Viola Repertoire - Where to start....

August 9, 2012 at 04:10 PM · I think you can pretty much take the Bach suites in the order they're presented (i.e., start with one and move on from there). (My teacher gave me the Courante from the first suite as a piece to play within a couple days of getting the viola. With some practice, I could handle it just fine, new clef and all.) I haven't played through them yet but it seems the most technically challenging movements are in the fifth and sixth suites (someone correct me on this if I'm wrong). Bach is a beautiful way to cement the clef.

I haven't learned much rep besides Bach yet, but you should probably take a gander at the Stamitz D-major and Hoffmeister D-major concertos. Maybe Telemann G-major concerto, as well. They're on IMSLP so you can check them out before you buy a fresh copy.

I'd be curious to see what sonatas, etudes, or other pieces others recommend.

(It seems as if there's something in the water here, because A LOT of v.commers have taken up viola in the last year or so! I've only played it since January, so take what I say with a grain of salt.)

Congratulations on becoming a violist!

August 9, 2012 at 05:50 PM · Harvey Whistler's books, first "From Violin to Viola" and then the two on positions are really helpful. They methodically go through different keys and positions. It's easy to think you have alto clef down until you're blasting through an etude in Ab in 4th position!

August 10, 2012 at 05:19 PM · Bach: Bourree I and II from Suite III in C major is a great place to start. If you are wanting to do complete suites, however, I would do Suite I, Suite III, then Suite II.

Sonatas: I would recommend the Glinka or Eccles sonatas to start out.

Concertos: Start with the Telemann Concerto. It's a great piece to start familiarizing yourself with the viola. If you want a classical period concerto, why don't your try the Hoffmeister? The JC Bach-Cassadesus Concerto in C minor is fantastic as well!

Those are just a few ideas...there's a lot more music out there for viola than most people realize.

August 11, 2012 at 04:02 AM · Whenever I swap a student over from violin to viola I give them a simple study, such as Carse "Progressive Studies" book 2. This first study starts on a middle C and moves almost entirely by step which is ideal for learning the clef. Like a different language, diving into the clef straight away with simple material is, in my opinion, the best way to go. The next few studies will also help improve your sight reading in alto clef. The two Wohlfahrt "Foundation Studies" books from Carl Fischer would then be your best bet (although I don't know what level you are on with the violin - the second volume starts with 3rd position studies and so could be confusing at the beginning). I would then consider looking at one of the five volumes of "Solos for Young Violists" by Barbera Barber. You might find volume 1 too rudimentary so perhaps start with volume 2. It is a great series full of good viola music written for the instrument and has the advantage of optional CD accompaniments. The performances on these discs are also very good. I wouldn't be learning Bach until you are completely familiar with the clef and, more importantly, the positions. Within a few months you should be able to get to the same kind of standard as you are currently on with the violin especially if you have a good awareness of sound and tone. Then you will be truly a member of the viola club and will enjoy all the jokes and put downs that conductors and colleagues will heap on you! All violinists should learn the viola, even briefly, just as all musicians should learn the rudiments of how to conduct!

June 26, 2013 at 12:27 AM · Try lots of easy music in the alto clef to familiarize oneself with clef. Play scales slowly to get used to the different bow speed/pressure. Then think about repetoire.

June 26, 2013 at 09:26 AM · Don't make the mistake of starting off with all advanced stuff just because you are advanced with the violin. Viola is a different instrument and requires a lot of different hand/ elbow motion and positions with both arms/wrists than violin. With the positioning of the hand, you want the fingers to fall naturally and not have to search for the note, so it reauires more of a curved hand and moving elbow. Its also requires a different way of shifting once you get into higher positions. Make sure you are consulting with someone on that so that you don't have wrong positions that could ruin you wrists or fingers or arm.

That aside, you should hold on off on Mozart. As you know, Mozart is easy to beginngers and difficult to the advanced. Start with really simple things because it is a new instrument that is different from violin in some significant ways. Get an étude book; maybe the second volume of Wohlfarts and then move onto Campagnoli. Use the Flesch scale book and practice getting that large deep tone that can come from the viola. Because the spacing is different, intonation may be in jeopardy, and if it's not congrats :), but scales never get old :D. Plus you can work on making the notes ring, that is one of the most satisfying parts of playing viola; the ringing of notes :).

As for pieces, maybe do Bruch Viola romanze. If you want to do Bach, you should do the first suite. It's the "least difficult" of all of the suites. As for movements, you can do them as in the presented order. Make sure you listen to recordings and get that pedal tone (in the prelude) to ring anytime that arpeggiated rhythm shows up and anytime you have Ondulé (use of open strings to make the impression of a multivoiced passage: so an example is the opening g-d-b) make sure you really make those notes ring as well. Do some research on it because the information you find will help you shape how you play and understand it. If you have played the partitas and sonatas then these suites, polyphonically speaking, are much easier but still as difficult because of the instrument(s) that they are played on. I can not think of any other pieces off the top of my head but don't go for concertos yet. I recommend Telemann concerto or Hoffmeister in D major, but hold off until the tone and technique are ready. I say this only if you are teaching yourself.

When I switched to viola, I tried at first not to play anything originally made for violin so I could get into the mindset of viola and not confuse anything learned for violin with what should be used on viola. I would rather play something made for cello because it would help me think of deepened and richness instead of the high pitched violin, although viola does do that. Just food for thought.

I wish you good luck and I hope I have helped!

Nairobi

P.S. after rereading the OP, I feel that I have told you some things they you may already know but I'll let them remain for others who might have the same question. Sorry!

June 26, 2013 at 03:46 PM · Kayser op 43 is a good set of etudes for mastering the differences between instruments--hand position, bow angle, string crossings. I also found "little" Dont helpful.

I began with more etudes than pieces for reasons several posters have mentioned--the differences between violin and viola, tho subtle, are significant, and etudes allow you to concentrate on negotiating them.