Positioning the Cello by Determining Individual Bowing Height

Poor instruction or negligence from the beginning often leads players to position the instrument incorrectly. Habit then plays its role, and gradually this becomes the wrong “system”!

The question of a short or long endpin, steep or flat positioning of the cello, or a high or low chair, usually answers itself when we understand that every cellist has their own individual “bowing height.” Determining this should be the very first task of the teacher, and maintaining it the most important initial task of the learner. Maintaining the correct bowing height not only facilitates bowing itself, but also enables coordination between both hands. This is the surest path to acquiring an effortless, fully comprehensive technique (see image 1 of the Appendix).

So how do we find the correct bowing height? We know that the string should be bowed at a right angle. (We initially choose one of the middle strings, then proceed to the A-string, and finally to the C-string.) If one line of this angle is provided by the string, we form the other line by holding the bow at the frog end with the left hand and adjusting it accordingly to the respective string (see images 2 and 3 of the Appendix), as if we were about to start a down-bow. Now we must slide the right hand, using the pads of the first three fingers, back and forth along the bow stick (continuing to hold it at a right angle to the string). In doing so, the hand performs the same movements used during normal bowing (refer to the sections of this book that deal with changes of bow direction and the related “grip change”). Images 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the Appendix show individual phases of this mechanical exercise (images 4 and 5 on down-bows, images 6, 7, and 8 on up-bows). We will now use a mirror to determine whether we can maintain a true right angle even at the end of the bow, and whether the movement proceeds in a natural, flowing manner. If this is not the case, then there is a mismatch between the height of the chair and the length of the endpin. In general, it is the norm that people with a long upper body should choose a low chair and a long endpin, while those with a short upper body should opt for a higher chair and shorter endpin to determine their own individual bowing height. With such an objective approach, the arm will be trained once and for all in straight, right-angled bowing, without which we cannot achieve outstanding results either tonally or technically.

A very steep or very flat position of the instrument makes complete mastery more difficult. A fairly reliable criterion for the correct position is to try it without the endpin, placing the cello at a moderate inclination.^[1] Individuals who, due to abnormal body proportions, cannot accomplish more challenging technical tasks (e.g., a Romberg concerto) in this playing position are simply less suited to becoming professional cellists.