Students: Truck Drivers to Friars

If someone told me 10 years ago that I'd be teaching a truck driver over the internet while he's in the cab of his 18 Wheeler in god knows where USA, I probably wouldn't have believed you.

Or how about a gentleman who started playing cello when he was 70 years old? He's a devoted Franciscan Friar who has lived his life across the globe in Japan, Kenya, the USA, and more.

Or how about a female personal trainer who is all of 5 ft tall (1.5 m) and can literally bend steel bars with her bare hands?

I am constantly astounded by how different my students are from me.

Sure I can teach you about cello technique, improvisation, composition, production, and more.

But what I find so interesting is what drives people to want to learn cello.

And what from their background will inform their playing?

You see, music to me is not a sport. It's not about who can play the fastest or the most in tune.

It's about taking your life and turning it into sound.

Sometimes I'm making a stuffed animal talk in an Australian accent to engage a young student. I used to think teaching children would be challenging, but now I enjoy it. They make me laugh, even if they say I look like I'm 55 years old.

But that's exactly what I love about teaching.

I learn so much from my students, whether they're a kindergarten teacher in Germany or run a plant nursery in Hawaii.

Nobody can play the same way as you and nobody has the same thing to say as you for the simple fact that we are all different.

Now I know it might sound cliche, but it's true.

Which is why I've always shied away from the traditional classical music mindset of making everyone play something the same way it's been played before.

All of my students came to me to learn more about music, but honestly, beyond teaching the technical aspects, what I really enjoy is seeing someone's creativity blossom.

That's why I do it.

All of a sudden those years of being on the road in your truck, spreading the gospel in Africa, or leading people in a grueling exercise regime have an outlet for expression.

All of those people have something different to say.

And it's my passion to help them build the tools and confidence to say it.

The more I teach, the more I'm amazed by the diversity of my students, but also charmed by the fact that we all share this innate desire to connect and express ourselves in this medium.

As always, I'd love to know what you think about this and if you're up for a really fun and engaging musical challenge, check out String Jams.

Have fun, be yourself, and keep on playing.

Free Online Improvisation Workshop for Strings on Monday March 23rd at 8PM (EST)

The world is in quite a crisis at the moment as some of us are quarantined and scared to go out. Since this is a tumultuous time, I want to give back to help restore any semblance of peace of mind that's possible.

I will be offering a FREE 40 minute online workshop on Monday March 23rd at 8PM (EST) to string players across the world on improvisation. I'll be using my new books, String Jams, as material and will go over various approaches to improvisation. In addition, everybody in the workshop will receive sheet music and a backing track to one of the songs from my new book, Advanced String Jams.

Make sure to register now because there are only 15 slots available. To register for the FREE class please visit: https://forms.gle/sK2MTiuQaZgxEdG69

I hope that this workshop is helpful to string players across the globe and can offer a some positivity in a time of uncertainty. Remember to use art, music, and creative expression to boost your morale.

Music in the Circle of Life

What are the most important parts of life? I mean the major milestones by which you mark time. Offhand I can think of a few: births, graduations, relationships, jobs, marriages, retirements, and deaths. Since the passing of my grandmother, Roslyn Wilson, in September of 2019, I've been contemplating how music has fit into my life's turning points.

When my grandma was sick in the hospital, I would bring my cello and play music for her. This was the first time I had ever seen my grandma incapacitated. She had always been super sharp, she could tell you synopses of the three books she was reading simultaneously all while volunteering at the thrift shop and yelling at Trump on TV. It was really difficult for me to see my grandmother like that in the hospital. Nevertheless, I tried to find pieces that she would like and would hopefully soothe her even if she wasn’t completely with it. I played songs from her youth, famous classical themes from symphonies and ballets, her favorite Berceuse by Schubert, anything that I thought might get through to her. When I played there was recognition from her and there was connection. Most importantly, I do think she was able to feel the love I was sending her through the music.

When she passed away, I played at her funeral. I performed the Berceuse and later, Roz, the piece I had written for her when she turned 95. I fought back tears as I played, something that hadn't happened in many, many years, and certainly not for that reason. At her burial, I played the extraordinarily sad and emotive Sarabande of Bach Cello Suite Number II as the mourners shoveled dirt onto my grandmother's coffin.

I just find it interesting that I brought that same cello into the hospital when my wife, Minh, was going to give birth to our daughter, Kaia. When Minh asked for me to bring the cello, I was initially hesitant, but as a married man you heed by the expression, “happy wife, happy life,” and god knows I wasn't about to question her at the birth of our first child. The truth is, I was scared too. I had no idea what to expect and certainly wasn’t thinking about playing music at that time.

