The Cello Exercise Index: Considering Technique

Resources for Cello Teachers and Students

by

Allison J. Rich

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements

for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts
Faculty of Music
University of Toronto

© Copyright by Allison J. Rich, 2023

 The Cello Exercise Index: Considering Technique Resources for Cello
Teachers and Students

Allison J. Rich

Doctor of Musical Arts

Faculty of Music
University of Toronto

2023

Abstract
This dissertation is an analysis and codification of technical exercises written for the cello. The

research aims to investigate this repertoire, understand its value, and consider the relevance of

exercises for contemporary cellists. Technical exercises have been a mainstay of cello pedagogy

but are rarely indexed in detail. This lack of indexing prevents cellists from effectively and

efficiently using exercises for teaching, learning, and practicing cello technique. To address this

issue, I created a traditional “back of the book” index not just for one book, but for a

representative majority of the exercise repertoire. To build this “Cello Exercise Index,” I

individually analyzed, tagged, and entered data for the contents of exercise books, ultimately

creating a resource that allows users to search for, browse, and filter exercises according to their

needs. This document serves as a guide to the Cello Exercise Index. Interested musicians could

simply use the Index, but those who wish to learn about the methodology behind its creation, the

potential benefits of this resource, and consider the general value of exercises will find

discussions of these topics in this dissertation. After an introduction to the project in Chapter 1,

Chapter 2 is a review of existing literature, including both historical information about the cello’s

development and precedents in the form of analyses of pedagogical material. Chapter 3 details

the methodology for the creation of the Index, including selection of sources and organization.

ii
Chapter 4 is a guide to using the Index, along with a summary of some difficulties encountered

during its creation and their solutions. Telling a more complete story about the cello technical

exercise meant discovering how and why contemporary cellists use exercises in their performing

and teaching. To get a snapshot of the role of exercises in today’s cello studios, I conducted a

series of semi-structured interviews to hear perspectives and opinions from four prominent cello

teachers. Chapter 5 is a description of the interview component, including methodology and

emergent themes. To conclude, Chapter 6 summarizes the project and considers directions for

future research.

iii
 Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the support I have received from the Faculty of Music at the
University of Toronto. Since my very first day in the city, I was enthusiastically welcomed into
the musical community and shocked by the level of genuine desire for musical collaboration.

To all the members of my thesis committee, I thank you for generously sharing your expertise,
offering advice, and spending time with me and my research.

I wish to give a very special thanks to Joseph Johnson who is not only a member of the
committee for this thesis, but has also been my primary teacher throughout my DMA degree. He
has expertly balanced his mentorship by treating me simultaneously as his student and as his
colleague. Joe has built up my confidence as a musician, helping me to grow as both a teacher
and as a performer. Thank you for absolutely everything, Joe.

To Professor Daphne Tan, my research and thesis supervisor: you have been an absolute
inspiration! By observing your remarkable levels of expertise and professionalism, you
encouraged me to strive for high quality research and more effective communication. I left every
meeting feeling motivated to continue, telling my friends and family how lucky I am to have
such an inspiring mentor. I will be forever grateful for your guidance, for your trust, and for your
generous dedication to this work.

During the time I spent creating this document, the COVID-19 pandemic was a dominant
element in all of our lives. Though in many ways I was privileged and protected from the most
severe effects of the pandemic, like many others I was fearful, isolated, and heavy-hearted. I
wish to specifically thank two of my most important lifelines, Catherine Willshire and Vlad
Soloviev, with whom I spent some of the darkest periods of the pandemic. Catherine and Vlad
helped me to stay hopeful, plan for the future, and without them I could never have completed
this thesis. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness and constant generosity.

Finally, and most importantly, to my parents Lisa and Walter Rich. Thank you for your
unconditional, selfless love and your unwavering support. You have encouraged me to reach for
my musical goals since my earliest cello lessons, through college and beyond. You have been my
biggest fans, lifting my spirits any time I needed it and helping me to celebrate life’s successes.
I’ve come so far, and I know it is because I’ve had your incredible support. I love you, Mom and
Dad.

iv
 Table of Contents

Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv
List of Examples ........................................................................................................................... vii
Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Definitions and Functions for Exercises and Études............................................................... 7

1.3 Use Cases and Exercises in Relation to the Repertoire......................................................... 11

1.4 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 14

Chapter 2 Historical Context and Review of Literature ............................................................. 15

2.1 Historical Context .................................................................................................................... 15

2.2 Existing Étude and Exercise Analysis .................................................................................... 18

2.3 Pedagogical Materials .............................................................................................................. 23

Chapter 3 Index Methodology ..................................................................................................... 27

3.1 Selection of Sources for the Index ........................................................................................... 27

3.2 Exercise Inclusion Criteria ...................................................................................................... 33

3.3 Index Creation and Tagging Methodology ............................................................................ 36

Chapter 4 Overview of the Index and its Contents ..................................................................... 41

4.1 Review of Index Organization and Statistics ......................................................................... 41

4.2 Using the Index ......................................................................................................................... 43

4.3 Difficulties Encountered During Indexing and Solutions..................................................... 45

4.4 Insights Gained from Creating the Index .............................................................................. 49

Chapter 5 Interviews .................................................................................................................... 54

v
 5.1 Interview Methodology ............................................................................................................ 54

5.2 Participant Descriptions .......................................................................................................... 58

5.3 Analysis and Interpretation..................................................................................................... 61

Use in Personal Practice ..................................................................................................................................... 61

Use in Teaching .................................................................................................................................................. 64
Going Beyond Notation: Limitations and Possibilities ...................................................................................... 68
Overall Value of Exercises ................................................................................................................................. 72
5.4 Gagnon and the RCM Cello Syllabi ....................................................................................... 74

5.5 Results: Final Reflection .......................................................................................................... 76

Chapter 6 Discussion ................................................................................................................... 79

6.1 Research Limitations and Future Directions......................................................................... 79

Considering Exercise Sources ............................................................................................................................ 79

Interview Design, Future Surveys ...................................................................................................................... 80
Avenues for Future Research ............................................................................................................................. 81
Discussion of a Future Website .......................................................................................................................... 82
6.2 Exercise Practice as Creative Practice ................................................................................... 83

6.3 Concluding Statement .............................................................................................................. 85

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 87
Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 92
I. Examples ............................................................................................................................................. 92

II. List of Books Included in the Index as of Dissertation Completion .......................................... 107

III. REB Approval Letter ................................................................................................................... 109

IV. Interview Questions ...................................................................................................................... 110

vi
 List of Examples

Example 1.1: Friedrich Grützmacher, Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, Op. 67 (New York:
G. Schirmer, 1909), 3. 92

Example 1.2: Royal Conservatory of Music, Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition (Toronto: Frederick
Harris Music Company Ltd., 2013), 98. 93

Example 1.3: Camille Saint-Saëns, Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 33 (Paris: Durand, Schoenewerk
& Cie., 1872), measures 519–535. 93

Example 1.4: Joseph Merk, 20 Exercises for Cello, Op. 11 (Leipzig: Eulenburg, n.d. (ca.1880).
94

Example 1.5: Antonín Dvořák, Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 (Berlin: Simrock, 1896),
measures 158–159. 94

Example 1.6: Igor Stravinsky, Suite Italienne pour Violoncelle et Piano (London: Hawkes &
Son Ltd, 1934), Introduzione, measures 10–19. 94

Example 2.1: Richard Slavich, “A Player’s Guide to the Popper Etudes,” Internet Cello Society,
2006, http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/popper.htm. 95

Example 3.1: Royal Conservatory of Music, Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition, p. 66. 97

Example 3.2: Otakar Ševčík, Forty Variations for Cello, Op. 3, p. 10. 99

Example 3.3: Louis R. Feuillard, Daily Exercises for Violoncello, p. 39. 99

Example 3.4: Column headings in the Cello Exercise Index Excel spreadsheet. 100

Example 3.5: Tortelier, How I Play and How I Teach, p. 62–63. 100

Example 3.6: Feuillard, Daily Exercises for Violoncello, p. 33. 100

Example 4.1: A Level 1 filter for “Harmonics” has been applied. The user chooses from five
results for “Left Side → Harmonics → Artificial Harmonics → Single String Scales and
Patterns.” 101

Example 4.2: Results for shifting, 1st & 4th Positions: 101

Example 4.3: Fritz Albert Christian Rüdinger, Technical Studies for Cello, p. 39. 102

vii
Example 4.4: Julius Klengel, Technical Studies for the Violoncello, Vol. 1, p. 9. 102

Example 4.5: Friedrich Grützmacher, Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, Op. 67, p. 8. 102

Example 4.6: Louis Feuillard, Daily Exercises for Violoncello, p. 18. 103

Example 4.7: Bernhard Cossmann, Studies for Developing Agility, Strength of Fingers and
Purity of Intonation, p. 2. 103

Example 4.8: Friedrich Grützmacher, Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, Op. 67, p. 6. 104

Example 4.9: G. Jean Smith, Cellist’s Guide to the Core Technique, p. 14. 104

Example 4.10: Paul Tortelier, How I Play and How I Teach, 4th ed. 105

Example 5.1: Shinichi Suzuki, Suzuki Cello School, Volume 1, Revised Edition (United States:
Summy-Birchard, Inc., 2014), 17. 106

viii
 1

Chapter 1
Introduction

1.1 Overview

Technical exercises are a mainstay of cello pedagogy. Though the extent of their use

varies greatly, exercises are an essential tool found in many musicians’ “toolbelts.” Robert

Jesselson, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of South Carolina and notable

pedagogue, describes exercises as a way to focus on meta-technique, placing attention on “basic

problems which may be ignored when dealing with the larger musical and technical issues

involved in learning a new piece of music.” 1 Even accounting for individual preferences, most

cellists would agree that exercises designed for building technique are valuable tools for playing

that can be incorporated as part of a balanced “cellistic diet.” In many situations, but particularly

for pedagogy, there is no universal formula for successful learning and every teacher must be

mindful of the unique needs of their students when selecting exercises. No single book,

collection, or method will be equally effective for every cellist. Yet this points to an underlying

problem in effectively and efficiently using technical exercises: despite its acknowledged value,

this repertoire is historically not well indexed.

While preparing to give a cello lesson, a teacher could spend countless hours searching

through technique books, both historical and contemporary, to find suitable exercises for their

students. This is because collections of technical exercises written for the cello are difficult to

navigate. Labels or titles within the music, if included at all, typically lack specificity. For an

1
Robert Jesselson, “100 Cello Warm-Ups and Exercises Blog 1: Summer Preview,” CelloBello, August 23, 2015,
https://www.cellobello.org/cello-blog/in-the-practice-room/100-cello-warm-ups-and-exercises-blog-1-summer-
preview/.
 2

illustrative example, consider a page from Friedrich Grützmacher’s Daily Exercises for the

Violoncello, a commonly recommended book within the cello exercise repertoire. Please note, all

examples are located in section I of the Appendix at the end of this document. In Example 1.1,

we see that the title is “Finger exercises, and exceptional bowings,” but this page includes

exercises addressing other techniques. 2 Exercises 1–4 are scales or scalar patterns, number 5 is

an exercise in broken sixths, number 6 in broken octaves. All six exercises address string

crossings and right wrist movement, though the execution is very different when comparing

number 4 to number 6. The title provided does not accurately portray the type of exercises

included in the excerpted page. Further, even a typical table of contents fails to offer a detailed

picture of the exercises included, meaning that a teacher or student would still need to flip

through an entire book or chapter before selecting an exercise to address a specific issue. There

is a similar lack of specificity when one looks at syllabi for cello curricula. Example 1.2 shows a

portion of the RCM Cello Syllabus’s suggestions for supplemental technique that is simply a list

of titles with no indication of the contents or details within. 3 This general lack of detail, be it in

syllabi, tables of contents, or within the music, prevents cellists from effectively and efficiently

using exercises for teaching, learning, and practicing cello technique.

To address this need, this dissertation and the accompanying Cello Exercise Index serve

as a guide to the technical literature written for the cello. The Cello Exercise Index (hereafter

referred to as the “Index”) is currently stored on the Open Science Framework (OSF) and can be

accessed using this link: https://osf.io/j94gh/.4 Through research and detailed analysis, I created a

2
Friedrich Grützmacher, Daily Exercises for the Violoncello: Op. 67 (New York: G. Schirmer, 1909), 3.
3
Royal Conservatory of Music, Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition (Toronto: Frederick Harris Music Company Ltd.,
2013) 98.
4
Access to all functions of the Cello Exercise Index Microsoft Excel Sheet requires that a user downloads the file
from OSF rather than viewing the file in their browser. At the time of this writing, an interactive website version of
the Index is in development.
 3

traditional “back of the book” index of cello exercises not just for one book, but for a

representative majority of the exercise repertoire. This resource is extensive, organized, and

searchable, providing detailed information about the contents of technical exercise collections.

To ensure that there is a breadth of material and that the Index is relevant to today’s cellists, I

included the works listed as “Resources” in the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Cello Syllabus,

2013 Edition, as well as technical exercises within the public domain currently available online

through the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP, imslp.org). The Royal

Conservatory of Music (RCM) is a structured music education system that is internationally

renowned for its excellence. According to the RCM, their program is “used by over 30,000

teachers to support 500,000 students across North America.”5 For each instrument or course of

study, “students are supported with accompanying publications to help them develop into well-

rounded musicians.”6 These instrument syllabi are organized similarly, progressing through

grade levels to prepare students for examinations. The Cello Syllabus from the RCM was

selected for the Index both because of the RCM’s ubiquity in pre-university music education in

Canada and also because of its geographical proximity to the University of Toronto and its

importance to my musical community.7 The IMSLP was chosen because of its vast library of

easily accessible sources available for free within the public domain. The IMSLP library

supplements the RCM resources, adding exercises that were not included in the RCM Syllabus.

5 “Start Here: An Introduction,” Royal Conservatory of Music, accessed April 13, 2022,
https://www.rcmusic.com/learning/about-the-royal-conservatory-certificate-program/start-here-an-introduction.
6
“Start Here: An Introduction,” Royal Conservatory of Music, accessed March 31, 2022,
https://www.rcmusic.com/learning/about-the-royal-conservatory-certificate-program/start-here-an-
introduction#WhyStudyTheRoyalConservatoryCertificateProgr-5.
7
Technical exercises are included and/or suggested for many instruments in the syllabi for established curricula not
only from the RCM, but also from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), Trinity College
London (TCL), the Suzuki Method, and other similar institutions.
 4

The exercises in the public domain add to the scale of the Index and allow users to instantly

access a greater variety of material.

This dissertation serves as a “user’s guide” for the Cello Exercise Index. Cellists or

interested musicians could simply use the Index, but those who are curious to learn more about

the methodology and process of creating the Index could read this document. This dissertation

also provides historical and cultural context for the use of technical exercises, considers their

broader purpose, and investigates their role in cello teaching today through interviews with four

prominent cello pedagogues.

To demonstrate the utility of the Index, it may be helpful to envision a scenario in which

a cellist might want to use exercises. Imagine a one-on-one lesson with a cello teacher and their

student who is working on Camille Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 33. The teacher

notices that the student is struggling with a passage near the end of the piece that features

artificial harmonics (see Example 1.3). 8 The teacher stops the lesson to fix the problem and

decides to assign a technical exercise for the student to work on before their next lesson to help

address the issue. At this point, unless the teacher can improvise a suitable exercise on the spot,

the teacher must search through their personal collection of exercise books, locate possible

exercises, choose what they believe from experience to be suitable, photocopy or electronically

send the exercise to the student, then hope that particular exercise will effectively address the

student’s difficulty with harmonics. This process takes at least 5–10 valuable minutes away from

a lesson which may be as short as 45–60 minutes. Now imagine that this same teacher has access

to a well-organized, comprehensive, and searchable online index of cello exercises. During the

lesson the teacher notices the same struggle with harmonics in the Saint-Saëns Concerto and

8
Camille Saint-Saëns, Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 33 (Paris: Durand, Schoenewerk & Cie., 1872), measures 519–
535.
 5

decides to search the Index for “artificial harmonics.” The search reveals multiple exercises from

various composers and provides specific details about their locations. From here, the teacher can

quickly find and suggest a few exercises for the student to try during their practice, and even

print or provide electronic access to the chosen exercises. In this scenario, the Index saved

valuable lesson time, provided the student with multiple choices to explore, and might even have

revealed exercises that were previously unknown to the teacher.

There is some debate about the use of technical exercises in music education. Not all

pedagogues agree that exercises are necessary, and some even argue that excessive practicing of

exercises may lead to repetitive use injuries. Piano pedagogues Dorothy Taubman and William

Newman, for instance, object to the use of exercises, arguing that practicing skills in isolation

will not solve problems in the context of repertoire and may reinforce undesirable habits. 9 In

contrast, pianist Nelita True believes that by “developing her technique separately, she was able

to learn repertoire faster” and most importantly, she avoids making musical decisions based on

physical capability.10 True’s stance is similar to that of cellist Robert Jesselson, a proponent of

the regular use of exercises as a way to isolate and solve technical issues away from repertoire.

Regarding the use of repertoire (rather than exercises) to develop technique, cellist G. Jean Smith

rather bluntly cautions, “Do not use musical literature as a means to learn technique. Fine

musical works should be reserved expressly for musical purposes.” 11 The RCM examinations

themselves include “technical requirements” at every grade level, from Preparatory through

Grade 10. The implicit stance of the Royal Conservatory of Music is that studying technique, in

the form of both exercises and études, is valuable to the contemporary cello student.

9
Brenda Wristen, “Technical Exercises: Use Them or Lose Them?” Piano Pedagogy Forum 2, no. 3, (1999): 131–
132.
10
Wristen, “Technical Exercises,” 131.
11
G. Jean Smith, Cellist’s Guide to the Core Technique (American String Teachers Association, 1974), 17.
 6

To further investigate this subject, it was important to hear the thoughts and opinions of

current cello teachers on the value of technical exercises. This research required an

understanding of the use of exercises in a broad sense, including providing context for their

continued use. Telling a more complete story about the cello technical exercise meant

discovering how and why contemporary cellists use exercises in their performing and teaching.

To this end, I conducted four semi-structured interviews with prominent cello pedagogues. The

overall goal of these interviews was to get the perspectives and opinions of teachers on the

current state of cello pedagogy, as well as a snapshot of the role of exercises in today’s cello

studios. I asked each interview participant about how they teach technique, which materials they

use or recommend most often, in what context(s) they would assign an exercise, and what they

consider to be the essential technical material for every cellist. I also asked each of these cellists

if exercises were a part of their own musical training and to what extent exercises are currently

included in their personal daily practice. Chapter 5 of this document is a description of the

interview component, detailing the methodology and goals of the interviews, summarizing the

results and themes, and describing their relationship to the Index. Four interviews were

conducted with the following cellists: Richard Aaron, Susan Gagnon, Johannes Moser, and

Jeffrey Zeigler.

The remaining chapters consist of the following subjects: Chapter 2 situates the research

within the historical development of the cello and offers a review of the literature including

precedents for this research and related pedagogical materials. Chapter 3 details the methodology

for the creation of the Index, including both selection of sources and its organization. Chapter 4

is an overview of the Index and its contents, including a summary of some difficulties

encountered during its creation and their solutions. Chapter 6, the discussion, summarizes the
 7

project, considers directions for future research, and provides a conclusion. The remainder of

Chapter 1 includes operational definitions and distinctions between exercises and études,

examples of use cases for the Index, a discussion of exercises in relation to the repertoire, and a

brief summary.

1.2 Definitions and Functions for Exercises and Études

The Index includes only technical exercises written for the cello, along with exercises

that have been explicitly transcribed or arranged for the cello. Neither études nor other types of

materials such as performance guides or music instruction books are included in the Index. This

was partly a practical decision, as the focus of the research had to be appropriately constrained.

