My own exploration of the effects of a locked thumb began in the practice room when I noticed that executing quick trills in passage work is nearly impossible when the thumb is locked, but simple when the thumb is relaxed. Late-Advanced Cello Exercises. Learn more. And Stringsmagazine.com is here to support you and the string world with fantastic free content. In the first part of this series on thumb position (Blog #19), we discussed the basic techniques for understanding the geography of the upper registers of the cello. These surprisingly simple exercises can make playing in thumb position easier because they allow the hand to do one of the things it does most naturally: making a fist. This exercise is to teach the pivot between the thumb and middle finger. ... Cello books that teach and work on easy thumb position. The exercises on page 31 of Cello Practice, Cello Performance will help with building and maintaining this fluency. This doesn't put too much stress on the student's thumb and is easy to find. String playing is the greatest. Step 2: "Unfurl" your fist and rest it on the string, with your thumb on the A and D harmonics. What's more, it's hard to get the fingers to move independently, and they end up squished together or all stuck down at once. Fast Download speed and ads Free! 100 Cello Warm-ups and Exercises Blog 20: Thumb Position and the Upper Registers (Part 2) — by Robert Jesselson. All the knuckles of your fingers should be gently curved, but especially the base knuckles (i.e. 8 Position Stability Exercise. Put middle finger on metal piece and thumb in nook. But then as soon as we get over this part of the cello we get in a thumb position, things really get a little bit nasty. The workshop at Carriage House Violins. Books may include treble clef. The thumb first remains placed over the octave harmonics. I’m guessing that you found only two. Then relax the hands and exhale completely, feeling the release of tension. By becoming aware of it, we have taken the first step toward resolving the problem. Luckily, these problems can be greatly ameliorated by shaping the left hand rationally. Yes, they do. Here it is: hold either of your hands in front of you, and with the index finger of one hand, simply point to and count the number of knuckles (joints where you can bend) on each finger of the other hand, thumb included. Cello Exercises. Keep the thumb touching the neck when the finger pulls away from the string – the left hand must remain stable and in the same place throughout the exercise. Now, why should we keep those base knuckles curved? Start with the little finger, and go on to each of the others in turn. As far as exercises or etudes to use for a thumb positions the very first volume of Dotzauer's is really, really great to do an octave up. You can use your arm's movement to move from finger to finger without having to alter your hand's shaping or angle very much. Many cellists are afraid of playing in the high register. Note: while the thumb can be used anywhere, I prefer teaching thumb position starting on the mid-string harmonic. Part of your daily fundamentals practice should be re-establishing good hand shaping in thumb position. We may also find it useful to collapse (block) the last finger joint of whichever finger (or fingers) is playing. Review cello technique, strengthen playing with free scales and exercises, explore our self-guided string class, and play along with free recordings and free Christmas music. These exercises lead the student through the various thumb-positions and, by constant use of the fourth finger, strengthen it and give it security in the higher positions. It’s a basic tenet of string playing that relaxation and flexibility promote good technique and injury-free playing. A guide to improving pitch accuracy, body alignment, and shifting on the cello by Alex Kelly. While buckled knuckles may not matter so much in slow tempi, it's very cumbersome to try to play fast like this. But on many hands, flattened base knuckles in thumb position will make it very hard to move from note to note. If you like what we do, please make a donation in support of our work. The thumbposition practice material offered here is divided into three types: slower doublestopped material (including arpeggios across the strings) stepwise flowing, single-note (no doublestops) material, suitable for practice at all speeds repertoire excerpts in one position 1: SLOWER DOUBLESTOPS We will start with the doublestopped material because this is … Check out this instructional cello video to learn how to have perfect thumb position while playing the cello. A bestselling exercise book for teaching agility, correct hand position, and good intonation to first and second year cellists. 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