Unlock Your Genius Zone

Student Story | Brad's Inspirational Cello Journey - Transform Your Life Through Music | Ep. 24

• Ine-Wilme Coetzee • Episode 24

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What if picking up a new instrument could transform your life in unexpected ways? Join us as we share Brad's inspiring journey of mastering the cello, sparked by a New Year's resolution and a chance introduction from his wife, Jordan. Brad, driven by a lifelong passion for music and a systematic approach to learning, dives headfirst into this complex yet rewarding endeavor. We discuss how the cello not only appeals to his love for music but also serves as a mentally stimulating activity to combat his family's genetic predisposition to dementia. 

Navigating the world of musical instruments can be daunting, especially for beginners. Brad walks us through the crucial steps of selecting the right cello, emphasizing the need for expert guidance and personalized services such as the Red Carpet Cello Finding Service. From his initial encounters with local boutique stores to the intricacies of reading music on the bass clef, Brad's experiences offer invaluable insights for anyone considering taking up a new instrument. He highlights the importance of starting with the right equipment to build confidence and ensure steady progress.

Brad's journey doesn't stop at acquiring the cello; it extends into developing new skills and a growth mindset that permeates all aspects of his life. Listen as he shares the joys and challenges of learning to play, from achieving recognizable melodies to the thrill of sight-reading new music. Brad's story is a testament to the profound emotional and cognitive benefits of engaging in a creative hobby. With his eyes set on ambitious goals like joining a local amateur symphony, Brad's enthusiasm and dedication serve as an inspiration to us all.

Podcast intro music: J.S. Bach Cello Suites, Suite No. 3 in C major, Prelude 
Musician: Mari Coetzee 

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Ine:

Brad, thank you so much for having this conversation with me today. Tell me why did you start playing the cello?

Brad:

Absolutely Well. You know, I remember it was the beginning of this year, it was like January 1st, and I was sitting there like making resolutions and just thinking about the year and what I wanted to do, and I was just really really busy at work and working, like you know, 14 hour days and stuff like that, and I didn't have a whole lot of time. I was thinking, what do I want to do? But I got to have a hobby right. So, um, new year I was, I was listening to some music and the cello was on. I just thought pretty instantly, like that's what I'm going to do, I'm going to learn cello, which was so random, but also is also so random that Jordan, my wife, was right there listening to me and she said wait a minute, I know somebody that can teach us cello, so let's, let's get you two hooked up. And so that's that's what happened.

Ine:

That is so amazing and I always love hearing that story because I've known Jordan for a while but I just always knew that you were there in the background, like watching her grow as a business owner, and then the fact that she was able to connect us through the program we were in it was so cool. It's just a sign that word of mouth is really such a powerful way of connecting people. So I'm just so grateful that she thought of the idea and that you're in the program, Brad.

Ine:

it's been so great working with you and I'm curious like what were the main factors that prompted you to actually want to start playing music in general? What kinds of things did you want to get out of it?

Brad:

general? What kinds of things did you want to get out of it? I've always loved music. I started playing guitar a long time ago, even played drums for a bit in school, and so music kind of just it's always been a part of me. But also I've never really learned guitar in a systematic way, I've just sort of like picked it up by ear. But I wanted a clean start on a new instrument and I wanted to kind of learn the right way and learn the fundamentals and be able to build on those fundamentals and have a lifetime practice. That I could do, you know, indefinitely.

Ine:

That is so amazing, brad. You know I remember in your very first lesson you had mentioned you wanted to have a lifetime hobby, or like a lifetime creative practice, and that's really what the cello can provide for you. Like, you have an instrument now that, granted, it is one of the harder ones to learn, but it has this beautiful sound that is so versatile, and now you can carry it all the way through your life. Pun intended carry the instrument through your life.

