​The Squire Tarantella for Cello Practice Edition has Preparatory Exercises for each difficult part of the piece. Then, the book continues with study notes: the entire Tarantella with positions, extensions, rhythm, and more marked for you! A performance edition of the piece comes next, then a cello duet that was written specifically for the Tarantella, and the piano accompaniment, and finally Cello Curriculum pages that show you where the Tarantella could fit in a traditional course of study. ​

Cassia has written a set of all-new Free Preparatory Exercises that are not included in the book!
You can use these extra exercises to work on agility and shifting before you start work on the Tarantella and help to make your study easier. 

I finally settled on three distinct fingerings for Learning Three-Octave Arpeggios on the Cello. The first fingering, used in the Galamian Scale System for Cello (among other books) is a little like a staircase; you go up the C string, then over to the G, then up the G, then over to the D, then up the D, then over to the A. 
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The third fingering, used in Klengel Technical Studies for Cello, Volume One, shifts up to the thumb on the D string and then has you play the top octave of the arpeggio in thumb position. ​

Each of these three fingerings has something to teach cellists. A study of all three fingerings will give you a comprehensive knowledge of fingerboard geography and larger shifts on the cello. 

To celebrate the release of this new book, we are offering free preparatory studies for Three Octave Arpeggios on the Cello. Click on each picture to see the image enlarged. If you would like the file as a free PDF, fill out the form below and your download will be on the next page.

When I saw how well the exercises worked, I just knew that I had to find a way to use that same concept to teach cello scales.

​I started writing studies for a three-octave G major cello scale and tried them with several students who had never played a three-octave scale before.

I wasn't surprised when they figured out the exercises; it was a pretty easy concept. But I was absolutely shocked when, at the end of playing the 4 pages of G scale exercises, those same students were able to play the scale straight through, without stopping, and in tune!

Before this, I had wheedled and cajoled and talked my students through their initial 3-octave scales. And, after they finally learned the scales, some of them played scales in tune but some just didn't.

​This book was a game-changer for me and my students, cutting out months and years of frustration, and helping them master entire three-octave scales in all of the major and minor keys.

To celebrate the release of Learning Three-Octave Scales on the Cello, this post gives you the major scales written out with all of the whole and half steps so you can think about and remember each space. 

And if this whets your appetite for scale mastery, check out the new cello scale book!

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

I fell in love with the Romberg Cello Sonatas when I started using them regularly as teaching pieces. It took me awhile to fully the understand the breadth of cello technique that Romberg teaches in his Sonatas but when I did, I was entranced. 

From shifting and positions to rhythm patterns and bowing challenges, the Sonatas gave my students a music experience that prepared them for much of what is to come in cello study.

Students would finish studying a Romberg Sonata and be playing at an entire level or two above their original level when they started the Sonata. They would be much more competent than when they had started, easily playing exercises, etudes, and pieces that would have given them pause before Romberg. 

Other teaching pieces didn't give cellists that same skills that Romberg's Sonatas did. As I saw the effect that playing Romberg's music had on my students, I came to deeply respect this music that so wonderfully transformed my students.​

Two of Romberg's Sonatas became my favorites: the Sonata in E Minor and the Sonata in C Major. I use the Sonata in E minor as the first Sonata after a student has started shifting and has learned fourth position (plus a little second and third positions). I might use one or two other pieces after that, depending on the student, and then we are ready to start the Sonata in C Major. 

Over the past 20+ years, I've taught a lot of Romberg to students. It's gotten to the point where I can predict mistakes before they make them. It was getting boring hearing the same mistakes over and over. I really wanted to expand the influence of Romberg on my students and teach all of the skills that he required in his Sonatas.

So I wrote The Romberg Sonata in C Major Study Book for Cello and now, teaching that Sonata is much more exciting! Where I used to sit and drone corrections over and over, I can now have my students play the exercises and improve in front of me. We can spend the lessons working on phrasing and expression instead of rhythm, shifting, and bowing.

I love hearing them play the Sonata excerpts after they've played the exercises. Where students used to stop or struggle, my exercise-powered students sail through. They play confidently and they enjoy the music they're making instead of wallowing in frustration. 

Here are some pages of free cello exercises; Preparatory Studies that have a few bits of technique that you will use in the Romberg Sonata in C Major:​

Etudes can be more melodic than pure technical exercises and this helps you get closer to what you’d actually play in a piece. 
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Etudes can also be called "Studies" and they are important for helping you practice technical exercises in the context of something a little more like music. Some Etudes are even performed in concerts!
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Today, let's focus on Etude No. 2 "Exercise on the Legato" from 40 Melodic and Progressive Etudes, Op. 31, by the cellist Sebastian Lee. Legato refers to notes that are smooth and connected. Lee helps teach legato by using slurs of eight notes at a time.

Here's a sneak peek of Lee's Etude No. 2, Op. 31. The exercises that follow will help you learn and master this etude. The entire etude is after the exercises (See Step Seven.)

You can get to know the notes Lee used in this etude by playing the short exercises below. For more work, or to learn 2nd, 3rd, and 4th positions from the beginning, see the “Recommended Position Methods” below. Cello shifting isn't hard! It's just a matter of learning where to put your hand and remembering how to get there. 

By playing the shifts in a variety of ways, including changing slur patterns and rhythms, and using shorter sections of the measure, you can learn the shift more thoroughly. 

Cello shifting is only part of learning this etude. Next, start to work on the slurs by playing Measures 1-16 with only 4 notes to a bow. Then, use staccato (stopping the bow sharply on the string for each note) to help you divide the bow up into 8 even sections. This helps you fit all 8 notes in a bow that Lee has you learning. Staccato is a great way to learn to play long slurs.

These shifts have you going back and forth from fourth position to harmonic A on the A string. While this is awkward, make sure you use 3rd finger, as it is generally agreed that this is the easiest finger to use when going back and forth from harmonic A. Watch out for the rhythm in the last measure of each exercise below; make sure you play the quarter note so that it is twice as long as the eighth notes!

These exercises help you learn the most complicated part of the etude. Start in fourth position on the D string, play the easy pattern (1414), and then practice shifting back and forth one half step before continuing with the pattern in each new position. 

The cello exercise below still simplifies Lee's etude but helps you get closer to what he wrote. By the end of practicing the "Putting it Back Together" exercise below, you should be ready to tackle measures 25-32 in the Lee Etude. 

These exercises help you work on the cello positions and string crossing patterns at the end of the etude. Using open strings to learn string crossing can take away the distraction of the left hand and let you focus on balancing your bow across the strings. Feel for a relaxed right hand and arm as you cross strings and work toward getting the smoothest sound possible when you play. 

As you play, focus on shifting correctly, playing even notes inside each slur, and keeping your bow hand relaxed for the smoothest sound possible. 

Tip: If you still find yourself running out of bow, try moving the bow on the string down toward the bridge, about 1/2-1 inch. The string has more tension closer to the bridge and your bow will naturally go a little slower as it plays closer to the bridge.

Exercises and etudes can help you master the entire cello. I love how efficient exercises and etudes are; they have a huge impact on the rest of my practice. If you have any questions, send me an email at info@charveypublications.com.

Have fun playing!