Consistent Tone

Very often I will have students play a piece that demands a steady ascent into higher positions and requires them to maintain a full sound through the top of the passage.  The Swan by Camille Saint-Säens contains several examples of this phenomenon.  A few basic principles govern how the cellist may execute such changes in register and maintain a singing tone:

• As the frequency of a pitch increases, the bow speed must also increase.  
• Think of a very slowly vibrating string; the bow must catch the string to maintain it's vibration at the rate of the string's oscillation.  
• Now imagine the frequency quadrupling (the equivalent of two octaves).  The bow speed needs to increase so that it may catch the string more frequently.
• As the string is shortened by the fingers the string length decreases; the contact point must travel closer to the bridge to maintain proper proportion with the string length.
• Contact point is a large determining factor for tone quality.  
• Often a student will maintain a consistent contact point while ascending into higher positions.  
• Assuming a string length of 2' and a contact point 2" above the bridge if the string player shortens the string length to 1' without changing the contact point, that would be equivalent to playing on a 2' string a full 4" above the bridge!  Positioning the bow that high on the fingerboard should be reserved only for sul tasto effects.
• Right arm position is the strongest factor in determining contact point.
• The left arm moves the hand to its various positions along the fingerboard.  The right arm produces similar changes in position to the contact point.
• Angling of the bow away from the right arms position can cause the contact point to move.  This can help or hinder the player.

The use of a mirror or simply looking down at the bow while playing may help but ultimately, to have control and consistency, the cellist must feel and hear the quality of tone through the bow and understand how this relates to contact point and bow speed.

You can play nearly any note anywhere on the instrument with the basic tonal qualities you desire by keeping mindful of these principles.

I will be out of town this weekend and will miss a lot of my new college students.  I made this video to be sure that they have something to work on while I'm gone.

Cello E-Lesson

This video covers a few basic principles including:

• Setup
• Sound Production
• Bow Hold
• Left Hand Technique
• Shifting

I will probably upload more videos in the future to cover specific topics.

Jeffrey Solow Interview

I will be playing in a masterclass this Saturday with cellist, Jeffrey Solow. While researching him I came across this interview from the Internet Cello Society by Tim Janof.
The article has made an impact on me because I feel that I relate to much of what Mr. Solow says about developing technique. Very inspiring and useful information.
"Conversations with Jeffrey Solow" by Tim Janof

Comparing Cellists

While comparing performances of the Haydn D Major Concerto on YouTube and Wikipedia (for the sake of basic background information) I stumbled across this excerpt of Rice University Professor Brinton Smith's D.M.A. dissertation posted on cello.org. The paper compares different recordings of the Dvorak concerto and suggests specific ways to listen to the details of a performance. Here is the link.

The Sprained Finger

Be it known that contact sports, particularly large-ball sports are perilous near performances. I have a concerto performance on Saturday and I sprained my finger in a particularly competitive athletic competition last Wednesday. Fortunately not a break and not severe enough that the digit cannot be used. Beware the consequences of complacent diversion.

On the benefits of slow practice

Lately I have put great emphasis on slow practice and the use of the metronome. I would like to outline a few of the benefits of slow practice.

Rhythmic Accuracy

Metronome settings that are significantly slower than performance speed consistently demonstrate a player's tendency to rush or drag. Many of these tendencies linger for years and cannot be solved by mental effort alone.

Quality of Sound

Slowing down the music you play allows you to truly listen to the kind of sound you are making. As you take the time to gradually speed it up you will notice when the sound quality begins to suffer. Concentrate on the sound first, then on what is happening physically and mentally to create that sound. Experiment. The practice room is a lab and if your hypotheses are not always correct and your experiments fail it does not mean that you are personally a failure. In fact every failed experiment brings you closer to your goals.

Preparing Motions

A major part of slowing a passage down is to figure out where the "difficult" parts are that trip you up in performance. As a performer, I have found that these moments are usually areas where I'm uncertain about how to prepare the motion. You may find that it is a difficult shift or an awkward bowing or string crossing that is causing the trouble. Slowing it down will help you to understand how that movement should be executed as you gradually bring it into real performance tempo. Also the repetition reinforces the movement.

Eliminating stress

As you practice slowly observe the things you do that serve no real purpose in the music making. Are your shoulders raised? Are your feet curled up or sticking out? What about facial expressions? Are they voluntary? Slow practice will allow you to identify when you make these extra movements. When you have identified them you can practice a passage slowly concentrating mainly on keeping that body part relaxed. For example, my tendency is to tense my mouth, either by an upper lip snarl or by tightly pursing the lips or clenching the teeth. As I play a passage that is normally quick at a slower tempo I will see exactly the shift, the fingering, the point of articulation that causes me to tense up. In slowing it down I can prove to myself that it can be played with a relaxed face. And as I speed up the tempo again I reinforce that it can be done even at performance tempo.

In short, make friends with the metronome. Frustration tends to come from the disappointment of not being immediately succesful. Slow it down and see it for what it really is. Every error in playing is a symptom of an underlying problem that is often invisible at the surface. Take the time to slow it down and discover it.

Starker - an Organized Method

Below is an article written by the overly accomplished Janos Starker on the fundamentals of string playing. It is an excellent source to turn to with technical questions as it treats the use and movement of both arms and common problems.

Janos Starker - An Organized Method (PDF document)