Stringsongs for Cello
- Instrumentation
- Cello
- Composed
- 1981
- Publisher
- Boosey & Hawkes (BH 1200092 / M060039331; ISMN 979-0-060-03933-1); piano accompaniment published separately
Purchase or download
About this piece
Sheila Nelson's book of rounds, canons, part-songs and short pieces to sing and play, written to follow her Tetratunes. The 27 items mix traditional rounds (London's Burning, Three Blind Mice, Summer is a-coming in), early canons such as Tallis' Canon, and several of Nelson's own pieces, including Idle Cowboy and Rumba Time. Words are printed under the music, so students sing a line before playing it and then hold their own part against a contrasting one. Pieces from the book are set for Trinity's Initial and Grade 1 cello exams, and it suits group classes as much as individual lessons.
Technical overview
Stays in first position in D and G major with fingers 1-4 on the D, A and G strings. It uses simple 3/4 and 4/4 rhythms with some dotted notes and two-note slurs. The rounds and two-part pieces train steady pulse and listening, and Rumba Time adds a lower second part with mf/p contrasts.
Technical focus
- 2 Note Slurs
- A String Notes
- D String Notes
- Detaché
- Dotted Rhythms
- Dynamics
- Ensemble Skills
- G String Notes