Scaley Monsters for Cello
by Mary Cohen
- Instrumentation
- Cello
- Publisher
- Faber Music (ISBN 0-571-52983-6 / 978-0-571-52983-4), 32 pp. Subtitle: Scales Without Tears for Young Cellists
Purchase or download
About this piece
Mary Cohen's scale book for young cellists at about Grade 1-2 standard. Each scale and arpeggio comes with a 'dinosaur footprint map' of the fingerboard showing the finger pattern, for the student to fill in with note names, rhythm games for practising it, and a short solo piece in the same key. Besides the scales and arpeggios most often set at Grades 1 and 2, it includes the two-octave scale and arpeggio of F major, the two-octave arpeggio of G major and the one-octave scale and arpeggio of A minor. A 'phone a friend' game helps students memorise fingerings, and students are invited to write short tunes of their own in each key. The book is illustrated throughout with dinosaur cartoons.
Technical overview
First-position scales and arpeggios, starting on the C and G strings for keys such as F major. Each key pairs the scale with a rhythm pattern for practice and a short folk-based solo using quarter and eighth notes, marked bowings and dynamics from p to f, followed by staves for the student's own tune.
Technical focus
- C String Notes
- Dynamics
- G String Notes
- Rhythm
- Theory