Ine:

And I'm just so grateful that you had that initial thought of like it's going to be long-term, like it's a long-term commitment and, even if it's like small amounts, every day, every time you practice, you're, you're making progress and it's it's so cool to see so, so amazing yeah, and I think that it being a little bit harder than some of the other instruments was part of what drew me to it actually interesting, tell me having a lifetime to kind of figure it out and master it.

Brad:

But part of it also was, like just the neuroscience, about music and making music and the challenges of it. You know, just listening to music lights up several parts of the brain but composing and being part of that process, composing and being part of that process, it lights up nearly every part of the brain. On MRI, which is as a kind of a science geek, that was kind of intriguing.

Ine:

Yes, I can completely see how that particular aspect of playing the cello would be intriguing for you with your science background, and I believe that and you tell me if you're fine talking about this, I can always edit this question out your dad, I believe, has dementia. Is that right? Did that play into your decision for wanting to learn the cello?

Brad:

It did. There's a strong genetic component there for my dad and his mother, and so I knew I had to do something. In addition, know the other things that you can do with medicine. You know. It just shows that once you stop growing and learning, that's kind of when things that will start to wagon so to speak.

Brad:

So having something that could possibly challenge me every day and be learning and doing that process, it's relating those neurons every single day. It was that made it a. That was a big part of why I chose Shell. It was that it was hard was the very reason why I kind of chose it.

Ine:

That is so amazing. It just shows like the kind of proactive person you are. You're thinking 40 years in advance. And you know, there's actually a, an article that I read a few weeks ago. It says that after the age of 30, your brain starts losing brain cells by up to 3% every year. So it's up to 3%.

Ine:

So if we do the math like over the course of 40 years, it can't possibly be 120% but, it really varies year by year, but the reality is is like after age 30, I think part of the reason is is that's a lot of the time when people stop learning. And if they can have something that's hard like you wanted to learn the cello because it was hard then they can actually prevent that first of all and then actually flip it on its head and have this upward trajectory where they're actually getting smarter as time goes on. And I am so impressed that you were thinking about that initially like from the get-go and kind of just a bit of that research yourself yourself just knew that going in, so I love that you mentioned that. That is. That is very cool.

Brad:

Yeah, and the cool thing is is like neuroplasticity happens at all stages of life, so while you're losing brain cells, you can also gain brain cells too. It's not impossible, as long as you're doing the work exactly like being intentional about it, just like you've been.

Ine:

Yeah I like that. I like how you say doing the work. Yeah, it does take work, but it's work worth doing. That's what I always think works on you. It's really good. And uh, what were some of the things that you were struggling with before you joined inner voice academy? And uh, like, what were you wondering about things that you were struggling with before you joined inner voice Academy? And uh, like what were you wondering about even before you decided to learn?

Brad:

Yeah, it was a fairly quick process. Once I decided I was going to do cello, um, I just knew nothing about cello really. Um, so, with guitar and drums, I had lots of friends that played guitar and drums, you know, you had somebody that could, um, just get you a leg up and show you a few things. But cello is a little bit more novel, especially around here. It's, I don't know, literally. You're the only person that plays cello. So, yeah, I didn't have anybody to lean on about that.

Brad:

And cello is an investment, like it's even entry level. Cellos can be more expensive than, like, say, comparable to a guitar. So you want to make sure, like, you're getting the right one. And what I found out was, you know, getting the most expensive professional. That's not necessarily your best interest. If you're a student, it can actually be a hindrance in some ways. So, you know, just being guided in that process about what kind of cello to get, where to get it. You know the bow, getting the right bow, yeah, all that kind of stuff. Um, so, yeah, it was really cool.

Brad:

Though, once I reached out to you, you actually uh, kind of got. You found people in my area. I never would have thought to um that we even had these people in our area. But I probably would have gone to guitar center or somewhere like that, but we had, um, some you know, professional, uh, cello players and violinists that had their own store, very, boutique, very. You know you could form a relationship with these people and, like you, you went, you did the the work on the back end for me to like introduce me to them and, um, you know, so it was was a lot better than just going out on my own to try and figure out everything, cause that's an important step getting the right.

