Thumb Position On The Cello: Practice Material In One Position (No Shifts)

The thumbposition practice material offered here is divided into several types:

• slower doublestopped material (including arpeggios across the strings)
• stepwise flowing, single-note (no doublestops) material, suitable for practice at all speeds
• repertoire excerpts in one position

1: SLOWER DOUBLESTOPS

We will start with the doublestopped material because this 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). Click on the following link to open up the different pages that take us to this material:

Thumbposition: Doublestops In One Position (No Shifts): EXERCISES

 Thumbposition: Doublestopped Arpeggios In One Position: EXERCISES

2: FLOWING SINGLE-NOTE EXERCISES

These are based on an original ingenious exercise devised by Paul Tortelier. They can be played either quite fast, as fast flowing articulation exercises, or more slowly as the most basic hand-position exercises:

Most Basic Single-Note Thumbposition Exercises

3: REPERTOIRE EXCERPTS

Repertoire Excerpts in One Thumbposition: WITHOUT FLATTENED FIRST FINGER

Repertoire Excerpts in One Thumbposition: WITH FLATTENED FIRST FINGER