Small hands for Cello?

March 4, 2017 at 08:15 PM · Freeze it, so someone can sing you the well known song?

Seriously (now), someone (I think it was Sandor Vegh while master-classing a cellist) told us that Pablo Casals had small hands, so he moved his hand around rather a lot.

March 5, 2017 at 11:03 AM · Perhaps not a 3/4 because tone quality issues could be more likely. I'd go for a 7/8. A well-made 7/8 (small adult) can be as good as full-size. Some years ago my chamber orchestra performed the Haydn D major cello concerto with a professional cellist, quite a small lady with small hands. She played a 7/8 and got all the tone she needed to sing out over the orchestra.

With practice and playing (and a good teacher!) the left hand and its technique will develop to cope. I started as a cellist in my early 'teens before turning to the violin some years ago when I retired, and my left hand is measurably more developed, in stretch and finger length, than my right (I'm right-handed).

March 5, 2017 at 12:57 PM · Now is a good time to search for and select a compatible, professional clli teacher who can help settle you behind a cello that fits you and guide you past all the mistakes that untutored wannabe cellists make. That person can provide the help yuou are looking for now.

Trevor is correct however, cellist's hands do a great deal of dancing up and down the strings. In the positions above the neck of the cello (below it to an audience's eyes) the required finger spacing is the same as for playing the violin.

I started cello lessons at age 14 after 10 years of violin playing, and although I could play the cello from the very start (actually a month before my first lesson) and sight read music on it, until that first lesson I was making all kinds of mistakes with both hands that would have limited what I could eventually do on the instrument and would have actually injured me over time.

I have also given cello lessons and when I did I would go with my student to select an instrument whenever they gave me that opportunity. If you were to approach me as a potential teacher I would want to give you a first "lesson" on one of my own 4/4 cellos to see how your hand would work on it before recommending a smaller instrument.

March 5, 2017 at 09:50 PM · When I was a student I played in a quartet one summer with a remarkable cellist. She was 4'10" tall with tiny hands. She was studying with David Soyer at Curtis and had wonderful technique, she just danced with the cello. Small hands didn't seem to hinder her in any way. Her cello was full-sized, by the way.

March 13, 2017 at 09:44 AM · Why do you need to play the cello only? switch to violin. I have heard some indian flute players cut middle skin of fingers to increase stretching.

March 13, 2017 at 04:17 PM · Um, ewwww, that skin-cutting sounds terribly stupid and dangerous.

The webbing between the hands is a genetic factors, and cutting the webbing will not result in a significantly bigger stretch for most people, unless you are a frog. :)

To stretch the hands: Take 3 full-size corks, and place then in-between the fingers as far as they can go (no space, cork firmly lodged in webbing). Now, open and close your fingers repeatedly for a few minutes a day, stopping when you start to feel ache in the joints.

As this progresses (and it works remarkably quickly), you can squeeze the hand slightly harder for more stretch. I would say this can give you finger independence in about a month or less, depending on natural flexibility. Much quicker than simply acquiring it through playing for a few years or more. :D

March 13, 2017 at 04:23 PM · obligatory reminder that Robert Schumann ended his performing career through injury from a hand-made finger stretching device.

March 14, 2017 at 03:26 AM · That one is a myth, actually. What actually happened is that he somehow accidentally injured himself (the contraption was simply to hold his hands up while he played, or something of that sort). :)