One of my fascinations as a cello teacher is to uncover the causes of tension in cello technique and to come up with solutions. I believe that one great way to release tension is to analyze the exact motions necessary on the cello and identify three main areas; the pivot joints and the active and passive motions. I cover this is my article called, It's All About the Joints; The Key To Tension Free Cello Technique . I would like to expand on that article to include some basic principles of what I believe are a solid foundation on which to build cello technique. I am particularly interested in principles that can help prevent overuse injuries in cellists. I believe these principles apply to other instruments as well, such as violin and piano. Heck, they can even apply to gardening!

As mentioned, the first principle covered in "It's All about the Joints" is to;

• Know your pivot joints
• Know your active motions
• Know your passive motions

I won't cover it again here as you can read the article on another page on this site. In this article we will look at the following principles;

• Use anatomically natural positions
• Motion can loosen tension
• Do not hinder passive motions
• Use fluid rather than static technique
• Divide up the work
• Use large muscle groups
• Tension and Release
• Use gravity

I will not give a detailed application of each principle as that is covered in the articles on this site. So for the moment we will speak more in generalities.

One last point; these principles are not meant to be rules. They are more in the spirit of guidelines. Each one of these principles can be broken. It is necessary to do so from time to time. But when we do go against one of these principles we should at least realize it and have good reasons for doing so.

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

What do I mean by "anatomically natural positions"? By anatomically natural positions (I'll call it ANP from this point - a little corny, I know!) I mean positions that the body maintains with the least amount of tension. 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 natural". It may be a little different for each person but whatever finger spacing your hand adopts is the anatomically natural position for you. To give an application, I prefer to use that same spacing when I hold the bow. If my fingers spread apart further than the ANP then that creates extra tension. If I squeeze them together, then I also create tension because I deviate from the ATM.

When looking for ways to release tension we need to ask ourselves, "Can I or my students adopt positions that require no variation or at least little variation from "anatomically natural positions"? It may or may not be possible but it needs to be asked. Here are some examples;

• The left arm is pulled to far back when playing in the lower positions, especially when playing on the A string. Our upper arms naturally fall to our side so pulling them back deviates from the ANP causing some tension in the back.
• The right thumb on the bow is across from the third finger. Actually, the ANP of the thumb is by the first finger, for most people at least. As you move further away from the natural position the thumb muscle gets tighter. The tighter the thumb muscle the tighter the hand. The tighter the hand the tighter the arm and so forth. Try keeping your thumb across from first finger and bend it so the tip is across from the second finger. This is only a slight variation from the ANP.
• Using a cello that is too large. Most of us have to spread our fingers further apart than the ANP, but having a cello that is simply too large causes the cellist to deviate even further from the ANP. When teaching young students, they often want to make a step up to a larger cello too early. It is important that the teacher not have the student switch too early.
• The left thumb is always across from the 2nd finger. This one gets controversial. The anatomic reality is that the thumb's ANP is by the first finger. Because of this I use that whenever possible. There is a direct correlation between a tense thumb and a tense hand. So I keep the thumb by the 1st finger for 1st finger vibrato and in fast passages. This may not work for every cellist, but it is good to keep in mind. See Position of the Left Thumb in Cello Technique .

Anyway, I think you get the idea. Look for the anatomically natural positions and see if you can apply them to your playing.

This principle can raise some eyebrows with string pedagogues. Extra motion is often seen as inefficient playing. Famous violin pedagogue, Paul Roland observed what he called "static tension." That is, immobile (static) parts of the body tend to tense up. The violinist can lock up the knees and ankles so introducing some small motions in those areas can release tension. After all, it is difficult to move a part of your body if it is all tensed up!

Some people will say, "OK, but look at Heifetz, he has extreme economy of motion. He hardly moves at all". Not really. Yes, he has economy of motion but it isn't true that he hardly moves at all. In fact, he moves a great deal! If you ever get the chance, just watch Heifetz played back in slow motion. He has a myriad of little motions all over his body. In that sense he moves a great deal.

So these motions do not have to be excessive, only present. Look for areas where you may have static tension and look for ways to introduce some small motion to loosen up the area.

