TalkCello - Bass Players here learning the Cello

[SBassman]

I thought I'd put this out there and see if there is any interest in a single thread for people who might have slipped on a banana peel down the rabbit hole and are trying to learn the cello like me.

If there is no interest, we can just delete this. Peace.

 

[bholder]

I have an NS Design 6 string cello I'm ostensibly trying to learn. Would love a real one.

 

[bholder]

Here's mine...

 

[bassicmike]

I'm about 8 months into my cello journey.

This is my cello. It's an inexpensive absolute beginners instrument. But it's mine - it's a sidewalk find. Someone was moving out of the apartment building across the street, and had put a number of items on the curb. I saw there was a large instrument case amongst the items. "Hmmm", thought I. So I went over to investigate. Case wasn't very heavy. OK, let's open and see. And to my surprise there was a cello inside! Also a long skinny case which to my untrained eye looked like it may contain a bow. It did!

Had them home in no time.

I could see why the previous owner abandoned the instrument. (Case looked like it had been in a basement for a while) The action was unplayable high. The bridge need to be shaved down to get it playable. So I found someone who did just that.

But now the problem became evident - I had NO IDEA how to actually play. Sure, I could saw across the strings with bow and create notes, but...it wasn't really music.

A friend recommended a great teacher (former public school music teacher who taught cello in the schools for many years. Turns out my cello teacher is also the bassist in my friends Cajun/zydeco band.

So now I have have semi-ok bow technique, some proficiency in first position. I can kinda read bass clef now. I'm really good at getting my left hand into first position without thinking about it. Intonation is getting better (I still tend to go sharp as my left elbow and arm get fatigued and start to drop). And the cheater lines in the picture are long gone - they were creating bad habits.

A long way to go, but I'm pretty happy with my progress so far. Cello is a demanding mistress.

 

[bassicmike]

This is the instruction book we've been working from

Right now I'm practicing double stops, 3 note slurs across 2 strings, half position (Bb maj scale) and stretch position (D maj scale)

 

[Root 5]

I love the cello, it’s a lovely instrument. I’d like to learn it

 

[Root 5]

Here's mine...

How is this tuned? CGDAEB?

 

[mapleglo]

Yeah, the cello is my favorite orchestral stringed instrument. Maybe one of these days.

 

[bholder]

How is this tuned? CGDAEB?

Yup

 

[ahbradot]

Cello was my first instrument I learned in Elementary school before gravitating towards bass.

 

[KeepItMoving]

I'll be watching this thread with interest....the thought of learning 'cello has been in my mind recently, as it makes such a beautiful sound when played well, but for the moment I've opted to try working with a fretless bass for a while and see how that goes.

 

[SBassman]

Very cool to see a few folks find this thread already.

It's an amazing instrument. I can't do much yet, but - I'm hooked.

I'm finding a group online - Facebook - to be a bit snobby for my tastes. Thus why I thought I'd stoke a more friendly dialog here.

For anyone who finds this thread, had some desire, and is deathly concerned about standard notation, this book has both standard and tab at the same time:

https://www.amazon.com/How-Play-Cello-Days-Beginners/dp/B0B92FYFJG

Ignore the 14 Days bit. It's there just to fit in with a bunch of other books in the same set.
Cross out the Days and write in - Years.
But seriously, it Is a solid starter book. You can learn standard notation if you choose, but in the meantime, there is tab there to move you along.

If this thread thrives, I will share here exercises I write out as I try to learn.
One thing I find - existing material doesn't invest a whole lot of energy in engaging new learners with fresh material. Thus, most books are gonna have - Twinkle Twinkle.

Will post Another One Bites The Dust and Owner Of A Lonely Heart exercises for learning first position.

 

[bassicmike]

Yeah, the book I have has Twinkle Twinkle. A lot of the exercises are pretty dumb, but I get the purpose - repetitions to engrain the reading .

I find having a live human teacher has helped considerably. He can see my bad habits that I'm completely unaware of. My left hand is pretty good but my bowing gets pretty sloppy. And I get called out on it.

 

[bassicmike]

The main thing I've been focusing on is intonation.

My short term goal is to be able to play cello on music pieces I am recording. I tried recording a 4 note phrase to one tune and it was impossible. I was so off key compared to the tracks already recorded with guitar and bass that everything was unusable.

 

[Thegrobe]

Oh I would love to learn again. I played cello in middle school some 40+ years ago then moved along to other instruments and never returned.

My daughter plays violin with an absolutely fantastic high school orchestra and this is her senior year. She's had the same instructor at different schools since 5th grade!! She seems interested in continuing during college, I hope she finds something and sticks with it.

 

[mikewalker]

I have a ratty old (1950s) Kay plywood student cello, a near new Chinese five string bass arpegionne with fifteen brass frets ( I should have ordered it with 16!!), and a ratty old (50s) German six string bass viol da gamba (seven gut frets, and gut strings too!). I started on Gamba because I thought it would be a quicker way to learn the Bach cello suites - but it turned into just a string-fest rabbit hole par excellence and I still have not had time to memorize that damn cello suite... probably I'll just learn it on the cello after all...

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[DJ Bebop]

Forth's vs fifths

 

[Rocket Queen]

In case anyone here hasn't seen it, this is a pretty great cello site. Lots of material on both technique and repertoire:
https://cellofun.eu/

 

[pie_man_25]

I don't play cello, I don't really play double bass well at all either but I've got one.

I find it interesting that the cello and other violin family are tuned in fifths but the bass is tuned in fourths. If I had to guess it's too accommodate reasonable hand positions on a larger instrument, but I really couldn't say.

 

[DrThumpenstein]

Cello was my first instrument I learned in Elementary school before gravitating towards bass.

Yeah, me too, 5th grade. The Raleigh, NC public schools put together an ensemble of 12 of us from different schools. Called ourselves The Twilight Twelve. Like any of our gigs were anywhere near twilight! We played at malls, on TV, the Capitol, different places. It was a great experience, but when I revisited it as an adult, I was an absolute failure. My ham-handed bowing and crappy intonation were going to require far more work than I was willing to invest. The music I enjoy these days doesn't have a lot of cello, despite its wonderful timbre. I realized then that I am a bass guitarist now. Fits like a glove. That low-end introduction allowed me to develop my ear and timing at an early age, and has served me very well.