Cello Life - Jonathan Simmons

                 Once we master the notes and rhythms of a piece, the daunting challenge awaits of speeding up the piece to performance tempo. This process often consumes a large amount of time and can often be frustrating when we get stuck at a certain tempo. Many times it feels like the piece will never reach full tempo. Let’s look at the appropriate time to begin speeding up a piece and three strategies to help overcome the tempo roadblock and truly master playing quickly.             The first questions we must ask are, “At what tempo can I play the hardest part accurately?” and, “What is my goal tempo?” Too often we do not know what tempo we have already achieved or which parts tend to fall behind if we were to check with the metronome. (As a side note, all of these activities require a metronome, so if you don’t have one GET ONE . If a tempo is not indicated in the sheet music, listen to some recordings, or seek your teacher’s advice on a suitable and realistic tempo. Once yo

                               In last week's blog , we addressed a few ground rules often taught to beginning cellists along with some instances in which those rules should be broken. The right hand similarly has some rules that need to be broken in certain instances. Today we will address two of those. Straight Bow             Playing with a straight bow is crucial for a clear, consistent tone free of scratch in the sound, but if you watch great cellists, you will notice that they do not play with a straight bow 100% of the time. Why is this? As helpful as a straight bow can be for producing a homogeneous tone throughout the whole bow stroke, a straight bow is not necessarily the best way to produce a broad range of tone colors. Watch this video in which Thomas Mesa demonstrates the 10 bow lanes on the cello and when he plays with a crooked bow on purpose.             In addition to the excellent advice Mr. Mesa gives, angling the bow helps move the bow across the bow

               Beginning cellists learn all sorts of necessary ground rules as they begin learning the instrument – how to sit, how to hold the cello, where to place the hands, etc. These rules are useful for establishing healthy habits for playing, but strict rules do not necessarily take into account the variety of techniques needed to play the infinite variety of music cellists are called upon to perform. Below are a few of the of the left hand rules that I break with the next blog post will focus on the right hand rules. Left Thumb behind the neck             I first learned to place the left hand by putting the thumb directly under the other four fingers on the strings.  Many times, this place is as good as any for the thumb. However, by no means is it the only place the thumb can stay. The thumb can move to either side of the neck for various reasons. Moving the thumb to the left side of the neck can help combat a squeezing thumb, especially on the two higher strings. S