Cello First Lesson
GENERAL
Site forward on chair
Top of cello resting at top of bra line; angled out
C Peg close to ear; cello close to neck
Legs cradling either side of cello; left knee slightly behind so as to not get hit by the bow
Upper arms away from the body
Left elbow is fairly high; don't let it interfere with playing, esp. with vibrato
Keep neck of cello closer to body
Stop looking at the strings!!!!
Eventually get rid of all the little blue dots
EXERCISES
Bow budgeting:
Start with C string: 16 counts at metronome setting 60; 16 down bow and 16 up bow; each string; at up bow on A String count 12; at up bow at C string on the return, count 8; at up bow on A string count 6
Do this as a warm up at least a couple of times every day.
Scales every day
Slide up and down the A string without the bow; fingers in first position
Scales every day
Slide up and down the A string without the bow; fingers in first position
BOWING and RIGHT HAND and ELBOW
Bow Hold
Ring finger on silver flat thing
Pinky on eye
First finger on silver thread; can be in the middle of silver thread
Second finger on bow hair
Thumb, cuticle sore, between opening
BEND thumb at first joint
May feel like going to drop the bow
May feel like going to drop the bow
Bend thumb
Roll bow toward me
Start hold of bow by holding parallel in front of me, not up and down
Push and Pull
Down bow is really PULLING and Up Bow is really PUSHING
Keep bow parallel to the fingerboard
Play with a lighter bow right before changing bow direction; practice this with bow budgeting exercise
Try not to make bow changes real obvious as you change direction of the bow
Try not to make bow changes real obvious as you change direction of the bow
Arch wrist; cuticle in the slot
Don't bounce elbow; move hand and wrist instead
PUSH and PULL for sound
Try for a true sound; try not to sound scratchy
When playing at the bow tip (Shroeder), arm/elbow is up in the air and more to the left??
The right elbow should be higher than the lower arm???
PUSH and PULL for sound
Try for a true sound; try not to sound scratchy
When playing at the bow tip (Shroeder), arm/elbow is up in the air and more to the left??
The right elbow should be higher than the lower arm???
Staccato
Bounce the bow off the string
LEFT HAND
On Left Hand keep thumb behind the 2nd finger, especially for EXTENSIONS
Don't wear ring and watch while playing
Left hand in a claw before going on to the strings
Keep the fingers almost on the fingerboard; DO NOT stick up in the air!!!!!
Play on the fleshy part of the fingertip; except in vibrato when may have to play more on the tip of the finger
Left hand in a claw before going on to the strings
Keep the fingers almost on the fingerboard; DO NOT stick up in the air!!!!!
Play on the fleshy part of the fingertip; except in vibrato when may have to play more on the tip of the finger
SCALES
SLOW!!!
Slur 4 notes together
Change strings smoothly
Shift smoothly
No abrupt changes in tempo or tone
Use only Klenger examples
Stack the scales
Practice throughout the day until all are memorized
If a mistake, go back to beg. of that scale
For extensions, do extension, DON'T do shifts when an extension is called for
Use the exact fingerings in Klengel book
Practice scales every day; add on to what I already can play. PLAY scales slowly and make sure bowing is correct
SCHROEDER
SHIFTING
Shift into next note;in scales will usually be at least one shift per scale
EXTENSIONS
Do exactly as Klengel when practicing scales; don't do a shift for an extension
Make sure thumb is behind 2nd finger; this will help in doing extensions correctly
VIBRATO
Only time you can use the tip of finger is in vibrato; otherwise use the flat fleshy part of finger
