So I asked my cello teacher for a sad song because that’s what I was in the mood for and he was nice enough to look around for one and finally gave me “Twilight” by Gretchaninoff; on the same page is a happy song I’m also supposed to learn. Twilight is fairly slow, which means pay attention to your bowing. I had always thought articulation would be my problem, finding the right notes with my left hand on the neck of the instrument – you know, no frets or anything. But the human body turns out to be a stupendous thing and you eventually learn to hear the notes and that is not as great a problem as I had thought. Bowing is my nemesis right now. So this song will be good practice.

However, I’m still looking for an even sadder song. Something longer and really depressing, you know? That can be played on a cello, that is.