Fingerboard Geography and Harmonics Robert Battey

CELLOSPEAK 2021 Fingerboard Geography and Harmonics Robert Battey

1. The three data sets every capable cellist must know: (a) Names & sizes of intervals, e.g., “a step and a half is called a ‘Minor Third.’” (b) Being able to recognize intervals on the printed page (c) Knowing which fingering combinations (including across strings) result in which intervals, e.g., “2 on the lower string and 3 on the higher string produces a Minor Sixth.” Some cellists learn this through formal theory classes; most just absorb it up slowly and piecemeal through experience. But the fingerboard will always be a gauzy mystery (other than in first position) until you have a grasp of these three data sets. There are many good on-line theory courses, this being one: Musictheory.net/lessons Scroll down to the “Intervals” lessons and try them out.

2. Locating positions and notes (a) The first five (of 12) positions are located through percussive striking of the octave note

This can be done on any of the top three strings, with any finger. The sympathetic vibration of the lower string tells you if/when you’re in tune.

(b) Any note with any finger in any of the first five positions can be securely located using this method. From your target note, determine the closest percussive octave note (which may be on a different string), and which finger to use:

(c) The next seven positions are all located via their relationship to the thumb. We all know how to find “fourth” position – thumb in the crotch of the neck, 1 st finger right on top of it. But all six other positions around this one are equally findable; it’s simply a matter of learning the feel of each relationship. With a little “target practice,” you will quickly develop the necessary security. For this exercise, take your hand completely off the instrument during each quarter-note rest; let it dangle by your side. The idea is to learn exactly what each position feels like between thumb and 1 st finger, and to be able to hit it out of nowhere. When you start to find the position consistently, click “save” in your brain

All seven of the upper positions can be securely fixed in your hand and your brain with this system (d) All other notes in this sector are then located via the 1 st finger

(e) Up in three-finger positions, a secondary reference point is the octave harmonic; using this plus the thumb-reference method gives you great security in this sector

3. Grids The way to think about notes on the cello is to place each one within a mental “grid” which flows from whatever position you’re in. Each note we play consists of a three-part datum: note/string/finger

Each position has five possible notes (four fingers plus one extension), and there are four strings. Thus each datum should call up a 20-note grid in your brain – the notes which are available to you from that single datum without changing position:

The road to cello mastery is one where you are continuously learning the grids so that you can call them up faster and faster until they are eventually automatic. This is the skill that enables good players to sight-read difficult music. Names of positions are distractions, the tail wagging the dog. What is important is that you know at all times which notes are immediately available to you and which ones aren’t. Thinking in this “grid” system will get you there the quickest.

4. Natural Harmonics A natural phenomenon of acoustical physics is that each open string contains a series of “overtones” – higher notes which are present but unheard, because they’re drowned out by the “fundamental” (the open string itself). As you know, we can isolate these overtones by lightly touching the string at precise points along its length. Each of these precise points is called a “node.”

This overtone series is like pi – theoretically and mathematically infinite, encompassing notes beyond our hearing (and intervals smaller than a half-step). But as a practical matter – what is dependably playable on our cumbersome instrument – we deal with the series only over the first two octaves:

This same set of intervals is found on all four strings; for those of you who know a little music theory, the sequence can be learned simply by building a dominant seventh chord from the root (open string). The first seven overtones outline this harmony, so it’s an easy memory trick.

Different composers notate harmonics differently; some are quite precise, indicating a node with an open diamond- shaped note:

Others simply write the pitch they want to hear and leave you to figure it out:

The first overtone – the octave – can be found in only one spot; but all others have two or more locations (or “nodes”):

Again, some composers understand this and some don’t. Thus, you might be intimidated by seeing this note

until you realize it’s played this way

Most modern cello methods lay out the overtone series for each string. If you want to geek out on-line, just Google “cello harmonics chart” and/or check out “cellomap.com/harmonics- basics”.

5. Artificial Harmonics With the employment of artificial harmonics (sometimes called “false harmonics”), every note on the cello from “middle C” (C on the A-string) on up can be rendered as either a “solid” note or as a harmonic, giving composers a whole new expanse of colors for their palette and giving us a wider effective range than any other orchestral instrument.

Artificial harmonics are created by changing the string-length (via a solid note with either the thumb or 1 st finger) and then touching a node from there. The most common is the Q/3 setup: play any solid note with the thumb and touch the string a P4th higher; the resulting pitch will be two octaves above the thumb note:

Another, less-often-used setup is the same fingers in a P5th interval (obviously not reachable in the lower positions); in this configuration, the resulting pitch is an octave above the 3d finger:

Again, some composers understand this area in detail, some foggily, and some apparently not at all. When you see a note with a “0” over it, questions often arise: is it a natural or artificial harmonic? Is that the actual pitch they want or just the node where they want you to touch the string? The answers may not be apparent, but if you have a good grounding in harmonics generally, you should be able to figure something out quickly. *** *** Lastly (sort of a P.S.), skilled players will sometimes use an artificial harmonic when a natural harmonic has been plainly and clearly notated. The natural overtone series produces notes which get flatter as you proceed upward. The first movements of both the Britten Cello Sonata and the Ravel Piano Trio, for example, end with the cellist moving up through the C-string harmonic series set out in the first example, above. Against the fixed harmonies in the piano, the last couple of natural overtones are painfully out of tune. The only solution is to go to the trouble of playing those notes as artificial harmonics (which bring their own problems). The lesson is simply that even if you know how and where to execute a given harmonic, you might still have to improvise.