วีดีโอ

Glad you like them!

I'm hoping that these videos can be used in just this way!

I'm so happy to hear about your cello journey! The absolutely best and quickest way to learn is to get a local private teacher. If you are in any metropolitan area, a university or music school would have teachers to recommend. If that's not an option, there are some decent online courses and groups. If you want more specific info, you can send me a message from www.cellochaplin.com and I'll email you.

Spiccato does take a while to sound good, so keep practicing!

Hmm, are you seeing this backwards? It looks forward to me, but maybe you mean the wrong-way shifts ??

Thanks so much - please let me know if you have any topics that I havne't covered yet. I'm happy to take suggestions for new videos!

It's a hard hand shape!

Some students definitely need tapes or other aids to find the right place for the notes. I often add them when a student can't quite manage to play in tune, so there's nothing wrong with trying some kind of visual or tactile mark and seeing if it helps. And then weaning off of it - or not; who cares if you are just playing for yourself?

Thanks, I try to be both normal and encouraging!

Playing slowly gives you time to hear all the things that you think are fine, but really aren't. You only notice the problems (intonation not exact, bowing not smooth) when you go slow enough.

Thank you so much for listening - there's a ridiculous amount of good solo cello music out there, and I love discovering it!

Thank you for tuning in! I try to recycle repertoire if I can, using it for some in-person performances, so some of these works were heard by actual live people this past month. But some thing only get one go-round and then it's off to the next month's program!

It was very meaningful to me that you were there to hear it - thank you! And thanks for writing such an exciting piece!

@@CelloRefinery Thanks Diane. It was made with love. Greetings

I just had a student struggle with these today - they are hard!

Good for you for at least trying to do 30 minutes a day. It's hard to do it every day, and that's why I suggest a more "generalized" resolution.

I think good practice also involves listening and analyzing what needs to be worked on; going slow helps you hear things better.

@@CelloRefinery I have heard it said that listening is ~50% of practicing. I love your channel. It has really helped!

@@tonyzinnanti5905 great point!

Happy New Year!!

Consistency is my word for the year, I think. I used it in other contexts during lessons this week.

It's also helpful to just adjust things all the time: elbow, shoulder, wrist, finger angle. Experiment!

Yet another reason to try to reduce tension!

Thank you so much for your kind words, and Happy New Year to you!

I'm sorry that your mum had dementia, and that she's passed - my dad also passed from dementia, almost 8 years ago. But I'm so glad that you took up the cello, and I'm really impressed at your dedication. Keep it up and Happy New Year!

It turns out that trills are more complicated that they seem, which is probably why players struggle with them. Glad this was useful!

It's hard to not have tension on the cello, really hard! But awareness helps.

Rhythm. I like it. This is a great video. I love how you explain everything.

I would agree that eveness is important, and yet if it ends in a weird place rhythmically I'll still think it sounds awkward. And actually, an expressive trill sounds really nice when you lean on the first note a bit, so then one could say that the notes aren't exactly even.

Just keep doing it!

Hmmm, there are a lot of other options for music to play out there. If you do feel "stuck" maybe once in a while take lessons with someone else?

Cool, I love your enthusiasm! It's great to research different options for playing.

Wow, 2 hours a day is a huge achievement - congrats and Happy New Year!

Thank you - 3 octave scales are not too difficult once you understand them!

I 100% agree, and I'm watching more than one student right now struggle with this concept. It doesn't make sense until you've done it like a zillion times. If only our hands were bigger (or we played the violin) we'd be able to do scales in 1st position without shifting, but the cello is too big so we're stuck with this.

I totally get what you are looking for - patterns to use for improv. I have one with jazz scales that has specific cello fingerings (I'm seeing several for all string instruments, but cellists have different fingering needs). I can't see any example pages on this one, but it might be useful: The Complete Scale Book for Cello: Jazz, Modal and Exotic Scales. I'll write again if I find the one I have.

It's hard to do it all at once - controlling little bits is the key!

Happy New Year, and you know what - I need to ask you what your name is. I can't tell from your tag and I've been wondering for a while.

I'm on a mission to improve everyone's trills 😊

Ugh, I also came from a first teacher who wanted me to hold my fingers down all the time. End result: tendinitis during graduate school that took years to resolve. You do have to initially hold in order to learn the shapes, but especially for older players it's important to shift weight and reduce tension. Good luck!

​​@@CelloRefinery Thanks for you answer! It really is helpful to get confirmation! 😃 And tendinitis is so awful and annoying to get rid of. How did you find this other approach?

@@verak6058 Actually, the other thing I should say is that sometimes a smaller cello IS the answer. I play on a slightly undersize instrument; it's set up to be a small full size. I studied with a teacher who understood how to get me to reorganize both of my hands - it takes a lot of work and I literally changed everything about how I played.

You're welcome and good luck!

Cool, thanks!

Thanks, I'm glad it helped! Like everything else, if you use it, you will get used to it.

If it's hurting when you stretch, that makes me worried that you are straining the area in your hand between 2nd & 3rd fingers. Be very careful about that - if you overdo it you might injure yourself (this is a common cello injury). Better to try to keep your hand relaxed and take your whole hand forward to the harmonic, rather than stretching forward with 3rd finger. Maybe I'll make a video about avoiding that kind of injury.

You're welcome! Glad you found it useful!

I hope my videos help you - let me know if there are bowing issues that I didn't cover.

Thanks for watching the concert, and good luck with your vibrato!

Sorry you are struggling - cello is hard! If you are learning off of videos it might be helpful to take a few private lessons to gt yourself on course.

You can count anything! Listen to recordings of pieces and count along; it gets easier as you go!

@@CelloRefinery I’ve just started this, listening and then copying, maintaining the tempo etc, but my brain is having issues, it doesn’t connect entirely with the notes, how they blend together in their designated timing! 😵‍💫🎼✨🙏

@@M-Lampert Counting needs to be trained just like anything else. I just found this very extensive video from someone who starts at the very beginning with understanding rhythms and gives you ways to practice. I think he intends that you'll do a few minutes each day, and move through the video at your own pace. Give it a try! th-cam.com/video/o9Pei6qg_Jg/w-d-xo.html

@@CelloRefinery THANK YOU 🙏 I will be doing this as part of my every day practice! ❤️

Oh yeah, so many blisters!

There are so many little details to pay attention to!

I do aim to be amusing!!