Thinking of taking up cello on top of violin, but have some concerns

July 28, 2016 at 08:34 PM · I don't play cello, but it's significantly different from violin. Both hands are used at different angles, the pressure points are different, the basic balance is very different (just think of the bow/string relationship, for one).

Even if you don't want to stop studying violin, it might be very wise to take a few cello lessons so you don't start building bad habits.

July 28, 2016 at 09:51 PM · A music friend of mine did the same and has astonished us all with her progress on cello.

I also know a lady from CAMMAC who plays them all: from fiddle to double-bass.

If you are leaning toward the dark side, why not viola? Depending on your taste, you may get more fun for less effort. Note I did not say "no effort at all".

July 28, 2016 at 11:10 PM · This person did it the other way round, starting on the violin after a lifetime of playing the cello in orchestras. It has taken him seven years of lessons on the violin from a v.g. teacher to get to at least the standard he was on the cello (grade 8+), if that's any guide.

Talking about multi-instrumentalists, in Bristol we have an orchestral musician, not a formal member of any orchestra, who floats around from ensemble to ensemble, usually for the last two or three rehearsals before a concert. He is of quite a good standard on violin, viola, cello and double bass and chooses for himself which instrument he's going to play (and the section if it's the violin), unless they want him to fill a vacancy at short notice. It is said he sets himself targets, like playing all the string parts in all the Beethoven symphonies over a period of years. A very useful guy to have around if you need someone in a hurry.

July 28, 2016 at 11:53 PM · I play violin, viola, and cello. I started violin at age 4 and cello at age 14. Although I could play cello reading bass clef in the month before I started cello lessons and actually started on cello as a charter player in our city's community orchestra the evening after my first cello lesson, lessons from a professional cellist were critical to correcting the violinistic ways in which I used my left and right bands until I was corrected at that first lesson. I only had 28 months of cello lessons, but have worked through Saint Saens, Haydn D major, and Boccherini concertos and part of the Dvorak - some years of orchestral playing and decades of chamber music. On violin I was high school concertmaster (but played cello there when needed) and played a number of the major concertos - but not for performance.

I had absolutely not trouble learning to play cello - in fact I was reading from my violin music the day I got the first cello and played in an adult string quartet the next week (before my first lesson).

It can be done- I practiced both diligently through my high school years - and still play both plus viola 63 years later. I've know a couple of people who also played the bass - but I gotta tell you it is painful to watch an 85 year old struggling to carry a bass up or down stairs or get it into the back of a car - that's one reason I spent most of my ensemble years on violin rather than cello - even.

If you do take up cello, be sure to take your cello case along when you go automobile shopping!

July 29, 2016 at 04:50 AM · I tried to switch to cello when I was 16 and at that time finishing on violin Mozart concertos. For me at that moment it seemed very difficult and I gave up after a few private lessons from a very good teacher on a very bad cello. It was mostly the bow that was the problem for me. I could not sit it across the strings and allow gravity to work for me.

You would have to work through the difficult period. at 16 I could not manage it and felt I was too far ahead on violin to start from scratch on another instrument. I would assume you have a lot more drive than I did at 16.

I have known of a violinist who switched from cello to violin because he met up with extraordinary cello competition and wanted first chairs and to stand out (in high school). Once he entered college he switched back to cello then became a teacher/conductor.

Also, I know of a woman in her eighties who plays both in our regional community orchestra. Since we need good cellists and not more violinists she has switched back to cello which she prefers.

I think that it might be like it was for me relearning violin after 23 years, a year of excruciating noise and demanding difficulties before being able to produce a listenable sound on the cello. Then it would get easier I think.

July 29, 2016 at 09:43 AM · Thanks for the insights and comments, it's very helpful to hear what others have done and how your experiences worked out. I did consider viola in passing and I love the richness of its sound, but I think I'm more interested in cello and the challenge of learning a wholly new instrument. Maybe the best way to proceed is starting with initial lessons to get me introduced to the cello properly before trying to continue on my own. I do remember how hard it was to fix bad habits when I took up the violin again as an adult (my childhood teacher wasn’t a stickler for technique) and don't want to repeat that experience.