Cello & Bow Care

Now that you have your instrument, how on earth do you take care of the thing?! Below are some guidelines to follow and helpful hints for caring for the instrument.

First, just as a reminder, here are two images with the parts of the cello & the bow. 

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Cello & Bow Care Guidelines

• General Guidelines
• When removing the instrument from the case, remove the bow first. Then, always put the bow in the soft case after the instrument when packing up. The bow is fragile and the case is very flimsy. Trying to get the instrument out of the case with the bow still inside can result in a broken bow. (see below for directions)
• After playing, use a clean, soft cloth (I use an old t-shirt) to remove rosin from the strings, instrument and bow stick. Do not use any furniture cleaners, oils or alcohol on the instrument.
• Place the instrument and bow in its case or in its stand after playing. Don't leave it on the floor! It usually gets knocked over by a sibling, dog, parent, the cellist...Investing in a cello stand is a great idea. It keeps the instrument off the floor but still readily accessible by the student. Most cellists (myself included) are deterred from practicing by just having to get the instrument out of the case. The stand eliminates this annoying task!
• Do not put anything in the case with instrument except what was meant to go there. There is at least one pocket on the case. Put all accessories in the pocket. Or carry a separate bag with all your cello accessories.
• No one but the string student should handle the instrument, including brothers, sisters, and/or friends.
• Hold the instrument only how your teacher has instructed. Never hold the instrument by anything except the neck.
• As a rule, the strings and bow hairs do need to be replaced. This likely won't be something you will run into frequently as students tend to change instrument often but it's a good thing to know.
  
• Bow Rules
• Loosen the bow hair, but not so much as to allow the hair to touch the stick or for the individual hairs to separately hang loose. Never try to take the bow apart. You may have seen me do this in the lesson but do not replicate it.
• Never, ever, EVER touch the hair of the bow, nor allow anything except rosin to come into contact with it. Do not attempt to clean it. The horsehair is intended to be coarse and the rosin makes the hair extra sticky so it can grip the strings. Oils and dirt from our skin counteracts the stickiness of the rosin and weakens the coarseness of the hair. Rehairing the bow can be expensive and you'll have to do this if you touch the bow hairs a lot.
• Never use the bow or instrument for anything other than practicing or playing. Never hit the bow on anything. It is not a sword! Also, watch where your child is swinging that bow...there have been a few close calls. No one wants a bow in their eye.
• The bow hairs get stretched out from repeated tightening and loosening and needs to be replaced from time to time. Also they get pretty gross with all the rosin caked on. The bow needs to be re-haired about once a year and, in Austin, runs around $60.
  
• Cello Rules
• Never bump or jar the instrument sharply, even while it is in its case. Bumping the instrument against another object may damage the wood, cause the bridge to slide out of alignment or cause the sound post inside to fall down.
• If the bridge moves, don't touch it! Have your teacher or the rental shop fix it for you. Often times, moving or removing the bridge will result in the soundpost falling down. Not a huge deal but something your instrument shop will have to fix.
• the soundpost is a dowel stick inside the instrument that is help in place by the pressure of the front and back of the instrument. It's not glued in, just merely held in place by wedging it in. If pressure from the instrument is suddenly released, like the bridge falling off, the soundpost will also fall down.
• I can fix a moved or fallen down bridge but I cannot fix a fallen soundpost.
• Bridges (like soundposts) are not glued in place, but are held in place by the pressure of the strings, which allows them to be replaced and adjusted as needed. If the bridge pops off, don't glue it back on! Also, wait for your teacher or the instrument shop to fix this. It has to be in a particular spot and place on the instrument a particular way. It's possible to put it on backwards.
• Do not allow the instrument to get too hot or too cold. NEVER leave an instrument in your car, especially the trunk. Excess heat and humidity can cause varnish to melt, even in the winter. Extremely cold temperatures can cause wood to shrink, and the accompanying dryness may possibly cause cracks or separate of pieces to develop. Do not leave the instrument near an air conditioner or a fireplace. Think about it this way: if you are uncomfortable (too hot or too cold), the instrument is, too. Any extremes are terrible for the instrument and cause all sorts of havoc.
• If an accident occurs or a string breaks, take it to the shop where the instrument was rented or purchased for repair. Never attempt to repair the instrument yourself.
• Unless your teacher has showed you how, never turn the pegs. Improper turning 
• Strings get old and when that happens, they go false and are difficult to tune, don't hold being tuned or simply sound off. They then need to be replaced. How often? Probably once a year. A set, depending on the brand, runs anywhere from $50 - $100. Consult your teacher before purchasing new strings.
  

