Left hand
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FeatureCellist Jian Wang on the importance of slow practice
The Chinese artist explains why his method of practising hand movements has its origin in the jungle
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How to shift smoothly and cleanly by cellist Jeffrey Solow
When it comes to shifting, the American cellist and Boyer College professor gets his inspiration from the physics of ball games in this 2007 article
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Premium ❘ Feature
Perfect 5ths
British violinist Rodney Friend has spent many years formulating his method for achieving a relaxed left-hand position. Here, he shares his voyage of discovery with Charlotte Smith
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Premium ❘ Feature
Technique: the importance of practising in 5ths
How the ability to play in perfect 5ths can help you to hone your position, intonation and vibrato
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How to develop left-hand finger strength
Up and down movement is the basis of left-hand technique and many pedagogues have invented fiendish exercises to improve it. Rok Klopčič takes a look at some of them
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Ask the Experts: helping double-jointed students
Five teachers and health specialists respond to a reader's query on how best to teach a double jointed student.
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10 tips for improving your scales
Guidance from The Strad’s archive on tuning, bow control, shifting, direction and pulse
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10 views on the benefits of slow practice
Debate on how best to harness slow practice from The Strad Archive
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Double stopping on the cello: How to play passages of 3rds and 6ths with more fluidity
Technique advice, exercises and repertoire examples from Lionel Handy, cello professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Birmingham Conservatoire and Winchester College, UK
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How to make the most of cello scales
Approach scales with commitment, imagination and daring, and they will inspire your cello playing, argues Mats Lidström
