I think the all fingers down can be useful at the beginning when no one is going fast anyway but it helps establishing a correct hand shape and finger spacing, avoiding going all over the place with the non playing fingers. But maybe the first 2 years then its good to give this up!
Great lesson! I admire you actually took the time to play wrong all the way through, not just a quick demonstration. It reveals the importance of the concepts being taught.
You might find it interesting that there are some similarities regarding Classical guitar. It used to be taught to hold down your fingers for these reasons: To avoid unintentional sounds caused by lifting them; Once you put a finger down it is available if the note needs to be played again; If you lift the finger after it is played and a new note is played with a different finger, then you've had to move two fingers instead of one. In addition, many modern electric guitar players that play at blazing speeds seem to have abandoned the "hold down the finger" approach, saying there is less tension in the hand if unneeded fingers are not held down.
I think the pressing all the fingers down is more for a physical reason, rather than a musical reason. I think it’s to reduce tension in your hands from fingering a note. Instead of making one finger do all the work, you have multiple fingers do less work per finger, thus reducing the risk of pain/injury. In theory it sounds great, but musically speaking, you’ll be restricted. If I need to, I would have 2 fingers down at a time for a note unless it’s the first finger. *This is just my idea that shouldn’t be taken for fact, but for consideration.*
Thank you Illia for the lesson and showing the bad vs. good examples. I definitely fall more in the former category. I am taking notes and will incorporate this into my practice! Thank you!
Due to my exploration Dotzauer's method tells to hold your other fingers on the fingerboard (especially on another string) because it prepares (lowers) this other string for the bow crossing and therefore the sound is more stable (without harshness, noises, bubbles etc. А вообще мне очень нравятся Ваши видео. Во всем практически с Вами согласен. Ко всему хотел бы добавить, что во французской школе учили (по крайней мере раньше (в 20 веке) ставить большой палец левой руки между аж 2 и 3(т.е. средним и безымянным), не меняя позиции этого большого пальца, пока играете в пределах одной позиции.
Still struggling with scales. Finger articulation, smooth-quick shifts and convinced bowing were much more helpful to me than focusing on intonation with spagetti fingers and mushy bowing. Could you someday talk about changing bowing on every note while also changing fingers? I thought bowing and fingers should change at the same time, but recently Hillary Hahn did an insta where for quick playing the finger should be down just before the bow change. Any thoughts?
Very nice. I'm wondering how many players practice pentatonic scales. Maybe they are not needed so often in traditional Classical pieces, but for improvisation and more modern pieces they can do wonders. I do so on violin and viola. My cello is still not yet finished but soon it should be.
My teacher says I don't have to press too much the left hand 'a finger and my the thumb (I'm suffering from fingers' pain! I'm 47..i begun with 5 years of viola then I came bach to the cello) but I really don't know how to avoid to do it... PS she also "force" me to keep down on the finger on the keyboard
I’m guessing this is a video for intermediate players, cause every professional already knows this. This isn’t the hard part, “knowing the solution” it’s actually being able to do it.
Vi que seu polegar não fica nas duas cordas quando sobe no instrumento( não fica necessariamente). Talvez seja isso que muitos estejam presos, o polegar na está livre, fica parecendo uma âncora de navio agarrando. Rsrs bravo pelo vídeo!
Obrigado Nilton! Boa observação! Eu nunca deixei meu polegar nas duas cordas, sempre achei que fico mais ‘limitado’. Mas eu vejo tudo mundo, inclusive os grandes, fazendo nas duas cordas. Tem que experimentar! Tal vez o que eu faço não é ‘violoncelisticamente correto’, mas funciona maravilhoso para mim! Grande abraço!
"scales on a professional level" - sorry, who just listens to people play scales? Also - I think the "hammer" finger advice often leads to pain at the fingers' point of contact. Can't hammer too hard.
You have a point, but many musical pieces include part of scales: Haydn Concerto is full of them, Tchaikovsky’s Roccoco, Schumann concerto and I can name so much more. So I think it’s important to approach scales professionally. About the hammering: of course everything in exaggeration is bad. But this video is not directed for total beginners. When the hand is developed, hammering doesn’t hurt, at least with me and my students. But again, not too hard of course as you mention. Maybe finger articulation would be a better word👍🏻
All melodies are based on either some sort of scale or part of an arpeggio….as an extreme cello example check this out from 6:55. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JprwsDEDkNA.html - Vivaldi concerto for strings 3rd movement!