Hi everyone, how are all the violists, what are you all doing, is there any chamber music going on, and how is life in general in viola land?

Hi gummidge. My class has just finished for the summer, and I thought I might take a few days off practising, but I seem to be addicted (which I suppose is a good thing). I think I'm probably somewhere between grades 2 and 3 now. I might have a go at chamber music in the autumn, but I want to find a teacher first.

do viola players ever go and learn the violin? Or is it usually just the other way round, violin players learning the viola?

I've never heard of anyone going from another string to a violin, it's always been the other way around, (although I'm not saying I know everyone on the planet.... ), so I don't suppose you get many who start out on viola mocing to violin. I like the fact that the violin is nice and light (I have played one a few times), but I wouldn't swap. Nice to read the expression 'violin players' though. It's amazing how it's often 'violinists', 'cellists' and then 'viola players' instead of 'violists'!! Good pay-back there, thanks Malone!!

Bad time of year for concerts and so on in my area, Gummidge, so no chamber music going on. We did go to see Sinfonia of Leeds play a viola concerto 10 days ago. They did 4 pieces and I was so disappointed that the one I liked least was the viola one. It was the Bartok and must have had no more than 5 tuneful bars in it. It did show off the range of the instrument though, so I enjoyed that aspect of it at least.

Other than that, what I'm doing at the mo is getting back to my 'regular' course after time out from it to prepare for and take the Prep Test on Monday. I now have a lovely cert proudly displayed on my music stand and I think that, if all goes according to plan, I should be able to have a good crack at Grade 1 in March and Grade 2 in June. Grade 3 in November is even a possibility as I don't have a summer break and I'm not class taught etc. I've been at it almost 18 months now, so I'm ready for some serious progress!

What about your good self? You asked all the questions and volunteered no gen!!!

Violin came third for me.
I started on 'cello (just dabbling with one I borrowed for a while), then moved to double bass (didn't even borrow one, just used the school one to practice a bit in break times), then got given a violin for no particular reason, so I went with that. Given the choice, I'd have stuck with 'cello, but violin is more portable and as I had one and didn't have a 'cello....

Quite tempted by viola, as it's less common than violin (so more playing opportunities) and it's lower pitched, plus it would speed up my alto clef reading. It's also more portable and takes up less space than a 'cello. But if I were to buy a stringed instrument now, I'd probably go for 'cello even though viola would be more sensible.

T.

I've recently down-sized to a smaller, 15-inch viola as I was struggling with the other one. Passed grade 5 earlier this year and I'm about to go on the ELLSO summer school for the second time.

W

thank you all.
Up in the far far North, our orchestra is having a summer break, no playing until September.
Passed Grade 5 last week, which was a surprise , and great!!!
Investigating grade 6 pieces, and scales,and trying to find 3 like minded people to start playing quartets over the summer.
Have been dabbling with accompanying the children ,and have enjoyed that, ( one cellist and 3 violinists) , I hate playing alone, and so accompanying or playing chamber music is the best thing.
Have a hugely long suffering husband.

Hopefully see some of you at ELLSO or at the Leeds chamber music day, if there is g oing to be one like last summer.
R

Started with the violin, taught myself the viola.

am probably somewhere about gr. 7-8 standard except for sight reading, but am joining (yet another) orchestra to help that.

x

Leeds Chamber Music day? Tell me more.....

I did. And oh boy is the violin easy by comparison. Except for those black passages...

May I ask in just what way you think playing the violin is easy?

Perhaps the fact that there's so much more support for it and that it's much easier to hold!!! Not that either of those considerations would make me swap.....

I started learing violin and viola in the same year. Neither are at all easy, and it's a real struggle most of the time. My teacher sometimes lets me play 4 bars per lesson, ( and that's on a good day.!) Still , am getting better. Prefer playing the viola, but like the violin as well. Mainly for traditional music and have just discovered the joys of klezmer. Very addictive!!

Well, I've bought a viola Should be here in a few weeks

Hi All,

the violists in this place do seem to be multiplying. Always a good thing!

I'm currently working on some grade 5 pieces and scales studies (TG) with my teacher. She's mentioning doing the exam in the Autumn Term but I'm not so sure yet. I'm enjoying the pieces - it's quite nice to be playing stuff I recognise! Although when I play them I'm not sure anyone would recognise them!



I have started to learn the violin after I started learning to play the viola - but I mainly use it for Irish fiddle and so it is quite a different style. I definately prefer my viola, but the fiddle is good fun.

As things quieten down over the summer, I'm thinking of joining the ELLSO Intermediate Performance Orchestra for their Summer Mondays - I just need to work out if I will in London often enough on the Mondays for it to be worth it. But it was good fun last year so I am tempted!

Lis

Oh, how can you bear to wait that long??



What type have you bought?

A Gliga Genial 2

Very similar to mine then. Have lots of fun with it, which I'm sure you will have.

Which TG pieces are you doing for Grade 5, that's the exam that I have just taken.
I tried, the Elgar , Chanson de Matin; Bach, Gigue( from the unaccompanied cello suites transcribed for viola, )Suite no 1. And the Nobodyes Gygge, by Richard Farnaby.

the scales were a real battle, and I really should consolidate them before moving on, since they were not secure. The Technical pieces were OK,
Lots of scales for Grade 6, including for the first time, Harmonic and Melodic minors, ( 3 octaves Dmajor and Minor)
Good luck
R

I'm looking at the Elgar and the Bach at the moment, along with the Neapolitan Song by Tchaikovsky. It's still early days so I haven't made any decisions about pieces yet and I have a few of the others to have a look at.

I have decided to go for the scale studies as I stand no chance of being able to recall on demand the scales. I'm starting to get my head around them but they have lots of challenges - but ones that I would rather face than straight forward scales. (You are very brave gummidge choosing that option!)

