Left hand position

[celloh]

In positioning the left hand for "first position," the thumb rests under the neck, and the second finger approaches the surface of the fingerboard and string generally opposite the thumb. Thus, squeezing the second finger and thumb together enables the cellist to press down the a string, and play the note "middle c." The thumb must remain under the neck, and not hang off in mid-air while the cellist is playing.

The left elbow should be raised away from the body a few inches, but not straight out like an airplane's wing! This will become more important later as the cellist's technique enables finger positions on the fingerboard over the cello's body. In these higher positions the thumb is no longer kept under the neck, but comes over on top of the strings, and acts like another finger. The left elbow must be held relatively high while playing these "thumb positions."

[cellopro]

Squeeze is not the best term here. Tightness can cause serious problems, and will be confusing when the cellist attempts his/her first shift. Fingers themselves should build up strength. After the thumb is in place and you are accustomed to having it NEAR the second finger (there is a growing school of thought that the thumb should be near the first finger) I encourage and assign excercises to my students where they do not use the thumb at all on the neck.

Here's why: Prepare for a shift. What EXACTLY does the thumb do? It better loosen it's "grip" (ick) on the neck or the shift goes nowhere, or the thumb get's left behind. Let's talk philosophy on shifting. Shifting should come from the forearm, and nowhere else. Why? It's movement is along an x-axis and it should move along the x-axis line which is the fingerboard. This includes half-step shifts. Long shifts, such as octave shifting will have the torso move with the arm to help the arm's extension. Practice your octave shifts without the use of the thumb. Move the entire arm for the shift, let your torso follow the shift. You'll find your accuracy improves quickly. Now put the thumb back on the neck and use it as a guide to get to the heel of the instrument before the arm raises over the upper bout to approach the top note. Thumb ALWAYS moves with the shift and should keep in the same position in relation to the first or second fingers.

General rule of thumb ( ) is to be able to draw a straight line from the second knuckle to the elbow without the wrist having any angle whatsoever, either bent or inverted. You'll find that your shifting, vibrato, and facilitation of finding notes increases exponentially, instead of working hard on it day in and day out.

Finger strength is very important for so many reasons, hence the need to become independent of the thumb. Vibrato usually has little or NO pressure of the thumb. Shifting requires little or NO pressure of the thumb. Thumb is just a guide, no more. I would encourage all cellists beginner to advanced to play baroque music with the thumb nowhere near the neck to discover this for themselves.

When playing above 4th position, remember to keep the straight line between elbow and knuckle. Getting into this habit will prevent you from getting stuck on the corner of the upper bout.

I'll post some pictures on this at some point.

Paul

[jhz]

I'm a beginning cello player with previous experience playing the violin (not sure that matters but I may have picked up habits that don't translate well to the cello). I'm having trouble keeping my left-hand thumb in a C curve, especially using the A string, where my thumb tends to flatten and get stressed/tight. Do you have a link to exercises I might try, or any photos that might help me with the left-thumb technique? TIA!

[tiandao]

When you play, you are not squeezing the neck of the cello to play the notes. The goal here is not to kill the cello (you really can't strangle the instrument, so there is no point in trying). When you play, your fingers are pulling the instrument towards your body and your body is pushing the instrument back against the fingers. It is this that creates the necessary pressure to play the strings. Eventually, the thumb naturally relaxes (after you consciously tell it to relax several times). Of course, there are other body mechanics, such as arm angle, instrument angle, and whatnot that can be handled by your teacher (since I cannot see exactly what you are doing).

Hope this helps. Most of my students stop having sore thumbs after this important lecture.

~Lucian

[jhz]

Lucian, thanks so much. I tried moving my thumb away from the back of the cello neck while playing and was surprised to hear the my notes were still clear--this reminds me not to strangle my poor cello. It may have been unintentional but it helps me to imagine my cello needing to breath...

thanks again--judy

[musikmom&daughter]

I'm having problems that are kind of the same, and kind of opposite. I was having problems with my thumb in the beginning, so my teacher said that it was okay to leave it off the neck at first, to get used to keeping my hand relaxed. Now, though, she wants me to put my thumb back, because technically that's where it should be. But I have trouble keeping my thumb curved and my wrist straight at the same time. My thumb is much more comfortable when it's straight - but my teacher says it ought to be bent to avoid tightening up. But since (at least right now) that's less comfortable for me, it feels like it tightens up MORE when it IS curved. Any ideas?

