Cellists - What Do You Sit On? Options

[cellosc]

I'm looking to buy an adjustable cello stool or chair that can be used by my eight year old daughter as well as me. There doesn't seem to be a great deal out there. I'm guessing some of you sit on dining chairs, which is what I'm doing at the momet, but does anyone have any recommendations? I've seen in a catalogue the Milo cello chair - expensive but evidently designed for the job - has anyone come across it? Thanks.

[CelloPianoManiac]

I had a teacher who had a Milo cello chair and it was really good but, yes, they are expensive. Personally I sit on a piano stool, but I don't know whether it would go low enough for an 8 year old.

When I started the cello at 7, I sat on a footstool without the cushion on top! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif)

Hope this helps.

[Czerny]

I assume you mean other than the obvious! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

[Roseau]

My daughter used a foot stool when she started playing at six and a half. She progressed to foot stool with a cushion like Cellopianomaniac and then to a cheap wooden stool which I bought in a DIY shop. I took her with me to the shop and had her sit on all the stools as if she was playing the cello to find one the right height for her - I'm sure the other people in the shop thought we were mad. This is a four-legged stool as at the time I had an adjustable three-legged stool which I used for the piano and which could be adjusted to a perfect height but I decided wasn't stable enough for a child.

[earplugs]

My daughter has been learning cello for 6 years. She has always sat on the same dining chair without cushion while she has grown from being nearly the smallest in her class in year 3 with a 1/4 size cello to about average height in year 9 on a rather big full size. Her teacher never gave any input on chairs so it didn't occur to us. I am not recommending it (as it probably wasn't ideal) but it doesn't seem to have held her back and at least we never had to carry around a special stool for her to go to orchestra, quartet etc. as well as having to lug the cello itself around.

[Charlie Cello]

It depends on the child. I have a 9 year old pupil who manages an excellent posture on a normal sized chair with her 1/2 sized cello. Other pupils seem happier on a primary school sized chair. It may be cheaper for you to purchase a smaller chair while your daughter is growing. You may find a special cello seat quite restricting unless you're prepared to take it with you wherever you play. Cellists generally have to be quite flexible when it comes chairs!

[piano*cello*sax*boy]

I use a piano stool, however i have had to sometimes sit on a dining chair and found placing a cushion at the back stops you leaning back and gettin bad posture

[Hannah74]

I sit on an adjustable piano stool, then I can fully lower it. My 6 year old son sits on a very low child's chair at the moment - almost one of those toy ones, about the same height as the small chairs children sit on in primary schools.

[cellosc]

Thanks for that everyone. I think I'll have to stick with the dining chair for now and look for a small chair or stool for my daughter.

[Hannah74]

I was at ikea at the weekend and they have a whole range of cheap, low stools - one was £7 which seems a bargain. Might be worth a look?