Skip to content

Double Stop Musings for the Cello, Book Two

by Cassia Harvey

Instrumentation
Cello
Publisher
C. Harvey Publications

Purchase or download

Cover of Double Stop Musings for the Cello, Book Two
Cover courtesy of C. Harvey Publications

About this piece

Double Stop Musings Book Two presents a varied collection of exercises for the very advanced cellist. In the keys of E-flat, F, F-sharp, and G, this book develops a disciplined left hand and a sense of fingerboard security using studies in double-stop thirds, sixths, octaves, and tenths. This book can be used to build left-hand strength, develop general tone, and was designed to prepare the cellist for the difficulties of double-stop-playing in advanced cello literature. Daily training with this book can raise the cellist's level of playing so that double-stop passages in pieces such as Dvorak's Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations can be more easily mastered. Double Stop Musings for the Cello, Book Three is a companion book.

Technical overview

This advanced cello double stop book gives you essential cello technique, better intonation, and spectacular hand strength!

Technical focus

  • Double Stops

Level rubric

Advanced

Left Hand

  • Unrestricted fingerboard operation.
  • Effortless high‑register passages with thumb position.
  • Execute large leaps, rapid shifts & fast runs with precise intonation.
  • Render double stops with clarity and even vibrato.
  • Crisp, stylistically appropriate ornamentation (trills, turns, mordents).
  • Instinctive micro‑adjustments in intonation for expressiveness.
  • False harmonics in low positions

Right Hand

  • Complete command of all bow strokes at any tempo/dynamic.
  • Comfortable execution of virtuoso passages (sautillé, intricate ricochet).
  • Tone projection from whisper‑quiet to fortissimo.
  • Integrate advanced bow patterns with expressive phrasing.
  • Demonstrate technical precision with a broad dynamic range.

Rhythm & Musicality

  • Interpret large‑scale structures with nuanced pacing and rhythmic freedom.
  • Highly refined phrasing with subtle note grouping & expressive rubato.
  • Convey emotional depth and stylistic authenticity.
  • Incorporate personal interpretive choices while meeting stylistic demands.

Levels are approximate guides, not strict requirements.