Cello Stools, Help needed Options

[newmusicmum]

Hi new mum here.

My daughter started cello in Jan & will be taking her first exam this summer. Her teacher is keen for her to have a cello stool, but having just paid for a new 1/8 cello wondered if there was an alternative to the £250 seat out there?
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[Nick Cook]

A box?

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[Flossie]

Hello and (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.gif) newmusicmum.

I learned cello at school, and always used a chair of an appropriate height. If your daughter is on an 1/8 size instrument then she must still have a lot of growing to do and you would probably need to keep buying new stools to accommodate this (unless they can be adjusted a lot) - she'll need to change cellos in a year or two as well, so don't forget to budget for this. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Fibi]

Hi newmusicmum

I think this might help - it's a link to a previous thread which had lots of good advice on the subject

[miss sooky]

I understand why you'd balk at paying for an expensive stool - I think it is worth experimenting with cushions and existing furniture. The most important thing is to be at the right height rather than whatever piece of furniture it takes to get you there. I recall, in my early days, my teacher suddenly shifting me to another, much higher and far better positioned, seat (I am very tall and she isn't but we were sitting on identical chairs) and it was a revelation! I used dining chairs for a long time before finally investing in a proper stool, but I am an adult and I can see that for growing small people, adapting what you have at home is likely to be easier and more financially acceptable. Good luck.

[Swisscello]

As an adult I've tended to find dressing table stools the best height but for my daughter we've moved through a variety of pieces of furniture. When very small we used a plastic foot stool. I've not tried this because I was too lazy to go to the requisite DIY shop in France but the teacher suggested that a cheap alternative to an expensive music stool was to buy an adjustable kitchen stool (made I think for a breakfast bar) then sawing off the legs to shorten it. Could be worth investigating if you really need an adjustable stool as opposed to succesive pieces of furniture of the correct height.

[Roseau]

I've not tried this because I was too lazy to go to the requisite DIY shop in France but the teacher suggested that a cheap alternative to an expensive music stool was to buy an adjustable kitchen stool (made I think for a breakfast bar) then sawing off the legs to shorten it.

Obviously a French idea as this is what my daughter's cello teacher in France suggested too! However, I took her along to the DIY shop and made her try all the stools and we found one whose legs didn't need sawing off (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (This was the next step up after a foot stool, and then foot stool + cushion).

[Minstrel]

A reputable cello teacher near us has cello pupils - large and small - sitting on an exercise ball which he adjusts to the correct height for each pupil by adding or letting out more air.

I've tried this too with the piano and it seems to encourage good posture

[Halka]

My daughter started off (at age 5 with a 1/4 size cello) sitting on an IKEA plant pot stand!!! Unfortunately it fell to bits almost immediately... After that, we went for the sawing the bottoms off an IKEA stool option. I painted and stencilled it, and we are still using it as an occasional table. She graduated to a pink folding stool with a picture of a fairy on - which the examiner commented on when she played "Fairy Dance" at Grade 2. These days she just uses a dining chair. How boring. An exercise ball sounds much more exciting!

[taxidriver]

My daughter started (at age 2 yrs 10 months - she was desperate, not me!) on the little table her cello teacher sat her prized plants on and over the years moved to larger and larger tables until she could manage old wooden school chairs (her cello teacher was amazing and had a ready supply in different sizes).

She was about 11 before I realised those special cello stools were available. I probably would have bought one if I had known... but she's 14 now and quite able to use normal sized chairs

[miss sooky]

A reputable cello teacher near us has cello pupils - large and small - sitting on an exercise ball which he adjusts to the correct height for each pupil by adding or letting out more air.

I've tried this too with the piano and it seems to encourage good posture

Wow, I have never heard this before - it sounds very interesting . . .I feel a local experiment coming on!

[frumpybabes]

My daughter started off (at age 5 with a 1/4 size cello) sitting on an IKEA plant pot stand!!! Unfortunately it fell to bits almost immediately... After that, we went for the sawing the bottoms off an IKEA stool option. I painted and stencilled it, and we are still using it as an occasional table. She graduated to a pink folding stool with a picture of a fairy on - which the examiner commented on when she played "Fairy Dance" at Grade 2. These days she just uses a dining chair. How boring. An exercise ball sounds much more exciting!

Yep when my son started 5yrs ago we bought the cheapest IKEA stool and sawed all the legs to the required height and then put it together! Nice simple and cheap. Stool cost £5 cheap enough to do the process more than once. Check this out!!

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/77996709