I've played viola for several years, and I'm starting to learn cello.
On the viola, I can use my 4th finger to play the same note as the next highest open string. We do this for convenience or the difference in tone, or to reach a higher note on the A string. I don't mind playing open strings on cello, though I know some people don't like them.
But there is a particular song that is all in first position except for a single E I need to play on the A string. Right before that I have to play a B, so there's no real way to shift up ahead of time, and whenever I try to shift or extend my hand everything gets way out of tune and I can't get back for a while.
I also have a really short pinky and sometimes it hurts just to play with it in first position, so extending it is not possible. How is this kind of shift normally done? I also tend to shift around my second finger, not my first if that matters, and the song is Battle Cry of Freedom.