Q&A for How to Play the Cello

Knowing how to play another instrument will help. However, you should still get a teacher because when you go from violin to cello, there will be a drastic change in tone.

Yes, it is very different. When you hold the cello blow, let your hand relax over the frog, and do not place your pinky on top of the screw, like you would on the violin.

Yes. You may have an advantage learning the cello if you already know how to play the violin.

This depends on skill, time, ability and effort. If you are experienced on another instrument, then it may be easier to become a good cellist. However, if you have never touched an instrument before, it may take many hours just understanding the basics.

The transition shouldn't be hard, but it takes some time to get used to. I play the violin and I can play the cello just fine, but I have to adjust to the different finger positions on each string.

This answer depends entirely upon the speed of the piece, how well you can subdivide, and how capable you are with a bow. You play them like any other note as long as you understand the how they work in relativity with the rest of the piece. A 16th note is 2x faster than 8th notes, 4x faster than quarter notes, 8x faster than half notes, and 16x faster than whole notes.

Focus on only your bowing when practicing to build muscle memory, do not worry about the notes. Once you have the proper bow technique established, then focus on the notes.

To play E flat, you put two fingers on the C string (the last string), and you then pluck it if you are doing pizzicato, or you bow it if you are bowing the cello. To tell if the piece wants you to do pizzicato or bow the instrument, look and see if your music has "pizz" or "pizzicato" written anywhere. If it does, you start playing pizzicato on the note the "pizz." or "pizzicato" is above. If it is between two notes, listen to someone playing it on YouTube, or ask your teacher to play it,and see where they start doing pizzicato.

To play open A, you need to put the bow - or if you are playing pizzicato, your finger - on the string. Pull the bow away from the cello for a down bow, and toward the cello for an up bow.

In order to keep your thumb bent, try practicing with slow songs that you already know. This way, you can monitor and hold your thumb in the correct position. It’s natural for it to want to bend.

If you want G Natural, use 4 on the D String in 1st position.

Vibrato is a relatively advanced thing to learn. Start by shifting your hand up and down the neck, and then catch your finger on the note you want to play. Keep trying to shift up and down, and your hand will vibrate (or wiggle). Keep doing this exercise until you are ready to play the note.

The actual note sequence would be, in it's most basic form, 4/4 time, all quarter notes, and in the key of D Major: F# - E - D - E - F# - F# - F# - E - E - E - F# - A - A - F# - E - D - E - F# - F# - F# - F# - E - E - F# - E - D.

Either halfway between the first tape on the A string, or between the first and third tape on the G string (or the second finger tape if you have one).

It would be useful if you tuned to exactly the same thing, whether it be the same app or the same piano.

Yes. The thumb should be bent, and the fingers are too far forward.

A bow can break if you tighten it too much. Typically, you should stop tightening it before the wooden part bends outward. Pick up a bow only by the frog. Don't store the bow in a humid place.

That is most certainly not true. There are many great cellists that aren't from Europe or America, like Yo-Yo Ma.

Yes! A number of people shorter than you play the cello perfectly. If your cello is too big, buy a smaller one (smallest is half size) or adjust the endpin to be shorter.

Yes, it helps with clefs and note familiarisation. You can also practice playing in tune by pressing piano keys, which should be in tune.

It’s less experience demanding than violin and viola, but all string instruments are around the same difficulty. The only difference is space sizes, clefs and the complex news of the average sheet music imposed for the instrument.

Mozart doesn’t have any cello concertos, but he wrote numerous concertos for piano and violin. If you are an advanced cellist looking for concertos to play, some popular options include the cello concertos by Haydn, Dvorak and Elgar, and the Variations on a Rococo Theme by Tchaikovsky.

Playing multiple instruments is a great idea. If you have a good understanding of a lot of instruments, your overall musical ability will most likely get better.

It would be easier to play cello because you have previously played a string instrument. However, you have to drastically change your technique because a cello is larger than a violin.

If you have learned the violin, learning cello on your own shouldn’t be too hard. You can find good tutorials for cello online. It is always better to get a teacher to help guide you though.

You can find cello music in varying difficulty levels and genres by going to Google Image Search and typing "cello sheet music".

We don't normally use the "c" string because in a common orchestra, the bases would have that covered. The "c" string still is used, though, for much lower notes.