Does it seem crazy to have an entire post dedicated to how to sit on a chair? Not to a cellist! Cellists have to sit when they play, so it is really important to sit in a balanced and healthy way. We’ve talked before about how to find the right chair, so now let’s talk about how to sit on that chair.
Feet – Feet should be flat on the floor. Imagine your feet are tree trunks rooted into the ground, heavy and relaxed. Unless you are pretty tall, the feet should be underneath your knees. (If you’re taller and you’ve talked to your teacher about this, your feet might be tucked slightly behind your knees).
Seat – Balance your weight on your sits bones on the edge of the chair. Your knees should be either level with your hips or slightly below your hips (which is part of why the right chair and chair height is so important). You want to feel like your legs are free to move, which is the reason for sitting on the edge of the seat.
Back – Sit with good posture. The back is ‘straight,’ but think more of a stacked spine rather than a straight spine so you are sitting tall but not rigid. The idea of feeling stacked will also help to make sure you’re not leaning forward or back. It’s easy to lean back when the cello is against you without realizing it. Try sitting without the cello to get a feel for the stacked spine. You can practice sitting tall but not rigid and you can also experiment with finding the center so you’re not leaning. If you lean too far back, you’ll feel your abs engage, if you lean too far forward you’ll feel your hamstring muscles engage. You want to find that balanced spot right in the middle.
Head – The goal is to keep your head tall and in a neutral and relaxed position. It’s very easy for the head to get out of alignment as you play – either the cello gets in the way so your head goes to the side, or perhaps you’re trying to look at your left hand too much, so your head is constantly angled down to the left. Although the head is tall, keep your neck loose and relaxed.
Did you notice a theme here? In practically each body part we talked about staying relaxed. Even though we’re striving to sit with great posture and good position, we want to avoid tension and avoid feeling ‘forced’ into good position. Relaxed is the key word!