It's no secret that I love Halloween. Fall is such a beautiful time of year anyway, but in addition to the crisp air and brilliant foliage, I always look forward to making costumes, carving pumpkins, and dressing up. And screeching and howling on my cello! For years now, I have been using Halloween as a reason to introduce extended techniques to my young beginners. I like pushing the boundaries of sound production on the cello, and I revel in the fact that the beautiful cello can also sound gross and scary! For me, cello is a way to express every human emotion, not just the pretty ones. The kids really seem to dig Spooky Sounds, so I thought I would share them with you too! |
New tricks
If you would like more information on what extended techniques are and how to do them, click HERE for a basic list with explanations (and each technique's actual name. Sadly, "creaks" and "squeaks" are not the official names, but they should be!).
Still want more? Check out these articles that delve more deeply into the dark realm of extended techniques:
Still want more? Check out these articles that delve more deeply into the dark realm of extended techniques:
- Where Will It End? by Dylan Messina
- Extended Techniques for Cello by Craig Hultgren (with whom I played a Mauricio Kagel's Match back in 2010)
And a treat...
Last week my cello quartet had an educational concert at Spivey Hall, and after explaining a few common extended techniques (such as bowing behind the bridge, snap pizzicato, harmonics, ponticello, and body tapping) we played my Halloween mashup, Toil and Treble for the first time ever!
We were not allowed to film any of our concert, but here's a video of the piece that we made this week to share with you:
We were not allowed to film any of our concert, but here's a video of the piece that we made this week to share with you:
Did you notice all the extended techniques we used?
HAPPY CELLOWEEN!
HAPPY CELLOWEEN!