How to Achieve the Best Tone on the cello - Cello Lesson
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ก.ค. 2014
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In this video, Prof. Mendoes gives you practical and easy-to-understand tips to achieve a great tone on the cello.
Be sure to post your comments, questions or requested on this video's dedicated page below:
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Enjoy your cello learning and be sure to share this video with your friends or with anyone may find it useful!
If you are wondering what's the music played at the beginning and end of the video, that's the Prelude from Suite No. 5 by Johann Sebastian Bach for cello. Find the sheet music of it, instantly downloadable at the link below:
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Ask your questions and get the full-text transcription of this video at: www.virtualsheetmusic.com/exp/tone-on-cello/
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i am a very old lady learning the cello and I love your videos,they are so accessible and so good and you sound like the kind of teacher I wish i could find. Meanwhile, learning the basics from you makes it a joy to practice and learn a new instrument.
Thank you
Hanne Gault
Thank you for your input on this video - If you have any questions, please direct your them to our expert with the link in the description - Also, please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
Hanne Gault I too am an old lady with cello aspirations. Hello to you and best wishes.
Wish i could like this ten times
Me too !
Loved this. I was a cellist for 10 years and I took a break as I pursued my career. I appreciated your guidance. It was a great refresher and helped improve my sound after a 10 year break
Glad you liked it! Be sure to checkout all other videos by Prof. Mendoes on VSM: www.virtualsheetmusic.com/experts/joseph/
Wow u mean u didn't play cello in 10 years? Wow
@@V4Nom._. I took a 45 year break.
Jaquelines vibrato was breathtaking
Wonderful comments, thank you so much for these sessions. I am just beginning with the cello at 73 and appreciate all help!
You're very welcome!
I am also new to cello. If I sit in the wrong chair my cello will try to slip away. ! Keep up the good work !
I never knew about placing the slight angle of the bow close to the bridge to get more sound. I played a note my "normal" way first, then closer to the bridge, and nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard that powerful note. I feel like a new cellist just from that tip alone. Thank you!!
Wonderful! Keep it up!
Hello, I am a 55 year old clarinetist who always desired to be a cellist. So, I finally started lessons and LOVE it! I enjoy your videos as it is often a second way to hear what my teacher is telling me and it finally makes sense! Thank you so much for making the videos!!!
That's great to know Robert! Be sure to checkout all other videos by Joseph on VSM, I am sure you'll find very interesting material for your learning enjoyment: www.virtualsheetmusic.com/experts/joseph/
I also play clarinet and as a child played violin. I am so familiar with the treble clef that I downloaded the cello flash cards to learn the fingerings and notes quickly I still pick up the clarinet. I know the base clef but the cello is my 1st base clef instrument.
I'm new with the cello and i find your videos to be really helpful , thanks alot!
THIS IS AMAZING i am doing grade 5 ABRSM and its so hard to play accurately and with a good tone...thanks it really helped!
I'm an amateur player but serious about my playing and cello practice. I find your videos very helpful,thank you!
+Denis Thibouthot Thank you for your input on this video - If you have any questions, please direct your them to our expert with the link in the description - Also, please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
Hi love your video on getting a good tone ,I have stared this yr and having a great time
As a child I played the violin. During COVID times I picked up a Cello that was gifted to me and took the cello in for new strings and adjustments (sound post, bridge). I purchased Suzuki Cello Book 1 (and now Book 2) and after 2 months I am playing music. Most importantly I had to learn to tune my cello. My old Knilling Cello has the most beautiful tone. I am already doing vibrato (I previously did vibrato on violin) and fingers seem to go via auto pilot so I have not taped on any frets. My bowing and cello tuning seem to be my biggest challenges. Tuning a cello can be quite intimidating but it is absolutely necessary for me to progress and continue my play-along cello lessons and activities.
Thankyou ,just starting out,i have wanted to play cello,its on my bucket list and you have helped in answering many of my questions.,thankyou
Glad to know this video helped! Be sure to checkout all other videos by Prof. Mendoes on VSM: www.virtualsheetmusic.com/experts/joseph/
Very interesting. A further technical note of vibrato width: it is in part dependent on the finger involved. E.g.: the 4th finger is 'narrower' than the first, second and third. I take that into account when deciding on the fingering I use in any piece. Also, pracing a finger at an oblique angle rather than perpendicular to the string results in wider vibrato. I sometimes use that, too.
