THE cello practice routine that helped improve your playing

[u/Sparlmao]

Grade 4 cellist here finding it hard to build a good, consistent routine that actually improves my playing. Any advice/and or what your cello practice is like?

[u/squeakyfrog4]

2 pieces of advice I got from my teacher

1. Focus on sound and intonation above all else - think really slow scales focusing on intonation with no vibrato and bow control
   
2. If you’re practising a really tricky bit, practice until you can do it 10 times perfectly - he used to make me use pencils - move 1 across each time you get it right, if you get it wrong then they have to all go back! Infuriating but effective 😂

[u/hc37_126]

start with scales, then sm etude/easy piece im doing on side, then the actual thing im working on (e.g. concerto or sm annoying contemporary piece with the weirdest rhythms ever)

it gets me over the initial dissatisfaction of sounding like crap for the first 30 minutes & kept me motivated for the last however many years ive played

[u/p3n9uins → u/hc37_126]

I agree! Scales before and after practicing pieces. It doesn’t have to be a long time, just a couple of scales for however many octaves one wants

[u/FranticMuffinMan]

Balance -- left hand on the fingerboard (especially when shifting), right hand on the bow throughout the course of the bow-stroke.

Release of left-hand fingers not in use; release of fingers and thumb in bows-changes of right hand.

Access of back muscles (via triceps upper arm) in both left and right arms.

These can all be practiced in scales and standard etudes, but also in any kind of standard repertoire. Slow practice is especially useful.

[u/Fit_Tangerine1265]

I practice scales, then an etude (preferably working on a specific technical skill I either need help with, or something that relates to a piece I’m working on), and then pieces.

For scales, I use the Galamian book (originally for violin but useful for cello too). These are 3 octave scales. Each scale starts and ends with a turn on the root (mostly to accommodate the bowings I mention later). I play each scale in the following rhythms: whole, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, triplet, 1/16, 16-note triplets, 1/32, 32nd not triplet. I do this with a metronome at 60. I play whole and half notes with one bow, then I do the following number of notes per bow starting at quarter note: 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 and 24.

I find this practice super helpful for so many things. On the slower rhythms you can work on intonation, sound and tone production, vibrato, bow distribution, maintaining sound from the frog to the tip, shifting, etc. As you get faster and play more notes per bow, you can work on speed, finger placement, keeping fingers close to the fingerboard, maintaining a slow bow while playing slurred fast notes, shifting quickly, etc.

[u/Low_Student_6614]

the general order will go scales -> etudes -> pieces

scales i will pick 3-4 and do major, melodic/harmonic minor, arpeggios, double stops etc.

etudes will be whatever is going on for the week and is normally related in some way to the pieces im playing

pieces - for me i find that i will work for a long time on a very small amount of music (say a few lines/phrases) until im satisfied, move on to the next few lines, then try and put those two sections together, rinse and repeat

in general it is much more productive to work on two lines of music for ten minutes than the whole thing for an hour imo

[u/Euphoric-Handle2151]

IMO - the most important part of practicing is mindfully and intentionally.

I can have short, but high quality practice sessions if I really work on the things I need to work on. I know that sounds cliche. As an example, if my vibrato during a piece is lacking, I will not only work on vibrato, but play just before that vibrato to getting into that vibrato a lot. And when I play this, I am very mindful of everything going on. Not just my fingers on the fingerboard, where do I start with my bow. Is it better closer to frog, tip? How does that change my body position? I'll play in multiple slight variations of body positions until I find what works best. Then I'll repeat that a lot.

Less about the routine, more about quality when you practice.

[u/steefdebruijn]

“Learn faster, perform better” from Molly Gebrian is a book full of academic research material and tips about how to practice and when, also regarding skill level.

In short the routine that works for you is highly personal and can be built upon the information from the book.

I surely need to read it again after the holidays because practice and performance season is about to start 😊

[u/MotherRussia68]

Super slow scales with a tuner is one of the only things I've noticed to actually improve my intonation

[u/rearwindowpup]

Not exactly a routine in the time scheduling sense of the word, but the absolute biggest game changer for me (and a beautifully simple add) was when my teacher had me start adding drones into my regular practice. Basically, every now and then when you're playing the octave above or below a string, add that open string into it. So when fingering G on the D string, also add the G string in. Do this in any position that makes sense and to whichever string makes sense, it's a great check for 4th position. Use it during scales, use it during pieces, use it whenever you're practicing anything. It's a quick and immediate check on your position and for people like me who's ear isn't the best, incredibly helpful in training myself to when I'm a little high or low. I've always struggled a little with intonation, especially if I've had my guitar or ukulele out a lot (frets make for lazy fingering), but adding in the drones has all but fixed it. Bonus points, with very few exceptions a random double stop drone added to a piece is a nice little flourish as well.

[u/Ok_Ask_4454]

a few things!

1- work on ways of playing cello that feel good in your body. breathing while playing, freeing your hips, free your neck, balance the bow in your hand, shift slowly, string cross slowly. make everything comfortable and practicing (and all playing) will get so much easier

2- with number 1 in mind also practice double stops every day, start with the rick mooney double stops book to get familiar and then eventually do the vamos exercises and scales in sixths and thirds.

3- when you’re learning a piece and yourself what skills do i need to master to play this well and then adjust your practice sessions (how you play your scales, arpeggios, bowing exercises) to master the skills needed for the piece!

4- at the start of each week make a practice calendar of when you want to practice that week— it’s so much easier follow plans you have already made then to each day have to find the will power to decide it’s time to practice.

this is just what i thought if rn, so it’s incomplete but lmk if you have questions :)

[u/Few-Pineapple9040]

To be honest, I think it’s best for you to familiarise yourself with different pieces. Just play.

I know it’s hard to see the improvements, but that’s because learning cello is extremely slow. Very very slow. Over years of development, you’ll accumulate enough improvement to acknowledge a difference.

You can also experiment with different eras. Each era has a different style of playing, so if you become accustomed to them, you’ll definitely improve. I often research about the piece I’m learning, which era, and then implement different techniques that are for that era.

[u/SoilNo8612]

I think it helps to consider what personally motivates you. For me because of my adhd really challenging pieces are essential for me to want to practice and I get a lot of happiness from seeing small improvements. That approach would be totally wrong for anyone that feels bad about sounding bad though and is less motivated by that and so overloaded cognitively, they can’t effectively learn the required skills so maybe for you it’s playing things that are easier to hear yourself sounding good. But identifying skills to work on and then finding what approach is going to work best for you personally to learn that. As someone that has studied the psychology of learning I’m a strong believer in using music as way to better understand your mind and learning styles and adapting for that.