynamiting out the bad technique. It was a great experience, though!