Thanks! This really helped me
I'm 29 and just getting started on this beautiful instrument. I found this video very helpful, thanks for uploading!
Hi There, Thank you for your input on this video - If you have any questions, please direct them to our expert with the link in the description - Also, please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
29 too and also just starting. We'll get there brother! 👊
I too am a neophyte cellist only taking the instrument up at 68 after losing my tenor voice. I've been practicing and learning with Hans Inke Zentgraf and playing with our church orchestra for 4+ years. They have not ask me to leave yet!
I wish more cello students knew about Hans Zentgraf and his wonderfully instructive cello videos . I appreciate how so many professional cellists are willing to share their knowledge and expertise with us through TH-cam videos.
Hey Joseph, that was great thank you. I have been struggling to create a consistently beautiful tone on my cello, just a few occasional lovely bars of sound that I then can’t sustain! I will try some of your techniques. I have been enjoying listening to/watching Max Beitan on TH-cam recently and think he creates a gorgeous tone. Look forward to more of your videos, esp. if you have any more tips on this topic!
Hi Joseph! I really enjoyed your video and found it helpful. I especially liked your point about keeping the vibrato frequency "wide". Didn't realize it but that is part of what draws me to one of my favorite cellists, Sarah Balliet (who takes a big departure from the classical style). That technique can make the sound not only large but also haunting as opposed to the constrained feeling "tight" vibrato alternative.
+Samantha Mraz Thank you for your input on this video - If you have any questions, please direct your them to our expert with the link in the description - Also, please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
Thankyou so much for making this information on technique available Although I have been playing ( i use the word loosely) because I have been accepted as a performer I realize how little I know about actually playing. This is a wonderful adventure and I look forward to improvement.and perhaps thanks to you I will be doing a better service to the listener.
+George Pether Thank you for your input on this video - If you have any questions, please direct your them to our expert with the link in the description - Also, please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
I'm just beginning cello. Thank you so much for your video. I have played other instruments, but this is my first stringed instrument without frets. Your music sound is so beautiful.
+Betty Jane Neely Thank you for your input on this video - Please direct your questions or comments to our expert with the link in the description - Also, please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
Thank you Joseph. Very useful, I am a violinist/viola, began learning cello recently. Jaqueline Dupree would be my fave for quality of sound.
That's great to know! We love Dupree too :)
love this ! thank you such solid advice
Glad you liked it! Be sure to check out all other videos by Prof. Mendoes on VSM: www.virtualsheetmusic.com/experts/joseph/
Excellent information
Have you checked out '2 Cellos' on u- tube? I just bought a full chamber cello...I played electric and 5 string fiddle forever and a day...night clubs and theater-plays.
Was in many different bands. The lower 4 string of the 5 string is the same fingering CGDA of cello. So violin tuned GDAE...the 5 string overlaps and I have viola and violin in one instrument. The cello reminds me of giant fiddle or rather an enormous viola with same fingering. So my cello is a new begining for me with excitement. It was 800.00 lowered to 600.00. I want to get an electric cello...my violins are electric, one acoustic. Thanks for info! Great video! Blue Dave.
Great information, thank you.
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Great video, man! Greetings from Brazil.
+Marcio Julio Thank you for your input on this video - You can also direct your questions or comments to our expert with the link in the description - Please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
My hero was/is Anner Bijlsma from the Netherlands! His playing of the cello suites was famous and loved all over the world, I think. He "invented" a whole new way of bowing the suites and wrote a book about that: Bach, the fencing master.
Unfortunally he passed away in 2018.
This is helpful. Thanks!
That's great to know. Thank you again for your nice comment.
I use Helicore Strings which are desogmed tp make bowing on the Cello like Butter (along w/ Dark Kaplan Premium Rosin & eventually a CodaBow Joule) because the Steel Rope Core, & Slightly Thinner gauge allows me to have enough control w/ my Bow. Oh & we can't forget the damping.
awesome video!! really helped!
Fantastic to know that Shirla. Please, feel always free to contact us with any questions or ideas you may have, I will be glad to hear from you.
I thought that was all so interesting and well explained, and by the way you play beautifully too Joseph. This is quite an old video, and I just wanted to say I think tone is the number one important thing about playing, and how interesting it is that it changes over time. Our idea of a good tone changes and develops, but we always think it can be better ! Thanks for this video and I love watching your bow hold. : )
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musicalmarion bow hold
Hi thanks for the lessons .I find them very helpful
Glad you enjoy! Please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted!
