A lot has happened during my few months journey towards learning the cello. I found a teacher. I'm meeting once or twice a week with Ferenc Gyimes from Southern Ostrobothnian Music Academy. I started with plenty of bowing excercises and basic cello technique. After a month or so I started learing "proper" pieces. First one was "Nina" by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736) and about a month ago I also started learning "La Follia" by Antonio Vivaldi. I find that "La Follia" especially has technical content that is very useful for me at this level. The bowing in part 2 is still somewhat challenging to me, though. "Nina", on the other hand is challenging in the terms of interpretation. On paper it's a deceptively simple looking piece that is hard to make sound good.

Apart from pieces, I'm practising scales and especially arpeggios since those are always useful both when composing and improvising. I still have some problems with intonation but it's getting a bit better all the time.

I also ordered me a new bow (a Viennabow) but it hasn't arrived yet. I could get some more mileage out of my current bow but I'm getting very aware of its limitations. Therefore I want to upgrade the bow rather sooner than later because it also takes a while getting used to the new one. I borrowed a Viennabow from my teacher for one weekend to make first hand comparisons. The Viennabow is definitely much lighter and easier to play evenly. I find my current bow sounds scratchier overall, but also stronger on the lower strings. I suspect it has to do with the brand of rosin I'm using.