This is a form of articulation. Each note is performed short, detached and separated from the notes around it.
Teaching Notes for Popper Cello Étude No. 1 The first Popper Étude brings a significant number of challenges. Primarily a study for the bow staccato, the challenge is to always have clarity of sound and a very precise left hand and right hand coordination. Practicing this with the bow only on open strings first is […]
Popper Cello Étude No. 1 Read More »
Teaching Notes for Popper Cello Étude No. 14 We had a BLAST doing our Popper 14 session with the fantastic Christian Elliott (principal cellist Irish Chamber Orchestra, member of the Phoenix Piano Trio and Zehetmair Quartet). Popper 14 is all about up-bow and down-bow staccato, a very specific technical stroke that is tricky for nearly
Popper Cello Étude No. 14 Read More »
Teaching Notes for Popper Cello Étude No. 15 This is a great study with a wide variety of techniques. Not especially “thumb-y” but definitely focuses on some double-stops and tricky aspects of thumb position. We feel this is a great study to take a look at if you are interested in a career in orchestral
Popper Cello Étude No. 15 Read More »
Teaching Notes for Popper Cello Étude No. 19 The Lohengrin étude takes a line from the famous Wagner opera and basically expands on the techniques required in the opera. It’s similar (but more difficult!) to Popper 1 in that we have triplet staccato notes throughout. It is important here to have a real connection with
Popper Cello Étude No. 19 Read More »
Teaching Notes for Popper Cello Étude No. 27 This is an étude that works on spiccato and sautille strokes, as well as an extended technique that is rarely used in the repertoire – thumb to second finger octaves. Lots of chromatic harmonies here and coordination between right and left hands is key.
Popper Cello Étude No. 27 Read More »
Teaching Notes for Popper Cello Étude No. 32 Popper 32 is a study that revisits up-bow staccato; however, it is quite different from the other big up-bow staccato study, No. 14. Namely because the tempo indicated by Popper is quite a bit slower, so the function of how the technique works is totally different and
Popper Cello Étude No. 32 Read More »
Teaching Notes for Popper Cello Étude No. 38 This étude appears extra challenging with the ‘presto’ tempo marking and the octaves. Starting slowly is highly recommended. Take out the octaves and practice the bow stroke on open strings first. Practicing this in rhythms is very helpful to increase the speed once you can play this
Popper Cello Étude No. 38 Read More »
Practice Notes for Popper Cello Étude No. 40 Popper 40 – as the last in the set, this is surprisingly not the most difficult of Popper’s collection of études but rather a very specialized study in natural harmonics. We were delighted to approach this study as it gives our thumb chops some time off! We
Popper Cello Étude No. 40 Read More »