# quick question for the cellists



## MarkMcD (Mar 31, 2014)

Hi all,

I'm writing a nocturn for cello and piano. It's got that swelling emotional, sort of cry that cellos do soooooo well, although it's not really in a minor key to achieve this feeling, rather I'm using various modal scales to give it a much more fluid feeling.

However, I'm not a cellist, and I would really like to know if there is a particular key that might help me achieve this weeping emotion. or if you have a favourite key that makes your instrument resonate best?

Theoretically the strings can play in any key, but I'm thinking that if I write the piece in one of the open string keys, then it can resonate much more, than if I use a non open string key.

Thanks a lot for any help or opinions, it's really appreciated.

Regards Mark


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

If a predominance of open strings is used then the emotionally intensifying application of the vibrato cannot be applied on an open string, though there is a certain resonance in writing for open strings. It’s not a dealbreaker but a consideration. From a cellist: “It is considered easier to play in C, G or D, than in D-flat, for example, or F-sharp. Not only easier, but more resonant. The open strings can resonate sympathetically to all the other notes being played. This makes the cello sound richer, bigger, louder, etc. than if the piece was, for example, in A-flat.” Best wishes.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Sharp keys are usually best for strings. Here's why: Say you write in D maj. The overtone series for a D includes a strong component of A (the fifth), which is the top string. Hence it will resonate naturally. If you play a C, the fifth is G, and that string will resonate. If you play a G, the fifth (D) and the fourth (C) strings will resonate. But if you play a D flat, the fifth is A flat - and there's no string tuned to that. A is close, and it will resonate some, but not nearly as much. This is something that composers and instrument makers knew hundreds of years ago. If you want brilliance and as much resonance as possible, go for sharp keys like G, D, A and up to E for safety. C is ok, too, but for some reason not as easy to play in. When I write for strings I avoid flat keys as much as I can, especially with students and amateurs - it's harder for reasons that only close study of the instruments will reveal. F and B flat are ok, but you sacrifice that full resonance.

I should add one caution: Unless I need a low C or some special effect, I never want cellists (or any other string player) to play on an open string. It sounds louder, more strident and less beautiful. Obviously there will also be no vibrato. Avoid open strings, unless you like that raw, unpolished sound.


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## MarkMcD (Mar 31, 2014)

Thank you both for your replies, very useful stuff. As it is, I had already written most of the piece in C major, but was considering transposing it to get a more resonant feeling. I don't want it higher than C, but I'm not sure it going down to A will be a bit too much, I will try it and see how it sounds.

Thanks again, kind regards Mark


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Of course, you might examine the scores of great cello works, especially those pieces (or sections of a work) that provide the sound-ambience you seek to provide in your own composition. Pay special attention to the keys of those works. The advice in the posts above is great. Notice that Elgar's great concerto is in E minor and Dvorak's concerto is in B minor, both sharp keys. These composers must have known something.

One of my favorite cello works is the _Schelomo_ by Ernst Bloch. That moody opening is in a seemingly modal key with 2 flats. After several pages, the flats drop out. And several pages onward one sharp comes into play. Then two sharps. Then neither sharps nor flats. And eventually Bloch gets to one flat … the final pages written with two flats as is the opening. In other words, Bloch utilizes a variety of keys to create his remarkably moody and resonant score. So, thematic substance has something to do with the textural color, mood, and atmosphere a work features. It isn't all in the keys.

Still, there is a consideration to be had from the use of certain keys on stringed instruments. Remember, too, that strings can be tuned in non-standard tunings. As a guitarist I occasionally retune to play certain songs. (Two of my favorites, John Martyn's "Solid Air" (CGD#FA#D) and David Crosby's "Guinnevere" (EBDGAD), feature alternate tunings that provide that special ambience that normal guitar tuning - EADGBE - simply can't provide.) Zoltán Kodály utilizes altered tuning, or "scordatura", in his Sonata for Solo Cello, Opus 8, which he wrote in 1915. He drops the tuning of the two lower strings to produce a richer bass.

Take a look at works for cello and piano. See how composers register them (the Beethoven and Brahms sonatas, for example). Pay attention to those movements that feature the "sound" you are most interested in obtaining.

Finally, visit a witchdoctor or a voodoo princess and see if he or she can conjure you up some of the mojo that belonged to Jacqueline du Pré. You won't do better than that.

All the best.


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## MarkMcD (Mar 31, 2014)

Thanks Sonnet CLV,

One of my favourite films is "Hillary and Jacky", and I do agree, she probably was bewitched somehow!

I have had a look at various cello works and there really doesn't seem to be a predominance of any particular key, and also as you say, the key has probably less to do with the overall feel of the piece than the thematic content.

The other problem I have of course, is that working with Sibelius, and not (nor likely ever) working with a real cellist, the point is `probably mute in any case, I just wondered if there was anything particular to know, and now I know much more than I did before lol.

Thanks again for you advice, all of you, it has been very enlightening.

Best regards Mark


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