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Please help your child to be careful and gentle with the instrument and bow as a rule. Accidents, bumps and drops happen but don't make this a habit. Establish early on that it is not a toy but rather a fragile and pricey instrument that needs to be cared for regularly. 

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How to Unpack & Pack the Cello

Unpacking the Cello

1. Lay cello case on back, on the floor
2. Remove bow
3. Unzip cello case
4. While holding the neck of the cello, lift the front of the case and gently pull the cello out
5. Set cello on side
6. Adjust the endpin length 

*When unpacking the cello, the bow is always removed first*

Packing the Cello

1. Push the endpin back inside the cello and secure the screw.
2. Place the scroll inside the case first, then slide the rest of the body inside.
3. Zip case
4. Loosen bow.
5. Place bow inside case. 

 *When packing the cello back up, the bow is always placed inside last*

Rest Position (on the floor)

In rest position, the cello is placed to the left of the chair, bridge facing out towards the left and endpin forward. When placing the cello on the floor, gently and quietly move the cello with the left hand securely around the neck and the right hand holding the rib edge/C bout. 

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While it seems like there are a lot of DON'Ts for the instrument I have one word of reassurance. The little cellos are pretty durable. I'm not inviting you or your child to man-handle the instrument but a bump here or there won't be a devastating blow. Even when the cello gets kicked over or dropped - yes, this happens, a lot - it's okay. The instrument will likely go out of tune but that's typically the worst of it. However, repeated drops, bangs and bumps will result in cracks or open seams (which are very expensive fixes) but the occasional and accidental bump won't harm the instrument long-term. 

Cellos & Supplies for the Lessons

Though this is intended for families new to playing an instrument, many current families will find this information about cellos, renting/buying and supplies very helpful. 

Where can I get a cello?

There are two different ways to go about this: securing an instrument from a local shop or renting from a national retailer. Below is a list of local Austin shops that rent instruments and sells accessories as well as two national retailers that also rent instruments nationwide. Most rental programs are very similar, if not the same - you pay a monthly rental fee that may or may not include insurance (optional, usually, though I recommend it). A portion of the money you pay for that rental goes toward the eventual purchase of an instrument. Buying a cello is great but I recommend waiting until either your child isn't growing so swiftly (i.e. needs a new cello size every 6-12 months) or your child has reached the full-size cello. You are buying an instrument so you want to make sure your child will use if for a longer duration of time or else you'll have a small cello on your hands that no one can play.

Austin Instrument Rental Shops
Blackerby Violin Shop on W. Anderson
Violins Etc. on Burnet & 2222
Craig's Violins in Lakeway
Westbank Strings in South Austin on Manchaca

National Rental Shops
William Harris Lee is not a local retailer but rents instruments online and will ship the instrument to you. Initially, the cost may be more expensive due to shipping, but the monthly rental fee is comparable to local shops and the instruments are high quality student instruments.
Johnson Strings also has a very similar rental program to WHL. 

You may find other national shops that rent, I'm just familiar with WHL's rental instruments - I had a number of students in Atlanta rent instruments from the shop in addition to current students in Austin having a great experience with WHL's instruments.

What kind of supplies do I need?

Other Supplies Needed
Endpin strap - I highly recommend/require this rockstop/endpin strap. It attaches to the chair and doesn't slide on the floor, maintains the correct length so there's no guessing where it goes on the floor in front of the chair
Suzuki Book 1 - Your child won't need this as much as you will at the beginning for reference. I prefer the physical copy to take notes in, plus you'll have it when your child does need it. But if you prefer a digital copy, you can get the Suzuki Book 1 Digital Download on iTunes for iBooks.
Suzuki Volume 1 & 2 Recordings - digital downloads: YAY!!!
Chair/Stepstool - this is a tricky and detailed one. First, here's how to determine if a chair is a good cello chair height:

Chair Sizing
Sit your child on the edge of the chair - the edge is important. Do the feet completely touch the floor comfortably? The feet must be completely flat and comfortable on the floor, with no straining or reaching to touch. With the child's torso tall (think a tall tummy, rather than straight back), are the thighs at approximately a 100-110 degree angle? Are the knees lower than the hips? We do not want a 90 degree angle with the torso and thighs - this is terrible for the back and posture. A too-short chair will create this 90 degree angle while a too-tall chair creates an angle larger than 110 degrees. We need one that's just right. :)

Below are two photos, with thanks to my dear friend Kelsey, demonstrating a good seated cello posture.

