Posted on May 17, 2008 by Abigail McHugh in - Posture/Set-up
I tell the student (or group class) that I am a very bad cellist who is in desperate need of help to improve my posture with the cello. I ask the student (the cello doctor) to close his eyes while I get set-up (very badly), and then have him open his eyes and help me solve my problems, either by just telling me what is wrong, or by physically moving me to the right place. This often requires that the student stand up and walk around, in order to spot problems like straight thumbs and slumped backs. I make an effort to include problems that the student himself suffers from in my list of complaints. I always thank him profusely for helping me, while stressing how much more comfortable I feel now that I have curved my fingers, put my feet flat on the floor, relaxed my shoulder, straightened my bow, etc. I also give the student a chance to be the patient. They generally find it to be uproariously funny that they are allowed to purposefully demonstrate dreadful position, and then I can gently move them back to the ideal position that we are aiming for. This game works really well with little kids.