The primary reason for focusing on exercises, however, is that études and exercises serve

different functions for cellists. In order to analyze material and determine which exercises would

be indexed, it was essential to have a clear set of criteria to define and differentiate between

exercises and études.

Exercises and études share an essential similarity in that they are used to develop a

particular aspect of performing technique. Though they share this broad feature, there are key

differences between exercises and études in their function, composition, and the context in which

they are played. Études are typically monothematic, short pieces “whose principal aim is the

development or exploitation of a particular aspect of performing technique.” 12 Étude (n.) and

étudier (v.) are the French equivalents of the English words “study” and “to study.” In English,

the first known usage of the word étude to mean a piece of music used to develop technique was

12
“Étude (Fr.),” Grove Music Online, January 20, 2001, accessed March 13, 2022,
https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.0
01.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000009062.
 8

in 1826,13 which is appropriately close to the starting date of 1837 for materials under

consideration for inclusion in the Index (see Chapter 3, section 3.1). In the context of this

research, an étude is a composition with a tonal center that may progress through different key

areas, with possible performance indications such as dynamic markings, tempi, evocative titles,

or character descriptors. Études are usually meant to be approached artistically as well as

technically, and therefore may be performed publicly as stand-alone pieces. For many cellists, an

étude may serve as a “bridge” between technical exercises and pieces from the standard

repertoire. Popular examples of cello études include David Popper’s 40 études in the High

School of Cello Playing, Op. 72, Jean-Louis Duport’s Twenty-One Études, and Sebastian Lee’s

Forty Melodious and Progressive Études, Op. 31. A subgenre of the étude is the “concert study,”

a piece intended for performance as much or even more than for instruction. The concert study

“attempts to combine the utility of a technical exercise with musical invention equivalent to that

of other genres in the concert repertory.”14 This genre includes works such as Frédéric Chopin’s

12 Grandes Études, Op. 10, Niccolò Paganini’s 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1, and from the

cello repertoire, Alfredo Piatti’s 12 Caprices for Solo Cello, Op. 25.

Technical exercises, in contrast, are much more narrowly focused. The word exercise in

the context of musical materials “implies a short figure or passage to be repeated ad lib, whether

unaltered, on different degrees of the scale or in various keys.”15 Exercises are designed to be

repeated and modified. A player might alter the rhythm or the articulation, transpose the exercise

13
“Étude, n.,” OED online, December 2021, https://www-oed-
com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/view/Entry/64878?redirectedFrom=etude&. From the Quarterly Musical
Magazine & Review 8, 106: “Style and expression are only to be attained through the agency of mechanical power
and sensibility; these etudes will give the former.”
14
Howard Ferguson and Kenneth L. Hamilton, “Study,” Grove Music Online, January 20, 2001, accessed January
13, 2020,
https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.0
01.0001/.omo-9781561592630-e-0000027018.
15
Ferguson and Hamilton, “Study.”
 9

into a different key or to a different left-hand position, add expressive elements, and more. Each

exercise can be played as it is written, or it can be creatively adapted to suit the needs of a

particular piece, student, or player. Exercises do not stand alone as pieces of music and are not

intended for performance outside of the private cello studio. Musical exercises often serve a

similar function to physical exercises in that they are “a task prescribed or performed for the sake

of attaining proficiency, for training either body or mind, or as an exhibition or test of

proficiency or skill.”16 Exercises are often used to efficiently warm up the body and mind for

personal practice, rehearsal, or performance. Well-known examples of technical exercises for the

cello include Louis Feuillard’s Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, Friedrich Grützmacher’s

Daily Exercises for the Violoncello: Op. 67, and Bernhard Cossmann’s Studies for Developing

Agility, Strength of Fingers and Purity of Intonation.

Given their different functions, technical exercises and études are often easily

distinguishable. However, the two terms were used more loosely and interchangeably by

composers before the 19th century.17 This means that the title of a work may not necessarily be

an accurate indicator of its contents. A collection titled “Exercises” may very well include some

études, and some works titled “Studies” may in fact be exercises. Already this may have been

noted in the case of Cossmann’s Studies for Agility and Grützmacher’s Daily Studies/Daily

Exercises,18 both of which are not studies but rather exercises by the research definitions. In

some cases, the variation in titles is related to the nuances of different languages or is a result of

choices made during translation. Example 1.4 shows the cover page of Joseph Merk’s book for

16
“Exercise, n.,” OED Online, December 2021, https://www-oed-
com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/view/Entry/66088?rskey=OGviPr&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid.
17
Ferguson and Hamilton, “Study.”
18
Different editions translate Grützmacher’s German title Tägliche Übungen as either Daily Exercises or Daily
Studies. The Schirmer Edition uses ‘Exercises’ while the International Music Co. edition uses ‘Studies.’ Friedrich
Grützmacher, Daily Studies for Cello Solo, Op. 67 (New York: International Music Co., 1973).
 10

cello with the title “20 Etuden” in German directly beside the English title “20 Exercises” (see

Example 1.4).19 In other cases, the usage of the words evolved over time, particularly for the

étude. The title “étude” grew to include the aforementioned concert study and was also used “as

the title of a number of 20th-century works, some requiring unusually facile technique or

exploiting particular aspects of the composer’s craftsmanship.” 20 Examples include Igor

Stravinsky’s Quatre Études pour Orchestre, Hans Werner Henze’s Drei Sinfoniche Etüden, and

John Cage’s Etudes Boreales for Cello and/or Piano. Because of the ambiguity in nomenclature,

every resource and exercise considered for inclusion in the Index required individual

examination and analysis using the definitions and features described above for exercises and

études.

The Index contains only exercises written in 1837 and later. A brief history of the

development of the cello and a more in-depth explanation for this choice follows in Chapter 2.

However, it is important to highlight that this research is focused on a stable period of the cello’s

development, beginning at a time when the instrument and technique were solidified and

reflective of the same techniques that cellists use today. During the late-18th and early-19th

century, the cello was emerging as a solo and concert instrument, no longer confined to

accompaniment only. Over time and with increasing numbers of cello virtuosi and pedagogues,

systems for fingering, bowing, technical notation, and even the design of the instrument and bow

became standardized. By the middle of the 19th century, cello pedagogy that is still relevant to

today’s cellists was firmly established. 21

19
Joseph Merk, 20 Exercises for Cello, Op. 11 (Leipzig: Eulenburg, n.d. (ca.1880).
20
Ferguson and Hamilton, “Study.”
21
Valerie Walden, “Technique, Style, and Performing Practice to c. 1900,” In The Cambridge Companion to the
Cello, ed. Robin Stowell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 179.
 11

1.3 Use Cases and Exercises in Relation to the Repertoire

The Index is designed with three types of users in mind. First are cello teachers, who are

the most likely to be interested in the Index and what it has to offer. During a lesson, a teacher

could use the Index to search for or browse exercises by topic to see multiple options at a glance,

allowing teachers to address a student’s specific needs. As was described earlier, the ability to

efficiently search for and choose exercises gives teachers flexibility and saves time in

preparation for or during lessons. Second, a student could use the Index to explore various

exercises and enhance their independent practice. For example, perhaps a university student is

working on the first movement of Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, Op. 104, and is struggling

with a notoriously frustrating passage featuring string crossings (see Example 1.5). 22 This student

could search “string crossing” in the Index and choose any exercise results that interest them.

They may even refine their results by filtering to see only those exercises for “string crossing, 3

strings.” The third type of user is any interested cellist, from amateurs to professionals, who

might use the Index to review a specific skill, add variety to their daily routines, and discover

new technical material. For instance, a professional cellist preparing for a recital might be

interested in reviewing skills specific to their repertoire. The use of the 4th finger in thumb

position is somewhat unusual, so a cellist performing Igor Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne pour

Violoncelle et Piano that uses this technique may wish to search for exercises that strengthen this

skill and could use the Index to do so (see Example 1.6).23

An index that allows for searching and browsing through topics may address the problem

of uncertainty when finding and selecting exercises. Some players lack the security that comes

Antonín Dvořák, Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 (Berlin: Simrock, 1896), measures 158-159.
22
23
Igor Stravinsky, Suite Italienne pour Violoncelle et Piano (London: Hawkes & Son Ltd, 1934), Introduzione,
measures 10-19.
 12

with complete familiarity with the instrument. Exercises are an ideal tool to help with this, but

which exercises does one choose to use? An organized index helps cellists to generalize,

providing easy access to the exercises that may build a player’s security and confidence as they

strengthen their technique. The resources included within the Index contain primarily music

notation, meaning that I was able to catalogue the exercises themselves without needing to be a

fluent reader of the printed language. This allows users to see, at a glance, sources that they

might otherwise overlook or not find at all because they are not presented in a language the user

speaks. The process of cataloguing exercises removes language as a potentially limiting factor,

another advantage of the Index.

As mentioned above, the Index contains all the technical exercises within the Royal

Conservatory of Music’s Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition’s “Resource” section, as well as the

technical exercises within the public domain currently available online through IMSLP. Each

included exercise was analyzed and given descriptive tags, then entered into the Index. In its

current form, a user of the Index can search for any tag or filter the results to include or exclude

any element. One further advantage of the analysis and indexing process is that it distilled some

of the essential technical elements for tackling various technical problems. Examining different

authors’ approaches toward addressing technical difficulties revealed overlapping or similar

solutions. The methodology for the creation of the Index is discussed in Chapter 3, and a detailed

overview of the Index and its contents follows in Chapter 4.

The exercises included in the Index are not explicitly associated with any pieces of

music, although the exercises may implicitly suggest a particular type of repertoire. The

materials from the RCM Cello Syllabus and from IMSLP are written with Western tonal or

modal pitch organization, often labeled with the major or minor mode. Many of the technical
 13

exercises in the Index were written in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Newer technical

materials are often written in the same tradition, making references to historical exercises and

sometimes reprinting them directly, which could imply that they serve as preparation for Western

tonal classical music. 24 Yet I suggest that these exercises are “repertoire agnostic,” in that they

could be used to help a cellist prepare non-Western or more contemporary repertoire that is post-

tonal, atonal, or non-tonal. The fundamental techniques for playing the cello are consistent

regardless of the type of music being played. Imagine athletes from multiple sports warming up

before they compete. A runner, a swimmer, and a tennis player might all use the same stretch to

warm up their legs even though all three will use their legs in different ways. In an analogous

situation, one cellist preparing to play a solo suite by J.S. Bach and another cellist preparing to

play Luciano Berio’s Sequenza XIV might use the same exercise to warm up their left hands.

The materials in the Index are intended for the intermediate and/or advanced cellist. This

level of skill is roughly equivalent to a candidate taking a Grade 5 or Grade 6 RCM exam at a

minimum. For Grade 5, “Secure intonation in 1st to 5th position is expected, including the ability

to shift between positions with accuracy and fluency.”25 A similar expectation is given for Grade

6, but includes 1st to 7th position. For Grade 6, “the ability to read in tenor clef should be

established.”26 To use another comparison, this exercise repertoire could be considered for a

cellist playing in the Suzuki Cello Series books 3 or 4 and higher (selected pieces from the

Suzuki Cello Series are included within the RCM syllabus as repertoire choices). An example of

a resource that is excluded from the Cello Exercise Index is Tanya Carey’s 2007 book, Cello

24
One clear example comes from the 2017 book CelloMind in which authors Hans Jørgen Jensen and Minna Rose
Chung refer to and sometimes directly include material written in the 19th and early-20th centuries. For example,
exercises are reproduced from composers Cossmann (n.d. [1876]) and Feuillard (1919), with suggested practice
ideas and variations from Jensen and Chung; see pp. 136–137, 147, and 179–182.
25
Royal Conservatory of Music, Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition, 40.
26
Royal Conservatory of Music, Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition, 46.
 14

Playing is Easy. Part 1: Warm-ups. Though the exercises are valuable for beginning cellists, the

level of this book is elementary, as the physical stretches and activities are designed for very

young Suzuki cello students. Future research could include an indexed collection of exercises for

the young cellist or players who are beginners.

1.4 Summary
The final version of the Cello Exercise Index serves as a practical, efficient resource for

cellists or any musician who chooses to use the exercises within. The Index is fully functional in

its current form as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, yet a future goal is to transition the Index to a

website to increase its accessibility. 27 The Index may grow to incorporate more types of material

and new exercises as more works enter the public domain. Teachers will be able to efficiently

search for and select appropriate exercises for their students, students will be able to study and

practice independently, and any interested cellist will be able to review specific skills or

techniques, add variety to their practice routines, and discover new exercise materials. The Index

is in no way meant to diminish or replace the expertise of any cellist or cello teacher, serving

only as a supplemental resource that is as comprehensive and objective as possible. For this

reason, I deliberately avoided assigning value or suggesting any sequencing of exercises.

27
As of this writing, a website for the Cello Exercise Index is in development. Until the website is published, the
Index is accessible only through the Open Science Framework. It can be downloaded and used with the following
link: https://osf.io/j94gh/.
 15

Chapter 2
Historical Context and Review of Literature

In this chapter, I situate cello exercises within two contexts: the historical development of the

instrument and contemporary writings on cello technique. I first offer an overview of the cello’s

development as it pertains to technical exercises along with information about notable

performers and pedagogues. Second, twentieth- and twenty-first-century examples of analyses of

repertoire will be reviewed and assessed. This category of materials includes analyses of études,

technical exercises, and examples of large-scale music categorization. Finally, pedagogical

sources are reviewed, some narrowly focused and others offering a more comprehensive survey

of cello playing. This final category includes pedagogical dissertations as well as books, guides,

and manuals detailing general teaching trends over time.

2.1 Historical Context

Appreciation for the violoncello as an instrument began growing at the turn of the 18th

century. At the time, the cello was gradually becoming more of a virtuosic solo instrument as

cellists were freed from the constraints of their previous, more accompanimental roles. The

cello’s predecessor, the viola da gamba, typically served a secondary function as part of the

continuo. The accomplishments of early cello virtuosi like Adrien-François Servais, Karl

Davidoff, Jean-Pierre and Jean-Louis Duport, and Bernhard Romberg proved that the cello could

be musically gratifying as a solo instrument and pleasing to audiences. 28 As the popularity of the

cello grew among players and public audiences, the development of its own idiomatic

28
Valerie Walden, “Technique, Style, and Performing Practice to c. 1900,” in The Cambridge Companion to the
Cello, ed. Robin Stowell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 178.
 16

performance practices “required the fundamentals of cello technique to be disengaged from those

of the violin and … the viola da gamba.”29 New cellists, whether they were completely new

string players or former viola da gamba players, needed instructions for playing the cello. The

earliest written examples of cello technique come from instructional tutors mostly focused on the

merits of the cello (as opposed to the viola da gamba) and covered the basics of holding the

instrument, tuning, and scale patterns. In 1741, the landmark publication of Michel Corrette’s

method book, Méthode pour apprendre le violoncelle, Op. 24, “signal[ed] the advent of the

violoncello as a recognized and appreciated performance medium.” 30 This and other similar

instructional manuals were intended for adult beginners, and in the case of Corrette’s method,

contained instructions explicitly aimed at viola da gamba players for switching to the cello.

Following this publication and as attitudes toward the cello’s musical role were changing,

subsequent method books focused on the cello as a concert instrument and began to define more

systematic rules for fingering, bowing, and technical notation.

Significant contributors to the cello’s development leading up to the turn of the 19th

century include Jean-Louis Duport, Luigi Boccherini, and Bernhard Romberg, who implemented

changes such as standardization of symbols for the strings and the fingers, the primary use of the

bass and tenor clefs, the use of smaller cellos for teaching children, and the inclusion of virtuosic

elements for the cello as a solo instrument. 31 Prominent performers and composers traveled

throughout Europe, sharing with each other their stylistic ideas, new technical concepts, and

preferences for the instrument and bow’s design. Through this process, the basis for modern

29
Walden, “Technique, Style, and Performing Practice to c. 1900,” 178.
30
Valerie Walden, One Hundred Years of Violoncello: A History of Technique and Performance Practice, 1740–
1840 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997) 4.
31
Halina Ostojska-Rubczak, The History and Development of Violoncello Technique: Based on the Literature for
the Instrument up to Beethoven’s Sonatas Opus 102 (Kota Kinabalu: Penerbit UMS, 2007) 23-26.
 17

pedagogy came into being.32 Uniformity in playing methods as well as instrument and bow

design was achieved by about 1840, and “by the second half of the nineteenth century cello

pedagogy was firmly established, through both the esteem granted to virtuoso teachers and the

syllabuses of national conservatories and lesser schools of music.”33

At the beginning of the 20th century, the German school of playing and teaching was the

most prominent, led by Julius Klengel and Hugo Becker of the Dresden School, both direct

“pedagogical descendants” of notable cellist and technical author Friedrich Grützmacher. 34

These highly regarded teachers fostered the next generation of great cellists while also

composing pieces and some of the first collections of technical exercises for the cello. 35 Many

well-known teachers followed the trend of publishing a distillation of their ideas, intended for

their pupils, about cello playing based on teaching and performing experience. R. Caroline

Bosanquet characterizes these exercises as “the backbone of training material for classical tonal

music, and [they] are still widely used.”36 However, Bosanquet cautions that for the modern

cellist these materials may not necessarily be ideal because “…it was not until after 1945 that

innovative ways of teaching were evolved, particularly in communicating with young pupils and

making the learning process pleasurable.” 37 Bosanquet criticizes exercises from the turn of the

20th century as “stiff” and “perpetuated [in the 20th century] despite modern advances in

technical knowledge.”38 Today, some cellists and cello teachers may be hesitant to use older

32
Walden, One Hundred Years of Violoncello, 4-5.
33
Walden, “Technique, Style, and Performing Practice to c. 1900,” 179.
34
Margaret Campbell, “Masters of the Twentieth Century,” in The Cambridge Companion to the Cello, ed. Robin
Stowell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999) 73.
35
Examples of these publications include: Julius Klengel, Arr. Leonard Rose, Technical Studies for Cello, 2 vols.
(New York: International Music, 1959); Hugo Becker and Dago Rynar, Mechanik und Aesthetik des Violoncellspiels
(Vienna, 1929).
36
R. Caroline Bosanquet, “The Development of Cello Teaching in the Twentieth Century,” in The Cambridge
Companion to the Cello, ed. Robin Stowell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999) 198.
37
Bosanquet, “The Development of Cello Teaching in the Twentieth Century,” 203.
38
Bosanquet, “The Development of Cello Teaching in the Twentieth Century,” 198.
 18

exercises in their practice, believing them to be outdated and not user-friendly. I have chosen,

however, to include exercises written before 1945 in the Cello Exercise Index, and I argue that

these exercises are still valuable for the contemporary cellist.39

As this brief historical account has shown, the role of cello exercises as well as their

intended audience has changed drastically over time. The present research is focused on a stable

period in the cello’s historical development, meaning that there were consistent expectations of

the cellist in relation to the music they were playing. The earliest published materials, though

historically relevant, contain fingerings and bow techniques that are not idiomatic for the

contemporary cellist or for the instrument in its current physical form. For this reason, it is not

necessarily valuable to include manuals and methods written before the approximate date of

1840. As previously cited, it was at approximately this point that uniformity was established in

playing methods, instrument and bow design, and pedagogy according to Valerie Walden. The

earliest publication date for a book included in the Index is 1837, Friedrich Dotzauer’s

Flageolett-Schule, Op. 147.40 Similarly, the newest exercise materials addressing extended,

contemporary technique will not be included. There has been a considerable amount of

standardization in contemporary technique and its notation, yet this is an area of cello and string

playing that is still evolving and comparably unstable. Naturally, the newest techniques are of

great interest to cellists, and future research could explore and analyze these exercises for their

inclusion in the Cello Exercise Index.