I prefer a chair without a back - chairs with backs tend to encourage sliding into the back of the chair and cellists need to sit on the edge - but I'm not terribly picky about back/no back. It must have a leg the endpin strap can attach to. Some of the chairs and step-stools I've seen don't work well with the strap and we've had to jerry-rig it to make it work. But in general, if it works, it works! It really depends on what you are comfortable with carrying around and what works best for you and your child. Some prefer a more portable option, others favor the adjustable feature. Below is a list of a few options recommended by parents with some pros and cons to each. Keep in mind, your child will grow no matter what so these chairs aren't permanent by any means.

Drum stool
pros: adjustable, somewhat compact-able/foldable tripod legs, great for endpin strap, cushioned seat; 
cons: not lightweight, little more pricey ($35-40)
Folding step stool 
pros: foldable, lightweight, easy to carry around, inexpensive (about $10);
cons: not adjustable, strap is sometimes difficult to attach to the leg;
IKEA children's chairs 
pros: you probably already have one (or more) around the house, generally lightweight, great for endpin strap attachment; 
cons: not adjustable, folding and kind of a pain to carry around
IKEA stool - I have this in my studio right now
pros: great for older students, lightweight; 
cons: not adjustable unless you cut the legs shorter (it's been done!)
Shower chairs - yes, this is what you think it is. 
pros: adjustable, lightweight, can come in many colors, strap attaches easily; 
cons: clunky to carry around, can be hard to find in stores but readily available online. 

Any one of these are great options - it just depends on your preference, what your child is comfortable on and what you are okay with carrying around. The chair thing is a pain but it's not a permanent situation. At least it's not a harp!

How to Take Lesson Notes

I don't address this often because it is my understanding everyone has their own 'system'. I keep track of my lesson notes for each individual student on my computer. But I thought I would write a few suggestions based on my own experience, recommendations from parents and from other teachers. 

Firstly, you do need to take notes. There's a lot happening in the course of a 30-minute lesson and even more in a 45-minute lesson. It's an intense learning environment and there is no way you or your child will remember everything that happened. I don't even remember everything that happened so I take notes and I highly recommend you also take notes.

Where you take notes and what you use to take notes is totally up to you. Some use an ‘old-fashioned’ notebook or a binder with loose-leaf paper. Either is great. Others, like myself, prefer a computer. I use Evernote but I also use it to keep track of everything - lesson notes, class notes from grad school, recipes, important documents, etc. It could even be as simple as a word document or a Google document you access regularly. Regardless of the medium, a method is needed and you need a dedicated place to keep your notes that you have easy access to. Slips of paper, old receipts, the grocery list, these are not a great way to take notes because they are not in a designated 'lesson note taking' spot and they often get lost or misplaced and the notes never get used or referenced during home practice. 

I am often asked, 'what do I write down?'. Write down what is important. You don't need to dictate the whole lesson but listen for cues from me (or your teacher) about what is important. Sometimes, I will say, 'this is important' or we will repeat something a gazillion times or spend a lot of time on one thing. Write that down. I’ve been getting better about stating the measure numbers for certain passages, so write those down, too, as it tells you and your child what exactly, to practice. How you write it down, again, is totally up to you. Some make a straight forward numbered list of what we've done in the lesson, others use a practice chart to document weekly tasks and some have a less rigid form of note-taking, jotting down a few sentences to jog the memory of the lesson. The key is to determine what works best for yourself as well as your child.  Your child might be more inclined and motivated by a chart, use that. Or a list might suffice. Whatever works, use it!

One word on the practice charts - I LOVE them. I like to check things off a list and I know many children are like this, too. I'm just horrible about keeping up with them. A practice chart might be a fantastic solution for you and I can supply you with charts that are suitable for your child but I do ask for you help in keeping up with them. 

Then, what do you do with the lesson notes when you get home? Structure the assignments into a practice that looks pretty similar to our lesson. Take a few moments to come up with a 'game plan' for the practice:

• What is the goal of today's practice?
• What do you and your child wish to accomplish?
• What's most important to start with? (an upcoming recital piece, jury piece, audition materials, etc.)

Share this with your child, too, so they know the expectations of the practice and so they are involved in the planning process. 

It doesn’t matter what you start with, though you may want to start with the most challenging thing or the one that is high priority. Don’t mess around - tackle the ‘meat’ of the practice first. But also take into consideration your child’s mood as well as your own. Are you short on patience, is your child tired? Maybe leave that hard thing for later and focus on review. It's important to take a moment before you both begin to check in with yourself as well as your child. This will set the tone for the practice and will give you reasonable expectations for what you and your child can do and hopefully avoid conflict.