Also, Please feel free to leave a comment for Joseph here - www.virtualsheetmusic.com/experts/joseph/tone-on-cello/
Thanks for teaching my son tone
You are very welcome!
When you started to play the Dvorak and Brahms I was just so blown away and got drunk on the beautiful sound. You indeed make a wonderful rich and full sound on your cello. I also greatly admire rostropovich. I discovered a cellist recently called Adam hurst. Not sure if you know of him. You probably do. Hes excellent and writes his own compositions in a kind of gypsy/ exotic musical style. Right I'm off to practise. Just starting out. Thanks!!
You're very welcome!
great lecture!
Paolo Zanotto So Glad you enjoy! Please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! You can direct your questions or comments to our expert with the link in the description
Merci beaucoup
I love Dupree’s sound
Holy Shit, this helped me alot
I am recording cello for productional purposes. I’m wondering how I can emulate that wide/deep and bass-y sound that you often hear in contemporary songs?
Very nice, thank you, btw Pablo Casals
I started playing an instrument again after a 35 year hiatus, so this video was helpful to me as I went from bass to cello. I do tighten up and get arm and bow hand weary at times. You asked about other cellists. Are you familiar with Anner Bylsma who plays distinctly differently than the professional cellists you mentioned? Thank you.
+Nicholas Borelli Thank you for your input on this video - You can also direct your questions or comments to our expert with the link in the description - Please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
As a violist, this was useful
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Your lessons are so helpful. I was wondering how to select the right cello. I'm a beginner student and would like to purchase a cello with a good quality what do you recommend? Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Hi Violet - Thank you for your input on this video - If you have any questions, please direct them to our expert with the link in the description - Also, please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
thanks so much! I have not been happy with my tone for a while and am on a quest to find my own voice. I don't know if you have any thoughts on this, but being a woman with not as much meat as many of the great cellists, I struggle with producing a big sound. Jacqueline Du Pre has an amazingly beautiful, big sound. I don't know how to do that. Any thoughts?
larissa fedoryka So Glad you enjoy! You can direct your questions or comments to our expert with the link in the description - Please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
Thank you so much for this. I'm following along. A question I do have is, how do you emphasise the vibrato without moving the cello. When I try, I move the cello so much that my bow bounces everywhere.
That's just practice! You must find the right balance between vibrato and keep your cello stable... practice... practice...
I feel the actual cello itself plays a bit part in beautiful tone production. As an intermediate player, Im looking for a more advanced cello but not sure how to choose the right one. What sounds/tones should I listen out for that makes an advanced cello... advanced???
+professorzerocool Thank you for your input on this video - You can also direct your questions or comments to our expert with the link in the description - Please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
Eastman cellos are good instruments . You can buy an Eastman cello from Linda West at www.lindawest.com
The hairs of the bow should be flat on the string right? Without them being bend?
Ideally yes, that's the way it should be. Of course, when playing, the bow is usually a little bit inclined toward the player (hairs toward your feet). If you have any more specific questions, please, ask Joesph on his dedicated page on VSM: www.virtualsheetmusic.com/experts/joseph/
what song is played at the beginning of the video?
Bach cello suite no.5 - Prelude.
It is the hardest prelude of the Bach suites but it's REALLY awesome!
look ive been a cellist about two years and there is always room for better sound.. but when I ask for a better cello, I'm confronted with learn to play with what I have first. really a trainer cello ive out grown. I went to music store and tried out a upgrade cello. blown away the second I played a scale. did some runs down the fingerboard and played a piece I was familyer with. then gave the cello back. I checked out more and even to a different store. was greeted with the same chance to play a upgrade cello. still blow away! so get this I get home and the next day I picked up my cello and started playing. only to relies I put a want into my head to get a different cello. I don't like mine anymore and want a upgrade. don't like the way mine sounds and will put it up sale. I need a different cello so I will get a upgrade. need to keep the joy going not the dispointment!
Hi There, Thank you for your input on this video - If you have any questions, please direct them to our expert with the link in the description - Also, please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
what type of cello is it?