2.2 Existing Étude and Exercise Analysis

39
Bosanquet’s criticism was presented to the interview subjects. A discussion of their reactions and responses can
be found in Chapter 5, section 5.3, Overall Value of Exercises.
40
Friedrich Dotzauer, Flageolett-Schule, Op. 147 (Leipzig: VEB Friedrich Hofmeister, 1955); First publication in
1837: https://imslp.org/wiki/Flageolett-Schule%2C_Op.147_(Dotzauer%2C_Friedrich).
 19

There are several examples of analysis and categorization of works written for the cello

both on a small and large scale. Though this previous research contains very little in the specific

area of technical exercises for the cello, it nevertheless provides insight into the kind of work that

has already been done and a few models for my own research. These precedents also provided

inspiration for areas where I could change the organizational methods or expand upon the

existing publications.

There is existing scholarly research that analyzes the standard cello étude repertoire. The

most pertinent example comes from Ozan Tunca who published both an article in the American

String Teacher and wrote his dissertation on the topic of cello études, with a focus on longer,

advanced études.41 As part of his dissertation, Tunca conducted a large-scale survey of cello

professors from major American colleges and universities discussing étude preferences and

frequency of their use. Though the repertoire under consideration differs from cello exercises,

Tunca’s analysis provides a model for organizing music written for the cello. Tunca’s

dissertation includes eleven étude books, each with a corresponding table titled “Studies that

Involve Specific Techniques.”42 For example, the table for Jean-Louis Duport’s 21 Études

includes categories such as multiple stops, bowing techniques, and string crossings, among

others.43 In a similar yet less directly comparable example, Timothy Mutschlecner created and

administered a diagnostic test of cello technique in thirty undergraduate cellists.44

Mutschlecner’s research asked questions like, “to what extent can a test of cello playing measure

a student’s technique?” and, “to what extent can a criteria-specific rating scale provide

41
Ozan Evrim Tunca, “Popularity Contest: The Most Commonly Used Cello Etude Books in American Colleges
and Universities,” American String Teacher 54, no. 3 (2004); Tunca, “Most Commonly Used Etude Books by Cello
Teachers in American Colleges and Universities” (DMA diss., Florida State University, 2003).
42
Tunca, “Most Commonly Used Etude Books,” vii.
43
Tunca, “Most Commonly Used Etude Books,” 9.
44
Timothy M. Mutschlecner, “Construction, Validation, and Administration of a Diagnostic Test of Cello
Technique for Undergraduate Cellists” (PhD diss., University of Florida, 2007).
 20

indications of specific strengths and weaknesses in a student’s playing?” After administering the

test, the teachers of the participating students were asked to comment on the value of the test as a

diagnostic teaching tool. The survey and diagnostic test in Tunca’s and Mutschlecner’s

dissertations differ from the longer, semi-structured interviews in the present project, but the

types of questions they asked are similar to those I asked of my interview participants concerning

cello exercises and technique teaching.

In another example of étude analysis, Il-He Hwang offers a “synthesis” of three specific

étude collections by Dotzauer, Grützmacher, and Popper with the goal of using these works to

solve issues in a student’s repertoire practice. 45 Two cellists, Louis Potter and Richard Slavich,

write in detail about étude collections from single composers. Potter details Alwin Schroeder’s

170 Foundational Studies, and Slavich presents a similar analysis of the études by David

Popper.46 Though the scope is narrow, Slavich in particular provides an example of highly

detailed analysis, including charts that categorize Popper’s High School of Cello Playing, Op. 73

in multiple ways (see Example 2.1). Though valuable, the materials from Hwang, Potter, and

Slavich differ from the present research in that they are limited to one to three étude books each

and the analyses contain less detail overall than what is present in the Cello Exercise Index.

Although these examples of existing research directly address the cello repertoire, they

are concerned with études only. There is a lack of existing research in the specific area of

technical exercises, however there are two exceptions of note. First is an article by Jeffrey Solow

in the American String Teacher in which Solow offers a survey of twelve “scale and arpeggio

45
Il-He Hwang, “A Synthesis of the Advanced Etudes by Dotzauer, Grützmacher, and Popper” (DMA diss.,
University of Cincinnati, 2006).
46
Louis Potter, “A Tour Through Schroeder's 170 Foundation Studies, Volume One,” American String Teacher 45,
no. 2 (1995); Richard Slavich, “A Player’s Guide to the Popper Etudes,” Internet Cello Society, 2006,
http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/popper.htm.
 21

books.”47 The twelve books addressed offer much more than scales and arpeggios. The majority

of these materials contain primarily exercises, therefore they are included within the scope and

their individual exercises appear in the Index. My research motivations were similar to those of

Solow, who says the following about his article: “I realized that I was not familiar with several

scale and arpeggio books. It occurred to me that others were likely to be in the same boat. As it is

not easy to examine the contents of each, this survey may help cellists decide which ones they

might want to own, use, and teach.”48 Solow analyzes this repertoire in a casual, somewhat

cursory way, allowing for an efficient, shorter article that serves as a reference for cello teachers.

Solow’s work was a helpful starting point for the current project.

The second precedent is cellist Warren Lindsay Burton’s dissertation on the topic of

technique for the intermediate cellist.49 Burton, a cellist and cello teacher, collected 125

“technical études” for the intermediate student, arguing that most technical material written for

this level is unappealing, poorly sequenced, and does not provide motivation for the student to

continue. Burton’s selection of exercises and études are analyzed with more than one layer of

subjectivity, as they are edited with the author’s fingerings and bowings and also sequenced

according to the author’s opinion of their difficulty. In the conclusion to his review of the

literature, Burton states explicitly that in order “to provide a cello student with an appealing and

properly graduated course of study, a teacher would need to have at hand nearly all of the above-

mentioned etude books.”50 The aim of my dissertation and the accompanying Index is to allow

technical material to be “at hand” for any cellist, as Burton suggests. However, unlike Burton’s

47
Jeffrey Solow, “Cello Scale and Arpeggio Books: A Survey,” American String Teacher 54, no. 4 (2004): 66.
48
Solow, “Cello Scale and Arpeggio Books,” 66.
49
Warren Lindsay Burton, “A Systematic Collection of Technical Etudes for the Intermediate Cello Student” (DMA
diss., University of Oregon, 1974).
50
Burton, “A Systematic Collection of Technical Etudes,” 20.
 22

project, the Cello Exercise Index is designed to be neutral, free from assessments of quality or

difficulty.

As a final example of cello analysis, I include in this review a dissertation by Karl

Ronnevik.51 Part of Ronnevik’s work is an annotated collection of every book and major work

that has been written about the cello from 2000–2015, organized by topic and general category,

and then presented alphabetically with a brief description of each entry. 52 This is a valuable

resource for any cello-related research, although the author states that, among other omissions,

the bibliography does not include method books, as “these may contain sections of prose but are

largely composed of musical exercises and intended for use in the practice room rather than for

general reading.”53 Though Ronnevik’s dissertation does not address my specific area of interest,

this publication is another example of a large-scale analysis that I considered when organizing

my own sources.

Musicians and researchers playing instruments other than the cello have recognized a

similar “lack-of-indexing” problem in their repertoires. Precedents for this research exist in the

form of indexes or analyses of technical material, some large-scale and others more limited.

These precedents were a useful model for my proposed research, but they differ from my goals

in that they are not for the cello, not online, and/or not as detailed. For violin études, there are

existing examples of analysis, either for a collection of works selected by the author, or the work

of a particular composer. Two examples stand out as the most related to my project. Joyce Keith

Dubach created an index of violin études in the form of extensive charts to be used “as an aid in

locating and assigning études to students based upon their grade level and the technical difficulty

51
Karl A. Ronnevik, “The Twenty-First Century Cellist’s Bibliography: A Guide to Cello Research from 2000-
2015” (DMA diss., University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2016).
52
Ronnevik, “The Twenty-First Century Cellist’s Bibliography,” 12.
53
Ronnevik, “The Twenty-First Century Cellist’s Bibliography,” 5.
 23

they are having.”54 Dubach assigns a level of difficulty to each étude, a measurement I do not

apply to exercises, as mentioned in my discussion of Burton. Furthermore, Dubach’s

categorizations for techniques are somewhat broad because the purpose of each étude, like other

pieces of music, is open to interpretation by the player; exercises, in contrast, typically serve a

more specialized purpose. Dubach did not promise comprehensiveness, but instead selected eight

of the “most commonly used” collections of violin études. Similarly, Semi Yang describes and

analyzes selected violin études, and also provides a “Pedagogical Guide” by detailing practice

methods.55

2.3 Pedagogical Materials

By examining manuals and guides about how to practice and teach, I was able to explore

some of the primary areas of technical interest for current teachers and prominent cello teachers

from the past, supporting my process of categorizing and tagging individual exercises. These

sources gave me a sense of what current teachers are concerned about, what they are working on

with their students, and therefore what they might be searching for in the Index. The materials

reviewed in this category include books, guides, and dissertations written about cello teaching in

a broader sense.

Louis Potter and Gordon Epperson created guides for teaching cello, discussing what

they consider to be the most beneficial sequencing of études and repertoire for intermediate to

advanced students. 56 Though both authors acknowledge the general importance of technique for

54
Joyce Keith Dubach, “An Encyclopedic Index of Commonly used Violin Etudes Catalogued and Organized
Pedagogically by Technical Difficulty” (DMA diss., Ball State University, 1997), 23.
55
Semi Yang, “Violin Etudes: A Pedagogical Guide” (DMA diss., University of Cincinnati, 2006).
56
Louis Potter, “Teaching Sequence and Materials for Cello Mastery,” American String Teacher 29, no. 1 (1979);
Gordon Epperson, “A Sequence for Teaching Cello Technique and Materials: Intermediate,” American String
Teacher 27, no. 3 (1977).
 24

a cellist’s development, there is little mention of the technical studies included in the Index

research, and in the case of Epperson’s article, there is no mention of specific technical exercises

at all. The majority of Potter’s contribution does not specify technical compositions or

collections by name, although there is an acknowledgement that “abstract technique” is

“absolutely essential … and should be a proper, well-considered portion of lessons and practice

periods.”57

Two dissertations on the subject of cello pedagogy include reviews of prominent teaching

methods and materials, followed by the author’s own methods and opinions about cello teaching.

Chenoa Kellyanne Orme-Stone studied nine examples from the cello’s pedagogical literature and

offers a teaching approach combining “the most useful aspects of each method.” 58 Similarly,

Zachary Preucil surveyed four collegiate courses on cello pedagogy and offers a model syllabus

for a theoretical course inspired by the analysis of the observed courses, along with additional

research.59

Some authors focus their research on one specific area of technique and pedagogy,

addressing the topic from many angles and showing research trends over time. A dissertation by

Jack Erik Anderson provides a teaching resource for everything concerning the cellist’s right

hand, detailing the major bow techniques and offering suggestions for development, while a

dissertation by Gustavo Carpinteyro-Lara focuses on the pedagogy and practice of body

awareness and movement, including exercises to develop the kinesthetic sense. 60 Two authors

57
Potter, "Teaching Sequence and Materials for Cello Mastery," 52.
58
Chenoa Kellyanne Orme-Stone, “Cello Teaching Methods: An Analysis and Application of Pedagogical
Literature” (DMA diss., University of California, Santa Barbara, 2020) 1.
59
Zachary A. Preucil, “New Perspectives on Cello Pedagogy” (DMA diss., University of Wisconsin – Madison,
2020).
60
Jack Erik Anderson, “The Cellist’s Right Hand: A Guidebook for Pedagogy and Practice” (DMA diss., University
of Cincinnati, 2001); Gustavo Carpinteyro-Lara, “The Application of the Kinesthetic Sense: An Introduction of
Body Awareness in Cello Pedagogy and Performance” (DMA diss., University of Cincinnati, 2014); In his 1975
 25

focus specifically on vibrato. Yoni Draiblate provides a history of vibrato’s development as an

essential technique for cellists while Michael Krentz provides an analysis of vibrato mechanics

on the cello and provides a teaching guide. 61 Rather than one specific technique, Brinton Smith

offers an overview focused on common technical issues for collegiate cello students and offers

advice for combatting the issues that occur most often.62

A recent work co-authored by Hans Jørgen Jensen and Minna Rose Chung, CelloMind

(2017), is quickly becoming an essential addition to the cello teacher’s library, serving as a

manual for general left hand cello technique as well as providing an extensive, scientific guide to

intonation systems for the cello. 63 The book is partly a pedagogical guide for intonation and

technique, and it is also a curated collection of new and historical technical exercises. This book

shares many of the goals of the present research and Index in that it advocates for the use of

exercises by contemporary cellists. CelloMind includes a growing library of digital resources like

video demonstrations, graphics, and charts which may be complementary to the Index, as it is

another online resource aimed to help cello students engage with and access technical exercises.

As of this writing, CelloMind does not meet the criteria for inclusion in the Index because it is

neither listed in the 2013 RCM Cello Syllabus nor available on IMSLP.org, but this could

certainly change in the future. Criteria for inclusion is discussed further in the Index

Methodology, Chapter 3, section 3.2.

Reviewing the historical development of the cello alongside contemporary writings on

cello technique created a foundation upon which I could develop the present research. Surveying

book, Gerhard Mantel also focused on physiology and the physics of playing the cello: Gerhard Mantel, Cello
Technique: Principles and Forms of Movement (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975).
61
Yoni Draiblate, “The History, Evolution, and Pedagogy of Cello Vibrato” (DMA diss., Temple University, 2019);
Kevin Michael Krentz, “Vibrato on the Cello: An Objective Analysis, Current Understanding and Teaching Guide”
(DMA diss., University of Washington, 2011).
62
Brinton Smith, “Common Themes,” American String Teacher 63, no. 1 (2013).
63
Hans Jørgen Jensen and Minna Rose Chung, CelloMind (Chicago: Ovation Press, 2017).
 26

precedents and similar research gave me a sense of where my study of technical exercises might

fit into the field. Additionally, considering areas of interest for cellists and cello teachers

supports the creation of an Index that is as beneficial as possible to its users.

 27

Chapter 3
Index Methodology

This chapter discusses the development of methodologies for each step in the creation of the

Cello Exercise Index. First, I describe the selection of sources for the Index, then describe the

inclusion criteria for materials contained within these sources. Finally, I summarize the creation

and organization of the Index itself. A description of the methodology used for the interview

component of the project appears in Chapter 5.

3.1 Selection of Sources for the Index

The Cello Exercise Index includes selected titles from two sources: The Royal

Conservatory of Music’s Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition,64 and the International Music Score

Library Project (IMSLP). In this section I discuss why I chose these two resources - further

inclusion criteria for the selection of specific exercise materials follows in section 3.2.

The Royal Conservatory of Music is a respected music education institution, and the

resources listed in its Cello Syllabus can be considered representative of typical technical

suggestions for cellists in similar syllabi. The most directly comparable syllabi come from the

Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and Trinity College London (TCL).

These institutions offer cello exams by grade level, each associated with lists of suggested

repertoire, technical work, and often a music theory component. I chose to use the RCM’s Cello

Syllabus for two primary reasons: first, the Conservatory’s geographical proximity to my current

64
As of this writing, the 2013 edition of the RCM Cello Syllabus is the most up-to-date edition. The primary
syllabus compiler, Susan Gagnon, anticipates that a new edition will be released in the future but is unsure as to the
timeline (Susan Gagnon, interview with author, Toronto, September 22, 2021). A discussion of the compilation of
the 2013 Cello Syllabus and my interview with Susan Gagnon is located in Chapter 5, section 5.4.
 28

academic home and its importance to my musical community, and second, the RCM System’s

ubiquity in pre-university music education. For example, RCM grade levels are used as a

reference point and national standard for gauging playing proficiency in Canadian university-

level entrance requirements.65

Within the RCM Cello Syllabus, the relevant works come from the “Resources”

section.66 The Cello Syllabus provides repertoire lists by grade, from the Preparatory level

through Grade 10. At each level, students are required to choose one or more études from their

grade’s list, in addition to performing technical tests as part of their exam. While these études

and technical tests are organized by grade, the Resources section is organized only by work type,

with no indication for the playing level of the student. For these resources, it is up to the

individual teacher and student to assess what materials might be relevant. From the 37 titles

listed in the subsections “general resources,” “supplemental technique books,” and “cello

reference works,” 16 books were selected for inclusion in the Index.

Teachers and students might want or need more material than what is included within the

RCM syllabus, so the Index contains the technical works currently available and accessible for

free online at IMSLP. The IMSLP, also known as the Petrucci Music Library, was created in

2006 with the goal of making music scores within the public domain easily accessible for

everyone.67 IMSLP allows for browsing through their massive library of scores by searching or

65
For example, the repertoire guidelines for admission to the University of Toronto Bachelor of Music in
Performance and Artist Diploma programs state that “Classical applicants…should perform repertoire at the RCM
Grade 10 level or above.” Admissions guide, p. 11, accessed January 17, 2022,
https://music.utoronto.ca/docs/u_of_t__music___undergraduate_admissions_guide_2022_23.pdf; The Schulich
School at McGill University recommends that the performance level for undergraduate music performance
applicants be equivalent to RCM Grade 10, accessed January 19, 2022,
https://www.mcgill.ca/music/admissions/undergraduate/prepare.
66
Royal Conservatory of Music, Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition (Toronto: Frederick Harris Music Company Ltd.,
2013) 96–99. A PDF of the syllabus can be accessed using this link: https://rcmusic-kentico-
cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/rcm/media/main/documents/examinations/syllabi/s37_cellosyl_2016_online_secured.pdf.
67
“IMSLP:About,” Petrucci Music Library, accessed December 15, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/IMSLP:About.
 29

sorting using filters for work type, instrumentation, time period, nationality, language, composers

name, and instrument difficulty. 68 On IMSLP, cello pieces sorted by difficulty are listed with

equivalents to RCM grade levels, further evidence of the popularity of the RCM syllabi.69

Sorting the IMSLP scores to include only those for cello and for one player yields 490 results. Of

these, 174 unique scores are categorized as either methods, studies, or exercises.70 Some scores

are assigned to more than one of these categories and are therefore duplicated in two lists. Many

of these scores are text-based method books or collections of études and were ultimately not

included within the Index.71 Each resource listed on the RCM Syllabus and each of the relevant

method books, studies, or exercises included in IMSLP were considered individually according

to the inclusion criteria described below in section 3.2. I scanned through each listing and

determined if it would or would not be given an in-depth analysis and included in the Index. A

total of 210 books were reviewed (36 from the RCM and 174 from IMSLP), 36 of which met the

criteria for inclusion in the Index.

The primary languages for these materials are English, French, German, Italian, and

Russian. Many scores are presented in multiple languages to increase their potential audience

(see headings in Examples 3.3 and 3.6 from Louis Feuillard’s Daily Exercises). Even for scores

written in a language I do not speak fluently, I am still able to index the material since these

books contain mostly music notation. The ability to index exercises regardless of their original

printed language is an advantage of the Cello Exercise Index, allowing users to have access to a

greater variety of materials. Though the Index contents are not complete in the literal sense, the

68
As of December 2021, the IMSLP has 624,029 scores from 24,053 composers.
69
“Cello Pieces by Level,” Petrucci Music Library, accessed January 19, 2022,
https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:DiffPage/DiffMain/3.
70
These numbers reflect the contents of IMSLP at the time of collection, April 18th, 2022.
71
See Chapter 1 for a more detailed discussion of the distinction between exercises and études. This distinction will
be revisited in Section 3.2, “Exercise Inclusion Criteria” below.
 30

resources selected by RCM and those found in IMSLP provide a robust picture of the technical

exercises available to cellists today. The Cello Exercise Index is designed with future expansion

in mind, providing a foundation on which future work could rest.

