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Spookyho
Registered
User
Posts: 6
(7/7/01 10:37:00
am)
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Higher up my
intonation?
I am not good at intonation!
How can I have some improvement
when i play the extended position?
Also I don't no how to tune my
cello well, can anyone here give me some ways to improve?
Cos
after having 1 lesson for next week, I will have lessons again til
Semptember!
Thanks for advice!^^
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AaronReeves
Registered User
Posts: 201
(7/7/01 4:34:37 pm)
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Re: Higher up my
intonation?
Keep in mind that I am assuming that you are a beginner, so if any
of this you already know, just disregard it and go on to another
part of my post. 
Tune
slowly (don't crank the peg hard, especially if it's slipping. I
made that mistake the very first day i had my cello! D string
snapped in half. I almost cried.) You should get a tuner, or use
your ear next to an in-tune piano. The longer you play the cello,
you'll be able to identify a perfect fifth by sound, and it will be
easier to tune. You simply tune the A string, then play the A and D
together and tune accordingly to what a fifth sounds like, but for
now, don't worry about that.
If your pegs ever slip, which they
will inevitably do eventually, Paul Tseng here at the ICS gave me a
suggestion which has helped tremendously. When you put a string on
the cello, guide the part of the string that is winding around the
peg with your finger, and push it toward the sides, or walls, of the
pegbox. It really does help keep your pegs from slipping. Someone
else can probably explain this better.
As for intonation,
considering my own isn't that great I can't help you much. (Only
been playing for a year and a half) Your intonation will improve
over time. It takes a while. For extended position, you could try
this though: There's a lovely little chromatic excercise that could
probably help. Play an F# on the D string (1st position, 3rd
finger), then F, then E, then extend your first finger to the D#,
then open D, then go back again. F#, F, E, D#, D, D#, E, F, F#. Do
it without moving your hand out of first position. To check that,
play the D#, then put down your second finger. It should still be on
F. (You can use a piano or a chromatic tuner to make sure your hand
is still in the right place.) You can do this with all the other
strings. For the A string it will be C#, C, B, A#, A, A#, B, C, C#.
Again checking to be sure that when your first finger is on A# you
can still play a C without moving your hand, etc. I'm sure other
people could give you better excercises.
Aaron
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ashley
Registered User
Posts: 10
(7/7/01 7:18:05 pm)
Reply
|
Re:
intonation
Hello Spookyho!
Here are a few tips to help you with your
intonation. Of course, your teacher probably knows best how to help
you, but I'll try to give you a few basic tips
:
1.Singing is a wonderful way to help yourself with
intonation. Typically, if you can sing something, you can play it on
the cello.
2.Pay attention to the intervals you're playing
and think about what position you're in if you're doing a lot of
shifting. (This ties into the "singing" theory; if you can sing the
interval, you can play it)
3.As far as tuning your cello, the
thing you want to listen for as you tune is the perfect fifth (as
you probably already know!). Here's how it works. We start by tuning
the A, then the D is tuned to the A (play the strings together), the
G to the D, etc. You maybe already know all this, but as you're
tuning the fifth listen for the "beats." If you listen for the right
thing, you'll hear a sort of wobble "in between" the interval. The
string is tuned perfectly when there are no more "wobbles." Do you
have fine tuners? Because it might be helpful to just practice
tuning. Start by tuning the lower string really flat, then just turn
the fine tuner and work your way up (while playing the two strings
together with your bow, and tuning with the left hand), just
listening to the changing pitch. You might even want to go a little
sharp (the wobbles will come back if you go sharp). Then bring it
all the way down again -- really flat. ...Oh, one thing, only do
that little exercise if you have fine tuners. You don't want to use
the pegs to go really sharp. You may go too sharp and break the
string. I'm sorry I can't explain this any
better.......
4.One last thing: you must constantly LISTEN.
That's the key for intonation. Always be listening. If you do that
you're sure to improve.
I'm sure you're on the right track.
Just keep working hard! And good luck these next couple of weeks
without lessons! I know from experience how hard it is!!! 
Edited by: ashley
at: 7/7/01 7:22:17
pm
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