As an amateur who got down the technique and intonation I'm now concerned with my sound. I started with the bowing and got it down quite well, when the tip points down to the ground the cello just sounds much better. I am very struggling with my vibrato, I get the feeling that if you play wide and quite fast vibrato in slow music it's just sounds so wrong. In my opinion the slower the music is the slower and a bit narrower the vibrato should be. Everyone teaches that the wider the vibrato is the better, but in slow passages it sounds very wobbly. Everybody is just like wow, what a beautiful sound and I'm like right the cello sounds like it's puking. It just doesn't fit the slowness of the piece (for example the Eccles 1st mov.). I get that if you got some passage that needs really really big sound you got to go as wide and fast as possible(Brahms Dvořák). But in slow and kind of sad music it just ruins the mood. What do you think about that?
What is the song in the intro of the vid?
It is the Prelude of the Suite No. 5 by Bach: www.virtualsheetmusic.com/score/SuitesVc.html
Question...Should vibrato on the lower strings be the same all the way across. In other words, on the C string vibrato might be some what "wide" (I am thinking in terms of speed) and as we go across to G then D then A, the vibrato gets a little "tighter" (I am thinking again of vibrato speed as it might relate to tightness.)? Than ks for taking my question.
Thanks. I am an adult learner, struggling to get a real 'cello' sound. This has helped a lot. One issue I have is my pinky finger is weak, so sound on this finger is poor. Any ideas?
Hi Diane, Thank you for your input on this video - If you have any questions, please direct them to our expert with the link in the description - Also, please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
I've been playing for three years now and coming along pretty well,
(as an adult student) but I don't feel I have that very rich tone I hear other players have. Could something as simple as a not so good rosin be the culprit?
That could be. Have you tried a different rosin?
@@virtualsheetmusic I've been using Pirastro. Do you think Jade would be a good choice? Thank You! Love your videos, BIG help!
You are very welcome Michael! I know very well Pirastro, and I always recommend them. But I don't know Jade. Is that a new strings brand?
@@virtualsheetmusic
Just something I saw online. Well if you recommend Pirastro it's probably just my technique. It just seems like I have a faint buzz in my bowing as opposed to a scratchy screech!
Ah ah! I see what you mean! Yes, with Pirastro you can't go wrong. Used them for years, never disappointed.
Hello Lisa, my cello does not give any sound when i play with the bow. What is the problem to fix, thank you love ya
Thank you for your input on this video - If you have any questions, please direct your them to our expert with the link in the description - Also, please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
Try rosin :)
What do you mean by playing in an arc? Won't that result in the not being straight?
Good question! What Prof. Mendoes means is "in your mind", not actually not playing straight. If you picture in your mind to draw the bow as a kind of "circle," that'll help for the best tone. Check out this other video on the violin on a similar concept which can be applied on the cello as well, maybe it'll help to clarify even further: www.virtualsheetmusic.com/experts/william/figure-eights/
When i plsy there is s octive overtone type thing. How do i get rid of it
That's probably due to harmonics with your cello. What string is giving more of that?
the lower strings seem to be giving more of it. i just got my cello yesterday and have been practicing for hours but the lowerstrings and sometimes the higherstrings when im playing they subtly shift between higher octives. idk how im playing wrong
@@musicgaines7170 No, you are not playing it wrong, that may happen, mostly on lower strings. If it is too annoying for you, you should consider to try different kind of strings. Harmonics in lower strings are pretty common to be heard!
@@virtualsheetmusic thx im switching the strings todsy
@@musicgaines7170 I'd suggest to try different strings if you can, any string can give you different results. If you still hear that octave too much, you may want to consult with a luthier to try to adjust either the bridge or the sound post to see if that makes any difference.
Do you have any videos of you actually playing (ex. a video of you playing the Dvorak cello concerto?)
***** Glad you enjoy! You can direct your questions or comments to our expert with the link in the description - Please feel free to check out the other videos that we have posted! Best of luck!
2CELLOS
What am I doing here? I play violin. I dun even have a cello.
Love the content. However, the audio mix when you are talking about the bow is poor. Some of what you are explaining gets lost by the volume of the cello. Usually, it works best to talk then play. In other words, play the instrument to demonstrate what you have said rather than trying to do both at the same time.
Yes, you are correct, this video among a few other haven't been made with good audio quality. Unfortunately we have no way to improve it further if not re-making them. We try to avoid this kind of issues, but sometimes the quality depends by the equipment used by our volunteering music teachers (yes, all volunteers!), and there is nothing we can do about it. Thanks for your feedback!
Look its not my bloody left hand! Im saying a stupid dam trainer. Never mind.! i bought the one that blew me away. And problem solved