How to Shift Cleanly on the Cello

I find that many student cellists lack an organized system of shifting on the cello. Often the approach is nothing more than to throw the hand around and hope for the best!

There are many ways to execute a shift with several elements to consider: musical, technical, and the age of the composer's birthday (musical time period) to name a few. 

This article and video focus on the clean shift or the type of shift that does not have an expressive slide or "portamento" between the notes.

Shift = position change

Shifting does not involve moving from one isolated spot on the fingerboard to another isolated spot. Shifting involves a change of positions on the cello, and positions are comprised of groups of notes. Because of this, "position change" is a better description though cellists usually say shifting (it's faster to say after all!). Thinking of the notes you are connecting in a shift as notes within positions may provide a new way to conceptualize shifting.

Keep this in mind as you read the article and watch the video.

Keeping in contact with the string

When shifting it's advisable to keep one or more fingers in contact with the string. I recommend in most cases travelling on one finger. Rarely do we lift all the fingers off the string and move to the new position.

When shifting, unless connecting double stops (two notes at the same time), there will be a "departure finger" or "old finger" (the finger you are leaving) and the "arrival finger" or "new finger". To travel on the old finger or the new finger, that is the million-dollar question!

Old finger shift

An effective way to execute a clean shift is to travel on the "old finger" or the "departure finger". The old finger shift was historically called the German shift in contrast to the French shift, which involved an expressive slide between the notes, traveling on the arrival finger. Shifting on the old finger isn't a rigid rule - one can make a clean shift traveling on the new finger - but I find nothing quite beats the cleanliness of a well-executed old finger shift.

For a demonstration of clean shifting please listen to the short excerpt from the Haydn D Major Cello Concerto on the video.

As a teacher, I often announce a moratorium on all new finger shifts for my students. This is not because I don't like the French shift, quite the opposite! The problem is students are so used to thinking of note to note shifting, they become one trick ponies, traveling on the new finger for every single shift. I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense. If I'm thinking in a note-to-note fashion, it follows to rely on the new finger to take me to the new position; point your finger in the direction of that isolated spot on the fingerboard and hope for the best!

However, when you start practicing old finger shifts, you can't help but think in terms of position changes. Thinking in terms of positions is a fabulous way to increase your accuracy in shifting.

Old everything!

There is more to the clean shift than identifying the departure, traveling, and arrival fingers. Assuming there is a bow change during the shift, there is also an "old bow" and a "new bow". Moreover, if the old finger is on one string and the arrival finger on another, there is also an “old string” and a “new string”.

For a traditional German shift, you just need to remember one word, old. I even have a saying for this,

Old finger, old bow, old string, old everything!

Here’s how it works…

During the position change travel on the old finger, the old bow (whichever direction your bow was moving on the note before the shift), and the old string (whichever string the departure note was played on). The departure finger will travel to the new position and then the arrival note will be re-articulated on the new string with the new bow.

A little confusing? It's much easier to describe as I demonstrate on the cello, so I encourage you to check out the video.

Hang out in the positions

Before practicing the shift, I highly recommend "hanging out" in the departure and arrival positions. Again, it is helpful to be aware of the positions you are shifting from and to.

What I recommend is choosing a finger pattern (1-2-4, 1-3-4, 1x2-4, 1-2-3) in each position based on the key signature, playing different combinations of notes. You could play something like this:

1-4-2-4, 1-4-2-4, etc. or 4-1-3-1, 4-1-3-1, etc.

When shifting, mentally conceptualize the departure and arrival notes as part of these finger patterns in their respective positions. If you're anything like me, you’ll find that conceptualizing your shifts this way is a huge benefit. It's like having multiple GPSs helping you find your way around the fingerboard.

The helping note

As mentioned, the old finger travels on the old string to the new position. The note that the old finger comes to rest on in the new position is the "helping note". The shift is to the helping note, not the arrival note.

One of the advantages of helping notes is when traveling on a single finger the brain can measure exactly how far the positions are from each other. It’s inaccurate to think of the shift distance being between the departure note in the arrival note; this is the distance of the interval between the notes, not the physical distance of the shift. The distinction between the distance of the interval between the notes versus the physical distance on the fingerboard is especially helpful when shifting from a 1st finger to 4th finger or vice versa.

From “helping note” to “ghost note”

First, I recommend playing with an obvious slide from the departure note to the helping note in quarter notes on the old bow and old string. Again, do not try to hide the slide.

After this, gradually drop the helping note - the helping note is not written in the music after all! The first step to eliminating the helping note is to play the departure note as a dotted quarter and the helping note as an eighth note, again on the old bow and old string. So, at this point the helping note is becoming rhythmically shorter (an eight instead of a quarter note).

Next, I play double stops between the helping and arrival notes. The reason for this is to avoid arriving at the helping note before you are ready for the arrival note. By playing a double stop on the new bow you arrive at the helping note and arrival note at precisely the same time.

In the final stage, you play the helping note with the left hand but not the right hand (the bow arm).

This is all easier to demonstrate on the cello, so I highly recommend watching the video!

A release of pressure

During the shift, it is important to release the pressure (or weight, if you prefer) in both hands. This allows the shift to be easy and relaxed while hiding the sound of the shift. When you arrive at the new note, reapply the weight (or pressure).

Slow the bow during the shift

While releasing the pressure during the shift, simultaneously slow the bow speed. If your bow speed stays fast while releasing pressure, it will skate on the surface of the string and the sound will not be pleasing.

So how clean is the clean shift?

And this leads to another point - even though we call this a “clean shift”, typically we do allow for some connection between the notes. It is often desirable to audibly connect the old finger and the new finger. This prevents an "air bubble" between the notes, which may not sound musical. How much of this slide or connection you would like to be audible is a musical decision and controlled by how much pressure you release out of the string with the bow.

In the video, I give examples of different amounts of audible connection and how to achieve them.

Authored by Jamie Fiste, Professor of Cello at Central Michigan University.