Drones

One of the special features available with this book are the drones that can help cellists work on intonation. A drone is a sustained pitch that provides a foundation for a melody, or in this case, a scale or arpeggio. It is useful to practice with drones in order to hear the interval between the sustained note and each degree of the scale that we play. These drones also feature various rhythms, different harmonies, and even some jazz accompaniments to the scales.

Below is a video that demonstrates how to use the drones that accompany this book.

We feature audio and video versions of the drones for one-octave, two-octave, three-octave, and four-octave scales and arpeggios in all 12 keys, including tonic drones and rhythmic drones. Here are a few examples of the video drones from several different scale systems in the key of C: 

Modern technology has made it easy to access drones on the internet for home practice, but they are usually computer generated, with a quality of sound that is less than ideal, and mostly limited to single pitches. Our drone audio was created using samples of real string instruments, to offer the most appealing, symphonic sound possible. It includes natural resonance and a small amount of vibrato to help beautify the sound. This book provides chords, rhythms, tempo flexibility, and even jazz accompaniments. We hope that this will inspire readers to find further enjoyment in practicing scales, and enable them to improve their intonation as a result.