The Index includes a mix of both historical and more contemporary exercises from both

sources. The full date range for the Index is currently 1837 (Dotzauer) to 2004 (Galamian-

Jensen). This range reflects only the materials that meet the criteria for inclusion in the Index (a

detailed explanation of inclusion criteria follows in section 3.2). The RCM Cello Syllabus

suggestions begin in the early 20th century with Otakar Ševčík’s Op. 2 and Op. 3 from 1905 and

end with Hans Jørgen Jensen’s arrangement of The Ivan Galamian Scale System for Cello

published in 2004.72 It is worth noting that while the earliest date listed by the RCM is 1905

(Ševčík), Julius Klengel’s Technical Studies for Violoncello were first published in 1902. 73 The

RCM Cello Syllabus lists a more recent edition of Klengel’s Technical Studies arranged by

Leonard Rose and published in 1959. 74

As for the relevant works available on IMSLP, the earliest publication date is 1837,

Friedrich Dotzauer’s Flageolett-Schule, Op. 147.75 Because the repertoire available on IMSLP is

dependent on the public domain laws in any given location, the latest date for works available is

frequently changing. Although Canadian copyright expires 50 years after the death of the

composer or other author, I chose to further narrow the scope to align with United Sates

72
Otakar Ševčík, School of Bowing Technique for Cello, Op. 2, 6 vols., arr. Louis R. Feuillard (London: Bosworth,
1905); Otakar Ševčík, Forty Variations for Cello, Op. 3, arr. Louis R. Feuillard (London: Bosworth, 1905); Ivan
Galamian, Hans Jørgen Jensen, and Frederick Neumann, The Ivan Galamian Scale System for Violoncello (Boston,
MA: Galaxy Music Corporation, 1994).
73
The public domain listing for Technical Studies for Cello on IMSLP states, “Worldcat lists 4 or more volumes,
published from 1902 to 1906 or later. The four have edition nos. 1939, 2041, 2151, 2217 according to entries in
Lehigh University Library.” https://imslp.org/wiki/Technical_Cello_Studies_(Klengel%2C_Julius).
74
Julius Klengel, Technical Studies for Cello, 2 vols., arr. Leonard Rose (New York: International Music, 1959).
75
Friedrich Dotzauer, Flageolett-Schule, Op. 147 (Leipzig: VEB Friedrich Hofmeister, 1955); First publication in
1837: https://imslp.org/wiki/Flageolett-Schule%2C_Op.147_(Dotzauer%2C_Friedrich).
 31

copyright laws that include only works published before 1927 in the public domain. Adhering to

the stricter laws from the US means that North American users will have the same access to

public domain scores within the Cello Exercise Index. The starting date of 1837 (Dotzauer)

situates the research shortly after the time when cello technique developed and separated from

the violin or the viola da gamba. As Valerie Walden points out, it was not until after the advent

of the Tourte-design bow in the late 1820s that cello technique really flourished, and not until the

second half of the nineteenth century that cello pedagogy was firmly established. 76 Materials

written before this point do not reflect the technique and equipment used by today’s cellists and

are therefore excluded.

As discussed in Chapter 1, most of the exercises included in the Index are written with

Western tonal or modal pitch organization. Many exercises are either explicitly or implicitly

composed in major and minor modes, designed with repertoire from the Western Classical

tradition in mind. Although the authors may not have anticipated their exercises would be used to

target other repertoires, many exercises are in fact “repertoire agnostic”; they address

fundamental aspects of playing that are pertinent to more contemporary repertoires with post-

tonal, atonal, or non-tonal organization. Conversely, there are some materials that are explicitly

written to address extended techniques or techniques of the late-20th or 21st centuries that are not

included in the Index. This exclusion is due in part to these materials being outside of the public

domain and therefore not included in the research scope. The primary reason for their exclusion,

however, is that most of the materials aimed at practicing extended technique are presented as

études rather than exercises.

76
Valerie Walden, “Technique, Style, and Performing Practice to c. 1900,” In The Cambridge Companion to the
Cello, ed. Robin Stowell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 179.
 32

In Valerie Welbanks’s doctoral thesis on the pedagogy of modern cello technique, the

author explains that there is a lack of pedagogical materials addressing extended techniques

equivalent to those that address traditional technique. 77 Among the contemporary works

currently available, there are more traditional études along with “compositional études” which

may or may not include the word étude in their title but nonetheless address a point of technique.

Welbanks explains that “the pieces that would have true value in developing an aspect of

contemporary music are often simply a part of the repertoire” even though they could serve the

purpose of technical study. 78 For examples, see Sofia Gubaidulina’s Ten Preludes for Violoncello

Solo (1974) and John Cage’s Etudes Boreales for Cello and/or Piano (1978). One of the most

comprehensive and well-known examples of contemporary studies is Siegfried Palm’s Pro

Musica Nova: Studies for Playing Contemporary Music for Violoncello (1985). This collection

of 12 études and short pieces has a pedagogical focus and includes brief explanations from Palm

for the techniques in each piece. As a supplement to her thesis, Welbanks provides a collection

of preparatory exercises to fill the pedagogical gap that is left for cellists interested in gaining

technical fluency for 20th and 21st century repertoire.79 These exercises do not appear in the

Index, however if they had been included in the RCM Cello Syllabus or listed on IMSLP, they

would have been indexed. This collection of exercises addresses techniques such as changing the

cello’s tuning using the pegs while playing, melodic contour with strike tones, and playing

quarter-tone scales, among others. Examples of contemporary exercises as opposed to études are

77
Valerie Welbanks, “Foundations of Modern Cello Technique: Creating the Basis for a Pedagogical Method” (PhD
diss., Goldsmiths College, University of London, 2017), 5.
78
Welbanks, “Foundations of Modern Cello Technique,” 283.
79
The exercise collection can be accessed here:
https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/20163/8/MUS_supplement_WelbanksV_2017.pdf.
 33

rare, and as of this writing no applicable titles are included in the Index. Welbanks’s exercises,

and perhaps other exercises yet to be published, may appear in a future version of the Index.

3.2 Exercise Inclusion Criteria

The Cello Exercise Index includes only exercises written for or explicitly transcribed or

arranged for the cello. The Index does not include études or any other types of pedagogical

materials such as music history texts, music instruction books, or performance guides. To a

cellist or Index user, it may be easy to distinguish technical exercises from material typically

described as études. It is important to consider, however, that these two terms were used

somewhat interchangeably before the 19th century.80 This means that the title of a work or

headings within the music may not necessarily be accurate indicators of their contents.

Furthermore, there are instances of “borderline cases” where exercises resemble études or the

reverse. Examples of these cases will be described further below.

Keeping these ambiguities in mind, it was necessary to have a clear operational definition

for both an étude and a technical exercise during the initial selection process, prior to music

analysis and prior to determining the structure of the Index. As was discussed in Chapter 1,

technical exercises and études serve different functions for cellists. This was the primary

motivation for excluding études from the Index and focusing only on exercises. For the purposes

of this research, an étude is a composition written with a tonal center that may progress through

different key areas. Études also have other performance indications such as dynamic markings,

tempi, evocative titles, or character descriptors. They are usually meant to be approached

artistically as well as technically, and therefore may be performed publicly as stand-alone pieces.

80
Howard Ferguson and Kenneth L. Hamilton, “Study,” Grove Music Online, January 20, 2001, https://www-
oxfordmusiconline-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/
omo-9781561592630-e-0000027018.
 34

In the RCM Cello Syllabus, the exam for each grade level requires the student to select and

perform one or two études from a list specific to that grade. The “technical requirements” include

both the choice of étude and technical tests like scales, arpeggios, and double stops. For an

example from the RCM Cello Syllabus Grade 9, see Example 3.1.

Exercises, in contrast, are defined as short figures or compositions with minimal

harmonic progression that do not stand alone as a piece of music (i.e., not intended for

performance outside of the private cello studio). Exercises are often designed to be repeated,

transposed to other keys, and played with rhythmic variations. Unlike the étude lists provided in

the RCM Syllabus, there are no equivalent exercise requirements for each grade’s technical tests.

Instead, the exercise suggestions in the list of Resources pp. 96–99 are meant to help the student

prepare for the technical tests which include scales, arpeggios, and double stops.

To be considered for inclusion in the Index, the majority of any book or collection must

be exercises. In this context, a majority is defined as at least 50% exercises as opposed to études,

written directions, or other text. Given this parameter, some books can be very clearly included

or excluded from the Index. For example, Pablo Casals’s biography Joys and Sorrows is entirely

prose and is therefore not included in the Index. 81 On the other side of the spectrum is a book like

Friedrich Grützmacher’s Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, Op. 67,82 a collection of

exclusively exercises that is often recommended for technical study. Other books are a mix of

both exercises and text, and are included as long as the majority of the content is exercises. One

example of such a case is Paul Tortelier’s How I Play and How I Teach.83 Tortelier describes his

81
Pablo Casals, Joys and Sorrows: Reflections of Pablo Casals as told to Albert E. Kahn (New York: Simon &
Schuster, 1970).
82
Friedrich Grützmacher, Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, Op. 67 (New York: G. Schirmer, 1909).
83
Paul Tortelier, Maud Tortelier, and Rudolf Caspar Baumberger, How I Play and How I Teach, 4th ed. (London:
Chester Music, 1988).
 35

beliefs about each component of cello technique in detailed prose, but also includes many

exercises to both demonstrate and facilitate the practice of each technique.

Even with a set of clear operational definitions, there are cases that do not fall neatly into

the parameters for inclusion or exclusion from the Index. Within each of the potential sources,

sometimes individual exercises are borderline cases, meaning études that resemble exercises or

the reverse. Individual exercises with some qualities from both sides of this divide had to be

analyzed and considered individually, and ultimately, I had to make decisions based on my own

discretion. A shorter étude with a very narrow technical focus may appear more like an exercise.

For example, Otakar Ševčík’s Forty Variations for Cello, Op. 3, arranged for cello by Louis

Feuillard,84 contains 40 relatively short passages designed to work on one or a small number of

specific bowing techniques (Example 3.2). Although they share many of the goals of an exercise

and likely would not be performed in concert, these 40 variations on a simple theme contain

elements like a specific key, harmonic development, specified tempi with descriptors, and

dynamics. Because of these elements, I ultimately decided that this book contains études, not

exercises. A similar borderline case with the opposite outcome is found in Louis Feuillard’s

Daily Exercises for the Violoncello.85 The fifth part of the book, beginning on page 39, is a

chapter titled “Bowing Exercises.” This chapter contains five short passages, each followed by a

full page of variations in bowings and articulations (Example 3.3). Though the description of

these variations sounds similar to Ševčík’s variations, Feuillard’s five melodies and subsequent

bowing variations have no dynamics, no expression markings, no tempo specified, and no other

performance indications marked. These variations are more melodic than some other exercises,

but their minimal harmonic progression and narrow focus on the bow’s technique puts them

84
Otakar Ševčík, Forty Variations for Cello, Op. 3, arr. Louis Feuillard (London: Bosworth, 1905).
85
Louis R. Feuillard, Daily Exercises for Violoncello (New York: Schott Music, 1919), 39.
 36

firmly into the category of exercises. All works that meet the inclusion criteria and appear in the

Index are cited in the bibliography of this document and are listed in a supplement in the

Appendix, section II.

3.3 Index Creation and Tagging Methodology

A large portion of the research for this work involved the creation and organization of the

Cello Exercise Index. At present, the Index exists as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that can be

searched, filtered, and sorted to find exactly what a user might be looking for. Eventually, the

Index would be most beneficial to the cellist community if it existed online as an efficient,

searchable system. After consulting with computer scientists at the University of Toronto, I

determined that the design of the Excel spreadsheet is appropriate for eventual conversion into a

website. The current iteration is a fully functioning prototype that allows for searching, sorting,

and locating exercises. At the time of writing, all references to the Cello Exercise Index refer to

this Excel spreadsheet. A more in-depth description of the Index along with a guide to reading

and using it follows in Chapter 4. There were, however, some basic methodological questions

that needed to be addressed during the creation of the Index.

For a cello technique taxonomy, the logical first step when organizing exercises is to

consider the primary focus of each exercise. I determined that at their most basic level, the

exercises focus on one of three broad categories; exercises addressing the technique of the left

hand, the right hand and the bow, and “other,” meaning exercises that do not necessarily

emphasize the use of one hand over the other. The “other” category includes exercises

addressing rhythm, intonation, dynamics, and breathing. The divisions of left hand, right hand,

and other were used during the initial stages of the research, but as the analysis process

continued it became clear that these terms didn’t capture the full picture of cello technique.
 37

Playing the cello, and indeed making music in general, is more nuanced than simply addressing

one hand or the other, even in the context of a technical exercise. Fundamentally, both hands in

combination with many parts of the body are required to play the instrument. Even in an exercise

that is specifically targeting bow technique or left-hand technique it is more than likely that the

opposite hand is also involved. A shifting exercise, for example, may focus on shifting from one

finger to another within the hand, yet to execute that shift the motion likely involves the left

bicep, elbow, forearm, possibly even the cellist’s back muscles. The same is true for the right

side. For instance, in an exercise for staccato articulation the cellist considers the motion or

stillness of each part of their right arm, rather than only the hand. To reflect both the intent of

each exercise and the combined actions required to play the cello, the labels for the initial

division in the Index were changed to “left side,” “right side,” and “other.” These labels appear

in the far-left column of the Index (Example 3.4).

The Cello Exercise Index is organized using six primary columns and two secondary

columns. The first column discussed above is the broadest division of left side, right side, or

other. When reading left to right in any given row, the subsequent columns are labeled Levels 1,

2, and 3, and contain tags increasing in their degree of specificity. These four columns lead to a

resultant exercise or exercises, identified by the author, date, the page number(s) within the

work, and the exercise number or title, if applicable. In its current iteration, the results are

presented with a shaded background for emphasis.

After making final decisions about which exercise collections would be included within

the Index, every exercise within each book or collection was considered individually and labeled

with as many tags as applied. The term “tagging” or “text tagging” comes from information
 38

science, in which data is labeled at the granular level as a precursor to analysis.86 Examples of

tags in the Index include “Double Stops,” “Pizzicato,” and “Harmonics.” Each exercise is

initially tagged broadly, and later to the greatest applicable level of specificity. Some exercises

are narrowed by only one additional level after left side, right side, and other. As example 3.5

shows, three short pizzicato exercises in Paul Tortelier’s How I Play and How I Teach appear in

the Index as, “Right Side → Pizzicato → Tortelier (1988) → p. 62–63 Exercises 2–4” (Example

3.5). Other exercises have more specific attributes and are narrowed across the Index though

Level 3. One example comes from Louis Feuillard’s Daily Exercises for Violoncello, which

appears in the Index as “Left Side → Scales → 2 Octave → Whole Tone → Feuillard (1919) →

p. 33, Exercise 23” (Example 3.6).

The Index columns labeled Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 include technical labels or

characteristics that are “nested,” but there are some additional characteristics that are non-nested,

meaning they are simply present or not present. To the right of the results, there are two

secondary columns labeled tenor clef and treble clef and contain an “x” if either or both clefs are

present in the exercise. This non-nested distinction will allow a user to filter results based on the

presence of tenor or treble clef. Typically, cello students begin their musical training in the bass

clef, then add tenor and treble clefs as their technique becomes more advanced and they explore

the higher range of the instrument. A teacher for an earlier intermediate student may want to

exclude material that their student is unable to read. Likewise, a teacher may want to specifically

select exercises with tenor or treble clef as a student is learning to read a new clef. The point at

which a composer or cellist may prefer any of the three clefs used for cello music varies

according to musical context and personal preference. There is, however, a general pitch range

86
Cameron McKenzie, “Text Tagging,” TechTarget, last modified September 2015,
https://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/definition/text-tagging.
 39

associated with each clef. In The Study of Orchestration, Samuel Adler suggests the following:

bass clef C2–G4, tenor clef G4–C5, treble clef C5 and higher.87 Since the use of tenor and treble

clefs are typically linked to a specific range of pitches on the cello, filtering with these non-

nested characteristics may allow a user to focus on a particular area of the fingerboard in

combination with other tags or filtered results.

Occasionally I encountered individual exercises that occurred in more than one exercise

collection. These occurrences fall into two categories. First, an exercise from a work that is

already included in the scope of the research, in which case an Index entry appears only for the

exercise’s original source. For example, in the Cellist’s Guide to the Core Technique,88 G. Jean

Smith includes several exercises from Grützmacher’s Daily Exercises. Since Grützmacher’s

collection is already included within the Index, any exercises that Smith reprinted are not

indexed twice. To keep a record of these duplicate exercises, a separate sheet in the Excel file

entitled “Exercises in Multiple Locations” notes the original source as well as the location of the

referenced material in the later publication. In a website format, this information would be

included with the exercise result along with a link to the exercise’s secondary location if it is

within the public domain. The second category includes exercises reprinted from sources that are

not included in the RCM Cello Syllabus or available on IMSLP. In these cases, the exercise is

indexed using the original author’s name as well as the location within the research scope. For

instance, Smith also reprinted several exercises from Aldo Pais’s La Tecnica del Violoncello.89

Since Pais’s work is neither on the RCM Cello Syllabus nor part of the public domain, La

Tecnica del Violoncello itself is not included in the Index. However, since some exercises can be

87
Samuel Adler, The Study of Orchestration (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1982), 75.
88
G. Jean Smith, Cellist’s Guide to the Core Technique (American String Teachers Association, 1974).
89
Aldo Pais, La Tecnica del Violoncello (Milan: Universal Music Publishing Ricordi S.r.l., 1943).
 40

accessed via Smith’s work, these exercises are indexed with the following format in the results

columns: “Pais via Smith (1974) → p. 22, Ex. 29.”

When developing the methodology for the Index, it was important to consider the

variations in technique nomenclature that occur between cellists. The names for certain

techniques may vary depending on one’s musical training, geographic location, or personal

vocabulary preferences. When creating the tags, I made decisions informed by my own expertise

and experience, but other cellists may prefer different labels or systems. To account for these

variations, some labels include synonyms that will aid in more efficient searching of the Index.

These “search synonyms” were collected in a separate sheet in the Cello Exercise Index in which

synonyms for technical vocabulary and variations in terminology were recorded as they appeared

during the analysis process. For example, the primary Index includes the category “Extensions”

in Left Side, Level 1. Although the term extension is widely used by string players, G. Jean

Smith sometimes uses the term “stretch” instead of extension in Cellist’s Guide to the Core

Technique, so this term was recorded. Other examples included synonyms like slurred staccato

and linked staccato, articulated shift and delayed shift, left-hand pizzicato and pull-off. Including

these synonyms will be an asset to a web-based Index in that it should increase the accuracy of

search results, similar to the way that a Google search might suggest a different spelling or offer

related results.
 41

Chapter 4
Overview of the Index and its Contents

4.1 Review of Index Organization and Statistics

The current iteration of the Cello Exercise Index is a fully functioning prototype that

allows users to search, sort, and browse through exercises. At the time of this writing, the Index

exists as a free, publicly available Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. 90 The Index is organized using

six primary columns, reading from left to right: four columns containing tags of increasing levels

of specificity leading to two columns identifying the resultant exercises (see Example 4.1,

Column Headings). The first column divides the exercises into those focused on the cellist’s left

side, their right side, and “other” exercises. The subsequent levels add tag specificity as

applicable. Each entry in the two result columns (featuring shaded backgrounds for emphasis

within the spreadsheet) is identified with the source’s author, date, page number(s), and any titles

or numbers provided in the music. The presence of tenor clef and treble clef is a non-nested

characteristic and is indicated with an “x” following each result in two secondary columns

located to the right of the results. This additional information allows a teacher to filter for the

presence or absence of either clef when choosing exercises for their students. Because there are

variations in technical nomenclature used by musicians, I recorded synonyms for each tag as

they appeared during the indexing process. These synonyms are located in an additional sheet in

the same Excel file titled “Search Synonyms.” In a future version of the Index, searching for any

of these synonyms would present alternatives to a user in the same way that a Google search

might offer suggestions by asking, “did you mean…?”

