Right and Left Hand

Visual example demonstrating cello right-hand technique and cello bow hold

The right hand and the bow

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The bow is what makes the sound and can change it. We should put a lot of care into how we hold the bow and what effect it does for the sound.

Visual example demonstrating cello right-hand technique - cello bow hold and the thumb

Points of attention:

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  • Feel a good grip of the bow, feel every finger

  • Remind yourself to relax the thumb

  • Adjust the bow grip according to how it sounds

  • All fingers most of the time should be round and flexible

Visual example demonstrating cello left-hand technique in 3rd position
Visual example demonstrating cello left-hand technique in 1st position

The Left Hand on the Fingerboard

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The left hand has a place on the fingerboard where it enables us to play many different notes.

Visual example demonstrating cello left-hand technique in 1st position - player view

Points of attention:

​Feel the string under every finger

  • Remind yourself to relax the thumb

  • Use the weight of the arm, hand and fingers to firmly place the string on the fingerboard

  • Keep all the fingers rounded 

After this we jump right into the topic of the 1st position.

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If you wish to leap to other topics, the links are at the bottom.