What's interesting is that on a non-fretted instrument, notes don't just have one spot to play them. You're not constrained by the 12 tone equal temperament system like guitar so you can move the notes so they're in tune with the actual intervals 🙂
I've been playing for almost 6 months now. I use coloured 8mm circular sticky labels but only on the D string, I then reference the other string positions from these. I also used one on the back of the neck to place my thumb but that kept slowly sliding down; it eventually went when my teacher said I was too scared to remove it! I now gauge my thumb position from the curve of the peg box. As a very mature adult, your content is well worth watching but it's funny that I can play songs on my guitar without reading a note but I can't play anything on my cello without sheet music to follow!
I have a couple tricks: 1. I practice with drones. Makes it really easy to hear when you're out of tune. 2. Sometimes I practice fingering without a bow (just pizz) so I can focus just on the left hand. 3. I often stick black tapes on my fingerboard for a gig, and I look if I need to. Shouldn't do this while practicing, but my first priority in a performance is to play in tune by any means necessary, even if that means doing it "wrong". This is especially if I have to play in keys where I have to be out of first position a lot.
Don’t rely on physical memory solely to know if your playing correctly. Here’s something no one mentions. Wood shifts in different environments. What may be in tune in your living room probably won’t be when you go to perform somewhere. I’m new to cello but as a guitar player for 20 years I can tell you from experience that wood moves.
Yea. 100% on the tape. I've played piano on and off since I was 3 years old and I'm 30 now... The tape is helping me just get into the cello really quickly, and giving me that instant feedback. It's the instant feedback that is important - that literally physically strengthens connections in your brain immediately. Delayed feedback takes a lot of time.
And don't underestimate the value of vibrato for concealment. Also, There are certain partials we err on the low or high side and it will still sound accurate.
I'm not long started Cello lessons though i have played Bass guitar for some good while now. I'm gettng a lot from your channel with some really useful content. I use a combination of what is called muscle memory and this is aided by the use of a Korg Chomatic CA1 Tuner that i set so that i can see the RED/GREEN/RED lights that pretty much tells me where i'm at. I try not to rely on it but its great for fine tuning the brain to recognise the exact pitch and tone. Thank you,
I liked this lesson. The toothbrush analogy resonated with me, which could be extended to bringing a spoon or fork up to your mouth as well. Maybe we did when we first started, but most of us don't land a toothbrush to our nose or spoon to our chin or fork to our lip. And we bring the utensils to our mouths without even thinking about it. Cool! This analogy gives me confidence that I will eventually get it with patience, practice, and persistence.
Thanks for the great video! I love that you are sharing your thoughts and perspectives from the viewpoint of starting cello as an adult as many of us have. I’m looking forward to getting more information on your October cello event - especially the dates so I can arrange to join🎶
I wish when I started that I did not put tape on the fingerboard as that was too much of a distraction and I had to learn again without them so it seemed. I transitioned from the tapes to just one thin tape doubled up and put it underneath for my thumb position. This really helped with the fingers and intonation. It was not long before the tape wore away and I never replaced it.
I have recently taken to learning the cello and am guilty of looking before and after my tutor placing tapes on my fingerboard. Thanks for this video. I am going to practise differently now 😊
For 3-D mapping, is it essential to have a consistent playing posture (end-pin length, angle)? sometimes I can feel like my muscle memory is thrown off if I'm sitting in a chair that I'm not used to, or if I just can't find a comfortable end-pin length. Maybe I should practice being aware of where the cello is contacting my chest EDIT: nevermind haha I just un-paused the vid and you started talking about exactly this
Better than using tape, make a small dots on the sides of the fingerboard just to know your fingers landed in the right place and you don't have this unpleasant sensation on the fingers because of the tape. I used an white POSCA pen: it is less harmfull for the the wood and you can erase marks easily (POSCA is waterbased acrylic paint). Make you to place the dots correctly and in the very side of the fingerboard to avoid rubbing off.
Inevitably at some point you are going to have to take the tapes away. So while it might seem that tape strips are helpful, for most people they are very doubtful. Much better would be to start with the first three notes from any open string: Open, 3,4 - then Open, 2,4. Then try the next position. In the long run, for most it will be quicker, because you will STILL need to get rid of the tape and learn by feel, thereby needing to start over again. This will train your ear to listen much more efficiently. A close analogy is playing keyboards with those flashing lights. All they do is force you to rely on them.
Thank you for these tips. I’ve had my cello almost a year and am playing in church now, but only quite simple songs. When I got my cello, it had tape on, and I’ve left it there. As a violin player, I’m used to switching positions quite often. I think that I’m ready to learn cello positions. Do you have a teaching video for that?
*So, what kind of tape do you suggest to use?* I see some kind of blue tape a lot. But using black colored tape would still be visible to me. But not too much out there… think… I'm just starting to play the cello. Both my cello coach and my teacher said not to use tape. But if I'm not looking at the finger board, it couldn't hurt, right?
Great video, thanks! But how to practice this internal pitch hearing (step 3)? Would you have some concrete exercises to improve this sense? I'm 57, started studying cello about 1 year ago.
huh odly enough when i started lessons my teacher told me i shouldent use tapes so i could spott the problem which i unfortunatly struggled with for a soled month]
I play the violin, I assume the cello also uses the harmonic series for intonation as it is literally a bigger violin. Am I right? I'm too lazy to research this. XD Does cello use Pythagorean and just intonation situationally?
