Chats to 'Cello Students

by Arthur Broadley

Grace notes expressed in groups of small notes are not essential in any great degree to the musical structure of a composition, they are supposed to add to its effectiveness; the success of their introduction and their chief charm, consists in throwing them into the melody with ease. Sometimes a ritard is made, especially in song-like compositions, so that the grace notes may be played quite deliberately; in other pieces where strict time is essential, the time must be stolen from the note which precedes or follows. It may be accepted as a general rule that the grace notes should not delay the enunciation of a heavily accented note, so that the rhythm may remain undisturbed.

Pizzicato.

Notes are played pizzicato by pulling the strings with the fingers, instead of causing their vibration with the bow; the player should grasp the bow firmly at the nut with the little finger, and perhaps the third finger, according to the requirements of the pizzicato passage.

In scale passages it is wise to use the first and second fingers alternately for the purpose of plucking the strings, the thumb resting on the edge of the fingerboard as a support for the hand. For arpeggios and chords, the thumb may be used for the lower string, and the fingers for the upper strings. Chords in rapid succession are best played by striking across all the four strings with the thumb and first finger alternately; when the thumb is used, the lower strings receive the first vibration, the higher strings being struck first when using the first finger; the chords should be struck so smartly that the four strings seem to vibrate simultaneously. The advantages of this method is that with each motion of the hand a chord is sounded, thus, when using the thumb, the hand moves from right to left, returning from left to right when using the first finger.

In all pizzicato passages the strings should be plucked in such a manner that they oscillate from side to side during their vibration; if they are allowed to snap against the fingerboard, the sound will be instantly checked. The student should remember that taste may be brought into play in the method of executing pizzicato passages. It is not necessary to play all the notes with one volume of sound; a crescendo on a series of notes can be produced quite as effectively as with the bow. In chamber music there is often a better opportunity for the display of taste in the execution of pizzicato passages than in solo compositions; pizzicato passages in the latter being generally introduced for display rather than accompaniment.

The Use of the Thumb.

A knowledge of the correct use of the thumb for the purpose of stopping notes on the violoncello, is of the utmost importance to any who wish to have anything like command of the instrument. It is quite certain that the 'cello would not be anything like the perfect instrument it is, if the player was confined to the neck positions. As already explained, the neck positions only extend to a couple of notes beyond the half-string. When it is necessary to go beyond this, the thumb is taken from its position behind the neck of the instrument, and firmly placed in a horizontal position across two strings, thus stopping a perfect fifth.

The student should attend very carefully to the hints here given respecting the part of the thumb which actually stops the strings. The first joint of the thumb should be slightly bent outwards, the higher string should pass across the side of the thumb just under the root of the nail, the strings being about half-an-inch apart, the lower string will be that distance nearer the tip of the thumb. On no account must the thumb be so placed that the higher string interferes in the slightest with the joint of the thumb: this would make it impossible to quickly slide along the strings without disturbing the relative positions of the two strings. Continued practice with the thumb will form two grooves on the under side of the thumb, exactly the width of the strings apart; when this comes about, no inconvenience will be experienced either in rapidly sliding along the strings, or in putting on sufficient pressure. A common experience with students first learning thumb positions, is the feeling that the fingers are too long. To remedy this and also to gain sufficient weight on the fingers, some young players will allow the knuckles to protrude and the finger joints to bend inwards. I have noticed this time after time in pupils, even when they have overcome the same difficulty in the neck positions. In a short time the hand will get accustomed to the change of posture, in the meantime the knuckles must be kept quite flat, and the finger joints bent outwards. When the muscles, which have hitherto remained idle, are fully developed, the player will be able to put sufficient pressure on the strings without any assistance from the weight of the hand.

With respect to the introduction of the thumb; it is not always necessary in the high positions to use the thumb to actually stop certain notes, occasionally certain scale passages occur which may be fingered as the ordinary scales—that is, with the thumb following behind at the distance of a tone. However, the most important reason for rejecting the thumb for speaking notes and "fingering" the passage, is that of phrasing. In expressive movements, exactly as one finds it necessary in the lower range of the instrument to leave out the use of the open strings, or play in a higher position than necessary, so in the high thumb positions the same unity of feeling must be observed by a nicely arranged system of fingering. The reason for an objection against the indiscriminate use of the thumb in slow cantabile passages, is that the tone produced when the note is stopped by the pressure of the thumb, is not of the same character as that produced when the tips of the fingers are used. Perhaps it takes a very fine ear to distinguish this difference. In quick movements it is not discernible, but on a sustained note the tone produced by the thumb is to a great extent colourless. That there should be a difference in tone is hardly to be wondered at, when one considers the acute sensibility of touch at the finger tips. It is possible that the necessary varieties of pressure, or more accurately, "touch," which are requisite to a soulful performance, may be more readily accomplished with the tips of the fingers, owing to a greater concentration of nerve matter there than at the side of the thumb, but this we must leave to physiologists; those whose ear is so delicately formed that they notice these slight varieties in tone colour, will perhaps be thankful for the hint whereby a soulful manner of fingering and phrasing in the high positions may be acquired. The fear of being thought dogmatical in this work, prevents me giving examples of this method of fingering in the thumb positions, as, of course, each player will naturally adopt the system which suits his style the best, but to the student I would advise that the passages are phrased exactly as one would sing them, entirely irrespective of strings or positions; using the finger tips in preference to the thumb for the speaking notes wherever possible.

In quick movements the use of the thumb is indispensable. In many cases one is compelled to use it even in the lower neck positions so that certain passages may be possible.