Cello Lessons

Cello Lessons Just for You

This is what we do for over 35 years.

Music Makers Calgary is the perfect place for young kids, teenagers, adults and seniors to take Cello lessons. High qualified teachers ready to give you the best learning experience possible, respecting your own pace and ability.

All individual lessons are prepared to fit your needs, being that for deep theoretical understanding or just to learn how to play a specific music that you love.

Get in touch to learn more and schedule your first Cello lesson.

Current Use

Orchestral

Cellos are part of the standard symphony orchestra, which usually includes eight to twelve players.

Solo

There are a large number of Cello concertos, where a solo Cello is followed by an orchestra. The most important ones are from Vivaldi, Boccherini, Haydn, Bach, Dvorak and others.

Quartets and other ensembles

The cello is a member of the traditional string quartet as well as string quintets, sextet or trios and other mixed ensembles.

Popular music, jazz, world music and neoclassical

The cello is less common in popular music than in classical music. Several bands feature a cello in their standard line-up. The more common use in pop and rock is to bring the instrument in for a particular song.

Greatest Players

• Pablo Casals
• Beatrice Harrison
• Yo-Yo Ma
• Emanuel Feuermann
• Anner Bylsma
• Mstislav Rostropovich
• Jacqueline du Pré
• Pierre Fournier
• János Starker
• Paul Tortelier
• Zara Nelsova

Construction

Wood is the main material on which the Cello is made, mostly, although other materials like carbon fibre or aluminium can be used occasionally.

Top and Back

Usually carved out of a solid block of wood, but less expensive brands use machinery to do in a few minutes what a luthier would take even days to do. Some other even cheaper brands use laminated wood, which start to affect greatly the sound quality.

Neck, fingerboard, pegbox, and scroll

The neck, pegbox, and scroll are normally carved out of a single piece of wood, usually maple.

Strings

Originally made out of animal gut, most modern strings used today are wound with metallic materials like aluminum, titanium and chromium.

Tailpiece and endpin

The tailpiece is traditionally made of ebony or another hard wood, but can also be made of plastic or steel.

Bridge and f-holes

The bridge is not glued, but rather held in place by the tension of the strings.

Bow

Traditionally, bows are made from pernambuco or brazilwood. Bow hair is traditionally horsehair, though synthetic hair, in varying colors, is also used.

History

Member of the violin family, the Cello or Violoncello was originated from the bass violin, possibly invented as early as 1538. Many existing bass violins were literally cut down in size to convert them into cellos according to the smaller pattern developed by Stradivarius, who also made a number of old pattern large cellos.

The modern Cello evolved in several ways from the Cellos of the Baroque era. The neck has a different form and angle, which matches the baroque bass-bar and stringing.

Modern Cellos have an endpin at the bottom to support the instrument (and transmit some of the sound through the floor), while Baroque Cellos are held only by the calves of the player.

The sizes, names, and tunings of the Cello varied widely by geography and time. The size was not standardized until around 1750.