90
The Index is currently stored on the Open Science Framework. The Excel file can be downloaded using the
following link: https://osf.io/j94gh/.
 42

The total number of relevant works under consideration from IMSLP reflects the library’s

contents at the time I ended data collection: April 18th, 2022. New scores enter the public domain

every day and the IMSLP’s collection is always growing, so it was necessary to limit the

collection processes for the purposes of this document. After filtering the IMSLP for works for

one player and works for the cello, I was able to narrow my results to materials labeled by

IMSLP as methods, studies, or exercises. Although many of the materials in these results did not

meet the criteria for inclusion, particularly those in the methods and studies categories, each of

the 174 results was considered individually for inclusion in the Index, per the methodology

described in Chapter 3. Ultimately, all exercises contained within 21 of IMSLP’s titles appear in

the Index. The RCM Cello Syllabus resources were evaluated with the same inclusion criteria

and yielded 15 books to be included out of a total of 36. A total of 210 resources were

individually evaluated (36 from the RCM and 174 from IMSLP) and led to 36 resources that

were analyzed in detail for inclusion in the Index.

Materials with multiple volumes had to be separated to accommodate the logistics of

indexing. For example, Volume 1 and Volume 2 of Julius Klengel’s Technical Studies for the

Violoncello were considered separate books and indexed separately. Because each of these large

volumes have the same author and date, separating them allows users to locate exercises within a

particular volume. This applied in only three cases: Klengel’s Technical Studies, Bukinik’s

Virtuoso Arpeggio Studies, and Werner’s 200 Scalen-Studien, Op. 53. As discussed in Chapter 3,

the Index includes only materials meeting the criteria to be called exercises by the research

definitions. This applies not only to entire books, but also to the contents within each book. If a

book is primarily exercises (i.e., over 50%) but also includes some études, the études are omitted

from the Index. For example, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen’s Technical Studies for the Cello, Op. 28 is
 43

divided into three parts. Parts One and Three include only exercises and therefore appear in the

Index. Part Two, eight of the thirty-one total pages, consists only of études in the thumb

positions and is omitted. Of course, this omission does not imply that such études are not

valuable, only that they do not fit within the scope of the Cello Exercise Index.

4.2 Using the Index

In the broadest sense, the Index is organized around the exercise results. The rows of the

spreadsheet are arranged alphabetically by author last name within results that have an identical

set of tags. All tagging data flows from the left to the right, leading to the two results columns.

The exercise results are split into author with date in one column and page numbers in the

second, allowing users to filter their results or search for exercises written by a particular author

or authors. The formatting conventions for author names and publication dates are modeled after

the IMSLP. Known publication dates appear in parentheses, e.g., Rosenthal (1900). Scores

without a known publication date appear in brackets with an approximate date if it is provided by

IMSLP, e.g., Cossmann [1876]. Results with two dates following the author’s name indicate that

the score referenced in the Index is not the first edition published. In these instances, the result

shows the original publication date followed by the publication date for the score included in the

Index, e.g., Kummer (1839, 1900).

The following four examples will illustrate some of the ways the Index can be used. The

first and most straightforward example is a cellist who is searching for a specific skill. A

professional cellist may be preparing a recital and performing a piece that features artificial

harmonics. Consulting the Index, they could click on the drop-down menu for the Level 1 or

Level 2 column, search the tags for “harmonics,” then reveal the corresponding results. From

here, they could choose from the exercises specifically targeting artificial harmonics, or further
 44

refine and choose from tags in Level 3 for “double stops” or “Single String Scale and Patterns.”

Perhaps the piece on their program features a scalar pattern, so the cellist chooses from five

results (see Example 4.1). Alternatively, the cellist could do a simple keyword search of the

entire spreadsheet using the search bar or “command + f.” This is the fastest way to navigate the

Index, as a search for the keyword “artificial” takes the user directly to this tag in Level 2.

A second use case might require an additional level of sorting within the Index. Perhaps a

cello teacher is working with a student and wants to address a specific technical skill. The

student needs exercises for shifting between 1 st and 4th positions, so the teacher consults the

Index and browses the shifting section, revealing a selection of possible exercises for shifting

from 1st to 4th position. This student, however, is not yet comfortable reading tenor clef, and the

teacher would like to strengthen this skill by choosing an exercise with this characteristic. Within

the initial results, the teacher can filter the tenor clef column by checking the box marked “x”

(see Example 4.2). This additional level of filtering saves the teacher and student’s time by

presenting only those exercise options which suits their needs.

A third example might also spring from a teacher-student interaction. Perhaps during a

studio class, a teacher asks their advanced students to choose one book to use as their warm-up

material for the following week. The teacher suggests three books and asks their students to

choose one. Using the Index, a student can filter the results column and choose one author at a

time to see the contents of a single book at a glance. A student could also selectively filter for all

three authors to create a “side-by-side” comparison of the books, enabling them to choose one

that addresses their individual areas of technical interest.

The fourth example comes from my personal experience teaching one-on-one lessons to a

group of undergraduate students. I curated a collection of exercises from various sources aimed
 45

at addressing technique goals for each of the students. I asked them to play through the collection

once each day, and to transpose their scales, arpeggios, and double stops to a new “key of the

day.” For some of the students, the task of transposition was a familiar one that did not require

additional music. Other students reached out to me privately and asked to have examples of these

exercises notated in each key so that they could read the music at pitch as they played. What

would normally be a daunting search task took very little time to accomplish. For scales in sixths

for example, I filtered the Index to see only exercises tagged as “Left Side→ Double Stops→

Sixths→ Scalar.” Instead of blindly searching through materials hoping to find double stops

printed in each key, the Index presented a limited number of options, and I was able to quickly

locate exercises for scales in sixths printed in each key. After quickly locating suitable exercises

of each type, all of which were available on IMSLP, I sent PDF copies of each exercise to my

students to add to their collection for practice. These are only some of the many possible use

cases for the Index, and there may be further possibilities in the future as the Index grows over

time.

4.3 Difficulties Encountered During Indexing and Solutions

While analyzing exercises and creating entries in the Index, uncertainties and difficulties

arose. Below is a summary of cases I encountered as well as the decisions I made to create

solutions. There are four broad categories; variations in editions, exercises organized by key,

tagging word choice, and definitions and differentiations. There is also a final group of granular

decisions made along with brief explanations.

Edition Variations: In some instances, the RCM Cello Syllabus listed works that also

appear in IMSLP. In these overlapping cases, the edition listed by the RCM was not always

available on IMSLP, so I chose to prioritize the editions freely available online to increase ease
 46

of access for Index users. In the case of Julius Klengel’s Technical Studies for Cello, for

example, the RCM lists the International Edition, published in 1959. Because this edition is not

available for free online, I chose instead to index the Breitkopf & Härtel edition published in

1939 and available on IMSLP.

Organization by Key: There are very few books that organize exercises according to key.

The key of an exercise is not often a focus since it is assumed that many exercises can, and are

intended to be, transposed into different keys and modes. In the earlier stages of the indexing

process, I only encountered one book organized according to key, Yampolsky’s Violoncello

Technique, so I made the decision not to include tags for key in the Index. However, after three

additional books organized their exercises by key, I decided to add tags following the pattern,

“Other → Exercises in One Key → E Major.” These tags are applied if the author specifically

labels and organizes the exercises according to their key but is not applied to exercises that are

simply notated in one particular key. Exercises tagged with a specific key are also tagged

according to their technical content and appear in other locations in the Index.

Tagging Word Choice: In many cases, an author’s instructions or headings may be

incomplete or not included at all. In these instances, my task was to clarify the author’s

pedagogical goal(s). My word choice while creating tags and subsequent choice of tags to apply

represent an effort to distill what each exercise is “about.” Some tags were taken directly from

the author’s word choice, e.g., Tortelier’s “Articulated Shift.” I chose to use this tag for the

Index, but other cellists might know this technique by a different term. In this case, and as I

encountered terminology that I do not personally use, I collected alternate terms that users might

prefer and listed them in a separate sheet of Search Synonyms, currently located in a tab at the

bottom of the Excel file. Synonyms for articulated shifts include old-finger shift, delayed shift,
 47

and drop shift. For some tags (e.g., balance, intonation, articulation), a cellist might work on

these skills using almost any exercise. I chose to use these words for tags when the author stated

that technique is the explicit aim either by using a heading or providing instructions within the

music.

Definitions and Differentiations: The tag “scalar patterns” is used both in Level 2 as a

subdivision of double stops and in Level 1 as a broader type of exercise. I created this tag to

identify those exercises which use the pitch content of a major or minor scale but are not

presented as fully ascending and descending in a stepwise sequence. Scalar patterns in the Index

are further labeled by exercises grouped by number of notes (see Example 4.3), “broken” interval

patterns (see Example 4.4), and other Level 2 and 3 tags.91 Certain arpeggios deviate from the

“standard” pattern of ascending and descending on scale degrees 1, 3, 5, 1, 5, 3, 1 in major or

minor. Arpeggios with variations occur with enough frequency that a new tag was required. I

created the tag “Broken Chord Exercises” to differentiate arpeggios that alter the standard

ordering of the pitches of their chord or add additional notes around the chord tones (See

Example 4.5).92 Arpeggios outside of major and minor also appear in the Index, but the “Broken

Chord Exercises” tag refers specifically to note sequence variation, not variations in the type of

chord being arpeggiated.

During the analysis process, I noticed that many authors chose to include exercises aimed

at the similar skills of “agility” and “dexterity,” To me these are similar, yet distinct, skills that

require separate tags. In the Index, I define agility as the ability to move quickly and easily, and I

define dexterity as skill and ease in using the hands. In some cases, exercises were already given

91
Fritz Albert Christian Rüdinger, Technical Studies for Cello (Copenhagen: Wilhelm Hansen, 1891) 39; 7. Julius
Klengel, Technical Studies for the Violoncello, vol. 1 (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1939) 9.
92
Friedrich Grützmacher, Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, Op. 67 (New York: G. Schirmer, 1909) 8.
 48

these labels, but when encountering exercises without information from the author, I had to make

a distinction using my operational definitions. For an example of an exercise targeting agility,

which also includes the label agility from the author, see Example 4.6.93 Unlike agility, dexterity

is not inherently related to speed, and this tag was applied to exercises sometimes labeled with

the search synonym “finger independence.” Dexterity exercises with the additional Level 2 tag of

“Double Stop Trills” are an apt example of the distinction between agility and dexterity. Trills

aimed at developing dexterity use the word trill in the sense of a “quavering sound” and although

they do oscillate between two pitches, they differ from ornamental trills in that they are typically

played more slowly and notated individually rather than using the abbreviation “tr.” Example 4.7

is a double stop trill targeting the left hand’s dexterity, not its agility, according to the Index

definitions.94

Some granular decisions made while tagging may be clear to a user or cellist, but

nonetheless may require clarification. First, the tag “12 keys” along with any qualifiers is only

applied if the music is actually printed in this way. This tag occurs only for scales, scalar

patterns, arpeggios, and scalar double stops. Unlike the “Exercises in One Key” mentioned

above, these exercises are identical, grouped together within a book, and transposed to each of

the 12 starting pitches. If the author only suggests transposing and playing an exercise in other

keys but the modifications are not included in print, the exercises are not tagged this way.

Similarly, the Level 2 tag “Extensions” is only applied to exercises explicitly aimed at working

on extensions between the left-hand fingers, not to those that simply employ this skill. In the vast

majority of cases, scales appear in the source materials in perfect octaves, meaning the lowest

93
Louis Feuillard, Daily Exercises for Violoncello (New York: Schott Music, 1919) 18.
94
Bernhard Cossmann, Studies for Developing Agility, Strength of Fingers and Purity of Intonation (Mainz: B.
Schotts Söhne, n.d.) 2.
 49

and highest pitches are the same, and were indexed accordingly. In rare cases, the number of

octaves was not consistent within an exercise, typically shortened in the highest register of the

cello. These exceptions were tagged on a case-by-case basis according to my judgement of the

pedagogical intent and what might be most helpful to users. A clarification may also be needed

for the Level 2 tag “Slurring Variations.” Initially this tag was inspired by Grützmacher’s Daily

Exercises, Op. 67 to describe bowing variations unrelated to articulation or other bow techniques

(See Example 4.8).95 Often these variations could be described with the synonym “note

grouping” since the variation is in the number of notes that are slurred together. A final

clarification may be needed for the tag “Anchor Shifts.” I first encountered this term in Smith’s

Cellist’s Guide to the Core Technique, which defines these shifts as those in which “the same

bass note is referred to as the shifting progresses chromatically up the string” (See Example

4.9).96 After seeing similar exercises in other materials, “Anchor Shift” was added to Level 3.

4.4 Insights Gained from Creating the Index

During the process of reviewing exercises, études, and methods from both IMSLP and

the RCM Cello Syllabus, I noticed marked similarities in the sequencing of materials. An

advantage of reviewing materials by hand, as opposed to using a computer program or other

automated analysis, was that I was able to make interpretive observations based on my expertise.

The process of manually entering each exercise into the Index brought forth many insights, the

most intriguing being that books of any type tend to have a similar trajectory. Especially in the

case of method books and exercise collections, it seems logical that an author might place the

rudiments of music and the instrument at the beginning, then gradually increase the level of

95
Grützmacher, Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, 6.
96
G. Jean Smith, Cellist’s Guide to the Core Technique (American String Teachers Association, 1974) 14.
 50

complexity. However, the sequencing of materials within these titles shows similarities beyond

simply organizing from “easy” to “difficult.”

Typically, books begin with left-hand dexterity or strength, then move to scales and

arpeggios, thumb positions exercises, double stopping, and either a section of bowing variations

or feature bowing variations embedded throughout. Feuillard’s Daily Studies (1919) is likely the

most prominent example of this sequence of exercises, but other, perhaps more obscure, books

follow a nearly identical structure. For example, Rüdinger’s Technical Studies for the Cello

(1891) begins with left-hand dexterity, then scales and arpeggios, double stopping, thumb

position exercises, and adds bowing variations throughout. Schröder’s Technical Studies, Op. 35

(1876) and Fitzenhagen’s Technical Studies for the Cello, Op. 28 (1906) follow the same

formula with minimal variation in their sequencing and content. This raises questions from a

pedagogical point of view. Is there a “best practice” when it comes to the types and sequencing

of technical material? Did the authors intend a selection of exercises of each type to be played

each day in the sequence presented?

Those materials that do not follow this prescribed sequence stand out in stark contrast. In

some cases, this is because the book has a narrow focus, e.g., Friedrich Dotzauer’s Violoncell-

Flageolett-Schule, Op. 147. In other cases, the anomalies in organization stand out because they

include unique exercises, a desire for creativity from the player, or perhaps a desire to stand out

from the pack. One example of a book that breaks the mold is Mark Yampolsky’s Violoncello

Technique (1971). Yampolsky printed a similar set of exercises in each of the 24 major and

minor keys, yet he deliberately depicted variations in bowing, rhythm, and finger combinations

in each section. This strategy made Yampolsky’s 83-page book one of the most difficult to

index, since each variation required individual tagging. Whereas most books print one exercise
 51

and suggest changing the key or adding bowing and rhythm variations, Yampolsky deliberately

rejects repetition, combating the observed problem that students tend not to play variations that

are not printed in the music.97 This unique book, though more difficult to analyze, is an asset to

the Index overall. As editor Gordon Epperson writes in the preface to the book, “What could

easily have been a mechanical repetition of patterns from key to key has become, under the

author’s imaginative treatment, a richly-varied diet of rhythms and bowings.”98 Another example

stands out because of the unique content of the exercises. Tortelier’s How I Play and How I

Teach includes exercises and photographic examples covering a wider variety of musical topics

than most other authors, many intended to “Combat Natural Weakness” while playing the

cello.99 Tortelier created several exercises that have no comparable material in any other books

in the Index, covering topics like intonation, vibrato, and breathing (see Example 4.10).100

There are broad similarities in the composition of exercises across authors, even for those

books that are relative outliers in their structure or inclusion of specialized content. At a certain

point during the analysis process, it became rare to add new tags to the Index because of the

general similarity of exercises, even across the vast scope of the Index. This points to the

existence of an underlying set of “essential elements,” a set of technical issues common among

cellists that are often addressed in the same way, even over time and in different geographical

locations. The Index and its tags capture many of these elements, but as the Index grows to

include more exercises and adapts to accommodate its limitations, more essential elements may

be discovered. Cellists playing different types of repertoires or who have differing musical tastes

97
For a discussion of this observation, see Chapter 5, Section 5.3, Going Beyond Notation: Limitations and
Possibilities.
98
Mark Yampolsky, Violoncello Technique. ed. Gordon Epperson (New York: MCA Music, 1971) 2.
99
Paul Tortelier, Maud Tortelier, and Rudolf Caspar Baumberger, How I Play and How I Teach, 4th ed. (London:
Chester Music, 1988) 34–80.
100
Tortelier, How I Play and How I Teach, 57–58, 76, 36.
 52

are nonetheless united by the same technical building blocks. Given such similarities, a question

lingers: why have some books remained more popular than others? I believe this is a testament to

the way the material is distributed. Exercises tend to be passed from teacher to student during

one-on-one lessons according to the teacher’s own training, distributed within a studio

community, or circulate by word of mouth. Perhaps the question of lasting popularity will never

have a definitive answer. This question does, however, point to an advantage of the Index in its

ability to democratize cello learning by providing access to a greater breadth of material.

There are two additional insights to highlight: First, the relative lack of exercises for

expression and second, the potential benefits of using video to combat the limitations of

traditional notation. Even at a glance, one obvious conclusion drawn from the process of creating

the Index is that there are relatively few exercises that explicitly target expressive techniques like

dynamics or vibrato. The vast majority of the indexed exercises, approximately 75%, target the

left side of the body, compared to 15% for the right side and 10% in the “other” category.

Exercises targeting the left side do not tend to explicitly use techniques that address the more

intangible, expressive qualities of music. Within the Index there are twenty-five exercises

explicitly targeting intonation, ten for dynamics, five for vibrato, only one exercise specifically

designed for breathing, and though there are occasional descriptions of desired tone quality, no

exercises designed to address tone. 101 In part, the relative lack of exercises specifically targeted

at these musical skills is because they could be incorporated into almost any other exercise. For

example, a cellist might choose to focus on their tone quality while playing a scale or vary the

speed of their vibrato as they play through an exercise, even though these skills were not

specified as part of the exercise by the author. Further, these expressive features may not be well

101
Tags for these techniques were added only if the author included explicit titles or directions to indicate the intent
of each exercise.
 53

served by a conventional exercise book, which contains only music notation and text

descriptions; exercises for tone quality, breathing, dynamic expression, or vibrato require visual

demonstration.

One way to combat this relative shortage might be to include instructional video

examples. Traditional music notation or even the inclusion of a detailed written description of

certain expressive exercises increases the risk of misunderstandings. In our interview, Jeffrey

Zeigler described using what he considers to be an effective vibrato exercise that “is an example

of something that I would never want to publish in a book because it’s very specific to me…and

it would be completely misunderstood. Especially since it would very much need to have an

audio or video element.” Zeigler went on to say that including video examples of certain

techniques would be a way to enhance the power of the Index. For further discussion of this topic

and other interview themes, see Chapter 5, section 5.3.

 54

Chapter 5
Interviews

During even the earliest stages of research, I knew that a crucial component of the project

would be putting the results of the exercise analysis into a broader context. Rather than simply

executing an elaborate sorting process, it was important to understand the value of exercises and

the potential impacts of creating a searchable, sortable Index. Although creating the Index itself

brought forth many insights about exercises and about cello technique, these insights are most

valuable when put within the framework of contemporary cellists. To contextualize my analyses,

I conducted a series of four semi-structured interviews to get a snapshot of the usage of exercises

by today’s cello teachers and cello students. I expected the outcome of these conversations

would be a better understanding of the general value of exercises, along with when, how, and

why a cellist today might use a technical exercise.

