r/Cello

Hello Cello world. Question, what is the proper way to leave your cello when you're practicing but have to step away for a moment?

My grandparents used to be players, He cello and she violin. I want to commission a piece of art as if they have been practicing together but had to step away for a brief moment.

They were serious and I want it to be done properly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I'm a first year student at a music high school and I know it's early to talk about conservatories but I hear that many people are already talking about it and honestly I don't know how to deal with the situation so my question is is it so difficult to get into the conservatory with a cello, do you have any advice on how to deal with studies and entrance exams?

hiii i’m finally going to be learning how to play the cello after years of wanting to. i (24f) am going to start taking lessons and renting a cello, something ive been wanting to do for so long and now have the time to do it. do you have any tips for beginners? i am 5’3 & 120 pounds, which size should i get? i’m so excited for this and would appreciate any feedback :3

Hello! My daughter is a beginning cellist. After playing violin for the past year, she switched to cello and fell in love. I'm wanting to get her a beginner/student cello, but budget friendly, so she can practice during the summer. She's currently a short girl, and she's been playing on a 3/4 size, but she's 12 so she will probably hit a growth spurt soon.

I've seen some Glarry cellos online for cheap, and someone is selling a used, but great condition Klaus Mueller on the marketplace for $550, which would be the top of my budget right now.

Can anyone give me insight or advice? I'm new to stringed instruments, as a whole.

EDIT TO ADD Thank you, everyone for your advice. I think I found a local-ish place I can rent one from. I appreciate your input!

As a beginner, this is something I desperately want to get right because about a week ago, I repeatedly tried to correct my bow hold (I had previously been resting the heel of my right hand, below my 4th finger, on the frog) and ended up injuring the muscle near the webbing between my thumb and 1st finger. Now I've been trying not to play cello until my hand gets back to 100%, but this strain has been frighteningly stubborn. Still, it definitely is making slow progress towards healing.

Anyways, I want to clarify what the range of proper thumb positions are. I know that the thumb should make contact with the crook between the frog and the stick, but what part of the thumb? A video I saw said that the corner of one's nail, like the area where you get hangnails, should be making contact. But then when I look at images, I see some people making contact there with the pad of their thumb, or rather like the area between the pad and tip of their thumb. In some images the thumb's nail is practically parallel with the stick and in others it is perpendicular, and everything in between.

Logically, it seems true that everyone's hands are different, so shouldn't there be a range of acceptable finger/hand placements? I'm only wondering what that range is.

I took my first lesson a few days ago and my teacher said my bow hold looks fine, but when I'm practicing by myself I really start questioning whether I'm doing it right. And, like I said, I'm especially wary because this injury has been so disruptive.

TLDR; how bad are electric cellos for newbies with sound restrictions?

Hey all,

For context I am already a working musician so this is very much an expand my portfolio/learn a new instrument passion project.

I live in an apartment building where noise is a concern, so I’ve been looking at buying an electric cello just to come to grips with the instrument. In general, I’ll just be aiming to use it to stack string arrangement down the line within DAW’s, but I want to at first figure how on earth to play the big bast*rd.

I found a £400 gear4music electric cello… I get its cheap and probably rubbish, but will it be good enough for me just to come to terms with playing the instrument for the first year of learning before investing in something better if I really love the instrument?

I have been playing cello for about a month now, and I have noticed that the rib on the left side of the cello pushes into my leg and causes a repeated bruise. The bruise keeps getting disturbed, and it makes it painful to walk.

I have usually been practicing in pajama pants which I realized were too thin, but it is happening even upon switching to playing in jeans.

I have a couple questions regarding this issue I’m experiencing. First, is this normal? Similarly to how your fingers hurt at first, but then get used to playing, perhaps my leg is the same? Next, is it safe to keep playing on top of a bruise? It cannot heal because it keeps getting essentially stabbed.

I've spent about a month and a half practicing the 1st mvmt of lalo cello concerto and just performed it last friday. Since my school ended on monday along with middle school graduation, I've been practicing a lot and got through a good bit of the 2nd and 3rd mvmts. I'm expecting to complete those in one or two or at most 3 weeks.

I'm going on vacation for about 1 month this summer, with no access to a cello at that time, and once I come back, the school year starts in August, along with multiple concerto competitions in the September, October, November, and Janurary. What concerto(s) would you recommend that I try to learn for those? I really don't want to be "stuck" on the lalo, so I would seriously consider any suggestions thats NOT the lalo.

As always, thanks everyone.

Edit: I have to add here that I don't really want to go backwards or sideways

Here are the ones that I am thinking of in order of how much I want to play them:

Kabalevsky 1

Haydn C

Saint Saens (3rd mvmt)

Elgar

I play a 7/8 cello with a small scale. I still own a 4/4 cello which I just picked up from a shop where I had brought it for sale. The shop is going out of business so I had to get it back.

When I tried it I was expecting that I couldn’t hit a note because of the scale length difference. (Edit: The scale/string length IS different, I checked). But it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Which I find surprising. Can the hands/the brain adapt? Are there people who can play both?

I am still going to sell the 4/4. But at least I can play a few notes.

Anyone looking for a nice cello in Munich, Germany?

I recently came into a Giuseppe Meucci H425 cello that's in great condition, but I can hardly seem to find any info on these cellos online. How is the quality of this brand? Are they worth a lot or are they entry level?

Any info would be appreciated. Thank you.

Does anyone have any observations to share re gut A strings, such as Eudoxa Cello A String - alum/gut? What do the numbers (21, 20-1/2) refer to? Do they come in different gauges?

Thanks!

One of my summer projects this year is to expand my fingerboard "map".

I've also wanted to start popper etudes, and since I'm playing the lalo cello concerto, I expect my teacher to let me start if I ask her next month-ish (She is currently out).

Hi Guys, anyone got the score for the Michael Haydn concerto? Was listening to the queen elisabeth comp and wanted to have a play but I couldn't find it anywhere :(