Category Archives: Cello Teaching

34/60 Christmas is a time for sudden progess

At this time of year I switch to focussing on Christmas Carols. With careful choice of book, many of the students will make great gains in confidence and motivation. As well as choosing “off-the-shelf” books, I’ve also transposed carols into … Continue reading

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86/100 Nee Nah Nee Nah; Strings and Semitones

On the piano, tones and semitones really aren’t an issue – there they are, all laid out in black and white. The physical relationship isn’t a big deal on wind instruments either – you just use the fingering for the … Continue reading

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79/100 Third Position for Cello

Here comes Miss Mary Mack again: in a version for cello. It is a nice simple little thing for teaching first position finger placement, but, revelation – how about using it to teach third position? Check out the fingering… You … Continue reading

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76/100 Carols for cellos – with flats!

I’m teaching several groups of young Grade 2 cellists at the moment, covering for a colleague. All the groups are wrestling with the intricacies of B flat and E flat major scales – the novelty of “first finger back” on … Continue reading

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