Are the Suzuki viola books the same as the violin books ?

June 27, 2013 at 06:38 PM · Hi Brian

a quick look at the books will tell you that up until Book 4 the pieces are basically the same except for a few differences (2 additional pieces in Book 1) but there are numerous differences in fingerings, and many additional exercises that were not in the original violin books. At Book 4 there are some substantial differences (Telemann solo and Double concertos) and from Book 5 on they are almost entirely different..

June 28, 2013 at 03:40 AM · I live out in the boonies so I am not able to look at the books. Thank you for the information.

June 28, 2013 at 02:12 PM · About 10 yeas ago I found a helpful way to resurrect my feeble viola reading skills was to purchase Suzuki viola books 4 - 7 (that's as far as it went then) and sight read through them in order. I was not worried about my ability to "play", just my ability to wrap my mind around reading the notes with stability since I have only played (and performed) on viola 8 (or so) times in the past 40 years and never "studied" it.

The early Suzuki violin, viola, and cello books have many pieces in common, with key signatures adjusted for consistency of developing left-hand skills.

For wannabe viola-playing violinists, it can be very helpful to start with the Suzuki viola book at your viola-reading level and work up from there.

Andy

June 29, 2013 at 12:17 AM · Hi Brian, you might consider getting a subscription to SmartMusic. It's accompaniment software, which is useful in itself, which also includes all the Suzuki violin and viola literature.

http://www.smartmusic.com/products/students/

http://www.smartmusic.com/findmusic/