Hawaii musician Joshua Nakazawa helps students tackle famous cello piece

Apr. 18—Google "that famous cello piece " and Bach's Prelude from the Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major appears. You've heard it on TV shows and movies, and if you're much of a fan, you've joined the millions of times you have watched it performed on YouTube and heard musicians and writers wax poetic about its graceful, flowing energy.

"The first measures unfold with the storytelling power of a master improviser, " is how music critic Eric Silbin described it in his award-winning book "The Cello Suites : J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece, " going on to say, "The notes are murmured, stated with courtly purpose, and blasted through with rapture."

To listen to the piece and enjoy it is one thing. But to play it ?

The brilliant cellist Yo-Yo Ma started playing it at age 4, learning it measure by measure. But if you don't have that kind of talent, you can still learn to play it, thanks to Joshua Nakazawa, a cellist for the Hawai 'i Symphony Orchestra and his new online video series, "Zero to Bach in Four Months."

"It's such a great piece to learn, because it's beautiful and everybody loves it, " said Nakazawa, who also teaches. "It really gets your feet wet when you want to get deeper and continue your studies."

The videos, shot in dozens of locations around Oahu, are geared toward beginners with no musical training. Lessons cover holding and tuning a cello and how to use a bow, as well as music fundamentals like reading a score and keeping time.

Following the lessons and practicing on a daily basis for four months should result in a passable performance of the piece, the very first work in a series of six solo suites for cello by Bach. Composed around 1717-1723, the suites are noted for exploring the expressive range of the instrument, as well as creating rich harmonic and complex melodic structures on cello.

Nakazawa got the idea for the video series from a friend, violinist Eric Silberger, who was staying with him during the height of the pandemic. Silberger overheard Nakazawa teaching the piece to an adult beginner who desperately wanted to learn it and was amazed that she had been playing cello for just a few months.

"In terms of playing the notes, and being accurate with the intonation, and having an understanding of tempo, and really all the core foundations, they wereall there, " said Nakazawa, who routinely teaches the piece to beginners.

Inspired by his travels around the island, Nakazawa shot the lessons outdoors on beaches, parks and gardens throughout Oahu. Some of the sites had some kind of connection to the lesson itself—a session on the song "Over the Rainbow, " for example, was shot at the Pali lookout. Overhead drone shots add a spiritual dimension to many of the lessons.

"It's been inspiring to me to have that beauty ... where you feel relaxed and clear-minded, " Nakazawa said. "I really wanted to share that with people who wanted to learn, and to share the respect for the land."

He's had a few people sign up already, including his friend and collaborator Jake Shimabukuro, the ukulele virtuoso. The two have come up with a cello-uke arrangement of the piece.

Shimabukuro so far has not learned how to use the bow, but his finger-picking skills have made the the lessons rewarding and enjoyable.

"I think it will be great for giving me a different perspective on the ukulele, " Shimabukuro said. "It's so therapeutic and Josh is a great teacher. He's patient and thorough. He's like a doctor with a great bedside manner."