At the age of 16, Friedrich August Kummer (1797-1879) was already a cellist for the Dresden Court Chapel where he was known particularly for his reliable technique and strong tone. As a teacher at the conservatoire, he composed numerous works for teaching purposes, cello duets and studies. Thanks to his rich experience in teaching and his structured teaching method, his study works are highly topical even today. Each of the 10 Etudes mélodiques deals with a particular technical issue. To make practising as varied and effective as possible, the studies come with preliminary technical exercises, tips on practising and practising variants. Apart from the technical aspects, the pleasure of music-making gets its fair share too: Each study can also be played as a duet. A valuable study work for the successful development of the player's technique, with tips on studying by the well-known cello teacher Walter Mengler.