Your First Scale!
D major one octave scale is the first scale I teach for a number of reasons. The first half of Suzuki book 1 for cello is in D major so if you can play this scale you can find the notes for the first half of the book. Using the open D is a great way to help set the hand position in tune for the full octave. Honestly, it’s a great place to start!
The D string is the second string on your right going from the far left of the instrument if you are looking down the fingerboard. It is the second thinnest of the strings. While reading music is a great tool, you certainly don’t have to read music to get started. Either follow along with the written-out fingering below or watch the sheet music as you play along with the video.
finger: D134-A134 then back down 31A-431D
string: ddd- aaa aa -ddd
One of the great things about YouTube (besides the fact that it makes learning to play the cello free) is that you can easily slow down or speed up any video. Go to the settings cog or menu icon and select playback speed. If the playback speed is too fast at first go to 0.75 speed or even 0.5 speed at which point you might think that I’ve had too much to drink! As you get more proficient you can always crank up the video to full speed or faster.
Pro Tip
Whether you are playing separate bows or zooming through the scale at 8 notes per bow, always use a full bow (open-open;close-close) so that you master using the full bow. Increase difficulty and speed by adding slurs but keeping the bow stroke more or less constant.
Since this is our first scale, we are also building some habits that will come with us through all our scales:
- Keep fingers down – as you ascend the scale don’t lift the finger you just played when you place the new finger. As you descend place all 4 fingers and then peel off the fingers one by one.
- Check posture – scales are when we can be most mindful of our posture. It is where we build the foundation of all our playing. Feet flat on the floor, cello between your knees, touching at your sternum, sitting straight up, shoulders relaxed.
- Check bow path – watch your bow. Is it traveling straight across the string (t-bow)? Is it midway between the fingerboard and the bridge (forte-freeway)? Has your bow hand collapsed? Check your thumb.
- Check intonation – verify your intonation. Play with the video, use a tuner, watch your hand in a mirror to check that you are on the tapes. Don’t assume, verify.
Once you can easily do D major 8 notes per bow with these 4 healthy habits then you should go onto the next scale. In my system, each scale takes you higher up the instrument until we have mastered the entire fingerboard.
Happy Practicing!