Blog Archives

Cello Positions: Free Cello Note Charts and Shifting Exercises

2/28/2019

Starting to play in positions on the cello can be daunting!

However, after you have played in first position for awhile, the other notes on the cello are begging to be learned! So many great cello repertoire pieces use positions and learning shifting can help you reach more notes, make playing across strings easier, and even avoid open strings if you want to.

1. Learn Cello Fourth Position

This method was written for adult learners and includes pictures and diagrams that help explain where fourth position is. Exercises and short pieces on each page work together to teach a skill. This book is available as a PDF ebook on www.learnstrings.com and as a print book on www.amazon.com.

2. Learn Cello Positions in Depth

A great way to learn cello positions is by studying each position. Here are a few position method books:

Are your shifting books too hard?

Try the Preparatory Study Books

(great for fearful shifters)

These books have very easy studies that can make shifting an easier, more gradual process. Each study focuses on a single shift and the exercises progress slowly to allow you to get comfortable with shifting.

3. Free Preparatory Exercises for Pattern Shifting and Serial Shifting for the Cello

Half and Whole Steps

Free Note Chart:
Cello Positions
on the A String

Free Cello Position Exercises
on the
A String

Free Note Chart:
Cello Positions
on the D String

Free Cello Position Exercises
on the
D String

Free Note Chart:
Cello Positions
on the G String

Free Cello Position Exercises
on the
G String

Free Note Chart:
Cello Positions
on the C String

Free Cello Position Exercises
on the
C String

Free Cello Position Exercise
for Muscle Memory

Free Cello Position Exercise: Cello Positions Across Strings

4. Study the Position Exercise Books

Ever-so-slightly easier than Serial Shifting, Pattern Shifting for Cello has exercises in rows and patterns. The exercises progress more slowly than those in Serial Shifting and this book could be studied along with other position methods.

The first half of the book has studies in 1st through 4th positions while the second half of the book has studies in 1st through 8th positions.

All of the exercises are in C major to allow you to fully learn the basic cello positions and spacing.

Pattern Shifting for the Cello is available as a PDF ebook on www.learnstrings.com.

A little bit more difficult than Pattern Shifting, Serial Shifting for the Cello has similar exercises in rows and patterns. The exercises progress more quickly than those in Pattern Shifting and having a prior knowledge of positions is advised.

The first half of the book has studies in 1st through 4th positions while the second half of the book has studies in 1st through 8th positions.

All of the exercises are in C major to allow you to fully learn the basic cello positions and spacing.

Serial Shifting for the Cello is available as a print book here on www.charveypublications.com and on Amazon.com and Sheet Music Plus.

1 Comment

Prepare to play the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto in A minor!

2/20/2019

0 Comments

Preparing for Saint-Saens

The Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor is a work for cello and orchestra (or piano), written at an advanced level. Studying this Concerto often takes a year or more; it's a major work!

While there are no clearly marked or numbered movements, the Concerto does have three fairly distinct sections that might correlate with our idea of typical concerto movements.

Some techniques used in the first two movements are octave shifts, fast shifting (sometimes called "runs") into the high positions, double stop fifths and sixths, spiccato, and thumb position.

Free Saint-Saens Preparatory Exercises

These free preparatory exercises can help you get ready to start studying the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto. They work on some of the basic techniques needed to play the first few pages of the Concerto: bowing, octave shifts, chromatic scales, and more.

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Bowing I

Saint-Saens Cello Concerto Preparatory Study

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Bowing II

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Scale Shifting Exercise

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Rhythm & Staccato

Note: These free exercises are not a substitute for a full study of the Concerto like the one in The Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No. 1 Study Book. Instead, they help prepare you for the study book and show exercises can make learning more efficient.

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Rhythm I

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Rhythm II

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Octave Shifts I

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Octave Shifts II

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Chromatic Scale

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Shifting and Bowing Study

Books to study in preparation

The Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto is much easier to learn if you have acquired a solid grasp intermediate and advanced cello technique. You should be able to read bass, tenor, and treble clef and play in thumb position. You should have learned three-octave scales and it would be helpful if you have also studied octave shifts, double stop sixths, and double stop octaves.

Three-Octave Scales for the Cello, Book One: The Basics

Like these exercises? Now, you can learn the rest of the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto using a Study Book!

We are very excited to present this new release:
The Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1 Study Book for Cello, Volume One!

Live outside the US? All of our books are on Amazon around the world and many of our books are available as PDF downloads on Learnstrings:

0 Comments

Improve Your Cello Bowing: Free Mini Open String Workouts

2/14/2019

2 Comments

This past year Theresa Villani, a wonderful cellist and cello teacher, wrote and asked if I had any exercises for bowing on open strings for one of her students. I had a few pages of an incomplete book, which I was happy to share. She wrote right back and said "Please make a book out of these!" (Incidentally, that's how a lot of books get started; share your ideas on this page.)

