Yo all you CELLISTS out there

I am writing a string quartet and at the (loud) climax I am DYING to have a couple of triple stops that are sustained for a measure or two.

They will be played on the C, G and D strings of course, as you will see from the image below.

I know it's hard to sustain these because of the curve over the strings, but they are played at

FFF (haven't decided yet)

so maybe that's possible. Can you tell me whether this is even feasible? The tempo is about quarter note = 72. I tried to break them down but I just want to make sure it's completely not worth leaving them in before I chuck them. thanks!!

sonate.pdf

well to begin with, the first one is impossible. sorry to say.

The D is played on the C string, but the F# must be played there too, so impossble. The second one works.

The F# can't be alternately played on the G string? Like, what if it was just a double stop with the bottom two notes? I'm still trying to understand when you can put a note that is normally on one string on another and when you cannot. I know that you normally play a note on the string closest below it, but can you play a note on the string above where it is written if necessary?

Writing such instrument-specific stuff can be tricky. I know I have to really look things up when I try to include double stops, harmonics, gliss. etc...

Composers too often write impossible things, and their stuff gets published like that. Sometimes they write stuff that's off the horn. I know in my trombone experience they write impossible slide glissandi sometimes. And then they make it even worse sometimes by indicating wrong slide positions above the notes!

The F# can't be alternately played on the G string? Like, what if it was just a double stop with the bottom two notes?

How can you play an F# on the G string? the string doesn't go that low.

Have you been using a lot of double and triple stops? I'm not that great with the other instruments, but if you want I'll double check the cello stuff for you.

How can you play an F# on the G string? the string doesn't go that low.

Oh, okay...I wouldn't know. Strings confuse me. So it's not even possible then...okay I get it. How confusing.

okay I fixed it - how about this?

La paisible campagne.mid

God, why was it so hard for me to understand that the string physically could NOT play below it's open note? okay. Is this possible to sustain at a loud volume?

(BTW, thank the heavens for this board - I am VERY slow)

think it's ok. Look at the pdf's I'm posting. The are really good to stick to.

cello_stops.pdf

cello_stops_2.pdf

thanks cmaj :huh:

I have a book with some of that listed but it's not clear on whether or not you can play sustained triple stops at high volumes. I know that quads have to be arpeggiated, but triples I wondered about. Yet, it comes up that I am retarded and can't figure out the darned strings completely, still. Thanks.

no problem. And you should be able to sustain 3 at loud volumes. Also the pdf's I posted are far from complete, but they indicate the most commonly used multiple stops. Keep in mind that when they have at least 1 open string, they are easier to play.

yes indeed. I know the second one is...ick...but I tried to at least do that on the first one, hoping the second one would be easier after the fingerings for the first were in place - since the tempo's not too fast.

wow, actually, now that I am editing the piece and playing it back, it sounds a lot richer on those new notes I applied. Hee! I wish I'd figured that out when I was first scribbling it on paper. My ear will improve with time, I s'pose.

Anyone who says it's easy writing string quartets for the first time is on crack!!

The last version should be trivial to play. Triple stops can be sustained at a loud volume; it's sustaining them at a low volume that's impossible.

Hey Giselle.... this is my advice for you. It WILL work.

Tumababa's Guide To Becoming Fluent At Writing For String Instruments

Go to your local music store.

Shell out some cash to rent a violin.

Learn to play it, BUT don't waste your time on all the sight reading and all that crap.

Start by learning to do double stops. Begin with seeing how high you can play a perfect fifth and

then try to play a major scale in sixths.

Find all the natural harmonics, maybe write a dinky little melody using only natural harmonics.

Try some artifical harmonics as well!

Next, compose some dinky little "riffs" using only double stops.

I own a viola and I owe all my string fluency to learning to play. I suck at almost everything you need to

be good at to be a good violist. BUT, my double stopping is pretty decent and learning to double stop has

made me quite good at writing idiomatically for the instrument.

You know, Tumababa, that's actually not a bad idea...I played viola before the clarinet but only for a year, so I never got to much advanced stuff. I should go rent one and fiddle around just to get a feel for things. Maybe get some help from a friend.