Music like Steven Sharp Nelson

Steven Sharp Nelson (born July 5, 1977) is an American cellist and songwriter. He is best known as "The Cello Guy" of the classical new-age musical group The Piano Guys, with whom he has released eight number-one albums and dozens of music videos. He also has three solo albums to his credit. He is considered a pioneer in "cello-percussion", which enhances traditional cello playing with pizzicato and percussive techniques.

Steven Sharp Nelson grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, the son of John C. Nelson and Lynne Sanders. His mother was a former professional opera singer, and she died from a brain tumor on May 21, 1999, and his younger sister, Camille Nelson, is a folk musician. When he was seven, Nelson's father decided that each of his children would learn to play an instrument invented before 1800. Nelson tried the violin but discovered a passion for the cello. He studied cello with teacher Kate Reeves and then with Ryan Selberg, the principal cellist for the Utah Symphony. Since his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) inhibited his attention span for long practice sessions, he began practicing on other instruments as well, including drums, guitar, and piano. This led to his developing creative ways to play the cello: "strumming it, banging it and using pizzicato much more aggressively – using my thumb, fist, fingernail and palm". He also began playing with different types of musical groups, including bands, orchestras, and string quartets.