Chats To 'Cello Students Part 1

Chats to 'Cello Students.

by Arthur Broadley.

PREFACE.

In introducing this little work on Violoncello Playing, a few words of thanks and explanation are perhaps necessary. My thanks are due to the professional friends, and students--and also to others with whom I am not personally acquainted, who have spoken or written concerning the benefit they have derived from the study of the "Chats" during the serial "run" in THE STRAD. It is a great pleasure to find that through the perusal of these crude literary efforts, some few have derived pleasure or a.s.sistance--that some difficulty has been made easier of mastery.

An explanation will a.s.sist any who fail to realize the limitations and intentions of a work of this description. In the first place it is impossible to thoroughly exhaust the whole science and art of 'cello technique and 'cello playing; recognising this, it has been my aim to draw on my own experience as a teacher of the instrument, rather than follow in the trail of any existing work. With respect to the intentions of the work, nothing can equal _viva-voce_ instruction and the personal supervision of a good master, but it is to be feared that many who are really talented cannot afford lessons from anyone who is thoroughly capable of directing their studies--it is this cla.s.s of player who will derive the most benefit from a conscientious study of the ensuing pages; may the instructions contained therein, direct and stimulate him to that which is good and artistic.

ARTHUR BROADLEY.

BRADFORD, YORKS., _January, 1899_.

CHATS TO 'CELLO STUDENTS

CHAPTER I.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS--THE 'CELLO DIFFICULT TO MASTER--THE CHOICE OF A TEACHER--CHOICE OF AN INSTRUMENT AND BOW.

Several works of more or less excellence have already been written on the violoncello and its study. It is all the more difficult then to write a work treating on the whole subject of 'cello playing, without in some measure going over the ground that has already been covered by previous writers. As I have found, however, that certain branches of this interesting study have received but scant treatment, and in some cases have even been completely ignored, I have directed my special attention to these subjects; thus, much that has been pa.s.sed over in existing works will be found to have here received due treatment.

Throughout the whole of the present work, I have endeavoured to clothe the matter in as original a manner as possible, and putting aside all stereotyped phrases, have tried to write in the same language that I would express myself in to a pupil having a course of actual lessons.

If by so doing, anything that the student may have pa.s.sed over as being unimportant, now forces itself upon him, my aim will be accomplished.

In various parts of the work I have endeavoured to introduce the reader to some of the higher branches of 'cello playing, as far as it is possible through the medium of literature, but it must be understood that any treatise on the higher branches of music can only be of a general character, the laws which govern musical expression, or those in connection with the delivery of a musical composition are so fugitive, and players vary so much in the observation, or disregard of them, according to their individual temperament, etc., that to give any hard and fast rules would only be to put fetters on all individuality.

If the student is really musical he will obtain the best results in this direction, by hearing our first cla.s.s artists interpret the works of the great masters: by thus bringing his faculties of observation and imitation into use, he will gradually absorb some of their style, which in due time will a.s.sert itself in his own performance.

THE 'CELLO A DIFFICULT INSTRUMENT TO MASTER.

If the reader has already commenced the study of the 'cello, it will be advisable for either his parents or himself to make direct enquiries of his professor, whether the latter thinks the pupil is sufficiently gifted to continue the study of this most difficult instrument. Of course every 'cello player cannot be a Becker or a Klengel, but unless the student has a very correct ear, and if he is old enough a fair amount of ambition, it would be better for him to study some less exacting instrument; that is if he feels compelled to learn something.

The piano is generally supposed to be the fallback cla.s.sical instrument, but I would not recommend this, we have quite enough piano playing of the second and third and the atrocious order, without violin and 'cello cast-offs trying their hand at it. I do not know of a more pathetic sight, than to see a youth with no musical gifts whatever, wasting the best years of his life, and his--or his parents'--money, in the study of an instrument for which he has no natural capabilities.

Perseverance, although a very estimable gift, never yet by itself made an artist, the real artist is an artist because it is impossible for him to be anything else. Nevertheless if the pupil can feel a.s.sured that he has a fairly fine ear, capable of easily distinguishing the difference in musical pitch, and a natural feeling for rhythm, he will be justified, providing he likes music almost better than anything else, in taking up the study of an instrument, which for solo work ranks with the violin for difficulties.

THE CHOICE OF A TEACHER.

The pupil is caused to suffer much inconvenience and perhaps even spoiled altogether for any real artistic work, if his early studies are not directed in an efficient manner. One smiles when one sees an advertis.e.m.e.nt in a local morning paper after the following fashion. Mr.

----, Professor of Music. Lessons on Piano! Singing! Violin! 'Cello!