What if your notes are confusing, make no sense or you and your child disagree about the assignment? Sometimes it’s just best left to figure out at the next lesson. It happens. My notes make no sense sometimes (often, actually). No one is going to die if you don’t practice that one thing. Plus, it’s really a pain to re-learn something that has been practiced and learned incorrectly. Re-learning a skill isn't like re-writing a file on a computer. I wish it was that easy! Re-learning something is often more difficult than learning it correctly the first time. If you and your child disagree, either wait until the next lesson or contact me. I can usually troubleshoot things over email or the phone. Or if you and your child disagree, practice is both ways. It doesn't hurt and at least something was accomplished during practice at home. But don't sweat it if you or your child are unsure or unclear about an assignment.

But again, the most important part of note-taking is actually taking notes. Plus, how fun is it to look back on your notes and see the progress you and your child have made over the course of 6 months, a year or even two years! This is also a real motivator - the ability to see how far students have come in any given period of time. Look back in your notes even just from 6 months ago and marvel at how far your child has come. It's a great feeling. :)

Two last reminders about practicing:

1. Getting the cello out is the hardest part. Really. Even I drag my feet when it comes time to practice because my cello is in its case. Many families opt for cello stands so the cello is readily accessible. If this is feasible for you or you have a dedicated spot to leave the cello out, try this. It tends to work wonders for motivating students to practice.

2. All children need to be reminded to practice. Most won't do it on their own volition so that's where your role as the parent and home teacher comes into play. 

How to Tune the Cello

This seems like the most complex aspect of beginning the cello but it’s really quite easy once you know what to do!

First things first: purchase a digital tuner. Learning to tune ‘by ear’ takes many, many years of practice and still requires a reference pitch to tune to initially. A digital tuner will make your life easier and take a lot of the guess work out of tuning the instrument. At the end, I have a list of recommended tuners.

There are a few things you need to know first about the cello before learning how to tune it.

The four strings on the cello from highest to lowest are: A, D, G & C. This is helpful information so you know what to tune the strings to when using the tuner!

ONLY use the fine tuners located on the tailpiece. The instrument should not go dramatically out of tune in between lessons and you will only need to make minor changes to the strings. Please do not try to use the pegs. Without knowing how to properly turn the pegs, the end result is usually a broken string and an unusable cello! Please avoid turning the pegs if the string is wildly out of tune unless you’ve been shown how to correctly.

No need to worry about holding the bow correctly. I often just hold the bow in a fist in my hand. The most important aspect is quality of sound - you want a solid, sustained tone that is free from any distortion or scratching. The tuner likes this sound and you will get the most accurate reading on the tuner with this good tone.

Play the A string first with a long, sustained bow. Use the whole length of the bow and back and forth, if needed. After the tuner registers the pitch, you’re ready to adjust the string based on what the tuner tells you. Every tuner is slightly different: on my tuner, if the note is too high, the screen lights up on the upper portion of my phone. The opposite is true if it’s too low. If the string is perfectly in tune, I get a green smiley face. :) Some tuners have a sharp (#) or flat (b) sign to indicate if the pitch is too high or low. The sharp sign means too high, the flat sign means too low. Typically, when the note is in tune, the tuner will light up green no matter which you choose to go wtih. Then you are good to go! On to the next string!

Now your question is, which way do I turn the fine tuner when the string is registering out of tune? Here’s how I think about it: to make the string higher (if the pitch is too low), move the fine tuner towards the higher string. There is no string higher than the A string, but imagine there is one. That’s the direction you will turn the fine tuner. The opposite is true if the string is too high and you need to make the pitch lower: turn the tuner in the direction of the lower strings.

For example, if the tuner says the A string is too low (flat), turn the A string fine tuner towards the D string until the string registers as in tune on the digital tuner.  

We always tune from the highest string, the A string, to the lowest, the C string. After tuning the A string, repeat the same process on the other three strings.

Tuner Apps - your smartphone is probably the best resource for a tuner app. I use Tonal Energy Tuner (http://tonalenergy.com/products/te-tuner/) which is priced at $3.99 on the Apple App Store. There are many different types of digital tuning apps and you may need to try a number of them before finding one that you are comfortable with. I like the Tonal Energy Tuning app because it has many different functions outside of being solely a digital tuner. Unfortunately, it is only available for Apple products. However, there are many tuning apps for both the iPhone and Android phones and most are free! Plus they won’t be quite as complicated as the Tonal Energy Tuner. If you find one and want guidance on how to use it to tune your child’s instrument, let me know and I can guide you through it at the beginning of a lesson.

iPhone Apps:

Tonal Energy Tuner

Tun-d Free

Android Apps:

gstring

Easy Cello - Cello Tuner

TBT!

Throw back to when I met Yo Yo Ma in 2009!