How did you find the exam itself? I haven't done a grade exam since I was in school - which is sadly now half a life time away! Luckily my tutor is a TG examiner, which helps, but I'm still not sure I really want to put myself through the whole experience.

Lis

Doing the exam was OK, I started doing exams again as an adult in my 40's, the examiners are all very encouraging and the exams have been nerve wracking but worthwhile. Most adults don't do as well as they should, very nervous , most of us, but it has made me work on technical exercises and technique in a way that otherwise I wouldn't have done. ( no self discipline!)
Why don't you PM me, and I'll send you my email, and keep in touch.
Looking forward to hearing from you
Rebecca

Well, miraculously I passed my grade 7 in April and I'm now just starting on my grade 8 pieces. I'm finding it's quite a big jump up from grade 7 so I think it's going to take a while before I'm ready, but I'll keep plodding along.

I've been playing viola for a few months now and I'm doing quite well. My teacher tells me that I have a good ear for the tuning and I'm still enjoying it!

I still don't know when I'll be able to join an amateur orchestra, but I'll get there in the end.

I'm 38 so I'm a late starter, but I play the flute and piano. My eldest son is learning the viola as well, so I kind of like to encourage him along by learning too.

I love the viola. It has such a nice tone and I get to escape the squeaky E string of the violin!!!

Well, I don't know if I count or not as I've been playing violin for a while and have always had a viola - but I've just started working on it again to play in a local orchestra (they're crying out for viola players - no surprise there!)

Cor it's hard work when you're used to the fiddle! Harder work to get a nice tone, more of a beast when shifting down (I don't use a shoulder rest so rely on my chin to help out a little with downward shifts) and the finger spacing is a bit alien (I'm using a 17 inch viola) - but it's all SO worth it when it comes together - I really do love the sound.

I've noticed too that my tone improves on the fiddle when I've been playing viola, so that's good news!

Allan
(Off to practise three octave scales safe in the knowledge that there is no E string to bite me)

Just curious...how long does it take for a violinist starting viola to reach roughly the same standard on viola?

At the weekend Viohazard and I went to hear about auditions and what not for the future. Viohazard spent his time eyeing the girls closely observing his future rivals, but a few of the comments were somehow retained in memory.

The most important of these was that you could do a "double" violin/viola audition, playing the same material once on the violin and then again on the viola.

Is it feasible to start from zero on viola and get to a high standard while also working hard on violin, or is there a lot of work to be done on viola-specific technique?

I've been playing for coming up to 18 months so far and I have a decent ear as well. I think it's many years of language learning that have developed that one!! We seem to be at a similar level from your posts in other threads, so I'll be interested to see how you get on. I've been slow so far owing to such things as having to change teachers less than 6 months into starting and have been very ill for many months of my learning career. Just got back from hols and am looking forward to getting Violette out tomorrow and toturing the neighbours again!!!


I started at 35, but with no more recent experience than learning a bit of piano by myself almost 25 years earlier!! If I'd had the chance as a kid, I would have learned piano, flute and cello too.


Yay!

I mainly started viola to support my son. He's 9 and has adhd, so he needs me to give him a bit of support with stuff like homework etc.

I found that I was starting to enjoy it for myself and so I fixed myself up with a teacher and bought my own instrument. I have one lesson a fortnight as one a week would be too much because I have the 2 kids and hubby to care for and they take up enough time.

I love the tone of the viola and I'm even starting to get to grips with the clef

Cello is nice. Flute is okay, but everybody plays the flute and it's nice to be doing something different I'm finding that learning strings is much more of a challenge and relies upon your musicality a lot more than when I was learning the flute - there's no keys to press on a viola! *lol*

My ultimate goal is to be good enough to join the amateur orchestra But I left the orchestra that I was in due to not being able to keep up on my flute (I'm Grade 6 as well). The leader was far too ambitious and we hardly even played the same piece twice before they were doing some kind of concert (almost on a monthly basis) and it was just constant sight reading which is stressful if you're doing nothing but. There was no pleasure in it and I'd come away with a headache I got really upset about having to leave as I'd vowed to get back to my music this year and I was so disappointed I felt like a real loser, but their standards did seem very high and they had some very good players.

I have found another orchestra who needs strings and they only seem to do about 2 concerts per year and it's mostly popular stuff, so I'm aiming to join that when I'm good enough, but I have absolutely no idea of when that might be. I'm practising like mad though.

Glad that you love viola too! How do you enjoy being an adult learner?

I have been wondering about this too....it seems to me that unless you are already a very competant violinist (not yet unfortunately...) it could take at least as long.
I have been finding the viola really challenging since starting a few months ago. It's not so much the alto clef as the feeling of wading through treacle, and all the notes seem to hang around for too long, like keeping the sustain pedal down all the time, etc etc. Progress has not been smooth so far!
N

Anyone else out there preparing for Grade 8? I could do with a Grade-8-Buddy for some moral support!

That's interesting. I can't say that I've noted the opposite when I've played violins.

It could be a feature of the viola that you are playing. Some violas, particularly those with deep ribs, can sound boomy and unfocussed. Have you tried playing different instruments just to see if they are easier to play?

You can try mine at the next forum event we're both at, if you like, Nova. What is your viola, btw?

Thanks, that's what I need to do I think, try some others out.. It is an oldish european one, rather scruffy, but difficult to decide whether the tone is due to my inexperience or the instrument's quality. It is certainly better than when I first played it though.
N

Oh yes, I think I remember you posting that you'd acquired an old-ish viola a while ago??

Anyway, you're welcome to have a tinker on mine. It's not an expensive one, but sounds nice.

Isn't yours the violin with the lovely picture on? Swoonsome!