Guitar! and Zither! also French! and German! All one man, remember, not half-a-dozen, and yet learned as he evidently is, I would not trust him to show a pupil how to hold his bow correctly. If the student resides in or near London, he will obtain better results, and in the long run will find that it costs him less, to connect himself with one of the recognised inst.i.tutions, such as the Royal Academy of Music or the Guildhall School of Music. To be recommended by one of these inst.i.tutions is to obtain the pa.s.sport into the highest musical circles.

In the provinces the choice of a good 'cello teacher is not so great, the reader will do well to remember that being a member of some fairly well known orchestra, is not always a guarantee of excellence, sometimes influence, or money, or perhaps both have been the means of obtaining the coveted position. The student will do better then to have lessons from someone who is known to be a master of his instrument, and if it should happen that the teacher is a better player than an exponent of the art of 'cello playing, if the student carefully watches his style, and hears him play often, he will at least learn how a composition ought to be performed, even if he is compelled to find out for himself how the mechanical part of its production is accomplished. I know one of our first cla.s.s teachers (violin) who seldom takes the instrument into his hands during a lesson, contenting himself with verbal explanations; this, unless the student is above the average standard of intelligence can never be productive of really good results; practical demonstrations generally being far more effective than mere talk. The pupil then must see that his teacher can play the exercises which he teaches, and should the teacher make any objection to exhibiting his skill in this fashion, depend upon it that the lack of it has a great deal to do with it.

THE CHOICE OF AN INSTRUMENT AND BOW.

Do not let my reader imagine that in the present work I am going to weary him with a long discourse on a matter which is so much controlled by the length of the purse; I flatter myself, however, that the advice will at least be sound. To those who can afford to buy a real genuine Cremona of good name, I have nothing whatever to say; if they can afford this, they can, or ought for their own satisfaction and safety, to pay for professional advice as to the real merit of their purchase. It is to the readers with a limited amount of spare capital that I wish to address myself, and I would tell them that there are a lot of fairly old instruments either German or French copies of one or other of the early Italian School, that will be found quite good enough for solos.

These instruments may have individual faults and weaknesses, but the player will gradually find these out and learn to humour them. Of the old English instruments I would advise the reader to beware, a lot of them although of good wood and pa.s.sable varnish, yet manage to have some more or less irreparable fault not readily discernible at first sight. An instrument of this cla.s.s I have in mind, a beautiful 'cello spoiled with the _f_ holes being cut about half their length too low, making it impossible to play a forte pa.s.sage on the A string owing to the bow coming in contact with the lower corners; so that this would not be readily noticed a fingerboard had been fitted, which was about three inches longer than is usual. Others are thin in the wood, causing wolf notes in various positions. These latter remarks refer more particularly to nameless old English instruments of the home-made type, and of course do not apply to the best work of such makers as Forster, Banks, Thompson, Joseph Hill, etc., many specimens of which have a particularly fine tone.

To the young player buying an instrument for life, if upwards of 15 can be given it is far better to purchase an entirely new one of good make, of a model suited to the individual taste of the student; by the time he has worked some ten or a dozen years on it he will have brought out most of the beauties of tone which the instrument is capable of giving.

A really good new instrument improves more rapidly than is generally admitted--with good hard exercise work in all the positions.

In choosing a bow Dodd and Tourte are names to conjure with, but happily there are no lost "secrets" in the art of bow making, and fortunately a new bow after a few weeks use is better than an old one, therefore the craze for old bows except with collectors and rich amateurs, will never be so p.r.o.nounced as is the case with old instruments. If the student can pay say a couple of sovereigns, he must consider himself tricked if he does not secure a bow good enough for any sort of work, and one which will with care last for years.

I have lately come across some French bows without any name, retailed, I believe, at about thirty shillings, which are very fine indeed, nice and light with plenty of spring. Some recommend a second-hand bow, saying that in buying one that has been used the faults, if any, will have made their appearance, but as it is hardly possible to tell whether a bow has been much used unless the stick is very badly worn, this is hardly sound. Buy from a conscientious dealer, pay a fair price and trust to it, that is all that can be done.

CHAPTER II.

HOW TO HOLD THE INSTRUMENT--THE ATt.i.tUDE OF THE PLAYER--THE USE OF A SLIDING PIN RECOMMENDED--CORRECT WAY OF HOLDING THE BOW--SOME INCORRECT SKETCHES OF SAME.

ATt.i.tUDE OF THE PLAYER.

Most pupils are surprised I have no doubt, at the evident discrepancy seen in the plates usually published with 'cello schools, when compared with the manner in which our first cla.s.s artists hold their instruments.

I will endeavour in some measure to explain this away.

