In a busy day, it can be an effort to decide how to start a practice session.

It's really helpful to know one or more ways in which we prefer to start, to relieve our minds from at least one thought process.

Just unpack the cello, start rolling your shoulders or play a lush open C string. And suddenly, you've started.

Here you can download the exercise I demonstrate in the video where we play in the 1st position on all the strings. It’s an exercise I learnt from my teacher in Manchester, Nicholas Jones. It might look complicated on paper, but the notes can be played as slowly as you want to, with the bowings you prefer.