Cello Technique for Violinists

Below are listed some technical issues that violinists should be aware of when playing the cello. They are all from my experience giving cello lessons to violin education majors at Central Michigan University.

When teaching violinists, I usually need to have them position their left hands more in the direction of the square left hand position (supination). Even though I believe in utilizing pronation in left hand technique (actually, hand rotation), in my experience violinists need more supination to the left hand when approaching the cello.

This is related to the first point. The 4th finger is often much too slanted when violinists first begin to play the cello. Make sure that the fourth finger only has a slight slant.

On the cello we keep the base of the index finger (the knuckle) away from the neck of the cello while violinists tend to keep it close to the neck or even touching the neck. Keep an "open C" in the hand, especially while playing on first finger. This will keep the knuckle base away from the neck of the cello. This will take some getting used to.

Cellists usually keep the thumb much more to the left side of the neck while violinists tend to place their thumb on the right side of the neck of the cello. Especially on the A and D strings, I suggest keeping the thumb to the left side of the neck. This also helps to maintain an open "C" hand position. No "C Sickness" please! This will also necessitate using arm weight to push the string down. When playing on the lower strings, move the thumb more to the back of the neck of the cello.

Violinists tend to have the base knuckles high above the fingertips with the fingers approaching the fingerboard from above. I always suggest having the base knuckles of the left hand only slightly higher than the tips of the fingers on the fingerboard. This is especially important for the 4th finger.