Play it slowly, and breathe. Play it slowly, and breathe.

February 2, 2007 at 12:43 PM

I'm enjoying reading the recent viola blogs (if that's the right word for commiserating about having the same sorts of problems).

I don't have a great handle on the C string resonance, but I'm noticing that my "accidentally" hitting the C string inappropriately during a string crossing is a bigger problem than I first realized, and that tuning a viola is different from tuning a violin. James Franco's suggestion was good, I wasn't paying enough attention to tuning down in that register. When I tune my violin it usually takes a few seconds and it's fine unless a peg has slipped from the weather or something, but it takes a bit more attention and time to tune the viola C string because I don't really have that sound in my ear yet.

Just slowing down is what I have to do in almost all areas of playing: slow down with tuning, slow down with the Bach, slow down with the string crossings in the Hasse. Play the piece slowly, and breathe. It even helps vibrato!

But now there's the bigger issue: shoulder and neck pain. I didn't have it in October and November, when I first rented this viola. I was also practicing only 20 minutes a day or thereabouts, and skipped days. Now it's closer to 35-40 minutes a day, and it's most days, and now my neck and shoulders are complaining. I don't have this pain any more with the violin. I used to in my teens and 20's, but it seems to be really gone, in December when I was playing violin I was fine.

Like Mendy, I've been wondering, is it because I have a 16-inch viola? I want to buy a viola, so I really need to decide on the size. I don't want to buy one that's too big. And I'm reconsidering my decision to play viola as a primary instrument. I'm probably going to keep on playing the violin now and then too, so I want to be able to switch back and forth comfortably. Someone on the viola list told me that Barbara Barber, who plays and teaches both instruments and whose sound I love, plays a 15-inch viola, in part to make switching back and forth easier. So, switching back and forth is another potential reason for a 15-inch viola.

I also adjusted the shoulder rest, and tried playing without a shoulder rest as many people on v.com suggest. Playing without a shoulder rest didn't work. I think I'm just one of those with a long neck and small, bony shoulders, who needs one. Otherwise I have too much tension in my shoulder and/or left arm from holding the thing up.

Adjusting its height, and raising the music stand, helped a little, but after I was done practicing, I still had to go and lay down on the floor with my knees bent and my head supported to relax my back for 5 minutes the way my Alexander Teacher suggested 10 years ago. Then I was getting too comfortable and almost fell asleep on the floor, so I went to bed.

All of this is arguing that I should get a teacher, and maybe an Alexander Teacher as well, and the sooner the better. But I can't afford either right now, mostly in terms of time, but also money, because I want to buy a viola and I want to spend $3-$5K and I have to save up. On the other hand, if I end up buying a viola that doesn't work for me, that's not money well spent either.

From Richard Hellinger
Posted on February 2, 2007 at 6:37 PM

Once in a Nutcracker performance a violist took 10 minutes to tune her viola, she hadn't played it much in the last 10 years. She eventually had to have the concert master do it.

From Mendy Smith
Posted on February 3, 2007 at 3:20 AM

There are some good 15.5" violas on the market that you could try. When I first started with the 16" I was in pain for about the first month. Buri gave me a great tip that helped: take a hand towel and roll it up in a tube and place it in your left arm pit. It helps take some of the strain out of your left arm, back and neck until you build up your strength. The thing that you have to get used to the most is that your left arm is in a MUCH more extended position, which requires a different set of muscles to hold and maintain over a long period of time. It's much like holding your arms straight out in front of you for hours.

This entry has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.

Play it slowly, and breathe. Play it slowly, and breathe.

Subscribe

Laurie's Books