Beginner cello students in the DC, MD and VA should work with a private cello teacher to attain the best results. It is necessary to take full advantage of the opportunity provided by your at home cello lessons.  Below are a few tips to develop your skills as you practice the cello on your own time.

First of all, be sure to practice the cello while you are awake and focused.  A lack of concentration will result in a poor use of practice time and will also develop bad habits.  If you are concentrating, you will have an easier time focusing on the details that are required to advance your skill set.

Paying attention to the details of a scale, chord, song, fingering or movement requires that you practice your cello at a speed that is comfortable.  So set your metronome to a pace that gives you plenty of time to get the details correct.  Your phrasing should be smooth and clear, and your rhythms should be accurate.  When you have the piece sounding correct at the slow tempo, bring the speed up a few clicks at a time.  This gradual acceleration of the piece will allow you to properly learn the lesson material.

As you increase your familiarity with a new song, take the time to play it correctly many times.  Repetition is key in order for your muscle memory to develop.   If you practice a song four times and only play it correctly twice, you are far from mastering it.  Try playing it with minimal mistakes dozens of times.  Patience is required to become a proficient cello player.  There are many beginner cello students who never learn to play a piece all the way through.  This is because they learn the easy parts and then give up and move on to another song, which the learn equally poorly.   It is much better to learn one song well than several songs poorly.  To do this takes patience but the result is that you can actually play the cello well and more importantly, you have learned how to properly practice the cello.

If you are interested in cello lessons in the Washington DC area (including MD and VA) contact B&B Music Lessons and we will introduce you to one of our in home cello teachers.

Because Music Matters.

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