In a bit of a predicament here! im playing Bach's Air in my string trio, and i have the viola part. I'm getting confused with some of the awkward rhytms and ties. Because it's so slow my teacher says you have to count in 8 rather than 4 (or just 2 lots of 4). its bad enough counting in 4 and 8 makes it worse! ive tried listening to it as well but i cant hear my part no matter how hard i listen! help!
Thanks very much
Jess

Hi Jess,

I played the viola part in a quartet arrangement of this piece for someone's GCSE ensemble practical - I assume you mean Air on the G string from the Orchestra Suite? As your version is a trio, I suspect it's also an arrangement, which would explain why you couldnt hear your part in the original.
I had to get used to counting in quavers rather than crotchets too. It does make it much easier though, otherwise you would probably end up speeding up if you tried to count longer beats. I found it easy to listen to the cello, which has the basso continuo in steady crotchets most of the time. This gives you a guide as to where your part fits in rhythmically. That's if the arrangement you're playing has this cello part too. Good luck!

~Hannah

Hi Hannah thanks so much thats v helpful!
jess