Cellists - How Long To Toughen Thumbs? Options

[unmusicalmum]

Son has just begun some exercises in 'thumb position' which make his thumb very sore pressing on the strings. The teacher has said over time the skin will toughen and it wont hurt as much. Was just wondering how long this process takes and if there are any tips to ease the process?

[Storini]

It is very painful to start with, certainly. Some points:
1) Little and often is much better than an occasional slog at it.
2) You can often play the A/D thumb notes as harmonic notes, it is not always strictly necessary to depress them fully to the fingerboard.
3) Ensure the instrument's string heights (which are set by the bridge) are within normal tolerances.
4) Lower tension strings are easier to play in thumb position, but may sound less good there than higher tension ones.
5) Rick Mooney's Thumb Position for Cello Book I is good practice material.
6) Thumb position is actually fairly rare in the repertoire and should not take priority over other more central skills like scales and arpeggios, intonation, double stops etc.

[unmusicalmum]

Thanks for that storini - very interesting. Especially the bit about how it's not actually used all that much - that cheered him up! I doubt we shall go as far as changing strings (I didn't even know you could get low tension ones) and the string heights don't seem too high. I think he just has very soft thumbs still - obviously he doesn't help me with the washing-up often enough! We shall proceed little and often.

[Charlie Cello]

I don't mean to be controversial but surely it's not correct to say that thumb position is rarely used. All of the repertoire at Grade 8 and beyond nearly always requires thumb position. Most of the sonatas eg Shostakovich, Beethoven - and his string quartets for that matter - need thumb position. As do the main concertos - Elgar, Haydn, Saint Saens etc etc.

I use thumb position nearly all of the time and have a lovely callous on my thumb to prove it!!! I agree at the beginning though, little and often is best. It doesn't take long for the skin to harden - depends how much playing you are doing with the thumb - approximately 3/4 weeks.