While Minh was in bed at the beginning, I played Sahaja Yoga meditation music and Vietnamese songs for her. I knew these songs would give her at least a modicum of comfort. I understood how much she missed Vietnam and her family and at least this connection could provide her with a small sense of calm during one of the biggest moments of our lives. Later, while Minh was in labor, we walked and danced around the hospital and outside (I had the cello on a strap) . Everybody was stunned at how lithe and resilient she was. They certainly had never witnessed a woman dancing around the hospital during labor as her husband serenaded her on cello. It was a truly magical and unforgettable time in my life. Here’s a link to the video in case you’d like to watch.

A decent amount of my livelihood comes from playing weddings and for me, these are just nice gigs. Obviously, I play well and make sure the people are happy, but I wouldn't say I'm emotionally invested in these couples' lives. Nevertheless, this is one of the most important days in their lives and I'm providing the musical accompaniment. Certainly it was a different story when I played at my own wedding. I played a piece I had written called, “Wedding Day,” which was full of emotion and love for my wife. I had written a speech beforehand and though I do think I’m a pretty good writer, I felt like what I really wanted to say was much more evident through my playing.

It really is amazing how powerful music is. I bet you can remember the song you listened to over and over again when you had a significant breakup in your life. Or the song that as soon as it comes on you can't help but start dancing.

It is a bit weird as a musician to see how this thing that I do, though it's a very difficult career path and not always the most lucrative, has such a power in so many situations. The same instrument can welcome a new life, bring two people together, or help someone pass onto the next world. As I get older and the years go by as a musician, the circular nature of life becomes clearer. This passage of time and experience of these milestones are universal and I'm lucky to be able to accent these occasions with the power of music.

Learning Something New: The Dàn Bầu

The first time I came to Vietnam, I went to go see the traditional water puppet show in Hanoi and though I did fall asleep (much to the chagrin of my wife), I fell in love with the dàn bầu. The dàn bầu has such an amazing character to it. The sound is bendy and wobbly, but extremely soulful and deep. You can really sing on the instrument.

After hearing that I loved the dàn bầu, master instrument maker and my frequent collaborator, Duyệt Thị Trang, offered to make one for me. I was stunned and flattered. The next time he was in Hanoi he gave me this handmade dàn bầu that had my name on it. I was very excited.

After a bit of messing around on the instrument I decided to take some actual lessons. It was nice to finally be the student again and have someone show me the ropes.

One thing I’ve noticed now that I have returned to being a student is that it has definitely made me a better cello teacher. Learning something for the first time, you are well acquainted with how frustrating it can be. There are times where I definitely want to pick up the dàn bầu and chuck it out the window. I’ve felt this SO MANY times with the cello (even to this day). Luckily, my students can’t hear me practicing…they might hear some interesting language when I screw something up.

But with that frustration comes the realization and understanding of what it’s like for your students. I’ve been playing cello for over 20 years now, so a lot of playing is second nature to me. Sometimes you forget what it was like at the very beginning of your journey and lose the perspective of someone who is trying to learn the instrument for the first time. It’s funny because I think the dàn bầu must be extremely hard to learn if you have no musical background at all. There are no frets (only harmonics) and you can bend the notes however much you want, so there’s no fixed intonation like on a piano or guitar. I kept thinking, man how does anyone learn this instrument? I mean I’m a professional cellist, so I have a really good ear and know music quite well, but still it’s not easy.

Then I realized, it’s almost the exact same thing for most of my cello students. Most of them have never played an instrument before and are learning the cello, an instrument with no fixed intonation, a bow, and endless challenges. My students must feel the same way.

So it’s good to be humbled and to reconnect with what it feels like to be a beginner. That being said, another thing I like to instill in my students is the creative spirit. Look, I didn’t plan on learning dàn bầu to become a master of traditional Vietnamese music. I certainly would love to learn some and understand its roots and history, but my goal for learning the instrument was to make it my own. To use it for composing, performing, and pushing the boundaries of what it was originally intended for.

I decided to start writing cello and dàn bầu duets to challenge myself not only on the instrument, but compositionally as well. Now, I am NOT good at dàn bầu just yet, but thanks to my years of musical experience and handy studio editing techniques, I can make it seem halfway passable. This is honestly totally fine with me. It’s not about it being perfect, it’s more about the process of learning, experimenting, and creating something new. If there’s anything that I can teach my students that will benefit them for the rest of their lives, it’s this.

The classical music world often gets caught up with perfection and by doing so misses out on trying something different and possibly enjoying it. I hope you like the first cello and dàn bầu duet, I plan on writing more and continuing to be a student of the instrument.

