Early Start on the Cello Volume 3

Early Start on the Cello Volume 3

For more than three decades the ‘Sassmannshaus Tradition’ has been the household name for excellence in beginner string methods in German-speaking countries. More than half a million students have successfully learned to play string instruments using this publication.  

What makes this cello method so unique?

- The leading German cello method now available in English.

- Many colourful illustrations are ideal for pre-school as well as school children.

- Note reading is emphasised from the first lesson, encouraging ensemble playing from the very beginning.

- Songs and scales in different positions are easily mastered within the first year of playing to ensure that children are not confined to first position playing.

- Advanced cello techniques such as varied bow strokes and shifting are introduced in a basic form

Being a large instrument, the cello makes a lasting impression on many small children, frequently leading to a lifelong rapport. “Früher Anfang auf dem Cello” – the 'Cello Sassmannshaus' – was developed specifically to make proper musical and technical progress on this special instrument.  It transfers the principles and experience gained from the violin tutor in order to ensure quick success.

The main focus of Volume 3 lies on duet playing in various metres and keys.  The variety of the selected recital pieces is designed to encourage fun in music-making and to develop a feeling for contrasting musical styles.  On this basis, the familiar finger patterns and bowing strokes are thoroughly practiced and expanded.  Learners also encounter fundamental ornaments (trills, appoggiaturas, upper mordents) and a new rhythmic unit: the triplet.

High first position and half position and are introduced to prepare students for playing in higher positions.  By marking new fingerings in pieces already mastered, they can then take the next methodological step on the basis of familiar rhythmic and melodic patterns.  Many of the duets have been deliberately coordinated with Volume 3 of the viola tutor “Früher Anfang auf der Viola” (BA 9683), thereby providing useful additions to the otherwise slender literature for this charming combination of instruments.  References to suitable pieces for viola and cello can be found in the tabular overview printed on the inside back cover.

The authors
In 1976 Egon Saßmannshaus, one of the most experienced and renowned violin teachers in Germany, published his tutor “Früher Anfang auf dem Cello”.  This standard work for young string players quickly became the most popular and best-selling tutor in the German-speaking countries for beginners on this instrument.  His son-in-law Michael Corssen, the co-author of Volumes 3 and 4 , is a baroque cellist and conductor who heads a music school in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Egon Sassmannshaus's son, Kurt Sassmannshaus, functioned as co-editor of the English-language edition, “Early Start on the Cello” (BA 8996, BA 8997, BA 8998, BA 8999), adapting his father's successful tutor to meet the needs and requirements of English-speaking children.

The combined knowledge and experience of the Sassmannshaus/Corssen family make these four volumes the most thoroughly researched and thought-through cello tutor for beginners all over the world.