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Friends of VeraCello

There's so much...

  • "There's so much in [the book] to admire, I like how you've included lyrics to some of the popular tunes, great idea, really helps to capture the emotional intention of the song. And your writing style is calm and encouraging, really nice to read."
    - Eugene Friesen
    Celloman and member,
    Paul Winter Consort

I'm sure this book...

  • "I'm sure this book would be of great value to music lovers who, in later life, would like to learn how to play the cello. Your idea that the cello can be enjoyed on a simple level even within a few weeks of study is very true, and often not considered. This book will bring the joys of cello playing to many people who would not have believed it possible."
    - Aaron Minsky,
    VonCello

Copyright

  • Website Copyright 2007-2008
    Vera Mattlin Jiji, Ph. D.
    All Rights Reserved
  • Book Copyright
    Vera Mattlin Jiji, Ph. D.
    ISBN 1-4120-9560-3
    Trafford # 06-1315

Welcome

Cello Playing for Music Lovers Playing the cello on any level will give anyone who loves music enormous satisfaction. If you always wished you could do it "in your next life," do it now.

When I elected early retirement from teaching English at Brooklyn College in the 1990’s, it was partly so that I could play the cello again, despite my great trepidation and decades away from the instrument. Like many people who took music lessons during childhood, I feared that my musical knowledge had been completely lost. I can tell you from personal experience that your childhood musical training is tucked away in the back of your brain, just as my cello was hidden in the back of my closet.


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      Now Playing:
           Excerpt from "Bach - Sarabande from Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major"
           Track 86, Figure 19.2 on included audio CD
           Cellist: Erik Friedlander
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Other people who never studied music in childhood won’t even try in adulthood; they feel so overwhelmed by the prospect. They believe that, unless you studied music as a child, it is impossible to learn later on. But that is simply not true. Playing music is one of life’s most glorious experiences. Nobody should be deprived of it, especially through an unwarranted fear of music’s difficulties.

If you want to learn how to  play the cello, this comprehensive, clearly written 212 page book provides all essential instructions from basics to Bach, from selecting an instrument to playing in chamber music groups. It contains over 100 musical  illustrations, including over 60 lovely melodies from popular to gospel to show tunes to classical classics. It  teaches you  to:

  • Control your cello and bow
  • Read music notes and rhythms
  • Play many beautiful melodies both by reading and by ear
  • Understand major and minor scales
  • Appreciate musical structures: chords, arpeggios, modulations and improvisations
  • Use cello positions one through four
  • Enjoy playing with others.

The included CD, performed by popular cello virtuoso Erik Friedlander, enables you to hear and play along with virtually every musical selection in the book.