This chapter has five sections: interview methodology, participant descriptions, an

analysis of four interview themes, a discussion of the RCM Cello Syllabus, and a final reflection.

The analysis section is the longest, identifying and interpreting each of the four themes that

emerged from the interviews.

5.1 Interview Methodology

Following John W. Creswell and J. David Creswell’s approach to research design, I

selected a qualitative research approach. This approach is appropriate given the specificity of the

study and the complex, subjective nature of individual musical experiences. The qualitative

research process “involves emerging questions and procedures, data typically collected in the

participant’s setting, data analysis inductively building from particulars to general themes, and
 55

the researcher making interpretations of the meaning of the data.” 102 The semi-structured

interview method of data collection was the most appropriate choice given the research topic, as

it allowed for a narrow interview focus while still providing room for the participants to

elaborate. In Qualitative Researching, Jennifer Mason defines a semi-structured interview by

describing its core features: an interactional exchange of dialogue, an informal style, and a

thematic or topic-centered approach “designed to have a fluid and flexible structure, and to allow

researcher and interviewee(s) to develop unexpected themes.”103 Mason also emphasizes that the

knowledge produced during an interview is situational and contextual, constructed by the

interview interaction. The data collection procedure began with conducting and recording the

semi-structured interviews, then transcribing the interviews, and finally identifying common

themes and drawing conclusions. Creswell and Creswell recommend considering the limitations

of the interview method, namely that indirect information is filtered through the views of the

subjects, that the researcher’s presence may bias responses from the interviewees, and that

people vary in their clarity of expression and perception.104

Before conducting any interviews, I obtained approval from the University of Toronto

Social Sciences, Humanities and Education Research Ethics Board to conduct research with

human subjects. This approval was granted on February 26th, 2021.105 When selecting

interviewees, the aim was to take a cross-section of the cello-teaching population. To get an

accurate sense of the current usage of exercises, I wanted to hear the thoughts and opinions of

cellists with diverse professional focuses who work with students of various ages and skill levels.

102
John W. Creswell and J. David Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches, Fifth ed., (Los Angeles: Sage, 2018) 4.
103
Jennifer Mason, Qualitative Researching, 2nd ed., (London: Sage, 2002) 62.
104
Creswell and Creswell, Research Design, 188.
105
A copy of the approval document can be found in the Appendix, section III.
 56

The final group of interviewees includes four cellists: Richard Aaron, Susan Gagnon, Johannes

Moser, and Jeffrey Zeigler. Each participant will be introduced individually below in section 5.2.

Three interviews were conducted on the video meeting platform Zoom and included both an

audio and a video recording. The interview with Susan Gagnon was conducted in person with

only an audio recording.

The overall goal when conducting the interviews was to elicit a holistic account,

developing a complex picture of the subject of cello technical exercises. 106 Keeping my overall

goals in mind, the interview questions were designed to be flexible, encouraging the subjects to

talk about their own experience with exercises in their past, with their current teaching, and in

their personal practice. I began each conversation with an identical list of questions, but used an

emergent design, meaning that the research plan and process might change as the data collection

took place.107 Each conversation took a unique path, and the participants were encouraged to

freely elaborate on any topics that arose. As a jumping off point for discussion, each participant

was first asked to describe the nature of their cello playing and teaching, then I asked about their

relationship with exercises, both past and present. I asked each cellist whether or not exercises

were part of their own musical training and to what extent, if any, exercises are included in their

current daily practice. I asked about the use of technical exercises in their studios as well as the

context in which they might assign an exercise to a student. I was particularly interested in the

participants’ thoughts about the legacy of older exercises. Much of the material included in the

Index was written approximately 100–150 years ago, so an argument could be made that modern

advances in pedagogy might have made it obsolete. The crux of this project is investigating the

106
Creswell and Creswell, Research Design, 182.
107
Creswell and Creswell, Research Design, 182; The complete list of questions approved before the interviews is
included in the Appendix, section IV. The Interview with Susan Gagnon included additional questions – see chapter
5, section 5.4.
 57

value of exercises, so each participant was invited to share their thoughts on the use of technical

exercises by today’s cellists.

After each interview was completed, the data analysis procedure began with preparation

of the data by creating a full transcription of each interview. Each transcript was sent to the

participants for review and approval. At this stage, participants were also able to delete anything

they did not want to be included in the interview transcript. Each participant had the right to

withdraw from the study or turn off the audio recording at any point during the interview or after.

After receiving transcript approval, the interpretation process involved identifying major themes,

then building layers of analysis by connecting these themes.

Although they happened early in the overall research process, the four interviews were

completed after the basic “scaffolding” of the Index was created. Before the interviews took

place, I created a prototype Index and analyzed exercises from three books as a proof of concept:

Louis Feuillard’s Daily Exercises, Janos Starker’s An Organized Method of String Playing, and

G. Jean Smith’s Cellist’s Guide to the Core Technique. The prototype was structured using

increasing levels of specificity but had fewer subdivisions and fewer tags than the final Index. It

may seem counter-intuitive to conduct interviews before the bulk of the exercise analysis was

completed, but the conversations informed the creation of some elements of the Index. The

intention was to integrate the ways a cellist might want to use exercises after discussing how

today’s cellists address technique in their personal practice and in their teaching. Discussing the

priorities for these cellists’ technical needs helped give me a sense of how the Index could be

used.108 In addition, the interviewees all referenced a similar set of “standard” books such as

Feuillard’s Daily Exercise and Cossmann’s Studies for Developing Agility, Strength of Fingers

108
Specific modifications to the Index made after the interviews are discussed below in section 5.5.
 58

and Purity of Intonation, and comparisons were often drawn between exercises and popular

étude books like David Popper’s High School of Cello Playing and Alfredo Piatti’s 12

Caprices.109 These popular materials became a reference point when creating broad divisions and

tags for the Index.

5.2 Participant Descriptions

The first participant was Jeffrey Zeigler who was interviewed on March 25, 2021.

Zeigler teaches cello at the Mannes School of Music, part of The New School in New York City,

where he also serves as co-chair of the string department. His students at Mannes are pursuing

undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, but Zeigler also teaches cellists in high school and

junior high school during the summers at the Bowdoin International Music Festival. Zeigler

recalled that it was during his undergraduate years at the Eastman School of Music under the

tutelage of Steven Doane that he became more interested in technique and delved the deepest

into the exercise world. Zeigler spent his graduate years at Rice University and at Indiana

University working with cellists Paul Katz and Janos Starker, respectively. After serving as part

of the string quartet in residence at The Julliard School, Zeigler became the cellist in the Kronos

Quartet for eight seasons, from 2005 to 2013. His current performing includes many styles and

instrument combinations, with an emphasis on contemporary solo and chamber music

collaborations.

The second participant was Johannes Moser, interviewed on April 7, 2021. Moser is a

professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Cologne, Germany where he teaches

Bachelors, Masters, and Post-Graduate students. Moser is a touring soloist, performing and

109
David Popper, High School of Cello Playing, Op. 73 (Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister, 1901-05); Alfredo Piatti, 12
Caprices for Solo Cello, Op. 25 (Berlin: N. Simrock, 1874).
 59

recording concerti, chamber music, and solo repertoire all over the world. During his travels he

regularly works with students of all ages and playing levels in masterclass settings. Moser grew

up in a musical family and began studying the cello at a young age, then in 1997, aged 18, he

moved to Berlin to continue his studies with the renowned Professor David Geringas. After

winning the top prize at the 2002 International Tchaikovsky Competition, his notoriety increased

along with the demands on his performing schedule. The abrupt transition out of school and into

a life of concertizing left him suddenly on his own to learn repertoire and develop his technique

routines independently. Moser remembered working to develop his own practice methods during

that transitional time, and credits this work with his later success as a teacher. He said, “I think if

I wouldn’t have had that sort of hard experience of being by myself, then I would have also

relied on methods of other people.”

The third cellist to be interviewed was Richard Aaron on August 6, 2021. Aaron is a cello

professor at both the Julliard School and at the University of Michigan’s School of Music,

Theatre & Dance. During the summers, Aaron is also a faculty member at various summer

festivals, most notably the Aspen Music Festival and School where he has been teaching both

high-school and university-aged students since 2003. Aaron began his performing career playing

in professional orchestras, but later switched his emphasis to teaching, which is now the primary

focus of his professional life. It is important to disclose that I have a personal relationship with

Richard Aaron, as he was my professor during my graduate studies at the University of

Michigan.

The fourth and final interview was with Susan Gagnon, conducted on September 22,

2021. Gagnon is on faculty at the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists at

the Royal Conservatory of Music, where she teaches students of all ages. Her students are
 60

younger on average than those of the other three participants. Gagnon is also a registered teacher

trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas and incorporates elements of the Suzuki

Method and Suzuki repertoire books into her teaching. Aside from her cello teaching, Gagnon

has been a member of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra from 1983–2019 and also performs

in chamber music settings. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Western

Ontario, studying with Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and worked with Janos Starker and Aldo Parisot in

masterclasses at the Banff School of Fine Arts. This interview was particularly important to my

overall research goals since Gagnon was the primary compiler of the RCM Cello Syllabi. A

detailed discussion of the 2013 syllabus follows below in section 5.4.

Recognizing Creswell and Creswell’s suggestions regarding the limitations of the semi-

structured interview method cited earlier, I pause here to consider my own background and

possible biases that could have been introduced in the course of the interviews. The participants

filtered their statements through their views and experiences, and my presence or the formality of

the interview may have influenced their responses. Similarly, my own training and experiences

as a cellist necessarily colored my interpretations of the interviews. Personal connections with

the participants, whether direct or indirect in the form of mutual colleagues or teachers, may

have biased my views, so I feel that it is important to comment on my educational and cellistic

background. Like the participants, I started cello at a young age, 8 years old, but began my

musical training even earlier at the piano. I came from a musical family, like Moser, and had

ample support for my musical goals. For my undergraduate degree, I studied in a conservatory

setting at the Eastman School of Music with Steven Doane, just as Zeigler did during his time at

Eastman. Also like Zeigler, my graduate studies have been in university settings. I have had

performance experiences similar to all four cellists, in that I have played in string quartets,
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various contemporary chamber ensembles, and in professional orchestras. One notable

performing difference is that unlike Moser, I have no experience touring and concertizing as a

soloist performing concerti. Like all the interviewees, I have teaching experience and have

worked with students ranging from three years old to graduate level students in my role as a

teaching assistant at the University of Toronto. I have not taught for as many years as any of the

interviewees, and my teaching has primarily been in a private studio setting rather than at a

university. Like Gagnon, I have training in the Suzuki Method, yet at this time my teaching is

focused primarily on university level students and does not follow the Suzuki Method.

5.3 Analysis and Interpretation

All four interviewees shared similar broad views regarding exercises and through our

conversations three themes became clear: all use exercises in their personal practice, all use

exercises in their teaching, and all believe that exercises are valuable overall. While working to

make connections between these themes, one additional theme emerged: the limitations of

notated exercises. All four themes will be discussed below.

Though there were no outright disagreements, each interviewee highlighted different

specifics and brought unique insights. Preferences for certain authors or certain materials were

expressed, as each musician naturally has their own opinions about which exercises are the most

useful and which are less so. Most notably, each cellist differs in their frequency of exercise use,

both in their personal practice and in their teaching, as is discussed below.

Use in Personal Practice

One distinct advantage brought out in the interviews is the efficiency of exercises, which

is often a priority for professional performers and teachers. The transition away from student life

and toward musical independence typically means having less time to devote to études, as
 62

performing and personal responsibilities increase. Jeffrey Zeigler described feeling more drawn

to exercises than études, saying that études “generally require a number of different technical

issues to be sorted out in order to be able to play them through, and exercises are extremely

targeted for whatever it is you’re trying to work on—shifting, vibrato, balancing the left hand,

the bow. They’re very focused and so for me, I [find] them extremely helpful.”

Exercises can also efficiently target technical concerns and solve problems away from a

piece of music. Johannes Moser described his strategy of outsourcing technical problems to

exercises rather than working on them in the context of the repertoire at hand. When returning to

repertoire after a long period of time, Moser expressed his feeling that pieces of music may have

a memory of past shortcomings from a younger, less polished self. He said, “Literature and any

kind of piece of music has a memory. So, when I unpack Saint-Saens Concerto again, I'm

confronted every time with my 16-year-old self…then I have to remind myself, there was some

sort of development in the last couple of years.” Moser then demonstrated a technically

demanding passage from a concerto and said that if something goes astray, he turns to exercises,

citing Feuillard and Starker as options. To solve for the feeling of certain pieces or passages

bringing “baggage” from an earlier time, Moser said he consciously removes a problem from its

place in the music and combats any issues using an exercise. He explained, “I consciously make

an effort to say, “Okay I’m going to outsource this now and I’m going to sort of put that in my

laboratory,” and once it’s fixed, I insert it again.” It can be a challenge to change habits while

playing through a piece of music, and Moser explained that an exercise gives you space to “make

your mistakes and also your betterment.”

Moser brought a unique perspective to the theme of exercises in personal practice due to

the nature of his performing life. Because his concert schedule requires such frequent, global
 63

travel, Moser explained that this lifestyle necessitated changing his overall approach to exercises.

He described his typical warm-up routine, which is nearly the same every day he is working.

Moser explained, “I find it helpful to have a core of repeating exercises, because through having

sort of the same material, I can understand what is my own temperature of the day, what is the

cello’s temperature of the day?” Having a consistent warm up routine provides a control against

which he can measure the myriad variabilities of travel.

Richard Aaron’s use of exercises both in his personal practice and in his teaching

increased significantly in the recent past. Aaron said, “since around three or four years ago I

extensively use exercises. What I do is…every week we have a playing class and we have a two-

hour masterclass. We only do scales and exercises and I have found around 40 books that I’m

using.” Notably, Aaron did not comment directly on his personal exercise use or practice outside

of his cello studios. However, from the above statement and from my own experiences

participating in studio classes with Aaron and with other cello teachers, it’s clear that in the

context of a playing class Aaron would be playing through and therefore practicing the exercises

alongside the students as he leads the class. Although demonstrating during a playing class is not

necessarily the same as personal practice, Aaron’s participation in the class represents a degree

of personal exercise use.

Similarly, Gagnon did not comment extensively about her personal use of exercises.

Gagnon had her cello with her during our conversation and demonstrated her “current favorite”

warm up for the left hand which she said is helpful in securing the hand positions on the

fingerboard of the cello. She also said that she often plays one-finger scale exercises, both with

her students and in her personal practice. Both Gagnon and Aaron spend the bulk of their

professional time teaching, and my impression from both conversations was that in the process
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of explaining, demonstrating, and assigning technical exercises, both teachers play exercises

frequently in lessons, simultaneously practicing themselves and passing exercises along to their

students.

For each interviewee, the introduction to exercises began at a different stage and

developed differently. For instance, when I asked about exercises being a part of his training,

Moser said “I was quite early on introduced to Feuillard, and Feuillard to this day is sort of in my

natural practicing DNA.” Conversely, Zeigler was most drawn to exercises after being exposed

to new material at Eastman as an undergraduate, then delving deeper. Because Gagnon made

very few comments about her own training, I did not collect any information about her first

exposure to exercises. She did mention, however, that she used Cossmann’s Agility Studies as a

university-level student. Aaron said that over the course of his career he’s experienced a shift in

the way students are introduced to exercises. Aaron recalled that exercises weren’t really a part

of his own training, and that his technique studies consisted of Popper and Duport études. He

believes that when he was a child technique books weren’t readily available outside of libraries,

and it would have been up to his teachers to pursue them. However, Aaron went on to say,

“things have radically changed now because IMSLP and everything online really allows kids to

have a vast amount of material in front of them.” He went on to say that in his experience, very

few students are introduced to technique books before they enter university, speculating that this

is because “most of the teachers around my age…didn’t have those sources.”

Use in Teaching

When I asked each cellist how they teach technique to their students, all four reported

that they do use exercises. The extent to which exercises are used varies, and the exercises

themselves vary, but the fact that all four interviewees reported that exercises are a part of their
 65

teaching speaks to the overall value of exercises as a pedagogical tool. Following this question, I

asked if there are specific exercises or collections each cellist assigns or recommends most often

with their students. There are some commonalities; for example, Aaron, Gagnon, and Moser all

specifically mentioned using Feuillard’s Daily Exercises with their students. Gagnon reported

that she prefers the bowing exercises, section 5, pp. 39–43. I asked Gagnon if, when assigning an

exercise, she prefers those that work on the bow over those that focus on the left hand. She said

yes and explained, “I think with the kids at the intermediate level it’s the bow that needs the most

development.” Aaron and Moser introduce their more advanced students to Feuillard’s whole

book, offering suggestions as to how to use it or allowing them to discover independently what

suits them.

Based on their responses, the frequency and degree to which the interviewees use

exercises in their teaching varies greatly. Moser and Aaron likely engage with exercises in their

playing and teaching the most often, while Gagnon is likely the least often. Gagnon said she

typically uses the more “traditional” exercise books only with her advanced Suzuki group

classes. Gagnon said of Feuillard’s Daily Exercises, “I’ve done it with the odd student over the

years…I think it’s more from the really traditional teachers that you get that.” In this case, I

believe Gagnon’s use of the word traditional refers not to the perceived divide between

“traditional” training and Suzuki Method training, but rather teachers who prefer to use the

traditionally popular, typically older exercise materials. The Suzuki Method for cello uses a

prescribed sequence of repertoire in the Cello School Series and does not suggest supplemental

technique books.110 For this reason, it seems possible that teachers who exclusively follow the

Suzuki Method would be less likely to use exercises like those that appear in the Index.

110
Shinichi Suzuki, Suzuki Cello School, Volumes 1-10 (United States: Summy-Birchard, Inc., 2014).
 66

Embedded within the books, however, are short exercises designed to prepare students for

specific pieces within the repertoire (see Example 5.1).111 At the very beginning of their training,

a young Suzuki Method student would not be reading the exercises printed in the cello book,

instead learning them by ear with the help of their teacher and practice-parent. This type of

preparatory exercise is not included in the higher-numbered cello series books, so more advanced

students might use supplemental technical materials. Gagnon did speculate that most Suzuki

teachers supplement the repertoire with études, and specifically mentioned Rick Mooney’s étude

book, Position Pieces for Cello.112

It seems that a common approach while teaching is combining specific technique

assignments from an exercise book with exercises created spontaneously. This could involve

devising an exercise to address a specific difficulty that is revealed during a lesson or adding

variations to existing exercises based on the student’s repertoire, such as adjusting the key or

rhythm of an exercise to match a piece or particular passage. Especially at the collegiate level,

teachers hope that their students develop the ability to think critically about how to solve

technical problems and that they creatively explore the exercise options presented by their

teachers. Zeigler summarized this goal in his teaching by saying, “the idea is that you want to

form-fit the exercise to the particular problem in the repertoire, and also the cellist. So, I do teach

exercises, but I want my students to think.”

In more than one conversation I sensed that there may be frustration on the side of the

cello teacher when it comes to using exercises. In some cases, this may come down to a lack of

interest or engagement from students. Like in other disciplines, the difficult and sometimes

111
Shinichi Suzuki, Suzuki Cello School, Volume 1, Revised Edition (United States: Summy-Birchard, Inc., 2014),
17.
112
Rick Mooney, Position Pieces for Cello (United States: Summy-Birchard, Inc., 1997).
 67

tedious work of practicing the fundamentals might feel like a chore. At the collegiate level,

teachers may be reluctant to directly assign the use of specific exercises, preferring instead that

students think independently, as Zeigler expressed. When I asked about using exercises with his

students, Moser said “I introduce them to Feuillard, and I show them how they can use it. It’s up

to them to do so. I mean, they’re not in kindergarten anymore, and unfortunately, smart use of all

those great tools is not often applied.”