Brad:

You know cello from the very beginning is, you know, getting you on the right, right track.

Ine:

Exactly, exactly, and you said it perfectly when you mentioned like a professional cello will not necessarily serve you that well. It's like putting a beginner horse rider on a Mustang or on a race horse and it's just like in the horse world, they say that's too much horse for the beginner. It's almost like it's too much cello. So, after working with you actually on that, getting you started and like setting up the appointment for you, that was actually one of getting you started and setting up the appointment for you. That was actually one of the things that I started incorporating into the program.

Ine:

So, anyone listening, I actually now have something called the Red Carpet Cello Finding Service and what that means for you is that you will send me the city you're in, I send you all the rest of the information you need. I match you with a cello based on your personality and your goals and, uh, it was just so amazing being able to create that facet of the program with you as my guinea pig, brad. That was really neat. Uh, and just seeing that that's kind of a service that people need, uh, it takes away the feeling of you're a beginner and you have zero clue what you're doing, just that initial anxiety yeah so I'm I'm so grateful that that was beneficial for you absolutely, it was really beneficial good, I'm so glad.

Ine:

And uh, what transformation have you seen like in your musical ability since starting the cello and Inner Voice Academy?

Brad:

Yeah, I mean one thing I've never. I mean I've used to read music like in high school in band that kind of thing, but it was all treble clef. I've never read music on a bass clef, so that was kind of. At this point, after reading music on a bass clef, I'm starting to get more comfortable with it. It's coming a little bit more naturally. Reading music, seeing all their special designations in cello that I've never seen before, I'm starting to pick up on them now a little bit more, and so the playing is getting a little bit more sophisticated over time. It's very interesting. Like just even getting started, um, I went straight for some of the, the hardest pieces you can possibly do, but even then, like you can play some of it and hearing recognizable bits that you're playing is that's pretty rewarding it really is, and I I've seen your playing become so much more sophisticated, like the coordination between the two hands hands.

Ine:

That was something you definitely struggled with, which very common thing to struggle with, like knowing when to move the left hand versus the right hand, and even just in a couple of months, your brain started rewiring itself to make that more natural. Like you're not thinking about moving them at the same time now. Uh, depending on the thing, you're about, moving them at the same time now, depending on the thing you're learning. Of course, there's going to be different levels of that technique, but I've noticed like a massive shift in your coordination ability. So that's a sign of like the spatial awareness part of your brain being developed. And what I read recently that's actually crazy about this is when you have spatial awareness developed through an instrument, you become better at sports.

Brad:

That's very interesting.

Ine:

Think about the word spatial, even the distance between two objects being able to, let's say, you play pickleball, like hitting the pickleball at the right moment in time, like having that reaction time with your eye to your muscle, um, like the movement. So I don't know if you've seen any of that difference in your own, like any sports you play. Maybe it's too soon to tell, but there has been studies done about the, the spatial awareness improving, because of no it it makes sense.

Brad:

I haven't had me to try that out, I haven't uh while, but yeah that makes a lot of sense, given the amount of coordination required between the right and left hand.

Ine:

So I believe that or like mood changes after playing the cello, because it really takes up your entire mental space. You cannot think about work or moving or anything happening in your life. How has that been for you?

Brad:

Yeah, great. Well, that's exactly kind of what I needed is something that can take me completely out of you know work mode, thinking about the things that happen at work or whatever. But yeah, you have to be all in with all of your brain on cello and, yeah, I can definitely definitely tell the difference and when you, when you do all the things and you get the right sounds, and then there's like the instant feedback that comes along with the reward the the dopamine hit because you're getting that beautiful comes along with the reward the dopamine hit because you're getting that beautiful sound along with it. So it's not all for naught, because there is the reward too.

