Is it possible to teach yourself the cello? Playing an instrument is a skill that everyone can benefit from but learning to play some instruments is a lot more difficult than others. The cello is an instrument that can be a little bit more difficult to pick up on.
You have to know a little bit about it if you are going to teach yourself how to play the cello. The cello comes from the stringed instrument family. It looks like a big violin that sits on the floor. In the stringed instrument family it falls in between a violin in terms of size and sound. A cello is bigger and has a deeper sound than a violin, but is smaller and has a smaller sound than a double bass.
When it comes to learning how to play instruments that are a part of the stringed instrument family people don’t usually start with cello. The more common path is to learn the violin and then transition into the cello with some people then taking that knowledge base on to learn to play the double base.
Common Misconceptions about the Cello
1. You have to start playing the cello at an early age to get good at it. – This is a very common misconception that is simply not true. There are plenty of cases where people in their 40s that had never played the cello in their lives were able to teach themselves how to play while maintaining fulltime jobs and families.
2. The only way to learn the cello is in a traditional 1-on-1 instructor student setting. – This is another common misconception that is simply not true. Different people learn in different ways there are plenty of cases where people were able to teach themselves how to play the cello from a book.
3. The cello is just some big boring classical instrument- That couldn’t be further from the truth if you hear live bands you would be really surprised to how the cello sounds as part of an ensemble. There is even an electric cello.
Resources Available To Teach Yourself the Cello
There are a number of resources available to you in your quest to learn the cello regardless of what your current knowledge and experience level is.
Websites- There are websites that will walk you through the entire process from beginning to end. They cover: the different size cellos that are available, the different ways to acquire your cello, the proper way to put the cello into and take it out of the case, proper handling of the bow, how to properly set up the cello, how to hold the bow, the different types of notes that you can play on the cello and how to hold the beat, the different types of strings, and how to properly warm up. Some of these websites are set up like online tutorials while others are reoccurring monthly membership sites.
Traditional Books- If you do a search on any of the bigger internet websites that sell books you will find 3-5 instructional books that will walk you through the basics of the cello.
CD(s)/DVD(s) – There are a number of instructional CD(s)/DVD(s) that will walk you through the entire process of learning the cello.
If you want to teach yourself the cello there really isn’t anything stopping you. If you have absolutely no knowledge of the cello but its something that you just want to try there is a resource for you. If you played the cello as a kid but put it away for many years and are looking to get it back out then there is a resource for you. If you are determined to teach yourself the cello all the tools are available to you to make it happen.
http://www.cello-academy.com/, http://www.musicked.com/Online/1-Discovery/Discovery/Cello.htm, and http://www.musicianuniversity.com/courses/easy_cello_1.html were used as references when writing this article.
