Want to Play Viola Again Reddit

The Viola

by Kerrick Sasaki

When thinking of string instruments, the viola often is forgotten amongst its smaller and larger cousins, still its rich, dark timbre and interesting history make taking a closer await worthwhile. Did yous know, for instance, that Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven all played the viola? Or that famed instrument maker Stradivari also made violas that are worth more than his violins?

In the popular realm, bands including Velvet Underground, The Who, Van Morrison, The Goo Goo Dolls, and Vampire Weekend take featured the viola prominently on diverse songs and albums.

Introduction to the Viola

The viola is the center vocalisation of the cord family unit, sitting comfortably between the violin and cello. More specifically the viola's range is a perfect 5th below the violin's, having the same A, D, and 1000 strings as the violin with the add-on of a C string (an octave below middle C). Information technology has the same four strings equally the cello (C, Thou, D, A), but is one octave higher. Equally the eye vox in a string department, the viola similar to the alto voice in a choir. In fact, the viola uses its very ain clef, chosen the alto clef.

How to Read Alto Clef:

Alto clef may seem unusual, merely information technology is only as easy to learn as the treble or bass clef. The middle line, pictured below, indicates middle C. Once you know this, you can just follow the lines upwardly and down to find the other notes.

Violas are held almost exactly the same way equally violins: to i's left side, over the shoulder, and under the chin. In fact, the two instruments are so similar that many people have trouble telling them apart! This makes sense considering that they share the same playing position too equally 3 strings, but the viola's slightly larger size creates a unique audio. A total-sized violin has a body length of fourteen inches whereas there is no official full size for a viola. Violas constitute in orchestras generally range in size from 15 to 18 inches, with the nigh mutual size being xvi.5 inches. While a couple of inches may not seem like a big deal, that extra size is the crucial element in the cosmos of the viola'southward unique sound, which is often described as beingness mellow and dark. A instructor of mine once described the viola's sound equally beingchocolaty! It is thischocolaty sound that draws people to play the viola.

More Background

Would y'all believe that the beautiful tone of the viola has oft prevented it from achieving the same fame equally the violin and cello? This makes sense if you lot think again about the vocal equivalents of each string instrument. The violin is the soprano voice of the strings and the cello is the tenor voice of the strings. It is very easy to hear sopranos and tenors in a choir and even basses for that matter, merely what are the altos upwards to? Much like altos in a choir, the viola often fills in harmonies in an orchestra. Its dark andchocolaty audio blends the string sections together and gives body to the orchestra equally a whole. You may non detect them at starting time, but should you lose your alto voice/violas, your ensemble would sound hollow and deflated! Violas really are the (pardon the pun) theunsung heroes of the orchestra!

The Unsung Hero

The viola is hundreds of years sometime. In fact, some reports say that it is the oldest of the string family. The viola has been utilized every bit a harmonic (every bit opposed to melodic) instrument by composers for hundreds of years. This is the primary reason that people are less familiar with it than the violin or cello. The viola has less solo music written for information technology than the violin and cello, and while it does have more solo music written for it than the cord bass, the viola is still less recognized than the bass. Besides existence visually hard to miss on stage, basses are regularly seen performing in various popular music groups such every bit jazz ensembles and popular/stone groups.

This lack of star power has also contributed to something curious amongst violas and viola bows. Because of their role as harmonic instruments, violas were not made in as large numbers as the violin and cello. Great old violas and bows are extremely rare and thus a viola made past Stradivarius or Guarnerius is worth many times more a violin of the aforementioned condition. Fortunately, there are several viola makers today that specialize in producing great violas, making for many happy violists.

Famous Composers who Played Viola:

• J.S. Bach
• Ludwig van Beethoven
• Benjamin Britten
• Antonin Dvorak
• Joseph Haydn
• Paul Hindemith
• Wolgang Amadeus Mozart
• Franz Schubert

The Violin, the Viola, and How to Play

Should you play viola? Well, the most important question to enquire yourself is,Do you dear the sound of the viola?

