Left Hand Position Cello Lesson for Beginners

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[@onedominant]

I find the left hand is my BIGGEST challenge by far in playing the cello. All of my fingers AND my thumbs are double jointed, and my pinky is prone to locking. I have ordered a set of exercisers used for rehabilitation physical therapy for the hands and am hoping they help. But, I have Gumbi hands. In the end, I may have to invent a new way of using a left hand on a cello... or give up entirely. I do NOT want to give up. I adore the sound that comes out of this thing and its range of expression. It's like having another voice. On the up side, I am getting better at reading the bass clef as a dyslexic. I had to stop using "just the letters" and turn them into "names" - Ann, Ben, Chuck, Dean, Ed, Fay, George. It really did make a difference. LOL

[@Brian-qn2mx]

My pinky locks up too I’m trying to stop it

[@AtTheEnd1000]

I have no problem with holding the shape. My fingers are kinda stiff, but that will softed with time. My problem is the finger pads that hurt like a m*****f****! Especially finger 1!

[@lynettejones3514]

I am finding keeping separation between the 2nd & 3rd fingers really tricky. I can keep the shape, thumb position and weight into the fingers without stiffness but getting that separation is so tricky. Do you have any videos or exercises that can help with this issue ? I understand it’s quite a common problem for beginners, but finding advice on how to improve this issue has been problematic.

[@thecelloonline]

Thank you for the comment. To help me better understand… are you an adult beginner? Either way What age did you start playing?

[@lynettejones3514]

@thecelloonline As always, I'm so incredibly grateful to you, Clay, for your valuable time. I'm an adult beginner, yes. I'm erm....cough....50 I've been teaching myself (around a couple of months) as I had issues finding an in person teacher & am really pleased with my progress. It's been a lot faster than I'd expected. Thanks in a large part to videos like yours, but I started taking lessons a couple of weeks ago. I keep using individual fingers on the notes as it's easier, & can get really good intonation this way, but I am trying (after being constantly told off) to keep as many fingers down as possible. It's a bit soul destroying when you have to change from a method that works & sounds ok to the correct one that doesn't. I have quite a large hand span, too, which I thought would help, but it doesn't. I was advised by my teacher to practice the D Minor Harmonic scale. The stretch between the B flat & C sharp, I'm guessing, should hopefully open the fingers up a bit. I practice scales for an hour each day and have made a real concerted effort in the last couple of days to not slip back into doing what sounds good but focusing only on the correct technique (not collapsing fingers, keeping the arch, arm straight from elbow thru little finger) boy everything aches....not pain, but it feels like I've been lifting heavy things & everything on my left side arm, shoulder, upper back) aches. I had to cut my daily practice down from 2hrs (never had a single ache with my old incorrect methods) down to 1hr. I'm hoping this is a sign that I'm now practising more effectively than I was before. I really want to take the initiative & find ways I can address this finger issue so I can make my practice sessions really effective. It's the only major thing holding me back, but I appreciate it's quite a major issue not having all the fingers down when necessary. I know not getting this nailed will make things a lot less efficient & more difficult moving into other positions (currently only on first) I've refused to move from first position until I get this hand issue sorted. I'm happy to pay for advice/resources, etc, if necessary. I would have attempted to book an online lesson with you, but I'm not in the U.S., so I think it's unlikely that it's an option.

[@thecelloonline]

@@lynettejones3514 I have a video exchange option if you would like to go that route. You send me a video of your playing and I will comment on it. The cost is $35/US

[@lynettejones3514]

@thecelloonline thank you for your help. Is this option available given that I'm not in the U.S. but the UK ? Would I do this through your website ?

[@thecelloonline]

It’s available to anyone interested. Its one of the 3 online lesson options i offer.

[@MiltRodgers]

2nd finger opposite the thumb ..why? why not between the 1st and 2nd?

[@thecelloonline]

Its the mechanics of the hand and extensions. Do this simple test grab something really wide or really tall that forces your fingers to spread out and see where your thumb lands, or more importantly see where your thumb is more comfortable. The more spread out your fingers are the more comfortable it is to have the thumb behind the 2nd finger. Me personally I think its easier to open up the 1st finger to extension with the thumb behind 2nd finger. In fact when I really need to stretch and open up I put thumb behind the 3rd finger, thats just the way the hand works. Are there exceptions? Of course, everyones hand is different and if your hands are very large I imagine you could get away with most anything but that kind of habit is going to limit you later on when you try to play more advanced repertoire.

[@MiltRodgers]

that is not the case with my hand. naturally my thumb resides behind the first finger or between the first and second fingers. if my elbow comes up and forward, then your method works. Ive tried the second finger, and ultimately, everything is sharp, because my hand slides naturaly down. That may work for a 10 year old, but I'm 64. As far as your grab test, I don't see how that is applicable....my hand on the neck of the cello will never be as wide as i can spread my fingers. Please be careful using words like habit, or natural.

[@capitancello1873]

Sería de agradecer consejos más avanzados para la gente que ya lleva tiempo con el Cello. Gracias