Hello everyone, I'm new here so be nice..

A little about myself - I'm 19 years old, from London, and I'm a semi-pro bass guitarist / Music student at Brunel university. However, I recently went mad and bought a cello.. I'd always wanted to learn and the oportunity (cash) just came up randomly. I thought it would be easy.. How WRONG was I..

Anyway, I figured some nice people here might be able to answer my many questions (I can't justify paying for lessons just yet, so I'm learning myself)

SO, first question,
What does 'first position' mean?

Thanks in advance,
Anup

putting your first finger on b on the A String, then 2 on c natural, 3 on c sharp and 4 on d.
Then D string- e natural etc
g a natural etc
C d etc

Suggest starting with small pieces and scales in first position and then you move up the fingerboard.Perhaps your music library can help with tutor books and there are video's and dvd's of course. A teacher is best if you can find one though.

sorry did.t see your teacher not possible sentence.What about talking to people in your local amateur orchestra if you have one.good luck

Aren't there any other 'cellists in your Department? If not, ask any string player for advice. There are lots of wrong ways to play any stringed instrument, but the good thing is that one can see most of them, so you can compare yourself with experienced players and possibly ask them whether the differences matter. The tricky thing is balancing the various aspects of bowing: speed of bow, pressure and position of the bow on the string can all be varied, and control the dynamic and quality of the sound, but some combinations give unpleasant sounds (e.g. scratching or whistling) which are rarely required. It takes quite a bit of practice and careful listening to know exactly what combination is appropriate for the musical context. At an earlier stage, it is also necessary and non-trivial to train the right hand and arm to keep the bow in the right place on the string and travelling at right angles to it.

thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated. I better get practicing..