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100 Cello Warm-Ups and Exercises Blog 17: Cello Geography Part 3: The “Mary System”

Robert Jesselson

12366283_10103637572602267_1725516786945639571_nThis blog will be the last one of the year – but we look forward to starting up again in 2016.

In the first two blogs on Cello Geography we discussed the basic neck positions, and extensions. Next I would like to focus on a tool that I feel is helpful for sorting out one of the most important fingering principles on the cello: the “Mary” System.

For example, in the following passage from the Duport Etude #11, virtually the entire passage is grouped into three-note fingerings:

duport-11-a

duport-11-b

One of the best ways to practice this kind of fingering pattern is to think of the three-note groups as “Mary Had A Little Lamb”.

 

These are the basic “Marys” that I just described:

marys

I suggest using this bow-distribution for consistency – and it is a good coordination exercise as well.

mary-bow-distribution

Now you can take the Duport passage above and practice it using the Mary system for clarifying the three-note finger patterns that are present throughout the passage:

duport-11-a-with-marys

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One can apply this technique using “Marys” to thousands of other passages in our repertoire. I find that it often clarifies the intonation and the finger patterns for my students and myself.

I suggest solidifying this system by applying it to the “universal fingering” two octave scale system (in other words: the same fingering for all scales). In this system we use no open strings and three finger groupings of notes. Below are the two octave major, harmonic and melodic scales using this system.  I have indicated the positions (on the bottom) and the type of Marys (on the top). I ask my students to focus their thinking on three things: the names of the notes, the type of Mary in each group, and the positions they are in during multiple repetitions of each scale. And of course they should be thinking about intonation, sound, string crossings, etc, etc as well!

6c653021-b653-4199-9dbc-6f8a3caca043

harmonic-minor-mary-scales-p1

melodic-minor-mary-scales

Blog #18 will be on the fabulous thumb! Meanwhile, have happy holidays, and a great New Year.

Subjects: Practicing, Technique

Tags: 100 Cello Exercises, 100 cello warm-ups and exercises, cello scales, cellobello, CelloBlogs, Robert Jesselson

AUTHOR

Robert Jesselson

Robert Jesselson is a Carolina Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina, where he teaches cello and plays in the American Arts Trio and the Jesselson/Fugo Duo. In 2013 he was named as the Governor’s Professor of the Year by Governor Haley and the SC Commission on Higher Education.

Dr. Jesselson has performed in recital and with orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States, and has participated in the Music Festivals at Nice (France), Granada (Spain), Santiago (Spain), Aspen (CO), Spoleto (SC), the Grand Tetons (WY), and the Festival Inverno (Brazil). His performance degrees are from the Staatliche Hochschule fuer Musik in Freiburg, West Germany, from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Paul Katz, and the DMA from Rutgers where he studied with cellist Bernard Greenhouse. He has been principal cello of the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orquesta-Sinfonica de Las Palmas, Spain. In 1983 Dr. Jesselson was in China for a six-month residency, one of the first Western cellists to visit that country. During that time he performed as soloist, gave master classes, and taught at several conservatories (including Beijing, Shanghai, and Canton). In December, 2001 he led a delegation of string players and teachers to Cuba to begin professional contact with Cuban musicians. He has also taught at Sookmyung University in Korea, Sun Yat Sen University in Taiwan, University of Auckland in New Zealand, at the Royal College of Music in London and recently in St. Lucia in the Caribbean. His recent CD of new music for cello and piano is called “Carolina Cellobration” and is available on CD Baby and Cellos2Go.

Dr. Jesselson was the national President of ASTA, the American String Teachers Association, from 2000-2002. During his tenure as president he initiated the National Studio Teachers Forums (2000 and 2002), started the National String Project Consortium (with sites now at 44 universities and grants of $3.1 million), and began the planning for the first stand-alone ASTA national convention in 2003. He was the founding Executive Director of the National String Project Consortium, and is currently on the NSPC Board.

Dr. Jesselson is former conductor of the USC University Orchestra and the Columbia Youth Orchestra, and he was the cello teacher at the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts for 17 years. For 15 years he was the director of the USC String Project, building the program into one of the largest and most prominent string education programs in the country. His pioneering work on this program was recognized in an article in the New York Times in December, 2003. ASTA awarded him the “Marvin Rabin Community Service” Award in 2009 for his work with the NSPC and teacher training. He is the recipient of the 2015 USC Trustees Professorship and the 2010 Mungo Distinguished Professor of the Year, the highest teaching awards given by USC. He has also been awarded the 2002 Cantey Award for Outstanding Faculty, the 1992 Verner Award, the 1989 S.C. Arts Commission Artist Fellowship, the 1995 Mungo Teaching Award, and the first SC ASTA Studio Teacher Award in 2005. Next summer Dr. Jesselson will be teaching cello at the Green Mountain Music Festival in Vermont and at the Cellospeak Festival. He plays a 1716 Jacques Boquay cello.

Robert Jesselson contact information: RJesselson@Mozart.sc.edu

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