wow. i was browsing http://www.elynx.nl today for fun, and saw an ad for a cello w/ case & stand, 50euros, and a never-used electric flamenco guitar, 25euros. 🙂 so i called. and went over. and bought them. and the following cds, at 1eu/piece:
- marvin gaye – what’s going on
- ray charles – genius loves company
- marianne faithfull – the very best of
- nina simone – my baby just cares for me
- james brown ok records collection – 2 cds
- billy idol – rebel yell
i took everything home, and looked up which notes to tune them to. the guitar tuned right up no trouble – lovely sound to it (not that i can play), but the cello’s pegs kept slipping. eventually i got it to keep. the bow’s hairs are really greasy, and so i’ve been giving it lots of rosin, which seems to improve the sound very much. i’m suspecting, however, in my brief experimentation of the evening, that i may need to find a beginner’s book to help me with the differences between it and a violin. i can’t seem to work out the proper finger spacings. maybe the pinkie finger isn’t supposed to reach the same note as the next open string? it works that way on the violin. cello players out there… recommendations?
anyway, then i called dick to come over, and he did, and was really excited by the guitar. played on it a whole bunch. i think the sound is actually much better than on his own acoustic guitar. i’ve never heard him on his electric. i wanted to post some pics of both instruments, but i seem to have left my camera cables at work. oops. maybe i’ll remember later. maybe not. 🙂
Spidertangle 
maybe the pinkie finger isn’t supposed to reach the same note as the next open string? it works that way on the violin. cello players out there… recommendations?
It is tuned where the pinkie finger goes, but it’s probably farther down than you expect…Cello tuning is: C G D A – tuned in fifth, like a violin…
I found plenty of stuff online…This chart might help: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7084/1919/1600/CelloFingerings1.jpg
thanks. i got the notes off wikipedia, and used my electric tuner to tune it. but that link should be pretty helpful! thanks!
I also remember a thing called the “Rule of 17” — on any stringed instrument, the next interval, whether a whole not or not, will be 1/17 of the string further up than the last. That’s why the spacing is closer the further you get from the nut. Longer scale length = larger intervals.
dude. are you giving me math? ;P fractions, no less. leave me with algebra, i’m fine. but let’s skip the fractions, ok? heh heh. yeah, in principle i had made that assumption already, but getting my fingers to go there and not where they think (from too many years) they’re “supposed to go” is a big hurdle. anyway, i’ll mess around with it.