Basic Principles of Cello Technique

So let's get started. Principle #1...

Balance while playing is vital to cello technique. And it goes beyond merely avoiding back problems. When we are balanced in our chairs with a lengthened spine, our core and back muscles are free to assist and support our arms instead of working to hold us up. Balance also allows us to avoid a rigid posture. Our bodies, when balanced, respond and react to the various motions involved in our playing.

The basic idea of 'dividing up the work' is to involve multiple sets of muscles for a particular task, working together. By doing this we avoid over taxing single muscles or sets of muscles. We are trying to avoid our muscles from becoming fatigued, which can lead to overuse injuries. We will be looking for ways in which the whole body can participate in playing the cello or what Paul Rolland called Total Body Action. 

Looking for ways to employ large muscle groups instead of small or using large muscle groups to assist small muscles is especially helpful. Quite simply, large muscle groups are less prone to injury. There are many motions that can be initiated by large muscle groups or supported by them. 

Some approaches to cello technique insist on hand and arm positions that are fixed or unchanging (i.e. 'static'). When we insist on fixed playing positions we are actually opting for a compromise; positions that work reasonably well for all the different challenges faced.

What I propose along with many other cellists (see Cello Technique by Gerhard Mantel), is a dynamic technique: one that adopts different positions and angles of the body, arms, and hands, depending on what one is playing. 

A dynamic technique will not have fixed hand angles, fixed elbow heights, a static position of the left thumb, nor a fixed angle of the cello. These are continually changing and adapting. 

A dynamic cello technique allows our muscles to be continually used in different ways, avoiding overuse. And the motions help avoid what Rolland called 'static tension'. As I tell my younger students; motion is tension kryptonite!

While we need to subdivide the whole into the parts of technique, always return to Total Body Action.  All the individual movements interact together. Begin to be aware of how motions in one part of the body effect other parts of the body. Experiment with motions and angles that support other movements.   

Also, understand that tension in one part of the body can lead to tension in other parts of the body.  For example, tension in the tongue and throat can lead to tension in the jaw, neck, shoulders, torso, arms, and hands.

Passive motion is a term that was used by Hungarian violinist Paul Rolland. Active motions are initiated directly by the muscles while passive motions are reactions without resistance to active motions. Passive motions are those you allow to happen indirectly. Active motions are those you initiate directly.  Motions on the cello can generally be divided into one of these two types. 

The naïve eye tends to assume all movements on the cello are active and doesn't discern the passive motions that occur due to a relaxed technique. This is often assumed in sautillé bowing and string crossings, both of which use a passive motion in the wrist.

I prefer to define active motion in terms of initiating the action because once started an active motion can simply coast by its own inertia. 

Passive motions are extremely important in cello technique because they give us concrete areas to focus on tension release. 

Jonas Starker often spoke about tension and release. We often speak of 'tension free' playing but tension isn't something we can totally avoid. The key is to release it as soon as possible to prevent any 'build up' of tension. This is especially true in extensions or stretches.

We can define tension quite broadly as any muscle contraction. We need to release that type of tension as well. We simply do not want to hold a muscle contraction any longer than need be. Look for places to release.

To grow in technique is the continual release of smaller and smaller points of tension, as Starker said.  This requires us to be aware.

When thinking through our technique, we must be cognizant of anatomical realities that we cannot escape. For example, flexing the wrist (i.e. bending it towards the body) especially greater than 30° puts one at risk for carpal tunnel syndrome and other overuse injuries. Over flexing at the elbow can result in ulnar nerve entrapment. The higher one raises the elbow the smaller the subacromial space becomes in the shoulder, putting one at greater risk for subacromial impingement. It is also known that poor posture, including protracting (rounding forward) our shoulder blades, not only puts one at risk for back problems but also thoracic outlet syndrome and subacromial impingement.  

All of these need to be taken into account when developing a cello technique. Many of the injuries cellists face are completely preventable with the proper set up. We need to understand the angles that put us at risk for injury and develop strategies and techniques for avoiding them. 

