Writing/Essay/Journal
Cellist Josh Koestenbaum works hard strengthening his body, mind, and keeping his instrument adjusted. Although he doesn’t need to do strength training to play the cello, Koestenbaum says that it makes him play better. Do you value training your body physically? How could improving your conditioning help you in your daily life? What does Koestenbaum think about other people’s (or critics’) opinions of his work? How can you tell? What would be required to make this kind of art? Besides tools and materials, what skills would you need to have?

Activity
In order to get his instrument adjusted correctly, Koestenbaum must be able to describe what the instrument is doing that he does not like. Without using onomatopoeia (words that look like they sound: whoosh, splat, zing, etc), describe how an instrument sounds.