This cello course proved to be not only very full in terms of timetable, but also very rich in content and I was surprised at how much we covered. On the first day, after tuning up, the course started with playing modes. I had expected to find this difficult but found using sol-fa my ear was able to guide my fingers. We then played through four-part educational works by Klengel. The rest of the course covered the following areas:

History of the cello
Agnes gave a talk on the origins of the cello explaining the existence of various tunings and terminology in use in the early development of the instrument. Also different sized cellos were known to have existed, possibly used for different purposes. The tenor violin is perhaps the most interesting member of the violin family as there has been some dispute as to its existence. This intrument is the size of a small cello and is held between the knees and tuned to G D A E. It seems that cellists regarded it as a solo instrument with more virtuoso possibilities than the violoncello. This instrument has since dropped out of use, but the Horniman Museum has one of them. Agnes also has a tenor violin for which she had to have strings specially made. We were able to hear and play this instrument, which was a fascinating experience.

Instrument care
Robin Aitchison, a professional violin-maker and repairer, also an ex-pupil of the BBCM, gave a very interesting and informative talk on the set up and maintenance of cellos, including the best way to put on strings, how to clean the strings and the fingerboard and where the bass bar is. Robin also demonstrated how a bar of soap acts as a lubricant when it is rubbed over the grooves on the bridge and at the top of the fingerboard. This enables the strings to move freely when tuning and the bridge to be moved if necessary without the strings holding it too tightly. He then looked over our own instruments and gave individual advice as to any problems. I discovered that the feet of my bridge had splayed, which meant they had moved outwards, so it was no longer fitting correctly. Robin also discussed re-hairing bows and how to tell if the hair was of good quality.

Teaching Methods
We discussed various teaching methods including Suzuki, Colourstrings and Rolland as well as looking through books by Tortellier, Fleming, Eisenberg, Starker and the Stringwise series. One thing that was memorable was the use of right hand vibrato mentioned in Eisenberg. To achieve this the idea is to glissando down the string with the left hand while using vibrato over the string with the right hand (i.e. without touching the string). This confused us to begin with, but Johanna eventually worked it out and it does take some practice to achieve!

Ensemble Playing
Two young cellists, Anna and Michael, joined us on the last day. Agnes gave a brief demonstration with these children as an insight into the way she teaches. They then joined in the ensemble playing including an arrangement of Saint-Saens Elephant made by Agnes. After the children left we played through other works including arrangements of Wagner for four cellists and the Villa-Lobos work for eight cellists.

This was a very informative, active and enjoyable course. When's the next one!

Kirsty Hugill, BA Honours
Adult Class