Cello Life - Jonathan Simmons

               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...

              String players come in all shapes and sizes. Some violinists look like they were born to play the double bass, and other people like me seem so small that they should be banished to a partial size instrument into adulthood. If you are in the second category, I feel your pain. Although we must come up with solutions to the unique technical challenges that we face, playing a large instrument is not impossible even for petite individuals. As a side note, this is not to say that adults should never consider a 3/4 or 7/8 size instrument or a shorter bow in some cases. Some physiques may require this. Be sure to seek your teacher's advice on instrument setup (endpin length, angle of the instrument, etc.). Likewise students who are not yet fully grown should seek their teacher’s input before moving to a size that may be uncomfortably large. In this blog I simply hope to share several ways I have found to overcome the...

                 Repetitive strain injuries plague far too many musicians, and I was one of them. These injuries tend to come at the most stressful times, before big performances and auditions, and last far too long. In my case, I was barely touching my instrument for five months leading up to graduate school auditions. Although problems did not go away immediately after auditions, I learned some valuable lessons that today allow me to play without pain. Here I hope to steer you toward some resources to help you achieve every musician’s goal – playing pain free. WARM UP             Let me begin by saying that I am not a doctor and am not qualified to give medical advice. Medical professionals such as physical therapists can help you determine steps you can take to avoid drastic measures such as surgery. One of those steps is warming up. My initial conception of warming up for ...