Teaching children to play the cello - parents talk about the activities of their children

I was surprised when my six-year-old daughter said she wanted to learn how to play the cello. We have no musicians in our family, I wasn’t even sure if she had a hearing. And why exactly the cello?

"Mom, I heard, very beautiful! As if someone sings, I want to play like that!" - she said. Only after that I turned my attention to this big violin. Indeed, just an extraordinary sound: powerful and gentle, tense and melodious.

We went to a music school and, to my surprise, my daughter was accepted immediately after listening. It is so pleasant to remember now: because of the cello, only hefty bows are visible, and her small fingers confidently hold the bow, and Mozart's Allegretto sounds.

Anya studied perfectly well, but her first years were very afraid of the stage. At academic concerts she received a score lower and cried, and teacher Valeria Alexandrovna told her that she was clever and played the best. After two or three years, Anya anxiously coped and began to go on stage with pride.

More than twenty years have passed, my daughter did not become a professional musician. But learning to play the cello gave her something more. Now she is engaged in IP-technology and quite successful young woman. She developed her sense of purpose, confidence and self-esteem together with the ability to hold bows. The study of music has instilled in her not only a good musical taste, but also subtle aesthetic preferences throughout. And she still keeps her first bow, broken and wrapped with electrical tape.

What could be the problems in teaching children to play the cello?

Often, after the first year of study, young cellists lose the desire to continue studying. When compared to the piano, the staging period is longer in learning to play the cello. Children study etudes and instructional exercises, which are often almost perfect, divorced from music and any creative task (just learning to play the cello is very difficult).

Work on the vibration of the traditional program begins at the very end of the third year of study. The artistic expression of the cello sound depends precisely on the vibration. Without hearing the beauty of the vibrating sound of the instrument, the child does not enjoy his play.

This is the main reason for the loss of children's interest in playing the cello, which is why in the music school, as nowhere else, the support from both the teacher and the parents plays a huge role in the success of the child.

The cello is a professional instrument that requires the student to have a versatile and, at the same time, a unique set of skills and abilities. At the very first lesson, the teacher needs to play several beautiful, but accessible to the children understanding of the plays. The child should feel the sound of the instrument. Periodically, show a beginner cellist the game of children of middle classes and seniors. Explain how you understand the sequence of tasks for him.