Over the next few months, in between writing The Romberg Sonata in C Major Study Book and The Saint-Saens Concerto No. 1 Study Book for Cello, I got to work on the open string book.

After I had written about half of the book, I sat down play through it, rather reluctantly. It seemed almost a waste of time to sit and play through so many pages of just plain open strings.

But then I made some discoveries and found myself really excited about open strings!

1. Playing open strings really well is hard! They look easy (at least at the beginning of the book) but this is deceptive. Because the sound is so exposed, I found myself getting super picky with the sound I was producing. This in turn led me to work on fluidity in bow changes, relaxed wrist and fingers, and getting the string vibrating with the least possible motion from my hand.

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 2

2. Playing open string bow studies is a great way to isolate the bow, especially when you are struggling with note-reading. I have a student who started lessons a few months ago and was unable to adapt to note-reading. We started playing Open-String Bow Workouts and just a month later, he was reading all of his music much more easily.

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 4

3. Playing open string bow studies can help cellists at every level. I've used this book with a student who had just started playing a few months earlier and also with some of my intermediate and very advanced students. It helped them all, in different ways.

The beginning students used the book to discover what the bow can do. The intermediate students used it to listen more and improve their tone. And the advanced students played the slow exercises very slow and the fast exercises very fast to expand the range of their bow technique.

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 6

4. Playing so many open string studies gave me an incredibly smooth bow motion! I mean, wow. I was surprised and rather rueful; it was humbling to realize how much my bow can still use work.

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 8

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 10

To celebrate the release of the new book of Open String Bow Workouts, we are offering the above mini set of (all-new) cello open string studies for free!

When you play these, focus on correct form and how you're holding the bow. Keep the bow arm shoulder, wrist, and fingers as loose and relaxed as possible. The thumb should be gently balanced on the bow; never squeezing.

Listen for the smoothest, most even sound during each note and keep the bow moving at the same speed while you change bows so there is no variation in sound.

If you want even more help for your bow, check out the book that started it all!

Interested in Developing Better Tone?

Live outside the US? All of our books are on Amazon around the world and many of our books are available as PDF downloads on Learnstrings:

2 Comments

Categories

Archives

Cello Positions: Free Cello Note Charts and Shifting Exercises

Starting to play in positions on the cello can be daunting!

1. Learn Cello Fourth Position

2. Learn Cello Positions in Depth

Are your shifting books too hard?​Try the Preparatory Study Books​(great for fearful shifters)​

3. Free Preparatory Exercises for Pattern Shifting and Serial Shifting for the Cello

Half and Whole Steps

Free Note Chart:​Cello Positions​on the A String

Free Cello Position Exercises​on the​A String

Free Note Chart: ​Cello Positions​on the D String

Free Cello Position Exercises​on the​D String

Free Note Chart: ​Cello Positions​on the G String

Free Cello Position Exercises​on the​G String

Free Note Chart: ​Cello Positions​on the C String

Free Cello Position Exercises​on the​C String

Free Cello Position Exercisefor Muscle Memory

Free Cello Position Exercisefor Muscle Memory

Free Cello Position Exercise: Cello Positions Across Strings

4. Study the Position Exercise Books

Want to own and print a PDF download of the free Cello Position Preparatory Exercises shown above?

Prepare to play the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto in A minor!

Preparing for Saint-Saens

Free Saint-Saens Preparatory Exercises

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Bowing I

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Bowing II

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Scale Shifting Exercise

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Rhythm & Staccato

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Rhythm I

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Rhythm II

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Octave Shifts I

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Octave Shifts II

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Chromatic Scale

Free Preparatory Cello Exercise: Shifting and Bowing Study

Books to study in preparation

Want to own/print a PDF download of the free Saint-Saëns Concerto Preparatory exercises listed above?

Like these exercises? Now, you can learn the rest of the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto using a Study Book!

Improve Your Cello Bowing: Free Mini Open String Workouts

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 2

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 4

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 6

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 8

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 10

Want to print these exercises out and play them?Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in Ebook form and learn about sales, discounts, and free book offers through our newsletter!

Interested in Developing Better Tone?

Authors

Archives

Categories

Cello BooksViolin BooksViola BooksBass Books

CONTACT

Are your shifting books too hard?

Try the Preparatory Study Books

(great for fearful shifters)

Free Note Chart:
Cello Positions
on the A String

Free Cello Position Exercises
on the
A String

Free Note Chart:
Cello Positions
on the D String

Free Cello Position Exercises
on the
D String

Free Note Chart:
Cello Positions
on the G String

Free Cello Position Exercises
on the
G String

Free Note Chart:
Cello Positions
on the C String

Free Cello Position Exercises
on the
C String

Free Cello Position Exercise
for Muscle Memory

Free Cello Position Exercise
for Muscle Memory

Want to print these exercises out and play them?

Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in Ebook form and learn about sales, discounts, and free book offers through our newsletter!

Cello Books
Violin Books
Viola Books
Bass Books