Anatomically neutral positions (ANP) are those the body maintains with the least amount of tension. They are the 'default' positions of your body, so to speak. One example of this would be the spacing between the fingers. If you shake out your hand and let your fingers hang down, the fingers adopt a position that is 'anatomically neutral'. It may be a little different for each person but whatever finger spacing your hand adopts is the ANP for you. 

When looking for ways to release excessive tension we need to ask ourselves, "Can I or my students adopt positions that require no variation or at least as little variation as possible from ANP? 

There are few parts of the body that I would describe as motionless in regards to cello technique.  Parts of the body that are completely motionless are in danger of what Paul Rolland called 'static tension'.  Motion, whether passive or active, can be a wonderful way to release tension. Things that are tense simply do not move: they lock up.  Introducing small motions at the source of tension can give the the cellist a concrete way to 'let go'.

It is often assumed, without challenge, that economy of motion always equates to economy of energy and that more motion necessarily results in inefficiency. Reality is frequently the opposite. Imagine pounding a nail into a wall without a windup or back swing. Just start 1 inch from the nail. Is that more efficient?  Of course not. Even though the back swing is extra motion, it allows us to use momentum to our advantage. 

In addition to the wind up and momentum, consider how in sports the follow through is used so effectively - more motion yet. Imagine Tiger Woods not using windup, momentum, or a follow through. How far would he hit the ball and how accurately? It's kind of humorous to imagine! 

In fact, whenever greater accuracy is demanded in sports, it seems the more motion is involved. Pitchers throw with greater amounts of motions than anyone else and free throws in basket ball often are proceeded by many preparatory motions. It seems to me that certain additional motions may even result in greater technical accuracy. It's as if they give our brain more data regarding the position of our bodies in space.

Before I go on let me say there is, of course, some truth in the assertion that more motion is inefficient. There are extra motions that are not helpful at all and do result in inefficient playing. We need the wisdom to distinguish helpful motions from unhelpful ones.

Back to more examples...this time from nature.

Have you ever noticed how objects in the natural world almost always move in arcs or circles? And nature is incredibly efficient. Yet arcs and circles result in more distance traveled than straight lines - more motion. Cello strings vibrate in circles, water goes down your drain in circles, wind swirls and ocean currents move in arcs and circles, planets orbit in circles, and galaxies move through space in circles. The list could go on and on. 

According to Newton's laws of motion, things only travel in straight lines when free from an external force (Newton's first law). Our body is comprised of many joints ('external forces') that serve as pivot points for pendulums, arcs, and circles. Like the rest of nature, we often favor arcs and circles while we move in daily life (think of how we swing our arms and legs when we walk).

Circles prevent us from continually stopping and starting like the car in rush hour traffic, which is incredibly inefficient. Like the Olympic swimmer who changes directions in a pool via circles thereby keeping momentum going, we can and should look for areas of our technique to apply circles when changing directions. 

In short, less motion does not necessarily equate with less energy expended. In fact, Quite the opposite may be true. A dogmatic insistence on economy of motion can paradoxically result in rigid, tense, and inefficient playing.

So much of cello technique involves anticipating your next move.  When a cellist does not prepare motions, the technique will be characterized by sudden, jerky movements that happen at the last moment.  This will be a source of tension and inefficiency.  Try moving your arm suddenly through the air.  Do you feel it tense up with with the sudden start and stop motion?  By beginning movements early we can have a technique that is smooth, more efficient, and less tense. 

Gravity is free so we'd be foolish to not use it!  Gravity can be used in shifting to higher positions, while playing up bows (if we gradually lower the elbow), and even in vibrato. Whether we can truly use the weight of our bow arms is up for debate, though the sensation feels like weight to me. 

So there are some of my thoughts on basic principles of cello technique. I try to apply them whenever possible in my playing. I hope you find them helpful.