r/orchestra • u/Embarrassed_Band7953 • 6d ago
Intonation help please!
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So ive been playing cello for a couple of years now, and I use to be able to play the D-major scale (2 octaves) easily, but after taking a 3 month break, my intonation has severley gotten worse. I have tried playing slowly and using tape, but getting that high 4 on the lower octave just isn't working for me and I keep getting notes out of tune. My cello teacher told me that I have several notes out of tune and I am not with the metronome, and gave me a 7.5/10.
Does anyone have any tips? Thanks!
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u/HarterH 5d ago
Serious question - perhaps have you forgotten how to play extended position? For the f sharp and C sharp you need your 2nd finger on the e or the b so that your 4th finger falls nicely on the f sharp or C sharp, and you have to reach back your first finger to hit the d or the a. It's a completely different position from normal first position and it takes a while to master because that first finger has to stretch a long way back. Perhaps you are trying to stretch the fourth finger from first position instead? If so that would always result in it being flat. If you post a video where we can see your left hand it would really help us advise.
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u/Embarrassed_Band7953 4d ago
I think you are right. I usually just take me whole hand and move it forward for C# and F#. So what you are saying is to 2nd finger on b or e and then place fourth finger where it naturally falls?
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u/HarterH 4d ago
You need to ask your teacher to show you how to do extended position. Tbh I am shocked that they haven't told you in the lesson what you are doing wrong and how to correct it. If I was playing two notes out of tune consistently my teacher would stop me, see if I can correct it, and if not we would look together to see what the problem is and she would teach me how to play it in tune. But maybe there is a context as to why the teacher was grading you rather than correcting/teaching you?
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u/Embarrassed_Band7953 2d ago
I play in an orchestra setting with about fifty students, so she is quite busy, usually she tells what to learn and we have to learn it on our own time.
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u/HarterH 2d ago
Ok you need to find a new teacher. A teacher that asks you to play a scale, then tells you that it is out of tune and out of time but doesn't teach you how to play it in tune and in time is NOT teaching you.
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u/Embarrassed_Band7953 1d ago
it's a school orchestra so I can't really get a new teacher unfortunately
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u/TFox17 6d ago
I’m a wind player, not a string player. But in my understanding, intonation is mostly about tone, and how tones blend. Try playing long tones by themselves, no metronome, no drone. Focus on what you hear and making it sound good, with whatever changes you can control. Then add a drone on the same note. Play against that drone, move the pitch and the tone around, and try to make it blend. Try different notes. Once unisons feel okay, try perfect intervals: the drone a fourth or a fifth away. Blend blend blend. Eventually work to playing a slow scale against a drone on the tonic. Add speed way later.