The correct way to hold the 'cello if the instrument is not fitted with a sliding pin is as follows. The player to sit on the front part of the chair with the feet advanced, the left a little more forward than the right. The 'cello to be held with the legs, the lower part of the front edge (table) of the instrument being held in position by the right calf--the edge of the back being supported by the left calf--the legs of the player not to cover the ribs of the instrument so that the vibration is not impeded. The upper part of the back to the right of where the neck of the instrument is fitted should rest against the chest of the performer, this will throw the scroll of the instrument a little to the left of the face. The instrument to be held high enough for the bowing to clear the knees of the player. The thumb to be placed in a horizontal position at the back of the neck of the instrument, and should be between the first and second fingers. The left elbow not to be raised.

This then is the _correct_ manner of holding the 'cello. If the reader will look at the plate which is published with either the k.u.mmer or the Seb. Lee instruction book, he will find that the figure there agrees with the foregoing rules in every particular.

If the student makes use of a sliding-pin these instructions cannot be observed in every respect, the legs are not required to hold the 'cello, the left knee alone being brought into use as a slight support--not to hold the instrument from the ground, but to prevent it from rocking backwards and forwards.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG 1.]

In this matter I would like the student to understand that att.i.tude does not a.s.sist in the production of music, but do not let the reader imagine that if unnecessary posing does not help, awkward and uncouth positions of the players do not take away from the effect. Anything which distracts the attention of the audience from the music should be rigidly avoided; awkward att.i.tudes, and grotesque motions of the head and body should therefore be instantly suppressed by the teacher or the private friends of the student.

Piatti, who does not use a 'cello peg, holds his instrument in a correct manner, not shuffling about or varying his position. Now if the reader ever has a chance of hearing Van Biene, let him observe the manner in which that artist holds his 'cello. We have here the two extremes; as Piatti is of the strictly correct order, Van Biene is of the exaggerated artistic order, all the time he is playing constantly striking some fresh att.i.tude. If Van Biene had again to take to concert work, I have no doubt that he would calm down a little in this respect, his exaggerated style while being very effective on the stage, would not be tolerated on the concert platform. By all means let the student use a sliding-pin, but let him take advantage of the greater facilities which are offered, to make his att.i.tude more artistic, always adopting the happy medium in _this_ matter at least, correctness--without awkwardness, artistic grace--without unnecessary vain posing. As a first cla.s.s elocutionist seeks by att.i.tude to help the effect of his words, not to distract the attention of his audience, so the att.i.tude of the 'cellist must be pleasing and easeful. If the student will compare (Fig. 1) with the plates usually published with 'cello schools, especially the two previously mentioned, he will see the importance of the matter.

HOW TO HOLD THE BOW.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 2.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 3.]

There can be no departure from the acknowledged way of holding the bow if the best results are to be obtained, that is to say, that the rules must be strictly observed as far as the individual shape of the hand will allow. It will be observed that the nut of the 'cello bow is scooped out on the inner side, which forms two projections, one of these, the lower one, is surrounded with metal through which the hair of the bow pa.s.ses, the upper projection fits against the stick. The extreme tip of the thumb should be placed on this upper projection (Fig. 2) so that it is also partly on the stick, the thumb being a.s.sisted in holding the bow by the second and third fingers. The second or middle finger is so placed that the tip touches or overlaps the hair close to the lower projection; the third finger falls naturally into its place next to the second finger, and has its tip touching the metal, or silver ferrule on the lower projection (Fig. 3). These two fingers and thumb are all that are required to hold the bow, the fourth finger serves to balance the bow and should be placed lightly on the stick, its chief work being to prevent the bow dropping too much when playing at the heel, and to ease the pressure on the strings in very light pa.s.sages. Last but not least comes the first finger; this is the member which is responsible for quality and quant.i.ty of tone, it should have a slight bend round the stick, and so that the other fingers do not interfere, it should be placed slightly apart, this also helps to bring out a louder tone if required. The first finger like the fourth is not compelled to remain stationary, thus in long semiquaver _sautille_ pa.s.sages, where the extended position of the first finger would interfere with the natural spring of the bow, it should be made to relax its pressure and take a position nearer the second finger; again in long sustained heavy notes the first finger may be extended slightly, so that more pressure may be put on the bow. These last remarks are most important, as the whole success of the student's bowing rests on the correct use of the first finger, and the proper position of the thumb. I cannot quit this subject without mentioning the importance of having the muscles, especially the tendons on the back of the hand, perfectly easy when the bow is in position.

To allow this, the knuckles must not protrude in the least, the fingers also help by being allowed to bend easily at their middle joints, the upper phalanges having an almost horizontal position over the bow (Fig.