Reddit reviews Thumb Position for Cello, Bk 1

Bow hand: Other guys have said it, closer to the bridge, even contact point. I would add that you want to apply pressure through your pointer finger because the shorter the string gets (the further up the fingerboard you go) the harder it will be to produce a loud and strong sound, so you will have to compensate.

Left hand: Learn all of the thumb position patterns. This is the book I used, it covers all of the basics with the thumb resting on the first harmonic. A problem I always had learning thumb position at first was my brain was used to the same spacing for whole and half steps, but as you get higher on the fingerboard, the spacing changes, so it will take a little bit of time to develop the muscle memory. Once you get it, you get it, there's not much too it after that.

Hi, I'm here to help! It sounds like you have a lot of natural talent you just need a little push in the right direction.

Etude Books

Janos Starker's Organized Method of String Playing is really useful for squaring out your left hand, which will ultimately aid you in speed, vibrato and intonation. Make sure to go slowly with each exercise, but they have nifty blurbs about each exercises intention.

Any of the Popper etudes will do. They look really scary at first, and they don't go in order of difficulty. My suggestion is to start with 1, 6, 7, 11, 19 and then just pick ones that sound pretty or that you're interested in tackling. Joshua Roman has played every single one, so if you ever want to hear what it sounds like or just be awed by his virtuousity, I highly recommend. Each etude focuses on a different aspect of cello playing, so try to hone in on whatever the etude is trying to work on, and focus on it when playing.

One of the best ways to practice technique is to practice scales while applying different aspects of cello playing. That way, you're essentially killing two birds with one stone. Playing scales can be tedious at times, but it is so worth the effort, I can't emphasis that enough. Mark Yampolsky has a fantastique book of just scales, and for each scale he goes through triads, thirds with doublestops, sixths with doublestops, broken thirds, and more. He also puts little footnote things at the bottom of most exercises so that you can make the most out of them.

I never used this book (my teacher probably made me buy it at one point and then forgot about making me buy it) but looking through it, it has a lot of the really good things I talked about with the other etude books. S. Lee's Method for Cello includes both scale work and etudes/studies for various kinds of techniques. It's pretty all inclusive so even without ever using it, I'd say it's pretty good, since it basically includes the best of the other etudes I mentioned.

Other books I've gone through in my early days, I'm not writing a review on them all, you can check them out.

Justus Johann's Dotzauer 113 Studies, Book 1

Position Pieces for Cello: Book 1 by Rick Mooney

Also by Rick Mooney, Thumb Position For Cello Book 1

Grant's Intermediate Etudes in the Positions for Violoncello



Extra

Alistair McRae has an excellent tumblr that he has since stopped updating, but he is very philosophical and knowledgeable about cello techniques, and he posts some fantastic videos/posts on vibrato, posture, and practice tips which are actually genius. He has his own ideas for technique books which I won't post here for redundancy's sake but they're there.


Last but not least, I have my own suggestions for practicing better. Practice with intention. I know you said that you started practicing the orchestra music for an hour a day, but I'm a little skeptical as to how meaningful this practice is. It must either be really difficult orchestra music, or you know it like the back of your hand and you are running it through during your practice sessions, because a solid hour a day for a week should be enough to know the music almost entirely. Instead of practicing an hour, practice when you feel ready to work, that is, spend a lot of time on small segments of music/scales/techniques, and stop practicing when you feel your attention slipping, because practicing bad habits is the worst thing you could possibly do. Spend 15 minutes practicing bad habits and waste an hour trying to correct them. Don't give up hope! I know I just threw a lot at you, and I'm going to stop now, but if you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, take a step back, relax, and breathe. You don't have to dive right into any of these etude books. If you're just coming out of a cellofunk, in which you were unmotivated to practice, trying to work on technique is probably the worst thing you could possibly do. It's tedious, it's hard, and progress is so slow that it almost feels like you're slipping backwards. My suggestion right now, is probably to find a pretty cello piece that you really really like listening to, and work on that, because then you'll be motivated to practice. Then, you can start incorporating the technique books, and not only working on them in etudes, but applying them to the piece you're working on. Buy a book of cello solos like this one and just go crazy. Hope this helped! Good luck :)