Putting It All Together
Schroeder No. 5 brings together all the elements learned in the previous 4 exercises and adds slurs! In the Schroeder No. 1 Exercise you learned your open strings. Schroeder No. 2 added 1st finger. Schroeder 3 added both 2nd and 3rd finger plus dotted half-notes. Schroeder 4 added 4th finger. The combination of all the fingers and and rhythms previously introduced can take some time to work out but the result is an exercise that sounds more like a song than the previously more formulaic exercises.
The line connecting the quarter notes on beat 3 and 4 in the first measure is called a slur. It means that those two notes are played without changing or rearticulating the bow. The 2nd finger C is played down bow and then the B and C are played up bow. The same pattern is repeated exactly in measures 5, 9, and 13. Slurs are very helpful when it comes to bow distribution. By combining those two notes with the slur under one bow, the bow travels two beats down then two beats up which puts you conveniently at the frog for the long dotted half-note.
I strongly encourage playing Schroeder No 5 with the video or with a metronome until you feel like you have it in your ear. One of the most common mistakes students make is not holding the dotted half-notes long enough. It’s also easy to forget the 2nd fingers on A & D vs. 3rd fingers on C & G. Combining all these skills AND remembering to say and play the notes takes time. By now, the say and play method may be getting tiresome. Hang in there a little bit longer. Just knowing the names of the notes was never the goal. We are working towards immediacy and mastery! I recommend the say and play method through Schroeder No 6 and flash cards even longer!
Pro Tip
FLASH CARDS! It’s old school but it works. You need to train your brain to have immediate responses to these notes so drilling with timed flash cards or a flash card app like Note Rush, is the quickest way to real mastery!
As we learn to read music, let’s make sure that your posture is setting you up for success down the road. Here is a handy posture checklist:
- Posture – feet flat on the floor, cello between your knees, touching at your sternum, sitting straight up, shoulders relaxed, elbow out like a kickstand, straight EWP (elbow-wrist-pinkie)
- Left hand – thumb and fingers bent (making a “C”), fingers arched and contacting the string with the pad of the fingertip, thumb bent and under 2nd finger
- Bow path – bow travels straight across the string (t-bow), midway between the fingerboard and the bridge (forte-freeway)
- Bow hand – thumb slightly bent, index finger touching the stick between the first and second knuckle, hand pronated, fingers slightly apart — not overly spread or bunched together
- Keep fingers down as you play – 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 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.