h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Okay, first, a little history:

My cello teacher is a professional performer and has never taken any classes about teaching. He is a REALLY bad teacher. I have also had problems in the past with my right arm hurting, but he tells me to keep my shoulder back, and I do, but that doesn't always work. There is also this killer passage that is insanly fast and I have to use the upper bow, and so my arm is up, and it's hard to make a good sound like that, and it makes my arm hurt VERY badly.

So, anyway, yesterday was my cello lesson. I told him about that passage, and we clarified that it's a "shooting" pain, and I showed him how I hold my arm...etc. etc. I told him I thought it was a stamina issue, I mean, I rarely use my arm like that for that long... I also told him I experimented a lot at home with trying to get it to not hurt, but nothing works. I also told him I try to relax my bow arm and keep my shoulder back. So, he said we'd try some other passages first, and if it starts hurting to tell him, and we'd leave some time at the end to focus on it.

So, at the end he said he thinks the pain is all in my head...or in his words, it's "psycho-sematic." He said I'm afraid of producing good tone in the upper half of my bow and that I'm afraid of that passage. I wanted to yell ,"just because you can't fu**ing figure the thing out, doesn't mean that it's in my head, bas**erd!! It FU**ING HURTS, DAM*IT!!!!!" GRRRR!!!!! But, I've thought about what he said today, and it doesn't really make sense. Why would I "think" my arm hurts, when it doesn't? Why would my arm be affected if I'm afraid of that? Why would I be afraid of that dam* passage? Yea, I'm mad at the composer, but not afraid of it!!

Okay, maybe I am a little...but my arm seriously does hurt during it. He said that I rely on him too much to give me the answers, and I wanted to say, "you think too much of yourself" (oh yea, did I mention he has a big ego?) and I wanted also to say, "I already told you what I thought it was, but did you listen? NOOO as**ole." Grr....

On a more positive note, tomorrow I'm going to a water/amusement park with my two sisters. So, I won't be online. And, I won't have to practice my stupid cello, so it's all good!! (except for not having access to the internet)