Cello Lessons: A Gateway to Self-Expression

When I started playing cello when I was 9 years old, I had a lot of problems. I had anxiety, OCD, and low self-esteem, but most importantly, I had a really difficult time expressing these things in words. I didn’t like to talk about my feelings. To be honest, I still don’t.

But when I started taking cello lessons with my first teacher, I quickly realized that there was a different way to express myself. I had all of this balled up emotion and pain and I could finally express these feelings without having to talk. I was speaking I suppose, but through my cello.

Music helped give me a voice without having to talk.

Now more than twenty years later, I am a cello teacher in Bergen County, Northern New Jersey, and to students across the globe via Skype.

Is it possible for me to teach people how to express themselves through cello lessons?

The short answer is yes and no.

Every person has their own life experiences, trials and tribulations, joys, and fascinations. There’s no way for me to teach you how to feel something. The feeling has to come from within.

Nevertheless, cello playing is not all about feeling. What I can do is give people the skills, tools, and understanding of the cello to help express themselves. And this doesn’t mean that you have to be playing for 15 years and mastering the most complex concertos and sonatas. It can come from simply playing one note.

You might take your first cello lesson and be able to just bow the open D string. But maybe with that one note you can discover something about yourself. You can say something in a way you haven’t been able to before.

Now I know I’m sounding very new-agey and pseudo-spiritual here. I will admit there’s plenty of times that I play and the only thing I want to say are EXPLETIVES because I can’t seem to play a passage correctly.

I think that’s perfectly fine too.

But what I feel the most important thing about learning the cello is that connection to something deeper. You don’t have to be Yo-Yo Ma to experience it. That’s the beauty of it. As students progress and I help them gain more technical skills and facility on the instrument, they might have an easier time expressing what they feel, but it certainly doesn’t mean these feelings can’t be expressed from the very beginning.

So to anyone who is interested in exploring cello lessons for themselves or for their child, I say go for it. Learning cello is by no means easy, but it is so unbelievably rewarding. You can finally speak from the inside. I can help give you the tools to facilitate this on the cello, but ultimately the tools are just there to help communicate what you need to say to the world.

Speak without talking.

New Daughter and Album, Kaia, by Bryan Charles Wilson

On January 26, 2018 we at Bryan Wilson Cello Studio welcomed Bryan Wilson and Bui Tuyet Minh's beautiful daughter, Kaia Minh Wilson, into the world!

Kaia means Ocean, Earth, and Nothing is impossible. Minh means Light in Vietnamese. Kaia Minh means Ocean of Light.

She is the first child of cellist/composer, Bryan Charles Wilson. He began crafting songs for his daughter to listen to as soon as he knew his wife, Minh, was pregnant. It was a spiritual journey for Bryan as a composer, cellist, and father-to-be as he supported Minh through her pregnancy.

The album combines cello, vocals, and atmospheric synthesizers that help put his daughter in a state of sonic bliss. The musical textures are soft and lush, bathing listeners in a cocoon of warm harmonies and joyous melodies. The music is perfect for relaxation as well as matching the many different moods of a child.

We are very excited to share these songs with you and hope you and your children are transported to a state of enlightened tranquility when listening to this music.

Much love to you all and here's to hoping that Kaia likes the cello!

http://bryanwilson.bandcamp.com/album/kaia

Cello Lessons via Skype and in home Northern New Jersey

If you are looking for a cello teacher, look no further! I offer cello lessons across the world via Skype and in person lessons in Northern New Jersey. I have students all over the USA and would love to teach you!

I teach all skill levels and ages and I like to give students a strong foundation in classical technique and repertoire, while simultaneously introducing them to improvisation and alternative styles of cello playing. I have students who have never touched a musical instrument to those who are professional composers. I make sure I tailor each student's curriculum to what he/she wants to learn, whether it's improvisation, refining technique, building musical confidence, or just playing cello for fun!  

Music is about expression and creativity and I help to foster these wonderful skills in every student I teach. So if you are interested in cello lessons via Skype or in person in Northern New Jersey, don't hesitate to contact me at bryanwilsoncello@gmail.com. I’d love to teach you!

Cello Lessons in Bergen County New Jersey

I just wanted to let all of you know that I offer cello lessons in Bergen County, New Jersey. I teach all skill levels and ages and can travel to you for in-home lessons! I give students a strong foundation in classical technique and repertoire, while simultaneously introducing them to improvisation and alternative styles of cello playing. Music is about expression and creativity and I help to foster these wonderful skills in every student I teach. So if you are in North Jersey and are interested in cello lessons, feel free to contact me at bryanwilsoncello@gmail.com. I’d love to teach you!