[tiandao]

First, I apologize for the late reply. Things just get busy this time of year. Now follow these instructions very carefully as you are reading it for the first time. You need nothing but your own hand.

First, take your left hand and stick it out in front of you.
Second, shake it until it feels a bit numb. And do not read ahead. It will not help.
Third, lay it on the desk, palm side up.

Now look at the thumb. Is it bent or straight, or slightly in between? This is the position of a relaxed thumb for you. Everybody is slightly different. My old teacher had a thumb that curved a lot when relaxed and my old cello prof had a straight thumb when relaxed. Mine is in the middle. If you are to be relaxed, you should be relaxed in what your body feels natural.

The wrist is another interesting matter. Some teach to having a straight wrist, while other want it to be slightly upwards. I play a mixture (thanks to my mixed background of playing styles) depending on the sound I want. What you can try is, instead of having the fingers push down, think about the forearm pulling back (I say forearm and not arm to avoid your elbow jutting out behind you; your elbow is like a pivot point, and the forearm pivots back). This will give more relaxed finger and thus loosen the wrist a bit and let it take a more natural position.

Something that will help that may seem completely unrelated is to have the shoulders relax. A rising shoulder is a cause of tension and this tension will spread to the neck, and arm, and even the back. Keep and down and relaxed through everything.

Hope this helps. One more thing to remember is that the thumb is there is keep track of where you are on the cello. It tells you if you are in the crook of the neck in third or fourth postion, or lower on the cello in first or second. It will also help you judge the distance of some shift when all other fingers are not on the strings (such as playing open D then fingered A, from first to third position).

Keep relaxed and have fun.

~Lucian

[ilmaestro18]

My question about the left hand is regarding the pressure of the fingers. One of my former teachers referred to this as "buckling," which is when the finger is pressed all the way down and the fingernail appears white as a result. I don't see any of the famous cellists doing this in their performances. Yet, I feel that if I don't press down hard enough, the sound isn't as full and isn't as clear. In addition, I'm supposed to keep my fingers pointed towards the bridge when I play, but for some reason, I have a harder time doing this unless I'm buckling. How can I not press down so much and keep my fingers pointed in the right direction at the same time without needing to give up one in favor of the other? Thank you for your help!

[xdunlapx]

I've heard various teachers talk about the thumb position of the left hand. From what I've learned your thumb should be relaxed, not pressing on the back of the cello neck but not loosy goosy. I prefer to keep my thumb straight and in line with my first finger. It's the most natural position. I never have hand cramps or other problems associated with the thumb or hand. Do whatever feels natural for you, that's the most important thing.

[allthingspink]

As far as the fingers go, try and play on the very tips of your fingers. If you do that, the knuckle will be lined up with it and your fingers shouldn't buckle. However, if your nails are even slightly long, this is nearly impossible to do.

For thumb, I've heard that as long as its comfortable for you, go with it. I almost always play with my thumb rounded on the back of the neck, except in half position and in 4th position. Whatever floats your boat!
Sarah

[gpjt]

When I started playing, I found that if I pressed hard enough to get a good tone, my fingers would actually be bent backwards by 30 degrees or so at the last joint (the one closest to the fingertip). They do that without any discomfort -- though my teacher told me that that's a bit unusual. Never knew I was slightly double-jointed... anyway, if that's what you mean, ilmaestro18, then I found that just by trying really hard not to do it, and putting up with a slightly fuzzy tone for a month or two, my fingers got stronger and it no longer happened -- except when sight-reading something new (when everything goes to pot anyway...) So perhaps it's "just" a case of focusing on it hard until it stops happening.

[MikeAlx]

I've always been pretty double-jointed in my fingers and thumbs, perhaps even more so as a child, and had similar problems when learning. I think even now, in first position, my thumb is often arched back on itself rather than curved in. This is a relaxed position for me! But I never let my fingers 'collapse' into the double-jointed position. That would tend to lower the wrist and reduce mobility of the other fingers and left hand generally. It would also make vibrato very difficult. Practice should help build up strength to the point where you can play more on your fingertips. What starts as feeling unnatural should become natural when you've done it enough times.