Similarly, lack of engagement may come from students’ misunderstanding or

underestimation of the potential benefits of exercises. Aaron described using a strategy in his

recent studio classes in which he asked his students to put a red dot on every page of an exercise

book that they feel is helpful. He said, “I’ll give the Feuillard book to kids and there’s not one

red dot on a page. And I’ll ask, ‘you really didn’t see anything helpful?’ and they say, ‘no, I

didn’t find anything helpful.’” After this comment, I felt that there was some level of

disappointment that his students do not find the material to be engaging, despite Aaron’s belief in

its value. He went on to say that “I think it’s because they’re not 100% sure how to practice it,

because the Feuillard book is quite brilliant and there’s so much valuable information in it, but

you’ll give it to kids, they’ll play through it, and they will not find it interesting.” Aaron said this

phenomenon interests him because it reveals that the students are “not looking at it in a cognitive

way that they should be looking at it.”

It may be difficult to engage with the material “in a cognitive way” because without an

index, there is too much material to process before students can think in a metacognitive way

about their learning. Technique books are under-described, so unless a cellist spends time

analyzing the contents of these books, they may dismiss the material assuming it is not useful. If

a teacher suggests a particular book, the Index can help students by giving them the ability to
 68

filter exercises by author, then offering a sense at a glance of the contents and what the exercises

could be used for. What is helpful for one student is not necessarily helpful for another, so

having the Index as a guide might help a student clear the initial hurdle of engaging with exercise

material to decide what will be most valuable in their own practicing. At the end of the day, the

Index can only help so much. There are no guarantees about what students will do in their

independent practice.

Going Beyond Notation: Limitations and Possibilities

Aaron’s feeling that students are “not 100% sure” how to practice exercises links the use

of exercises in teaching to an additional, unexpected theme, which emerged during the process of

analyzing the four interviews and making thematic connections. These conversations pointed to

the limitations of notated exercises, and by extension, the Index. In some cases, a disorganized or

overly dense presentation of exercises is the limitation. In other cases, exercises are limited by

the use of traditional music notation because they are better suited to another cellist’s

demonstration. Yet with guidance and creativity, notational limits make exercises more

malleable and able to be personalized. The implication from the interviews is that the final Index,

no matter how exhaustive, will never be able to include every type of exercise that is being used

by today’s cello teachers and players.

One way Aaron encourages his students to use exercises is through curation. In our

conversation, Aaron rhetorically asked, “the question is, why don’t people use these books? They

don’t use [them] because it’s too much information and it’s not organized time-wise.” Even

though Aaron’s students are led through exercise books during their weekly studio class, he finds

that “the problem with all these books is kids look at them and they don’t know how to put them

together.” Even with the exercise books available to them, students may still be frustrated or
 69

overwhelmed by the density of the information. To combat this, Aaron described creating a

curated collection of exercises: “I’m writing a book called cello recipes. And what I’m going to

do is Monday have all the things you need to practice, Tuesday all the things. So, Monday

through Sunday, every day a totally different thing… I want to make it so that a kid sits down,

‘it’s Wednesday, this is what I’m going to do for an hour. [It’s] Friday today, this is what I’m

going to do.’ I think that’s the missing link in all the books.” During our conversation, both

Aaron and I discussed our observation that students tend not to play variations that are not

actually printed on the page. Exercise curation may be a helpful way to combat this tendency.

During my time as a student with Professor Aaron, my studio-mates and I received

curated exercise collections for a school term or for a summer session at a festival. I found this

approach to be incredibly beneficial, and I now find myself taking a similar approach with my

own students. During the academic terms and as recently as the summer of 2022, I created what I

call “exercise playlists.” I selected a set of exercises from multiple books to address my students’

recent technique goals, then organized the exercises into a sequence I believe will be beneficial.

As a teacher, the strategy of curating a series of exercises for your students addresses one

limitation of the notation of exercises. Most exercise collections are presented with no indication

of how much time to spend on each skill, no indication of sequencing, and very few examples of

how to organize personal technique practice time. Partly this is because authors are aware that

these variables will be different for every musician. Partly, in an effort to be simultaneously

comprehensive and concise, exercise books tend to be organized only by technique type and

level of complexity, making the materials overwhelming in the density of the information they

contain. This speaks to the potential benefit of the Index, which could combat the difficulty of

organizing technical practice.

 70

Aside from the organizational limitations of exercise books, some exercises require a

teacher’s demonstration to elicit their maximum benefit. During our conversations, I got the

sense that each of the four cellists frequently use physical demonstrations in their teaching, and

sometimes prefer this to a verbal explanation. For example, when referencing Feuillard’s

exercise book, Moser did not say specifically what “showing his students how to use it” entails,

but he did provide several demonstrations on his cello of how he uses and varies some of

Feuillard’s exercises during his own practice. Moser also demonstrated a vibrato exercise, then

an exercise for dexterity in which he “crawls” up and down the stick of the bow with his right

hand. It is reasonable to conclude that the exercises Moser uses himself and those that he

demonstrated for me are also being passed along to his students. Moser may have been practicing

or teaching before our interview, but the fact that he was sitting with his cello during the whole

conversation illustrated to me the likelihood that he would want to demonstrate, rather than only

describe, elements of his technique. Zeigler did not have his cello during our conversation, but he

nonetheless demonstrated an exercise by miming the left-hand motion while singing. Both Aaron

and Gagnon told me that they use demonstration both in one-on-one lessons and in their group

classes.

A notated exercise might be augmented with a visual or aural example, but some

exercises are not traditionally noted at all, and in these cases a teacher’s demonstration is

essential. The demonstrative aspect of this theme speaks to an intention expressed in Chapter 1.

The Index is in no way a replacement for the expertise of a cello teacher or other experienced

musician. The Index is a supplemental resource and works best when coupled with the guidance

of a teacher. An experienced teacher can pass along exercises they have collected over time, or

create an exercise on the spot to address issues that arise in the repertoire. Often such exercises
 71

are targeting body movements more than sound production, meaning that they are challenging to

convey using notation of any kind. Exercises to address the bow hold, right hand and arm

motions, body position, and in particular the vibrato often require a demonstration.

One way to combat this limitation in print is by including detailed descriptions alongside

photographs. For example, in the book How I Play and How I Teach, Paul Tortelier includes

descriptions and photographs of both correct and incorrect positions to give the reader a sense of

how to execute certain physical techniques. Video demonstrations are another, more

contemporary, way to address the limitations of notated exercises. There are many resources

available on video hosting sites and on the professional websites of some cello teachers.113 One

of the most prominent examples is CelloBello, an organization that provides access to

instructional videos, a blog, and other resources. 114 A future version of the Index might include

links to video examples of exercises.

In my experience, most teachers incorporate unpublished exercises in their teaching and

practicing to varying extents, such as those that cannot be notated using traditional means and

those that are created spontaneously for a particular situation. The act of publishing technical

material is a hurdle that not every pedagogue wanted to address. Pablo Casals, for example

“never committed himself to paper because he believed he was developing constantly.” 115

Zeigler describes being reluctant to share a certain unpublished vibrato exercise with his students

despite its value because it may be perceived as “unflattering.” He said, “I think that, especially

in conservatory life, we get very self-conscious, and some of these exercises are good to dispel

113
For an illustrative example, see Central Michigan University Professor Jamie Fiste’s channel, “CelloProfessor”
which includes many videos discussing posture, vibrato, bow position, and more.
https://www.youtube.com/user/CelloProfessor/videos.
114
https://www.cellobello.org.
115
Bosanquet, “The Development of Cello Teaching in the Twentieth Century,” 201.
 72

that idea that you have to sound beautiful all the time…sometimes you have to kind of open

things up and really look between the cracks and look at all the gunk in the pipes and the gears.

And I think that's fun.” Exercises don’t need to sound “beautiful” to be effective, but I agree with

Zeigler that many cellists are reluctant to sound “bad.” Some exercises may remain unpublished

for this reason. It would be difficult to convey the elements of an exercise that are less flattering

using music notation alone. To illustrate this point, Zeigler said “especially when you’re talking

about exploring the connective tissue between things, I purposely make an extra gross slide or an

extra gross connection just to show, ‘no it's cool, I don’t mind sounding bad, neither should you’

because you’re really trying to unlock something very important.” Zeigler went so far as to say

that this process can be fun. One surprising outcome of the interviews was a general sense that

the process of using and practicing exercises can be rewarding, satisfying, and even creative.

Overall Value of Exercises

The strongest impetus for conducting interviews was to get a sense of whether the

technical material in the Index is outdated or still relevant to cellists today. To speak directly to

the issue of relevancy, I presented each interviewee with a statement that is somewhat critical of

the prevalence of certain technical materials, then asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed.

The statement comes from R. Caroline Bosanquet in her contribution to The Cambridge

Companion to the Cello. Regarding the turn of the 20th century, she says “The technical exercises

from this period constitute the backbone of training material for classical tonal music, and are

still widely used, with the danger that old ‘stiff’ patterns are perpetuated despite modern

advances in technical knowledge.”116 Both Aaron and Moser strongly disagreed with this

assertion and argued that exercises are still relevant to cellists today. Moser explicitly said, “I

116
Bosanquet, “The Development of Cello Teaching in the Twentieth Century,” 198.
 73

think these exercises and études are incredibly relevant and I wouldn’t know why they would be

outdated…the basics are still the same.” Aaron recognizes that in the oldest technique books the

music may feel old-fashioned, but the exercises are still valuable and worthy of examination and

practice. Aaron said, “They’re very valuable. Like in any art form, you have to know what they

did in the Renaissance.” On this point I agree, and believe it is important to learn from the

previous masters of the cello, while acknowledging that certain exercises or techniques may need

clarification, modification, or supplementation because of advances in the past 150 years. Zeigler

interpreted Bosanquet’s statement differently from Moser and Aaron. Zeigler did not think

Bosanquet was implying that the older exercises are so outdated that they should be rejected

outright. He described the need to incorporate newer materials alongside the historical. He

emphasized that classical music does not exist in a vacuum and added, “I do agree completely

that as composers push the envelope of technique, so too must the technical training.” 117

In my opinion, similar to Zeigler, I believe that a discussion of the value of these

exercises is more nuanced than the binary of using or rejecting them. In the context of The

Cambridge Companion to the Cello, the Bosanquet quote that I provided the interviewees came

after she cited examples of outdated or contradictory physical motions while playing the cello.

These examples were used as evidence supporting the idea that early method or exercise books

did not consider what is physically appropriate for a young beginner and may include

misconceptions of how the arms and hands move while playing. 118 Within the interviews, I did

not provide the full context of the quote because I wanted Bosanquet’s statement to serve as a

117
Gagnon and I did not discuss the Bosanquet statement from the Cambridge Companion, so I cannot provide her
thoughts for comparison. Because our interview was conducted in person, the conversation flowed in a more flexible
way, and this topic was not included. The three interviews conducted over Zoom followed a stricter structure and
were therefore more similar overall.
118
Bosanquet, “The Development of Cello Teaching in the Twentieth Century,” 195–198.
 74

prompt for a conversation about relevancy. Although Bosanquet’s comments about the

physicality of playing the cello and consideration of younger pupils are important, these topics

were not the focus of the interviews. After considering Bosanquet’s writing and the responses of

the interviewees, I believe it is important to recognize that our knowledge of the cello and of the

body develops over time. Exercises themselves may still be relevant and valuable, but cellists

might be wary of following written instructions or advice in the very oldest technique manuals

and treatises. Music pedagogy on the whole saw massive changes in the 20th century, which is

another consideration for contemporary cellists approaching exercises from the first half of the

century. Bosanquet explains that “it was not until after 1945 that innovative ways of teaching

were evolved, particularly in communicating with young pupils and making the learning process

pleasurable.”119 The interviewees seem to agree that these materials have overall value and are

still relevant. It may be necessary, however, to simply acknowledge that the value to individual

cellists and students will vary. For users of these materials and users of the Cello Exercise Index,

it is important to consider what suits you and your body the best, and perhaps to consult a trusted

teacher or mentor to put older exercises in contemporary context. Relating to the theme of the

limitations of notated exercises, this material is best not to be used in isolation.

5.4 Gagnon and the RCM Cello Syllabi

My interview with Susan Gagnon included the same questions that were asked of the first

three subjects, yet this conversation had additional questions because of Gagnon’s role in the

creation of the RCM Cello Syllabi. Because the 2013 Cello Syllabus’s Resources section was an

integral part of my overall research goals, I wanted to speak with the person or people

119
Bosanquet, “The Development of Cello Teaching in the Twentieth Century,” 203.
 75

responsible for its compilation. When I first approached Gagnon for an interview, I knew that

she played a role in the creation of the RCM Cello Syllabi, but it wasn’t until speaking with her

that I learned just how extensive her role was. The first Cello Syllabus from the RCM was

released in 1995, created and compiled exclusively by Gagnon. The same is true of the second

Syllabus released in 2007. The 2013 Syllabus included two other collaborators, but according to

Gagnon, she was responsible for most of the collection of materials. She did not provide the

names of the collaborators in our conversation but clarified that one person worked with her on

the Preparatory Level through Level 8, and the second person assisted in compiling the technique

requirements for the top levels as well as the orchestral excerpts.

When I asked specifically about the Resources section, Gagnon had this to say: “my

mandate was to try and make it as inclusive as possible.” What I drew from this was that the

Resources were not only designed to have a wide range of materials, but also to be approachable

for any cellist interested in taking an exam. Gagnon clarified, “because there are so many fewer

cellists doing exams, we wanted to make it friendly for anybody.” All RCM Syllabi, across

instruments, have a similar structure, beginning with the examination requirements, followed by

specific requirements for every level, then details of the examination regulations, and ending

with a list of resources. The most recently updated syllabi, for example Violin 2021 and Piano

2022, have removed much of the material about examination regulations and replaced this

section with examples for the technical and musicianship tests. Gagnon said that the mandate for

the Resources section of the 2013 Cello Syllabus was to follow the examples set by the Piano

and String Instrument Syllabi and include a list of options for teachers. The resources are

organized by type, then listed alphabetically within each section. The types include: General

Resources (including Sight Reading and Ear Training, Official Examination Papers), General
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Reference Works, General Pedagogy and Related Reference Works, and Cello Resources

(including Supplemental Technique Books, Cello Reference works, and Web Resources). 120

Gagnon also stated directly that this section of the Cello Syllabus is intended for use by cello

teachers, not by students or parents.

My impression is that the current presentation of the Resources section is challenging,

even for a teacher and especially for users who are less familiar with the items on the list. This

section is meant to be comprehensive, listing titles in each broad category alphabetically by

author’s name, yet there is no indication of the specific contents of each resource. Although there

is not yet a specific date for the release of an updated version of the syllabus, Gagnon said that

the upcoming Cello Syllabus will match the most recent syllabi, removing information about

examination regulations and reducing some of the repertoire requirements at higher levels.

Though it was not explicitly stated, my impression from our conversation was that a new Cello

Syllabus would not include major changes to the contents or organization of the Resources

section but may include selected additional materials published more recently than 2013, the

release of the current syllabus.

5.5 Results: Final Reflection

At its core, the intention of this document is to investigate the value of technical

exercises. A crucial part of this investigation is determining the role of exercises for the

contemporary cellist. This was the motivation behind conducting the interviews and has led to

several insights. Professional cellists use exercises both in their personal practice and in their

teaching. In most cases, exercises are used by cello teachers and advanced students, and the

120
Royal Conservatory of Music, Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition (Toronto: Frederick Harris Music Company Ltd.,
2013), 96–99.
 77

impetus to use an exercise typically comes from the teacher. This may be in the form of a direct

assignment, a demonstration, or curated selections. Generally speaking, the way in which

exercises are used today involves flexibility and creativity. Overall, technical exercises are

considered to be valuable pedagogical tools and remain relevant to today’s performers and

teachers.

These insights informed and influenced my overall approach to the Index. Although I

created a prototype before conducting the interviews, insights from the conversations allowed me

to adjust the Index organization as I added the majority of the exercise materials. The interviews

gave me a better sense of which materials contemporary cello teachers are already using in their

studios, and some of the features that would be most helpful to include in the Index. Some

teachers would find it helpful to search broadly (using a tag in the Level 1 column, e.g. “Double

Stops”) and others might prefer to search for more narrow tags (using a tag in the Level 3

column, e.g. “Double Stops →Sixths →Scalar”). The Index is most useful if it is flexible enough

to cater to both of these approaches. The conversations made it clear to me that exercises are

particularly effective when they are tailored to the specific needs of a student. To help address

these needs, I added as many tags as possible running the gamut from broad to narrow topics so

that the Index is intuitive to use no matter the teacher’s approach. After concluding the

interviews, I added an additional column so that each exercise result is paired with its author’s

name and the publication date for each book, meaning that a user could filter by author and see

the contents of a single book at a glance, filling the missing role of a traditional index for any

included materials. Throughout the interviews, I was able to get a sense of the most popular

books currently in use (for example Feuillard, Starker, and Cossmann), so I prioritized these

sources when creating new tags, borrowing headings and phrases that would likely become
 78

search terms from teachers. Finally, these interviews highlighted some of the limitations of both

the Index and of traditionally notated exercises. In its current form, the Index cannot support

exercises that require a demonstration, so future iterations of the Index might combat this

limitation by including links to video examples of exercise demonstrations.

 79

Chapter 6
Discussion

This chapter considers the benefits and limitations of both the methodology for the present

research and the Cello Exercise Index itself. After a summary of the research limitations, I

contemplate directions for future research and discuss the forthcoming online version of the

Index. Finally, I discuss the use of exercises as creative practice, considering the intentions

behind exercise practice overall and the potential benefits of the Index.

6.1 Research Limitations and Future Directions

Considering Exercise Sources

Designing meaningful and realistic research goals required narrowing the scope of

materials under consideration. The Index does not contain every exercise published for the cello,

but it does contain data on a robust sample of the available repertoire. The Resources section of

the RCM Cello Syllabus supplemented by the exercise materials available on IMSLP provide a

substantial selection of exercises for any Index user. Recall that, per the inclusion criteria

detailed in Chapter 3, for a book’s exercise contents to be included in the Index, the book or

collection must be listed in either the RCM Cello Syllabus or the IMSLP, 50% or more of the

book must be exercises, and the publication date must be 1837 or later. These limitations were

made deliberately with the intention that the Index would lay the groundwork for additions and

future expansion.

Through the collection process, I observed that both sources aimed to be comprehensive

rather than selective. The goal of the IMSLP as an organization is to gather all public domain

music scores and make them freely accessibly to anyone with internet access. After speaking
 80

with Susan Gagnon, I learned that during the compilation process for the Resources section of

the 2013 Cello Syllabus the goal was to list as many sources as might be of interest to cello

teachers. Because both sources aim for breadth of material, neither source is discriminative with

the resources listed. This is an advantage in some situations, but these broad presentations do not

necessarily help students and teachers decide which exercises might be best suited to their goals.

The missing component in these listings is the specific contents of each exercise resource, since a

significant barrier to using exercise books is the amount and density of information available.

The Index supplies this missing information, displaying specifics about the contents of each

exercise resource and providing a way to easily locate individual exercises.

Interview Design, Future Surveys

The interview component of this research had limitations in its design, many of which

might be addressed by future studies. One limitation of the interview design is the sample size.

