This is the first of a series of cello scale videos designed to help beginner students to learn them by visualising the fingerboard and watching a slow demonstration.
C major is the first scale most cello students learn. It covers most of first position (from the open C string to 2nd finger on the A string), and uses both basic closed position fingering patterns (0-1-3-4 and 0-1-2-4), which makes it an important technical foundation for the left hand, and an equally important means of building coordination between the left hand and bow.
In the demonstration video (2nd pass of the scale), pay attention to the left hand strategy when open strings are being played. Instead of allowing to the fingers to float above the strings, leave them resting on the previous string in the ascending scale, and send the 2nd finger (or 2nd and 3rd fingers*) across to rest on the next string as soon as it has played its note on the current string, sending the rest of your fingers across just as you begin playing the open string in the descending scale.
*When playing on the G string, the fingering pattern is 4-3-1-0 as opposed to 2-1-0/ 4-2-1-0 on the A and D strings, so you’ll need to send your 3rd and 2nd fingers across to the C string. It sounds more complicated than it is! I’ll be posting a short tutorial to demonstrate this very useful technique soon.
Ⓒ D C Cello Studio
The Cello Companion 