Thumbposition: Basic Doublestops in One Position (No Shifts)

Doublestopped practice material in one position (without shifts) is absolutely the best and most fundamental material for establishing the basic comfort, strength and security of our left hand in any position on the cello fingerboard (see here for a more detailed explanation as to why this is).

1: DOUBLESTOPPED EXERCISES

EXERCISE 1: ALL FINGER COMBINATIONS ON TWO STRINGS

In all of the following exercises we will use the three standard finger spacings:

T 1 2# 3 T 1 2b 3 T 1b 2 3

1A: First Level Exercises: One Fixed Finger On One String/All Other Fingers (Including Thumb) On Other String

Clicking on the above link opens up a printable version of the following tables as well as a more detailed explanation of the exercises.

TABLE 1A: ONE FIXED FINGER ON LOWER STRING/ ALL OTHER FINGERS ON HIGHER STRING
HIGHER STRING FINGERS	T 1 2 3	T 2 3	T 1 3	T 1 2
LOWER STRING FINGERS	T	1	2	3

TABLE 1B: ONE FIXED FINGER ON HIGHER STRING/ ALL OTHER FINGERS ON LOWER STRING
HIGHER STRING FINGERS	T	1	2	3
LOWER STRING FINGERS	T 1 2 3	T 2 3	T 1 3	T 1 2

TABLE 1B: ONE FIXED FINGER ON HIGHER STRING/ ALL OTHER FINGERS ON LOWER STRING

HIGHER STRING

FINGERS

LOWER STRING FINGERS

T 1 2 3

T 2 3

T 1 3

T 1 2

1B: Second Level Exercises:Thumb and One Finger On One String/All other Fingers (Including Thumb) On Other String

Clicking on the above link opens up a printable version of the following tables as well as a more detailed explanation of the exercises.

TABLE 2A: ALL POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS WITH ONE FINGER AND THUMB ON THE LOWER STRING ALL OTHER FINGERS (INCLUDING THUMB) ON THE HIGHER STRING
HIGHER STRING FINGERS	T 2 3	T 1 3	T 1 2
LOWER STRING FINGERS	T 1	T 2	T 3

TABLE 2B: ALL POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS OF ONE FINGER AND THUMB ON HIGHER STRING WITH ALL OTHER FINGERS (INCLUDING THUMB) ON THE LOWER STRING
HIGHER STRING FINGERS	T 1	T 2	T 3
LOWER STRING FINGERS	T 2 3	T 1 3	T 1 2

TABLE 2B: ALL POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS OF ONE FINGER AND THUMB ON HIGHER STRING

WITH ALL OTHER FINGERS (INCLUDING THUMB) ON THE LOWER STRING

HIGHER STRING FINGERS

T 1

T 2

T 3

LOWER STRING FINGERS

T 2 3

T 1 3

T 1 2

1C: Ultimate Level Exercise: “Cossmann Doubletrills”: Two Fingers (Including Thumb) On Each String

TABLE 3: ALL POSSIBLE FINGER COMBINATIONS WITH TWO FINGERS ON EACH STRING
HIGHER STRING FINGERS	1 3	T 3	2 3	T 1	1 2	T 2
LOWER STRING FINGERS	T 2	1 2	T 1	2 3	T 3	1 3