Although the semi-structured interviews with prominent cellists were extended conversations

that provided valuable data and numerous insights, a sample size of four participants is relatively

small. In addition, the choice of participants may represent a limited or potentially skewed view:

as mentioned in Chapter 5, the participants were selected from my own musical community,

meaning that they are cellists that I already knew personally or through a professional

connection.

A future study might combat these limitations by opening up geographically to include a

larger pool of participants and seeking cellists with a wider range of experiences both

professionally and personally. Another direction for future investigation might include altering

the semi-structured interview design. A future study might distribute a survey to a larger sample

of cello teachers, or expand to include students to explore the questions that arose after
 81

conducting the four interviews from the present research and delve deeper into the subject of

exercise use by cellists. For example, a future survey might ask students how much time is spent

on exercises in their personal practice, if they were presented with exercises at any point in their

previous training, or how they would evaluate the importance of using printed exercises.

Teachers might be surveyed about how often they ask students to alter exercises or add

variations, the ways they encourage creative thinking during practice, how they teach musical

problem solving, and to what extent, if any, technical exercises are a part of these goals.

Avenues for Future Research

One clear avenue for further research would be the addition of material to the Index.

Future additions may be complete books or individual exercises from books that did not meet the

inclusion criteria. Opening up the Index to include other syllabi (such as the ABRSM and TCL)

and material in other languages might provide additional books that were missed by using two

sources. Another way to add material to the Index would be to reduce the minimum percentage

of exercises as a criterion for inclusion in the Index. As discussed above in the limitations of the

scope of the research, a minimum of 50% exercises within an exercise book was determined at

the outset of the study as a criterion for inclusion in the Index. Adjusting this requirement would

account for more books that do contain exercises but do not meet this minimum for inclusion.121

Adding more materials to the Index, particularly those that were published more recently and are

not available on IMSLP, may help to balance the ratio of exercise types, increasing the total of

those that focus on the “Right Side” and “Other” in the Index. There will always be a left side

121
Two examples of books that would be added to the Index if the minimum percentage of exercises was reduced
are: Alexander Diran, Complete Cello Technique: The Classic Treatise on Cello Theory and Practice (Paris:
Salabert, 1922), Reprint (New York: Dover, 2003); Louis Potter, The Art of Cello Playing: A Complete Textbook-
Method for Private or Classroom Instruction (Evanston: Summy-Birchard, 1964).
 82

bias with technical exercises, but additions and further research may expand the range of options

available for non-left-side techniques.

As previously discussed in Chapter 5, the addition of video examples would be an asset

to future research. Exercises that are not suited to traditional notation might be included in the

Index along with a video demonstration, especially those that are practiced away from the cello

e.g., practicing a vibrato motion on a table or with a prop such as a ball. Creating a new series of

videos or drawing upon the options already available could be an asset in continuing this

research and making it more appealing to a contemporary audience. There are subscription-based

and free technique videos available on YouTube, CelloBello, the CelloMind website, and on the

personal websites of teachers, any of which might one day be recorded in the Index.

Discussion of a Future Website

At the time of submission of this document the Cello Exercise Index website is currently

in development. The online version of the Index will support my desire for accessibility and

collaboration, aligning with the overall goals of this project and encouraging further research.

The website will include collaborative, crowd-sourcing features like the ability to submit new

exercises to be added into the database after a review by administrators and community

comments on individual exercises or books.

Other benefits of the website will be added efficiency and general ease of access. This

online version of the Index will include all of the features of its current presentation, the Excel

Sheet, but will be much more user-friendly in its design. One future goal for search results is to

provide direct access to technique books with a URL if one is available, streamlining the process

of searching for and playing through exercise materials. After considering the responses from the

interview participants, I prioritized adding features to the website to address some of the
 83

frustrations with the way students engage, or don’t engage, with exercises. In addition to

searching for a specific exercise keyword, users will be able to browse by topic then compare or

try new options. To encourage exploration and stave off habitual repetition, there is a feature that

produces exercises randomly. The addition of an online Index will be an asset to the overall

research, allowing the benefits of the Index to be more easily integrated into a contemporary

cellist’s routine.

6.2 Exercise Practice as Creative Practice

The desire of teachers for students to engage in critical thinking is a key insight from this

research, one that links the analysis and Index creation to the way cellists actually use the

exercises contained within. Simply playing through exercises would be beneficial, but the

benefits are exponentially greater if the cellist is actively working to develop their creativity and

musical problem-solving skills. This recurring theme of metacognition was conveyed by the

interview participants, as discussed in Chapter 5, and was also expressed by authors of technique

books in their introductions to the reader. It seems to be of the utmost importance to teachers,

both from the past and present, that students develop the ability to think critically about their

practicing, observe their thought processes related to cello playing, and consider the progression

of their own learning.

For example, in the preface to his Scale System, Ivan Galamian writes, “since technical

mastery depends more upon control of mind over muscle than upon mere agility of fingers, the

direct way to such mastery lies through working procedures which present a constant challenge

to the student’s thinking processes.”122 Rather than viewing exercises as a penalty, cellists might

122
Ivan Galamian, Hans Jørgen Jensen, and Frederick Neumann, The Ivan Galamian Scale System for Violoncello
(Boston, MA: Galaxy Music Corporation, 1994) iv.
 84

see the study of exercises as an opportunity to practice our ability to cognitively challenge

ourselves. Paul Tortelier says of technique practice, “the discipline that one should employ to

combat these natural weaknesses should not be a dull routine but one showing an imagination

and flexibility befitting an artist.”123 More important than the particular exercises used, it seems,

is encouraging students to think about why they are using an exercise and what the potential

benefits may be. Fritz

says of his collection, “The exercises assembled here represent only one of the many

possible definitions of an indispensable core of today’s cello technique. I trust, however, that all

inquisitive cellists will find enough common ground to adapt them to their own needs according

to their inclinations and resources.”124

If a primary pedagogical goal is fostering creativity and approaching technique with a

mindset of exploration, how can this be achieved? Is something preventing cellists from using

exercises as part of their musical problem solving? Considering this research on the whole, it

seems that a missing ingredient is the accessibility and ease of discovering exercises that suit an

individual musician’s needs. Ease of access to a variety of exercise options and interaction with

an extensive collection may help to foster imagination and creativity during practice. This

research has confirmed that there is enduring interest in exercise repertoire and that it is valuable

to contemporary cellists, yet exercises are only valuable if they are easily integrated into a

musician’s routine. The interviewees reported that exercises are most effectively used in

combination and when curated to fit an individual student or situation. The Index supports using

123
Tortelier, How I Play and How I Teach, 9.
124
Fritz Magg, Cello Exercises: A Comprehensive Survey of Essential Cello Technique (New York: Schirmer, 1965)
v.
 85

exercises in these ways by removing many of the obstacles inherent in exercise books themselves

and their presentation.

The Cello Exercise Index is not meant to be a substitute for a cello teacher, nor is it a

substitute for the interactions that occur in the teacher-student relationship, which can never be

captured by a written exercise. Guidance from a devoted expert is crucial for any student’s

development and the Index is in no way meant to replace the expertise of a teacher in the

transmission of technique. The Index is most beneficial when it is a part of the whole musical

picture. It is a resource and a jumping-off point from which a student or user can strengthen an

area of cello technique while simultaneously strengthening their musical mind. There will likely

be disagreements with my analyses of individual exercises, the tags I applied, or my beliefs

about a composer’s intention. I encourage this type of disagreement, as it suggests thoughtful

engagement with and close examination of an exercise. I welcome others’ interpretations,

opinions, and practice ideas and hope that these will eventually be shared on the Index website.

The more collaborative and creative this resource can become, the better it will serve the global

community of cellists.

6.3 Concluding Statement

This dissertation is an examination of technical exercises written for the cello. The

research is both an analysis and codification of the repertoire resulting in the creation of the

Cello Exercise Index, and it is also an investigation of the overall value and relevance of

exercises for contemporary cellists. To situate the research, I first provided relevant historical

context for the development of cello technique and reviewed precedents in the existing literature.

Following this review is a detailed account of the creation of the Index, including the

methodology and a guide for its use. To discover and document some of the ways that
 86

contemporary cellists use technical exercises in their performing and teaching, I conducted a

series of semi-structured interviews with prominent cello teachers. Four cellists provided

valuable perspectives about the importance of exercises, leading to insights about the ways

exercises are being used in today’s cello studios.

The Index and the technical exercises contained within are efficient resources for cellists

that can be used to supplement any other parts of the cello-playing equation. It is a living

document that will grow to incorporate more exercises and future research. This research has

verified that exercises remain valuable to contemporary cellists, especially when they are played

mindfully and adapted to suit an individual. Expanding one’s technical repertoire is an asset

while practicing technique but also while playing any type of music on the cello. When a

problem arises, a cellist with extensive and varied experience playing exercises might discover a

solution by drawing upon this experience, either deliberately or perhaps instinctively. Inspiration

and sparks of creativity may occur in the practice room simply by having easy access to

exercises and playing a wider variety of technical materials. My desire is that the present

research serves increased accessibility, and that the Index continues to grow in the future.
 87

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 92

Appendix
I. Examples

Example 1.1: Friedrich Grützmacher, Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, Op. 67 (New York:
G. Schirmer, 1909), 3.

The title lacks specificity. Individual exercises are given numbers but not titles or headings.
 93

Example 1.2: Royal Conservatory of Music, Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition (Toronto: Frederick
Harris Music Company Ltd., 2013), 98.

Example 1.3: Camille Saint-Saëns, Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 33 (Paris: Durand, Schoenewerk
& Cie., 1872), measures 519–535.

Artificial
harmonics
 94

Example 1.4: Joseph Merk, 20 Exercises for Cello, Op. 11 (Leipzig: Eulenburg, n.d. (ca.1880).

Example 1.5: Antonín Dvořák, Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 (Berlin: Simrock, 1896),
measures 158–159.

Example 1.6: Igor Stravinsky, Suite Italienne pour Violoncelle et Piano (London: Hawkes &
Son Ltd, 1934), Introduzione, measures 10–19.

4th finger in thumb position

 95

Example 1.6, Continued: Index Results for the tag “4 in Thumb Position.”

Example 2.1: Richard Slavich, “A Player’s Guide to the Popper Etudes,” Internet Cello Society,
2006, http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/popper.htm.
 96

Example 2.1, Continued:

 97

Example 3.1: Royal Conservatory of Music, Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition, p. 66.

One étude is to be
selected from the list
provided on p. 69
(see below).

Supplemental
exercises help to
prepare for
technical tests.
 98

Example 3.1, Continued: Royal Conservatory of Music, Cello Syllabus, 2013 Edition, p. 69.
 99

Example 3.2: Otakar Ševčík, Forty Variations for Cello, Op. 3, p. 10.

This variation includes elements of an étude like a specific tempo with a descriptor, dynamic
markings, and a specific key. Though the variation is shorter than many études, it does have
harmonic development. It is not intended to be repeated ad. lib. or transposed.

Example 3.3: Louis R. Feuillard, Daily Exercises for Violoncello, p. 39.

 100

Example 3.4: Column headings in the Cello Exercise Index Excel spreadsheet.

Example 3.5: Tortelier, How I Play and How I Teach, p. 62–63.

“Right Side → Pizzicato → Tortelier (1988) → p. 62–63 Exercises 2–4.”

Example 3.6: Feuillard, Daily Exercises for Violoncello, p. 33.

“Left Side → Scales → 2 Octave → Whole Tone → Feuillard (1919) → p. 33, Exercise 23.”
 101

Example 4.1: A Level 1 filter for “Harmonics” has been applied. The user chooses from five
results for “Left Side → Harmonics → Artificial Harmonics → Single String Scales and
Patterns.”

Example 4.2: Results for shifting, 1st & 4th Positions:

 102

Example 4.3: Fritz Albert Christian Rüdinger, Technical Studies for Cello, p. 39.
Scalar Patterns, 4 Note:

Example 4.4: Julius Klengel, Technical Studies for the Violoncello, Vol. 1, p. 9.
Scalar Patterns, Broken Thirds:

Example 4.5: Friedrich Grützmacher, Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, Op. 67, p. 8.
Broken Chord Exercise:
 103

Example 4.6: Louis Feuillard, Daily Exercises for Violoncello, p. 18.

Example 4.7: Bernhard Cossmann, Studies for Developing Agility, Strength of Fingers and
Purity of Intonation, p. 2.
Double stop trill exercise targeting Dexterity:
 104

Example 4.8: Friedrich Grützmacher, Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, Op. 67, p. 6.
The same series of pitches is slurred together with 4 variants:

Example 4.9: G. Jean Smith, Cellist’s Guide to the Core Technique, p. 14.
 105

Example 4.10: Paul Tortelier, How I Play and How I Teach, 4th ed.
Page 57–58: “The diatonic semitone (4 comas) which will be annotated by S (small). The
chromatic semitone (5 comas) which will be annotated by L (large).”

Page 76:
 106

Example 4.10, Continued:

Page 36: Breathing Exercise

Example 5.1: Shinichi Suzuki, Suzuki Cello School, Volume 1, Revised Edition (United States:
Summy-Birchard, Inc., 2014), 17.
 107

II. List of Books Included in the Index as of Dissertation Completion

RCM Cello Syllabus, Resources:

1. Bazelaire, Paul. La Technique du Violoncelle, Part Two, Gammes et Arpèges. Paris,
Alphonse Leduc, 1925.
2. Cossmann, Bernhard. Studies for Developing Agility, Strength of Fingers and Purity of
Intonation. Mainz: B. Schotts Söhne, n.d. [1876].125
3. Feuillard, Louis R. Daily Exercises for Violoncello. New York: Schott Music, 1919.
4. Flesch, Carl. Scale System for Violoncello. Arr. Wolfgang Boettcher. New York: Schott
Music, 1919.
5. Galamian, Ivan, Hans Jørgen Jensen, and Frederick Neumann. The Ivan Galamian Scale
System for Violoncello. Boston, MA: Galaxy Music Corporation, 1994.
6. Klengel, Julius. Technical Studies for the Violoncello, vol. 1. Leipzig: Breitkopf und
Härtel, 1902-1907.126
7. –––. Technical Studies for the Violoncello, vol. 2. Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1902-
1907.
8. Magg, Fritz. Cello Exercises. A Comprehensive Survey of Essential Cello Technique.
New York: Schirmer, 1965.
9. Ševčík, Otakar. Thumb-Placing Exercises for the Violoncello, Op. 1, part 1. Arr. Walter
Schulz. London: Bosworth, 1935.
10. –––. Changes of Position and Preparatory Scale Studies, Op. 8. Adapted by Haidee Boyd
and Helen Boyd. London: Bosworth, 1929.
11. Smith, G. Jean. Cellist’s Guide to the Core Technique. American String Teachers
Association, 1974.
12. Starker, Janos, and George Bekefi. An Organized Method of String Playing: Violoncello
Exercises for the Left Hand. New York: Peer International Corporation, 1965.
13. Tortelier, Paul, Maud Tortelier, and Rudolf Caspar Baumberger. How I Play and How I
Teach. 4th ed. London: Chester Music, 1988.
14. Whitehouse, William Edward, and Richard Valentine Tabb. Scale and Arpeggio Album.
London, Schott Music: n.d.
15. Yampolsky, Mark. Violoncello Technique. ed. Gordon Epperson. New York: MCA
Music, 1971.

IMSLP.org:
Collected April 18, 2022. For cello && Exercises, For cello && Methods, For cello && Studies
1. Abbiate, Louis. Nouvelle Méthode de Violoncelle, Deuxième Partie. Paris: Enoch & Cie.,
1900.
2. Bukinik, Mikhail. New Shifting Studies, Op. 13. Moscow: Jurgenson, n.d.
3. –––. Virtuoso Arpeggio Studies, Book 1. Moscow: Jurgenson, n.d.
4. –––. Virtuoso Arpeggio Studies, Book 2. Moscow: Jurgenson, n.d.

125
https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-
buch?apm=0&aid=1000001&bd=0001876&teil=0203&seite=00000199&zoom=1; Changed from the RCM edition
to the edition that is available on IMSLP.
126
Changed from the RCM edition to the edition that is available on IMSLP.
 108

5. De Swert, Jules. Exercices et Préludes, Op. 34. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, n.d. [1875].
6. Dotzauer, Friedrich. Flageolett-Schule, Op. 147. Leipzig: VEB Friedrich Hofmeister,
1955.
a. First publication 1837
7. Fitzenhagen, Wilhelm. Technical Studies for the Cello, Op. 28. New York: Carl Fischer,
1906.
8. Frank, Maurits. Tonleiter und Dreiklänge. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, 1925.
9. Gruet, Albert. Cello method. Paris: Enoch, n.d. [1901].
10. Grützmacher, Friedrich. Daily Exercises for the Violoncello, Op. 67. New York: G.
Schirmer, 1909.
11. Jeral, Wilhelm. Skalen und Dreiklang-studien. Vienna: Universal Edition, 1908.
12. Klengel, Julius. Daily Studies, Part 1. Moscow: Muzgiz, 1939.
a. Part 1 only. Part 2 and 3 are included in Technical Studies vol. 1, parts 2 and 3
13. Kummer, Friedrich August, Violoncell-Schule, Op. 60. ed. Leo Schulz. New York: G.
Schirmer, 1900.
a. First publication 1839 – Leipzig: Friedrich Hoffmeister
14. Raynal, Adrien. Le Violoncelle: Technique Supérieur des Arpèges. Paris: Maurice Senart,
1920.
15. Rosenthal, Yakov. Cello School. St. Petersburg: Self-Published, 1900.
16. Rüdinger, Fritz Albert Christian. Technical Studies for Cello. Copenhagen: Wilhelm
Hansen, 1891.
17. Schröder, Carl. School of Trills and Staccatos, Op. 39. Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, n.d.
[1878].
18. –––. Technical Studies, Op. 35. Leipzig: Schuberth & Co., 1876.
19. Werner, Josef. Die Kunst der Bogenführung, Op. 43. Heilbronn: C.F. Schmidt, 1894.
20. –––. 200 Scalen-Studien, Op. 53, Book 1. Leipzig: Friedrich Hoffmeister, n.d. [1903].
21. –––. 200 Scalen-Studien, Op. 53, Book 2. Leipzig: Friedrich Hoffmeister, n.d. [1903].
 109

III. REB Approval Letter

Research protocol approved by the Research Ethics Board on February 26, 2021.
 110

IV. Interview Questions

1. Do you currently teach students? What level?

2. Please briefly tell me about your own musical education -

e.g., when you started, where you studied, anything notable.

Definition of “technical exercises” in the context of this research.

• Etudes are not in the scope of the research
• Exercise Definition: short figures or compositions with minimal harmonic progression
that do not stand alone as a piece of music (meaning, not intended for performance
outside of the private studio). Often designed to be repeated, transposed to other keys,
and played with rhythmic variations.
o Examples include: Feuillard and Grützmacher Daily Exercises, Cossmann agility
studies, Starker’s Organized Method

3. Were technical exercises a part of your own musical training?

4. To what extent, if any, are exercises included in your personal daily practice?

5. How do you teach technique in your studio? Do you use technical exercises?
• (If yes) What collections or specific exercises do you use? Which do you recommend
most often?

4. In what context(s) would you assign an exercise?

• Which specific techniques might you be targeting?

5. Is there any technical material that you consider to be “essential” for every cellist?

6. Are there any exercises you use that are not published?

7. In the Cambridge Companion to the Cello, R. Caroline Bosanquet says of the turn of the 20th
century, “The technical exercises from this period constitute the backbone of training
material for classical tonal music, and are still widely used, with the danger that old ‘stiff’
patterns are perpetuated despite modern advances in technical knowledge.”
o Do you agree or disagree with her assertion?

R. Caroline Bosanquet, “The Development of Cello Teaching in the Twentieth Century,” in The Cambridge
Companion to the Cello, ed. Robin Stowell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). 198.

8. Any additional thoughts or comments on the value of exercises?

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