How to know if you're ready for VIBRATO | Adult Cello
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- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
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The Strad Podcast Episode #46: Billy Tobenkin on starting the cello at 25 - www.thestrad.com/podcast/the-...
Billy Tobenkin is a Los Angeles-based cellist who specializes in teaching adult learners. As a professional cellist who started playing the cello from scratch at 25, he is in a unique position to help others, like him, who found the cello later in life. He has developed strategies from his own musical journey to accelerate the learning process, and he is here to share them with you.
Please contact him at billy@adultcello.com with any questions or comments! Or visit adultcello.com
0:42 #1 - Left/Right hand independence test
2:10 #2 - Comfort with slurs
4:20 #3 - Comfort with shifting in lower neck positions
Thanks for the good prompts! I'll try them. I'm not sure I'll ever be ready for vibrato 🙈
I'd love for cello teachers to abstain from using vibrato ALL THE TIME when they are demonstrating stuff to their not-yet-vibrato-ready students. I feel it would be more at eye-level and also helping my ears to build a reference for what a good not-vibrato sound sounds like because that's what I'm aiming for at my level. I already know my teacher is so much a better cellist than I will ever be and if in the classroom we could focus onto a realistically achievable level, I'd find it more encouraging. (Like for questions 2&3 what was the point of making such supervibrating notes while showing us just how to test our readiness?)
What do you all think?
Arianna, I started learning 'cello 18 months ago after many decades of playing both violin and double-bass, so vibrato was no big deal for me and it was probably the best thing I could do at the outset. For baroque-style playing you don't need it, but for music in the romantic era in which melodies are passionately emotional, you really do need it. It adds a scintillating warmth to the tone that is absolute necessary. As for whether Billy should be using it while demonstrating technical aspects, maybe not. But you will find that after you begin to catch onto the technique of it, you will much more like the increased sweetness of the sounds you are making on your 'cello. It's no big deal. You can do it! It's all in rotating the wrist back and forth, while you keep your finger-tip firmly planted stationary on the string. You will find that vibrato with the 4th finger is not as easy as with the other 3, but it can be done and will get better as you progress and your left hand strengthens. God bless you, and remember, if it ain't baroque don't fix it.
Been enjoying the vids and vlogs Billy, great topics! Some of my adult students have found your stuff independently so you must be working that algorithm
Nice Lynn Harrell impression as well 😂
Thank you so much for this video and the questionnaire Billy. I have just started introducing vibrato watched your previous videos with step by step techniques and find them very helpful.
By the way, is this your new cello, that you’ve brought from Italy ? It sounds divine!!!
I cant move my hands fast. I chose cello because of its beautiful sound. But i have epilepsy and my pills slowed down my hands. My fingers cant "vibrate". I cant even play fighter video games anymore. I used to be so good at games. Now i blank out and wakeup to see my character die. My epilepsy started when i was in high school and was everyday. No one visited me at the hospital. No one called or texted when i was forced to be homeschooled. No one cared, and i realized i have no friends. Im now 30 and i finally was able to buy a cello. I never even touched a cello before then. Ive been practicing for a year know. I know how to read music because i sang in any chorus all my life and played piano for a couple years. Also guitar was taught to me by my friend and i played for about 9 or 10 years. But i always wanted to play cello.. now that i finally have one, i want to take lessons but i can't find a place. Im using a level 1 book but i keep forgetting what i just read. I'm not going to give up though. Ill keep looking for a teacher and practicing but i don't know if ill ever be able to vibrate my hands.
Billy, I have noticed that you are adjusting your end-pin at a height that places your G tuning peg well behind and above your ear. I adjust my end-pin to where the G peg is next to my ear, and my left knee is inside the bout. I do that because it helps me keep my bow closer to the fingerboard, and not slipping down to a squeaky Sul Ponticello while I am playing. I realize, however, that position does not facilitate reaching higher positions with my left hand. Do you have any suggestions about ideal 'cello height adjustment? (PS: I'm a 1-1/2 year beginner, it's a 4/4 cello, and I am 5' - 9" if that has anything to do with it.)
This is so true, vibrato should be learnt properly, and at the proper time to avoid building bad habits that are so hard to fix
Wonderful video, thank you so much 🤩🫶
Hi Billy, after playing guitar for many years, left-right movement in vibrato comes naturally to me, but this works very poorly on cello! Do you have any suggestions for those of us with vibrato muscle memory from different instruments?
Dear Friend Rubin, In vibrato on bowed instruments the fingertip should remain firmly stationary on the string while the wrist oscillations cause it to ROTATE in position. That works absolutely beautifully on 'cello or any other bowed string instrument. I have played them all for many years.
Learning vibrato is not as fast is seams to be, and you cannot "test" like this because you must get familiar with the first movement (sliding). It is recommendable to practice every step at least half of a month to make sure you've memorized properly even if you're able to go further from the very first time. So chunking into pieces is the smartest way to learn vibrato.
Dear friend, in vibrato your fingertip should not "slide" on the string. The fingertip should remain firmly stationary on the string while the wrist oscillations cause it to ROTATE in position. (I am a veteran of many years professional performance on bowed instruments, but if anyone out there disagrees with me, I welcome your reply.)