So, I had few days free from work and have had plenty of time to play the cello. As I suspected, my main problems at the moment are those of intonation and bowing. Intonation is largely just a matter of practice and of learning the fingerboard. I'm playing some easy melodies, scales and lessons from internet and books. It doesn't sound good but it sounds a bit better than I would have thought.

Last couple of days I have been pretty much concentrating my efforts of bowing techniques, going smoothly from one string to another and skipping strings without making any unwanted noises. There's a very simple exercise I tend to start with: just play long notes on the whole bows length on open strings and try to make it sound as smooth and even as possible. I have some difficulties doing this on D string. This might have something to do with my playing position. It probably isn't quite optimal. Also, I still have some problems with the bow grip and find it hard to get an even sound when playing near the tip of the bow.

On positive note, I managed to find a teacher. I will meet him on Tuesday and we'll hopefully get the above mentioned problems sorted out when I can get someone to actually show what I'm doing wrong. YouTube has long ways to go in that regard yet...

I'm thinking of recording my practice sessions today. It's not anything anyone would ever want to hear but I want to use the recording as psychological learning aid in the future. Right now I'm on the level that I can actually notice the improvement I'm making on daily basis. After few months I probably won't notice it anymore and at that point it will be a great motivational help to be able to listen to some earlier recordings and compare the skill and sound.