How do I play cello?

Contents

  1. Practice
    1. How do I practice?
    2. How do I pick my goals?
    3. How do I practice my technique?
    4. How do I practice a piece?

Practice

How do I practice?

Well, that depends on what your goals are.

How do I pick my goals?

In general, there are two possible goals: to improve your base technical ability, or to improve your abilities at playing a specific piece of music. Since there are only two I find it comes naturally to do both concurrently. It's nice to have the short-term goal of playing a piece well though, since your technique can always be better.

How do I practice my technique?

Time and patience. Choose your focus area, find an exercise that works for you and do that exercise until you're sick of it. Then, do it until your neighbours are sick of it. That's what it'll feel like, but I find it easier to be guided by the principle "practice not until you get it right, but until you can no longer get it wrong". In essence, repetition is the only road to success. Be warned though: repetition confirms bad habits just as much as good ones.

How do I practice a piece?

Learning a piece comes in multiple stages. Different people have different stages in different orders, but this is what works best for me. First, listen to the piece. Find two different interpretations and listen to them through while reading the score. Use this time to figure out the overall shape of the music and notice sections that are likely to need more work. Don't spend too long listening, to avoid just replicating those interpretations (what's the point if you're just going to churn out what's come before). Play through the piece a few times, skipping bits where you falter, and then play along to a recording. By this point you should have a good idea of how the music flows and where you need to focus. It's time to grind. Work from back to front, nailing each section as you go. Start slowly to map out the motions of the left hand and speed up to map out the bow. Get comfortable with the shifts and scales. Add expression as soon as you have any latent mind space. Direction and intention of phrase are essential to deciding fingerings and bowings, so they have to be established early in the process. Work iteratively, improving the raw notes at the same time as you build up the expression and emotive qualities. Write down as much as you can bear so that, when you come back to this section in a month, you don't have to start from scratch. Record yourself playing sections often and listen back. Lots of issues only present themself when you're not actively making noise. I find this is especially true of bow changes. Eventually, you'll have spent too much time on the piece and you can't tell what's up or down. Now's the time to get a second opinion: take it to a teacher, play in a masterclass or get a friend to give you feedback. Repeat this cycle until it's time for the performance or your fingers fall off. Whichever is sooner.