Picking up cello?

[Sonorous]

I'm thinking about learning to play cello. Any tips?

First thing is first... what should I consider when buying a first cello/bow/rosin?

[Wil Davis]

Originally Posted by Sonorous

I'm thinking about learning to play cello. Any tips?

First thing is first... what should I consider when buying a first cello/bow/rosin?

The first thing is to get a teacher…

- Wil

[Sandman1278]

teacher? what for??? turn one on its side, CELLO u got a bass!

o lord that line makes me soo angry

[jadesmar]

It's got four strings, how hard could it be

I think it's a good idea to rent your first cello. Speaking from personal experience, you could get 3 months into cello lessons, discover some new technique that will improve your bass playing and then the bass guitar ideas start flowing and don't stop for 6 months. It's probably a good idea to return the cello for the 6 months and rent again when you are ready to give it another go.

Many rental outlets will supply rosin, a bow and (mine anyhow) will replace strings in the event of breakage.

Get a teacher, probably in the $40-$50/hour range. Assume 7 hours of practice minimum per lesson and schedule your lessons accordingly.

[nonsqtr]

You might consider duplicating this thread in the DB forum, there's a lot of knowledge over there, especially on bows and rosin and that type of thing.

I'm heavily into DB these days. Cellos are tuned differently though, and it'll probably take a while to become sensitive to which tuning you're in, and which instrument you're playing.

I wish I could find a DB that's about the size of a cello.

[pklima]

Try the DB forum, yes. I'm assuming you have your reasons for wanting to take up cello and not DB but we won't yell at you.

If you do want to buy a cello instead of renting, get a teacher first and ask him/her to help you shop for a cello and bow as a paid lesson. Or at least talk an experienced cellist into helping you shop.

You can quickly familiarize yourself with the fifths tuning if you have a spare 4- string BG... just replace the E string with a low B, tune that a half-step up to C, tune the A string a whole step down to G, leave the D string as is and tune the G string a whole step up to A (you may want to replace it with a thinner gauge but shouldn't have to). You'd be tuned an octave below cello, but it will make it easier to find notes and intervals on a cello fingerboard. And it's a cool BG tuning in its own right.

[FloydFreak500]

i originally played the cello before the bass. (playing both currently)
if you play one or the other, it is pretty easy to pick the other one up and be fairly decent.

you should definitely rent one. your local violin shop will hook you up with the right equipment. (ie rosin bow)

lessons that I currently take are once a week for an hour at $30. but this is for a more experienced cellist.
you might want to take 2 or 3 lessons a week.