It is my intention to eventually supply sound samples demonstrating things discussed here. Bear with me while this is under construction!

The cello is a marvellously versatile instrument. It can be used either as a melody instrument, or to provide high or low accompaniment.

The Cello as Lead Instrument

There are a variety of kinds of music in the Celtic tradition. Slow airs are among the oldest tunes in this music, and the cello's soulful, melancholy sound, which so closely approximates the human voice, makes it an ideal instrument for airs, either set to a strict time or in the freer form derived from Sean Nos singing. I once had the wonderful compliment from a harper that the air "O'Carolan's Farewell to Music" (the last piece written by Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan) sounded better on my cello than on harp.

However, the cello can work equally well as a lead instrument on fast tunes. There are few things that can be done on violin that cannot be done on cello as well, though some require transposition, as the cello lacks the violin's high E string, making some pieces awkward in the original key. My perspective on playing dance tunes was transformed when I realized that traditional fiddling generally does not leave first position, and took some of the tunes in which I was shifting up and down as far as sixth position and simply transposed them down a fifth. Some things that had been almost impossible instantly became music, and now even when I intend to play something in the original key I often first feel it out down a fifth to get the feel I want before moving it back to the original.

It is worth noting for the sake of other cellists that it is possible to get high E strings for celli, and that most makers of electronic instruments make 5- and 6-string models as well as 4-stringers. (The 6th generally being a low F, which gives a truly amazing sound.) Even on a normal accoustic 4-stringed instrument, it is possible to move the strings over a notch and add an E-string if playing in the original key is your priority.

Ornamentation

The best thing to is work with a book or fiddle teacher on fiddle ornamentation and see what is transferrable. There is a serious difference in left-hand technique between violin and cello, in that a fiddler can use her fourth finger to reach the fifth while remaining in first position, thus allowing her to do a turn on the fourth degree of the string without changing position. Unless you have really extrodinary hands, this is not possible on the cello. Likewise, if playing in the original key requires shifting, this can sometimes make it impossible to do the ornamentations that fiddlers would do.

However, while ornamentation is an important aspect of dance tunes, it is not nearly so important as basic rhythm. If you have the rhythmic swing right, embellishments and even getting the "right" notes are far less important, while playing fancy embellishments precisely in pitch is a waste of time if the swing is not there. So I should advise the newcomer to this music to first work on getting tunes in the right groove without embellishments.

In my experience, it is less clear that most of fiddlers' right-hand technique transfers easily to the cello. Due to differences in the weight of the bow and the position in which it is drawn across the strong, the cello bow is not as amenable to rapid detache bowing, especially of the sort needed for triplet ornamentations. Likewise, the attack on the lower cello strings is much slower than that on the violin strings, so bow changes are bought in fast pieces at the price of signal-to-noise ration. As a result, I tend to use a more legato bowing than most fiddlers I know. It is really quite remarkable to me to hold my bow arm in the position a fiddler would hold it and feel how natural fast triplets feel when gravity is doing half the work (i.e., the upbows are literally up and the downbows down, rather than left and right as on the cello!). I have taken to making liberal use of controlled rhythmic spicatto to get the same kind of fast, sputtering effect.

Accoustically, the cello does not have the piercing sonic quality of pipes or accordion, or even of the fiddle or the high register of the whistle. As a result, there can be problems in making a cello melody line heard when there are a number of instruments playing together (for example, in a sessiun, or a band gig). (By contrast, the low strings can resonate on extended notes in a way that drowns out everybody else, so be considerate!) There is, of course, no substitute for playing with sensitive and considerate musicians in a session or a gig...

Counter-Melody

The cello's lack of a piercing quality is a virtue when it comes to accompaniment. In accompanying singers in particular, the cello is a good instrument for making an interesting harmonic contribution that is just on the edge of the listener's consciousness without distracting her from the main performer.

Counter-melody--weaving a second melodic line around the principal melody--is an art unto itself, and I cannot presume to teach it here. But if you have a gift for it, cello is a good instrument for it. In general, I tend to adopt the advice of making a progression in the shape of a rainbow: i.e., starting relatively low on the instrument, building up to the higher range (though seldom more than an octave above middle C, except for harmonics), and then returning to the low range to conclude. (Though sometimes a high, ethereal conclusion on high harmonics is lovely as well.) Be aware that throughout this range you are in the range of the human voice, and that playing in a given register amounts to a different kind of accomaniment with a male or female vocalist. Playing a low G with a soprano singer is providing support in a constrasting register, while doing the same with a bass singer is providing riskier interplay in the same register. (And the same thing holds true, mutatis mutandis, for playing high.) This can all be put to good use. For example, very few voices are really solid as low as the cello can go, and so doubling a note at the bottom end of a singer's register can help the overall sound of the note. I also find that women singers that I work with tend to gravitate to a more relaxed sound when I do low accompaniment and a more focused and intense sound when I move up into their register. Moving quickly upwards in a song as it reaches its more intense verses can be a useful technique for building tension and energy, and moving quietly to the bass range for the denoument of a reprise at the end of a tune.

This page is under construction!~!!

Drones

High Harmonics

Bass Lines and their Treble Cousins

Pizzicatto

Kick-Ass Rhythm