Cello
STRING INSTRUMENT
INSTRUMENT INFORMATION
The cello is part of the string family of orchestral instruments, which includes the violin, viola, and double bass. The cello is made of wood and has four strings, and can be played either with or without a bow. The bow is made of wood and horse hair; the horse hair grabs the string when the bow is pulled across the string, causing the string to vibrate. When played without the bow, the instrument makes a plucking sound, called pizzicato.
MEET THE INSTRUMENT
In the following video (2:00), Laura Bontrager presents the cello, and details how this instrument is constructed and how it makes sound. This video can be enjoyed along with your children in class:
After watching the video, you can engage the children in discussion about what they remembered or noticed about the cello. Children may share ideas about other instruments that it reminds them of, or other music or sounds that they have heard before. Some questions that may initiate a discussion:
Do you remember some of the names of the parts of the cello?
What did Laura do to make sound on the instrument?
What is the cello made of?
Does this remind you of any other instruments that you have seen before?
MUSIC
In the following videos, Laura performs several pieces on the cello. You may choose to play these videos together in the same class session, or play them over several days to create multiple music experiences for the children.
With each experience, you can watch and listen along with the children. While listening, you may notice that the children move their bodies along with the music, and naturally show what they hear through bouncing, clapping, dancing, patting their legs, or almost any other movement that you can imagine! This is part of their music learning, and you can encourage them to move while they listen.
After you watch and listen to each video, depending on the age of the children, you may initiate a discussion about what they heard and saw. Children often feel more comfortable contributing if the questions are specific; abstract questions (such as “how did it make you feel?”) may be difficult for the young child to answer. Some questions that you may consider are:
Was the music fast or slow? Loud or soft? Smooth or choppy? (etc.)
Did this music remind you of other music or sounds that you’ve heard before?
What kinds of movements did you make when you were listening?
And, after you have listened to all three pieces, the children may be able to make comparisons:
What was the same about these pieces of music? What was different?
Listening Experience #1 (1:56)
Laura shares a traditional Irish Melody on the cello.
Listening Experience #2 (1:49)
Laura shares a Gigue by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Bach was a German composer, born in a town called Eisenach. He was born into a musical family; his father, uncles, cousin, and brother were all professional musicians. He ended up marrying a musician, Anna Magdalena Bach, and several of his sons grew up to be musicians as well. Bach composed music for singers and for many different types of instruments. He composed music for groups of all sizes, from solo works to large orchestral pieces. Bach composed a lot of music: at least 1,080 pieces that we know of.
Listening Experience #3 (2:28)
Laura shares The Swan by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). Saint-Saëns was a French composer, perhaps best known for his opera Samson and Delilah, and for The Carnival of the Animals, the orchestral work that this piece comes from.
ABOUT THE MUSICIAN
Laura Bontrager holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Lorne Munroe and Joel Krosnick as a Leonard Rose Memorial Scholar. She received teacher training from the Suzuki Institute and The School for Strings. Laura performs frequently with chamber music ensembles and orchestras in and around New York. She is a member of the quartet CELLO and the string trio Aurasuono. Laura directs the cello program at The Chapin School. She joined the Diller-Quaile faculty in 2004.