As I mentioned earlier, the viola and violin are played in a like manner. The primary deviation is that the viola is slightly larger, meaning that you must place your fingers slightly farther apart when playing viola than on the violin. Since the musical instrument is larger, is it likewise heavier and requires thicker strings and heftier bows.

Viola bows more often than not weigh anywhere from 69 to 74 grams—virtually 10 grams heavier than violin bows. One style to tell a viola bow apart from violin bows is by looking at the frog (the function of the bow that is held in the mitt). The frog on a viola bow is rounded while the violin bow is pointed. The cello bow also has a rounded frog, but is shorter than both violin and viola bows and weighs effectually 10 grams more than a viola bow.

Some other major difference in playing viola is the apply of the alto clef. Alto clef is like shooting fish in a barrel to read (with a bit of practice) one time yous know that the middle line on the music staff is middle C. Although the alto clef was used quite widely in the Baroque menstruum, it is rarely used by instruments other than the viola in modern times. The trombone and cello sometimes employ tenor clef, which looks like an alto clef floating one line higher on the music staff. It should be noted that violists also get to use treble clef on occasion when they play in higher registers.

The final major difference between playing the violin and viola is in the production of sound. More often than not, considering of its thicker strings the violaspeaks slower than the violin. That is, information technology actually takes a bit longer to hear its sound from the time the bow touches the string. Violists need to exist mindful of this since we don't want to be behind the violins in the orchestra! They also demand to learn to play slightly shorter strokes than on the violin depending on the desired sound. The viola can be easily lost in the sound of an orchestra, therefore they need to be able to finish and beginning bow strokes clearly in gild to be heard. Violists have to be masters of articulation! Remember that the viola is the middle voice in the cord department. They are ofttimes the mediator betwixt the articulations of the cellos/basses and the violins (It is no coincidence that violists as people tend to be calm and stable!) Along with sound production comes vibrato! Again, vibrato on the viola is very similar to that of the violin, but information technology tends to be slightly slower and wider to match the larger size of the instrument. Of form vibrato is purely personal, but a slower and wider vibrato achieves the darker tone that is more commonplace on a viola.

Should you play viola? Well, the most of import question to ask yourself is,Do you love the sound of the viola? Every bit was mentioned before, the viola has less star power than the violin, cello, or bass, but its beautiful and rich sound quality sets information technology autonomously. A modern violist is a team actor, who at whatsoever moment must be able to jump in and take the lead rhythmically or melodically. A violist tends to take some of the best ears and listening skills of all of the strings due to their location in the center of the orchestra and their heart range of notes amidst the strings. It should exist stressed that violists can do anything that violin, cello, or basses can do. It is up to you, the actor, to make the viola sing!

It used to be said that violists have more opportunities to play and gain employment than violinists and cellists. That may still be the case to a certain extent, but much less so than in the past. The level of viola playing has risen in the last 100 years and dramatically and so in the last 20 to 30 years, when the level and expectations for violists has increased while the number of traditional performing jobs continues to shrink. The bright side to this trend is that the viola has risen to higher and college artistic standards. There notwithstanding is performing work out there, but only for very good violists! Recent viola openings in top orchestras have attracted hundreds of applicants. Hundreds of violists for one spot!

Not ready to audition for the New York Philharmonic merely still? Or you haven't even played the viola? If you want to start playing the viola, in that location are some physical considerations for youngsters. The smallest violas that are available are 12 inches, which is most the aforementioned size as ahalf-sized violin. Students that are viii or 9 should be big enough to play a 12-inch viola. Smaller violins may be strung with viola strings with some success, but the sound is ordinarily defective. As I said before, the reason to play viola is for its sound! For all students and adults, there are many viola outfits (viola, bow, and case) being made for a couple hundred dollars that are perfect for a beginner. More than advanced students would desire to consider a viola in the $2000 range, and the sky is the limit for professional person violists!

If you are switching over to the viola from violin, and then you will need to learn how to read the alto clef, simply that shouldn't take too long. Recall that yous still need to know treble clef to play the viola in higher registers, then you are ahead!

