Cello stories: Tales from the Tonic Community

To celebrate our cello launch on Tonic, we've gathered your best, worst, and most memorable cello stories. Read on for our communities cello tales!

Pegs falling out

My pegs fell out during the winners' concert of a concerto competition during the first movement of Shostakovich 1. I had to go backstage and use a different cello to finish the concert because mine kept falling out once tuned.

– Anonymous (17), Cellist

Plate gone

One day a few years back I was showing my section a fingering, so I stood up to play, and when i started to play, the back plate broke off of my cello and fell onto the ground.

– Daniel Hotchkiss (17), Cellist

Broken in half

Right before a concert a stage manager fell on my cello and it broke in half. 😢

– Michelle (19), Cellist

Cello falling down

Back in my high school, the cellos were stored on a special cello-storing shelf, with 6 cellos on the top shelf and 6 cellos on the bottom. Every year, our high school put on a musical production which, naturally, involves the creation of many props that just so happened to be stored in the same room as the cellos. One day, my friend (who played one of the top shelf cellos) was trying to get her cello down from the shelf, but one of the larger musical props was in front of the shelf, meaning she really had to reach. She managed to grab ahold of the cello, but she lost her balance, and the cello fell out of her hands. It fell broke into pieces on the ground... the top shelf is pretty high :(. That was not a fun price to pay (literally and figuratively).

– Ventallix (18), Pianist

Cello seat

I had a concert once and I asked the organisers where I could place my cello so I can take it afterwards. We didn't expect a lot of pleople to come so they told us to just put it in a corner where it would be safe (it wasnt lol). Turns out, when the concert started, someone decided to sit on my cello and when I went there they acted like nothing happend and said: "What's wrong?"...

– Elpida Christoforidou (17), Cellist

Broken bridge

Before a concert, my hand slipped and the cello tilted forward. The bridge broke off, and I had to perform with a broken bridge in an orchestra! 😂

– Kokoro H. (16), Cellist

Big violin

This is one of many awkward mis-identification stories, but here’s the first one I remember. At a studio recital my older sister’s teacher organized, I was asked to help accompany one of the pieces. A young child (whom I later found out was the grandchild of the violin teacher) came up and asked why my violin was so big. Confusion and pandemonium ensued.

– Paul Yan Clayton (16), Cellist