Well, it just so happens that my older brother left his cello to me when he moved to the West Coast, and I am very interested in learning how to play it.

I have never had any instruction on cello techniques, most of which that I have noticed to be extremely subtle. My musical background stems from guitar playing, but I have since picked up four or five other instruments without any serious troubles. I was just looking for some wisdom that might help me figure out how to play this beautiful instrument.

I believe it is a 3/4 sized cello, and it unfortunately only has two strings on it right now, so I was also wondering how much I should be looking to spend on a set of strings. I am not even sure what the tuning of this instrument should be, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

pat

The tuning, from the bottom, is CGDA with the A string being the A below middle C.

i should just get the cheapest strings you can find until you are sure you want to persevere with it: cello strings are not cheap!

Liz

I am positive that I want to continue to learn to play it, as I have been trying to put a band together with influences such as Clann Zu. [http://www.clannzu.com]

Could you possibly give me a brief rundown on proper bowing techniques? I have been sort of learning my own way, and I`m sure that it is not the proper way...

Thank you very much. =0)

pat

Bowing Techinques:
Holding the bow:
-Thumb Bent (On the dot, if yours has one)
-Fingers Draped over top
-Play on the side of the hair (Kinda Parallel to the ground)
-Bow Perpendicular to the string

play around with pressure, speed, angle, and placement(closer to bridge=louder, but too far is scratchy) until you find a sound you like.

A recommended book for learning cello is Essential Elements Book 1 (Red). I`ve tried teaching out of Suzuki and it`s not working that well- Essential elements works better if you`re teaching yourself

Good luck!


www.sheetshare.com- free sheet music please join we`re just starting

get William Pleeth`s book (Jacqueline du pre`s teacher) entitled "Cello" in the Yehudi Menuhin guides. It`s a cracker!