Important Violists

Would information technology surprise you to know that Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorak, and fifty-fifty Paganini played the viola? Information technology's truthful! Mozart and Beethoven loved to sit in the middle of the audio when performing their ain cord quartets. Dvorak was a very practiced violist and worked as a viola player early in his life. Paganini studied with Alessandro Rolla, a famous viola virtuoso and composer, who most likely introduced Paganini to the wide technical possibilities of the viola. Information technology was Paganini who commissioned Hector Berlioz to write Harold in Italy, a symphony that features a solo viola. Equally the story goes, Paganini thought that the solo viola office written for him was not flashy enough and he decided to write his own viola composition. The result was theSonata per la Grand'Viola, a piece in the same vein as Paganini's virtuoso works for violin.

Every bit I said the quality of viola playing has jumped dramatically in the last 100 years due mainly to the high standards set past the three pioneers of the viola listed above. There are wonderful violists that are performing, recording, and teaching correct now! There are many immature violists who are making their name in the viola world! Who will exist next? Here are some violists that I think are playing at the highest level artistically: Yuri Bashmet, Tabea Zimmermann, Roberto Diaz, Kim Kashkashian, Nobuko Imai, and Helen Callus. Y'all will not be disappointed with whatever of their recordings!

Let'south bound a bit ahead in history at present to three pioneers of modern viola playing.

Lionel Tertis

Cinderella no more! Those are the words spoken by pioneering violist Lionel Tertis (1876-1975) near his love musical instrument of pick. Through his advocacy, Tertis sought to heighten the viola to equal footing with the violin. Without Tertis, the viola might nevertheless be seen every bit just abigger violin. Tertis was strongly influenced by Fritz Kreisler'south warm audio and vibrato on the violin and wanted to adapt that sound to the viola. Tertis performed with many of the keen musicians of the time, such as Pablo Casals, Arthur Rubinstein, and Fritz Kreisler. Many composers took notice of his playing and composed pieces for him, the most famous being William Walton'sViola Concerto. To expand the limited viola repertoire, Tertis fabricated several arrangements and transcriptions of music for the viola, including a famous transcription of the Elgar Cello Concerto for viola. With Kreisler, he performed Mozart'sSinfonia Concertante on numerous occasions. Information technology was ane of these performances of theSinfonia Concertante that inspired the legendary William Primrose to switch from the violin to viola.

Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) was famous as a viola soloist in his time, but he is about remembered now for his viola compositions. Hindemith was a music theorist who wrote many textbooks on theory and composition. He was highly respected as a teacher and composer because he had intimate knowledge of well-nigh all of the orchestral instruments—he played them all! He composed one of the most famous viola concertos,Der Schwanendreher, along with the beautifulViola Sonata, Op. 11 no. 4. Besides performing his own compositions, he gave the world premiere of the WaltonViola Concerto. The Walton concerto was written for Tertis, but Tertis didn't sympathise the mod sound that Walton was after, and so he recommended that Hindemith give the premiere operation . Hindemith was not remembered equally being the virtually cute viola thespian, simply with his formidable compositional skills and strong drive to advocate for the viola, he has go a revered figure amongst violists.​

William Primrose

William Primrose (1904-1982) was destined to become 1 of the greatest violinists of all time but, upon hearing Tertis play the Sinfonia Concertante, he switched to the viola. He is widely regarded as the best violist in the history of the instrument. Primrose's fame is based on his astonishing technical skills on the viola. He could play extremely hard virtuoso pieces with amazing speed and clarity. He has been called theHeifetz of the viola in reference to the pure technical perfection that Jascha Heifetz possessed. Primrose was in demand every bit a performer, teacher, and recording artist, and he performed and recorded often with Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, and Artur Rubinstein. Too showing the world that the viola had no technical limits, Primrose deputed the Bartok Viola Concerto and gave its world premiere.

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Source: https://www.bsmny.org/instrument-discovery/viola/

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