Taught by renowned cellist
Andrés Díaz
In this course, Professor Andrés Díaz, one of the most respected cellist-pedagogues of our time, takes us into the world of the cello fingerboard. He goes into great detail as he shows us ways of mastering the geography - i.e., where notes are - and shows us how to retain our accuracy even in the face of nerves and high tension.
Mapping the Fingerboard
The core principle of this lesson is to figure out how far your left hand can stretch, and use the stretching to create a map of your fingerboard. Instead of always shifting, stretching can be an amazing (and reliable!) way of covering large distances. The crucial difference is that how much we can stretch does not depend on our nerves or state of mind, and remains always constant
Intonation
In this lesson, we explore Díaz’s theory about intonation, which is that since most of the harmonics on the cello sound flat, if we err on the lower side pitch-wise, the instrument tends to ring in a more pleasing way. We also learn how the intonation needs to respond to the acoustics of the room, and that sound quality is really related very deeply to intonation itself.
Scales and Arpeggios
In this lesson, we learn how Professor Díaz approaches scales and why he uses scales. The biggest thing is that Professor Díaz uses scales and arpeggios to solve many different problems with cello playing. We learn about strengthening the fourth finger by using scales, and he encourages us to practice scales quietly and quickly, and to find the exact right bow speed and left hand relation to refine our tone quality and control.
Holding the Bow
In this lesson, we learn about Rostropovich, and how he was the model for Professor Díaz when it came to holding the bow. As opposed to other cellists, such as André Navarra, who had very prescribed, specific roles for the fingers, Rostropovich believed in the "bear claw" and dropping his arm weight into the bow. We also study the role of the thumb in holding the bow.
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Unlock Course →Andrés Díaz, one of the country's premiere cellist-educators, is professor at the Royal Conservatory of Music and head of the strings department at Southern Methodist University.
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