Abstract
The efforts that modern science has made to understand the human mind and body in the 20th and 21st centuries have resulted in large contributions to the study of kinesiology, psychomotor learning, and skill acquisition. Unfortunately, the fields of music pedagogy and performance have been slow to tap into this wealth of knowledge. Cello-specific sources that do incorporate explanations grounded in the physical sciences to describe cello technique typically focus just on the movements involved and some of the physics at work that define the qualities and conditions of these movements. To expand on this work, this document analyzes the underlying motor mechanisms behind the movements that inform select fundamental cello technique and begins to bridge the gap between pedagogy and the perspectives of kinesiology and psychomotor learning. The results of this examination are synthesized with select principles and theories from motor learning and physical development to suggest instructional/curricular design in the psychomotor domain for students aged three to eighteen. This document is intended to be a progressive resource for all teachers as it promotes a natural way of playing by offering an alternative scientific perspective to conventional instruction and understanding of cello playing.