Problem areas are,

• The joints in the fingers of both hand
• The thumbs
• The wrists
• The shoulders (see articles on It's all About the Joints and Vibrato)
• The forearms (see articles on vibrato and basic right arm technique)
• The left hand in vibrato

This relates to "motion can loosen tension". Essentially, all motions on the cello are either active or passive motions. Each motion has a "pivot joint". An active motion is one where the motion is produced directly by muscle contractions. One example would be waving your hand. A passive motion, on the other hand, is a reaction to an active motion. Try moving your whole arm and shake out the hand. The hand can move passively as a reaction to the active motion in the arm.

But you may have noticed that the passive motion in the hand cannot happen unless your forearm muscles are relaxed enough.

Passive motions are extremely important in cello technique because they give us concrete areas to focus on tension release. The other great advantage of passive motions is that, passive motions also relieve some of the work of the active motions. This means more efficient playing (less energy expended!)
We can use passive motions in these three main areas;

• String crossings
• Vibrato
• Bow changes

One qualification: It is possible to have too much passive motion that gets in the way of playing. It is rare but happens every now and then.

One of my complaints about "traditional" cello technique is that it tends to insist on hand and arm positions that are fixed an unchanging (i.e. "static"). In traditional technique the same bow hold is used for the frog and tip, the left thumb is always across from the second finger, the height of the right elbow is the same for all parts of the bow, the left hand position never changes (it is always in a "box" or "square" position). This is all in the name of efficiency. The less motion the better. The problem is that playing at the frog and tip pose entirely different challenges. Vibrato on the 1st finger is quite different from vibrato on the 4th finger. 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, and many other cellists for that matter, is a fluid (changing and adapting) technique; one that adopts different positions depending on what one is playing. And think of this, when using a "fluid" technique you too can give annoying answers to questions on cello technique!

• Do you use a low right elbow or high right elbow? Yes!
• Do you slant (pronate) your left hand or use a square hand position? Yes!
• Do you teach your students to put their left thumbs across from the 2nd finger? Yes, sometimes
• Do you play with flatter fingers or curved? Yes!
• Do you play with a low left elbow or a high left elbow? YES!!

Where is it written that we must always adopt the same hand and arm positions on the cello? Why not vary it according to the demands of the passages we encounter?

This relates directly to the previous principle. It makes sense to avoid overusing one set of muscles when playing the cello. If you have a fluid (changing and adapting) rather than a static (fixed an unchanging) technique, you avoid working only one set of muscles. For example, you will use different sets of muscles at the tip of the bow than at the frog. Your vibrato will be different in the lower positions from the upper positions.

We can also divide up the work by having several different ways to do the same motion. Let me give you an example. Some of my students tend to always bow with the whole arm with the shoulder as the pivot joint. They haven't realized that you can play up bows and down bows in at least four different ways. Each way of doing up bows and down bows is most efficient depending on the passage. Also, you can combine the motions as well, which also divides up the work.

Using large muscle groups instead of small, or using large muscle groups to assist small muscles is especially helpful. Large muscle groups are less prone to injury. To give you one example, string crossings with active motions in the hand with the pivot joint in the wrist works great at the lower half of the bow but can cause a great deal of strain in the upper half. The cellist can actually initiate string crossings at the tip of the bow with an active motion in the upper arm (large muscle group in the shoulder) with the pivot joint in the shoulder. This divides up the work and can prevent tendinitis in the wrist.

Another principle I find helpful is tension and release. Tension is a necessary to perform any task. We obviously have to contract muscles to play the cello. However, the key to avoiding excessive tension is to release the tension (cease contracting the muscle) when we complete the job that required for the task. We contract the muscle again only when we need it. So when we talk about "tension free" playing it really isn't accurate. What we are really speaking about is releasing tension between muscle contractions and not using unnecessary muscle contractions for a given task. Those with excessive tension problems tend to hold muscle contractions without releasing them.

I find in my teaching that many of my students unnecessarily hold tension in a muscle when they could easily release it. One such situation is the "extension" or "stretch". Unless your hand is exceptionally flexible, maintaining a stretch between fingers is a tense position for the hand. It is far more relaxed to let go of the stretch between the fingers as soon as possible and re-balance the hand. Another problem area is the right thumb. For example, when playing the triple stops in the beginning of the Dvorak Cello Concerto, the upward force of the right thumb should release between the triple stops. These are just two examples.

Always look for ways to apply tension and release.

Gravity is a force that we can use to our advantage when playing the cello. We can use gravity to,

• Use the weight of the left arm to push down the strings
• Use gravity in shifting from the lower to upper positions
• Use the weight of the bow arm when playing at the frog

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

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