Advanced Cellotips
Every musician has experienced at some moment while practicing or performing, the magical sensation of being completely connected to the instrument in a state of deep concentration, feeling both relaxed as well as highly energetic. This brings up the question: wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could recall this feeling of wellbeing every time we pick up the instrument?
After years of struggling with this topic I realized that there had to be a missing element to connect inner hearing, technique and sound. Analyzing the use of daily gestures and comparing them with the ones we use when playing the cello led me to the insight that each gesture we make starts from a center- balance point and that it is actually the lower back that moves the arms.
While using this source I started to feel that the natural, pendular movement of the right arm came out much more compact and fluent and that this had a direct impact on the quality of my sound and articulation. When I moved my left arm from the lower back, using gravity and arm weight, the sliding motions of the hand became effortless.
Advanced Cellotips is the result of this learning process, offering simple solutions on a variety of postural and technical issues, while revealing the bigger idea underneath them, the use of the center-balance point to connect body and arms.
I hope that this video series will help cellists to discover the benefits of the concept of ‘Whole body approach’ and that the physical sensations that come with it will make daily practice more cheerful and effective.
All the videos
Video 6 – Cello Practising: Elgar I
In this video I would like to practice an often neglected technical element, that of gestures.
Video 5 – Cello Vibrato and the Thumb
In this video I would like to pay attention to the function of the thumb when playing in neck and thumb positions as well as in the vibrato motion.
Video 4 – Cello, Practising Methods
In this video I would like to give some tools to create a personal method to practise the left hand.
Video 3 – Whole Body Approach Cello
In this video I will explain the basic idea behind my methodology called ‘whole body approach’, a concept based on unifying body and arms and initiate our gestures from.
Video 2 – Pendular Cello bow arm
In this video I would like to focus on two elements that are essential to the natural functioning of our right arm.
Video 1 – Articulating the cello bow
In this video I will shed some light on two fundamental but often neglected motions of the forearm, used to articulate the bow.
To be released soon :
– Cello spiccato or sautillé? –
– Lower back pain cello –
– Artistry in cello sound –
– Cello performance gestures –
– Cello left hand issues –
– Cello right hand issues –