Cello

Cello lessons are possible from the age of 4 years old.

Teacher: Renke Van Impe - contact: 0479 40 47 86 - renke.vanimpe@hotmail.com

Lessons can be followed in English, Dutch, German or French.

The cello (short for ‘violoncello’) is a big brother of the violin. He looks the same in terms of construction, but is too big to hold under your chin. That is why cellists sit on a chair and support their instrument on an adjustable pin. Fortunately, for children there are also smaller measures of cello, so do not let the size of this instrument stop you from wanting to learn to play!

Of all the string instruments, the sound of the cello is closest to the human voice, he is, as it were, a complete choir packed in one instrument: he can play as low as a male bass voice can sing, but also as high as a female soprano (and even higher). So many possibilities!

Like all string instruments, the cello is also played with a bow: a wooden (or carbon) stick, covered with about 150 horsehairs. To make the strings vibrate, we have to rub those hairs with special cello resin every now and then so that they become sticky. You can also play without a bow by just plucking the strings, a way of playing that we call ‘pizzicato’.

After its creation, around the 16th century, the cello was initially only used as an orchestral or accompaniment instrument. Fortunately, a number of composers soon discovered the versatility of this instrument and the cello got a role as a soloist in orchestras or in chamber music (smaller groups of musicians). Today the cello has become even a lot hipper and he can handle almost any style. You’ll find it in pop, metal and rock music (Apocalyptica, 2Cellos, …), jazz (just look on YouTube: Ernst Reijseger, Jacob Szekely or Hank Roberts), or in any other style (you should definitely discover this completely crazy musical centipede, Rushad Eggleston).