The Essential String Method, Cello Book 1
- Instrumentation
- Cello
- Publisher
- Boosey & Hawkes, with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (BH 1200450; ISMN 979-0-060-10512-8; ISBN 9780851625324); by Sheila M. Nelson with Catherine Elliott, Gerald Howard and Adrian Thorne
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About this piece
The first cello book of the Essential String Method, which Sheila Nelson developed with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama together with Catherine Elliott, Gerald Howard (cello) and Adrian Thorne (musicianship). Playing goes hand in hand with singing, solfa, rhythm cards and short writing tasks, so pupils sing a tune and name its notes before they play it. The 26 short pieces, mostly by Nelson with some by Elliott and Howard, include teacher-and-pupil duets and songs with words. It works for individual lessons and for the group teaching it was designed for.
Technical overview
Starts on open strings in 2/4 with crotchets and quavers, naming the D, A and G strings, then adds the first left-hand fingers on the D string (D-E-F sharp, sung as doh-ray-mi). Rhythm and solfa work runs alongside, and some pieces are duets with the teacher playing the lower part.
Technical focus
- D String Notes
- Detaché
- Ensemble Skills
- Rhythm
- String Crossings
- Theory