Cello technique
In early times, female cellists sometimes played side-saddle, since it was considered improper for a lady to part her knees in public.
In rare cases, a player has used a mirror-image posture—usually because of a physical disability of the arm or hand that makes the required technique impossible for that side of the body.
In such a situation, the player must decide whether or not to reverse the set-up of the cello (the string positions, bass-bar, sound post, fingerboard shape, and bridge carving are all asymmetrical).
If a finger is required on two (or more) strings at once to play perfect fifths (in double stops or chords) it is used flat.
In slower, or more expressive playing, the contact point can move slightly away from the nail to the pad of the finger, allowing a fuller vibrato.
The fixed point of contact of the fingertip on the string absorbs this motion by rocking back and forth, with the thumb typically aligned with the middle finger.
The closer to the bridge the string is bowed, the more projecting and brighter the tone, with the extreme (sul ponticello) producing a metallic, shimmery sound.
If bowing closer to the fingerboard (sul tasto), the sound produced will be softer, more mellow, and less defined, which is often taught to be avoided for beginners.
In staccato, the player moves the bow a small distance and stops it on the string, making a short sound, the rest of the written duration being taken up by silence.
As a result, the bow bounces off the string to produce a crisp, percussive sound, making each note audible even in fast-tempo passages.
When tempi get too fast for controlled détaché, it becomes necessary for the bow to be bounced slightly off the string with the wrist in a manner similar to spiccato.
However, when tempi are not fast enough for completely separated, crisp-sounding spiccato, notes remain slightly connected to create a brushing or scrubbing sound that results from the sautillé stroke.
Sul tasto, in extreme cases called "flautando," produces a more flute-like sound, with more emphasis on the fundamental frequency of the note, and softer overtones.
The much less common alternative is col legno tratto, wherein the wood is drawn across the string as the hair is in a normal bow stroke.
Triple and quadruple stops may also be played (in a "broken" fashion), but are difficult to sustain because of the change in slope of the bridge.
To extend the technique in this area, Frances-Marie Uitti has invented a two-bow system: one bow plays above the strings and one below, allowing for sustained triple and quadruple stops.
However, during the 18th Century in Northern Europe, the cello was still considered a lowly and rudimentary instrument compared to the viola da gamba.
Berteau developed an effortless fingering system, incorporating the use of the thumb, and introducing the use of both natural and artificial harmonics, which was quite unusual for the cello at the time.
[8] There were originally two factions of styles in the German School of cello playing: those who followed Bernhard Romberg (1767–1841) in Germany and Friedrich Dotzauer (1783–1860) in Bonn.
Beethoven and Mozart, when they wrote for cello in the treble clef, penned the music an octave higher than it was to sound.
Romberg simplified notation, limiting cello music to three clefs—the bass, tenor, and treble clef (sounding where it was written).
He established the notation for the thumb, a circle with a small line (see the diagram) and also modified the C string side of the cello so it could resonate more.
He received instruction from Friedrich Grützmacher in Leipzig, giving him a strong base in which he further developed his technique.
