In this lesson, we learn how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the cello. This piece is a great way to explore string crossings, smooth bow-arm movements, and simple legato separate bows. All of these techniques have appeared in earlier videos in my Cello Basics series and this piece brings them together in a clear and musical way.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is written in 4/4 time, which means there are four crotchets (quarter notes) in every bar. The whole piece is only 12 bars long, so it’s short, manageable, and easy to learn step by step.
For this piece, we only use fingers 1, 3, 4, plus the open strings, and everything is played on just two strings. We begin on the D string.
First Phrase
In the first phrase, we use open Ds, open As, and first finger on the A string before returning to A open. All of the notes are crotchets except the final note, which we play twice in a row.
As we begin our first string crossing, it’s useful to know the bow-circle direction. Here we are coming from an up bow on a lower note, which gives us a clockwise circle. This is helpful to remember before you play the phrase all the way through.
Second Phrase
We continue on separate bows, and now we add fourth finger. If you look at the end of the first phrase, we finish on a down bow. To reach the D-string fourth finger from there, we again move in a clockwise circle.
The pattern here is: 4 – 3 – 1 – open. Try playing this along with me, starting on an up bow with fourth finger.
Third Phrase
The third phrase begins on a down bow on the A string, and everything after that happens on the D string. This is the first time we use an anticlockwise circle in the piece.
Let’s play the notes together: 4, 3, 1, then anticlockwise again.
Even though this phrase and the next one use the same notes, the difference is the bow direction. The first time we began on a down bow; the second time begins on an up bow.
Returning to the Opening Phrase
After those middle phrases, we return to the opening material. Again, we use a clockwise string crossing as we move between the strings.
Playing the Whole Piece
Now that each phrase is clear, we can play the whole piece from start to finish. Everything stays on separate bows, the finger patterns remain the same, and the bow circles guide the movements between the strings.
Well done — that’s your first full play-through of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the cello. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below the video. Happy practising!
