Cello sheet music

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The violoncello is commonly known as the cello. It is pitched an octave below the viola, and although its general measurements are not proportionately large enough for its pitch, compensation for this is found in the greatly increased thickness from top to back. In playing position, between the players knees, the neck pointing over his left shoulder, the instrument is supported on the floor by means of an adjustable peg that slides out just below the end of the tailpiece.

Usually the A- and D-strings are of plain gut, the G and C being wire-wound. In recent times, however, there is a noticeable increase in the use of metal for all four strings.
The traditional diatonic basis for the numbering of the left-hand positions on stringed instruments becomes somewhat illogical when applied to the cello, since the spacing of the fingers would seem to suggest a progression by half steps. As in violin fingering, these designations are retained even when the pattern is raised or lowered by chromatic alteration, involving on the cello a displacement of the entire hand. Some cellists have sought a more accurate terminology, using such terms as raised first position, lowered second position, intermediate position, and one-and-a-half position, the last two being applied enharmonically. Orchestral parts may go as high as two octaves above the open A-string, without recourse to harmonics. This practical upper limit is exceeded by a fourth or a fifth in parts for solo cello, but instances like the following, for the cello section, are exceptional.

The cello bow is a little shorter (28% inches) than the violin and viola bows, thicker and somewhat less springy. However, all the types of bowing previously mentioned are available to the cellist and are of excellent effect. The bow is held in the same way as for the other two instruments, except that it is turned so that the edge of the hair nearest the player is the first to engage the string. Another difference to be borne in mind is that the lower-pitched strings are nearest to the bow arm, on account of the playing position of the cello. The terms up-bow and down-bow continue to be used in the same sense as heretofore, although less accurately descriptive. The cello pizzicato is especially sonorous and vibrant, and it finds frequent and varied employment in the orchestra. It is an everyday medium for the harmonic bass. The plucked bass tones give both body and transparency to the accompaniment.

The A-string of the cello is characterized by much expressive warmth and intensity, as well as dynamic power. Countless examples show how often the cellos are given melodies in this register. It is a regular duty of the cellos to play bass parts, either alone or with the double-basses. A common procedure is to write the same notes for cellos and basses. Since the latter sound an octave lower than written, the result is a bass part in octaves, in which the cellos act as reinforcement of the octave overtone of the double-basses. The cellos may occasionally be placed an octave lower so as to sound in unison with the basses, giving a more concentrated sonority.