Left Hand

Hammer fingers. For strengthening and independence of the fingers. Play 4-note slurs with the
following fingerings. Choose one of the following sets, and repeat combination 4-8 times.
Choose a string to play them on, and any position up to fourth position. Lift each finger high and
strike the string independently of other fingers. Allow the left arm to move and be involved in
rebalancing the hand (the elbow will be lower for your 4 th finger, and higher for your 1 st finger;
draw ovals and figure-eights with your elbow as you play).
1)
2)
3)
4)

1234 1243 1324 1342 1423 1432 (see example)

2134 2143 2314 2341 2413 2431
3124 3142 3214 3241 3412 3421
4123 4132 4213 4231 4312 4321

Variations: Play the same exercise on each string. Play the same patterns in every position
between half position and fourth position. Play the same fingerings, but with extensions.
Octave Shifting. Start on B- flat on the A-string. Slide up an octave on your 3rd finger, and then
slide back down again; use two note slurs. Shift with the arm and hand as a unit. Repeat. Move
up to the next note, B-natural, and slide up and down the octave again. Continue moving up
chromatically until it seems unreasonably high, repeating each shift at least twice. Using a
metronome (or a simple foot tap), slide for an entire beat, and rest on the landing note for an
entire beat. Make the glissando louder than the landing notes so that you really listen to the shift;
bear into the string during the slide. Your ear should tell you when to stop; keep s liding until
you hear the right note. Better to over-shift than under-shift for this exercise. Shifting is not like
target practice, but rather like driving-- direct your hand where to go, do not just shoot and hope
it will get there.

Variations:
Try shifting to more dissonant intervals, like the minor ninth or a major seventh. Those
dissonant intervals force your ear to listen to the pitch and guide your hand. Also try
other intervals: perfect 5th, major/minor 6ths, minor 7 ths, or two octaves. Also try
expanding arpeggios.

Try shifting up to 2nd finger or 1st finger, instead of always 3rd.

Vibrato:
Vibrato slider: Place your 2nd finger on the note G on the D-string. Shift a minor third up to the
B-flat. Slide as you shift, making a glissando. Slide back to G. Practice shifting smoothly and
evenly between the two notes at a steady tempo. Keep your hand shape curved, with your 2 nd
finger light and relaxed; dont allow your hand roll over the string as you slide. The bow should
be playing four quarter notes in a slur. Coordinating the two hands may be tricky at first; if it is
too difficult then focus only on the left hand at first, without playing with the bow.
When you feel comfortable, reduce the size of the shift to a major 2 nd, so that you shift between
G and A, and double the speed; you will now be playing 8 th notes, with eight-note slurs. Shift
smoothly and evenly, and always play with a good tone. When this becomes comfortable, reduce
the size of the shift to a minor second, so that you shift between G and A- flat, and double the
tempo again so that you play 16th notes in sixteen- note slurs. Shift evenly up and down, at a
steady tempo.
Finally, plant your finger solidly to the fingerboard and shake your arm as if you were shifting.

Oo-ee-oo-ee: To loosen up your finger joints for a wider vibrato. Plant your second finger solidly
on the D-string. Bring your thumb around to the right side of the neck, and let the knuckle of the
first finger continuously brush against the other side of the neck. Push your hand down using
your whole arm, so that your knuckle curls in, keeping your finger tip on the string; then drag it
back up so that the knuckle straightens out. The vowel sounds your cello will make as you drag
and push your hand should sound like ooo-eee-ooo-eee. Move your hand with your arm; do not
try to bend and straighten your fingerlet your arm push and drag the finger so that it bends and
straightens passively.
Think about the way your joints move. Your knee can only bend one direction; so your knuckles
also only bend in one direction. The odd placement of the hand in this exercise is intended to
allow the knuckles to move freely.

To exercise both the upward and downward motion of the vibrato, try playing oo-ee-oo-ee with
this rhythm:

Right Hand
Long tones. Choose an open string and play a long tone with your entire bow, frog to tip. Make
a singing, vibrant, resonant, and steady tone. Focus on keeping the sound steady and even (not
wavering), and making gentle, unaccented bow changes. Keep your head up and listen to your
sound in the room. Bow nearer to the bridge than where you are used to.
Try it with a resonant fingered note, like G or D. Try it with a note that is not readily resonant,
like A-flat or F-sharp. Play without vibrato at first, to focus your tone. Then you may add vibrato
to color the tone.
Bow vibrato. Like long tones, but pulse the bow. The idea is to make a resonant tone by
alternately releasing and suspending arm weight into and out of the bow. A drawing of the
feeling in the arm might look like a sine wave. Try it with many pulses in the bow, 6-8 little
pulses, and fewer, larger pulses. After playing with the alternations for a while (about a minute),
then try to find the happy balance between suspended and released arm weight.
Slurred-Staccato. This teaches your fingers how to grip the string in any part of the bow. Bow on
one pitch from frog to tip and back, with many stops along the way. Try to make the same sound
each time you set and pull or push your bow. When playing past the balance point of the bow,
pressurize the bow with your forefinger and thumb, pronating your forearm. Remember to relax
the pressure when your get back to the lower half of the bow.
Various bowstrokes: detache, legato, staccato, marcato, spiccato, portato
Various dynamics: f, p, crescendo, diminuendo, subito, accents
Bowings for scales