Ine:

It's like this hobby that actually makes your life better. It doesn't detract from your life because it's actually building your brain at the same time. So I like a lot of people may look for a hobby and they're like, well, maybe I should do video gaming or, uh, walking's a great thing to do and, of course, like there's some good things about about any kind of detachment from work. But if you have a hobby that actually enhances every aspect of your life, then you're like you have this edge over your competitors, you have this edge over other people in your industry, or even just like against your previous self, like the person you used to be. You start moving towards the person you want to become because you're developing the software that makes all those decisions. That's really cool, yeah.

Brad:

And that's kind of how I look at it. I compete with myself. I guess it's always about being the next 2.0 version. Who am I going to be in 10 years?

Ine:

Exactly, Exactly, and I just noticed from you every time we talk like whether it's in lessons or like in this conversation you're very future focused. You understand that time is always passing and how you spend your time is so important. You want to make every minute count. So I really admire that. That's amazing. Not very many people think about that I really admire that.

Ine:

That's that's amazing, Not very many people think about that. And as a final quick, like a fun question what is your absolute favorite part of your practice routine right now? When you sit down to practice, what are you most excited about?

Brad:

Most excited about. You know I do all the um, the fundamental stuff, but once I get to I think I like the sight reading, where I take a new piece of music. It's challenging the music reading part of it and then with an actual song where you can actually hear and to be able to sort of successfully sight read music is is really cool, cause that's that's where you know, that's kind of where I feel like you prove yourself is to be able to do that like all the way around.

Ine:

Yes, I agree, we should do more of that. I'll send you some links afterwards. That's something that I love doing for my students is, if they have like a goal or something that they love doing, I'll lean into that area so that their practice routine really feels like a customized version of whatever their goal is. So for you, like you love the Bach Prelude, you want to do sight reading, you do want to learn the fundamentals, but you also enjoy sight reading and like composing, so that's really cool. And you know, as you were talking, I actually thought of two more questions.

Ine:

I know we said that was the last one. Um, but what are your current goals on the cello? Uh, if you could be any kind of cellist you could think of like what would be your top goal it's a good question.

Brad:

Um, and this might be a little bit delusional at this point, but, like you know, going to like a local kind of amateur like symphony and being able to like fill in there would be like lifelong kind of goal kind of maybe a little bit delusional, but that would be really cool.

Ine:

Yeah, it's not delusional at all. I've actually seen some adult students do that within like even two years of starting. You'll be shocked at how you improve when you're consistent with your practicing.

Ine:

So not delusional at all, I'll actually write that down as like we have a goal sheet, so I'll write that down for you and we can start looking in your area. Even Awesome, yeah, something to look forward to. And then my second question that I thought of. This was not what I sent you before the interview, but I would love to know if you were talking to someone who was considering the cello but they were hesitant to start because it's either online or it's some some of it's in group format. It's just not the traditional one-on-one in person um format. What would you tell them?

Brad:

um, I mean I would say that one, it's working for me and two, um, you, you have taken the time with each person on the on the uh, on the zoom uh call to spend individual time with each person. So, um, even though there's a group, it is um, there's the group kind of lesson, the teaching, but then there's individual focus too on there and and you, we figured out like positioning and stuff like that on zoom. So I would say it's not really that much of a barrier really.

Ine:

That is so good to know, just like from someone who's actually in the program. And I know that with your guitar experience you had friends you obviously played with in person, so in a way you have experienced both. But I'm just so glad to hear that you're feeling comfortable even with the positioning of how, how, how you hold the cello, how you sit with the cello, how you move with the cello. So, um, that's so good to know and, brad, I just love having you in the program, just want you to know that, like you bring this energy and enthusiasm and this quiet sense of just like you're, you're on the journey one day, at a time, of learning this, this beautiful instrument. So, yeah, thank you, thank you for investing in yourself that way.

Brad:

Yeah Well, I enjoyed a lot, so thank you.

Ine:

Good, I'm glad. Well, I will see you at the next uh, next class then yes, See you then, Nina.