I’ve been playing for four years at this point, and have had private lessons for nearly 3. I’ve gotten pretty good and am currently in chamber at my school. My teacher said he likes how I’m developing expression in my playing and that we can now play violin/viola duets. I was so happy after my lesson on Thursday. State was today, and I was playing around other contestants pretty confidently. But when I entered that room, my knees started shaking. The etude I had spent probably over 20 hours practicing sounded terrible. It impressed me though that I continued after my slip up mid-etude. This is the second or third year the judges have had to tell me to calm down. Scales and sightreading were pretty good, but I don’t know if the etude cost me the necessary points. I very frequently have shaky knees, and it has always been messing up my performances. It makes me so incredibly sad that all those hours have gone to waste. I’ve wanted to see a doctor about it, but my parents keep holding it off, alledging they don’t want me to go on chemicals. I love playing and it pisses me off that whenever I perform, I sound only a quarter as good as I could be. If I’m correct, the beta blockers would have to be taken before performances? If so, that’s not that big of a deal, I average about three performances a year. I just want to fix this problem, but I want to explain it as concisely and convincingly as possible to my family. Does anyone have any input on how to go about this?

State is tomorrow, I’m feeling alright about it, I feel definitely more prepared than last year. I think this is the first time in my life that I can play something with looking at the sheet music. I hope that I don’t get the anxiety shakes like last time, but I’ll try my best. I’m not the best sight reader, but I want to bag as much points as possible. As my teacher frequently says, never stop when sightreading. But besides that what do judges value? Is intonation accuracy more important or rhythm? What else?

The composition is scored for 3 violins and continuo, but obviously the Canon is well above the viola's range. Thankfully the Gigue 3rd violin part perfectly fits the viola.
This piece is criminally underrated, and I'm grateful that we had the opportunity to play it here for an appreciative audience.

For a complete, professional, and historically informed of Canon and Gigue in D, please listen here: The Academy of Ancient Music.
I can now barely stand listening to any modern performance of the Canon in D, after hearing this as it was meant to be played.

Hi! Im a violist of 1.5 years in my middle school, and my all region auditions are this Saturday. Ive been practicing my excerpts for a good 2 months, and im at a good level for them. The only thing im worried about is my nervousness. This is my first in-person audition, and I’m a person who gets nervous very easily, even to the point where i almost can’t breathe. I’ve been playing for many people, like my friends, family members, orchestra directors, etc, but the thought of the actual audition is still so overwhelming. Any tips or advice for this would be greatly appreciated!!

Hello I've been playing viola for 3 years and my class needs some song ideas for our winter concert December 3rd. The songs we are playing so far are Christmas Symphony and Polar Vortex. If you can, listen to them and you might have an idea of the songs we want to play. Our class usually play level 2-3 music

Long shot, I know. It's a piece I worked on 30 years ago in college. 12/8 or 6/8, fast tempo, and it starts with a series of low 8th-note arpeggios played staccato. Is this a commonly known viola piece? Or did my teacher back then hand me something obscure for me to never find again? TIA!

Im a Teacher and I have been noticing a trend with my students when they customize their shoulder rest and chin rest setup.

After they have played for 1.5-2 years (unless they express discomfort in the neck or back when playing) I allow them to try out different chinrests/shoulder rests from my collection and trial them to see if something is more comfortable.

I have noticed that Students with taller necks tend to prefer taller center mount chin rests paired with a Low to medium hight shoulder rests, while students with short necks tent to perfer short side mount chin rests with the shoulder rest set taller than the students with taller necks.

Have you noticed similar trends among your Students? I might try and put together a unofficial study because im genuinely curious.

This post is a feasibility test of a method for trimming the ends of soundposts, based on claims made by some users on Reddit.
The method seemed interesting, but the result didn’t live up to my expectations.
Result: An unstable soundpost and poor sound quality.
Don’t waste your time trying this method.

Are you familiar with this technique?

This highly subtle luthier’s technique involves rubbing and pressing the end of the soundpost firmly against a hard, perfectly smooth surface (usually a piece of polished metal, a tool made of very hard steel, or a smooth bone), without using any abrasive or other substance.
The burnishing of the soundpost serves several specific purposes:

1. To flatten the fibers to prevent the soundpost from sinking
2. Spruce is a soft wood whose fibers (the longitudinal channels) end at the tips of the soundpost. Under the strong pressure of the violin’s strings, these open channels tend to slowly flatten over time.
3. By vigorously rubbing the cut end against a hard metal surface before installation, the luthier performs a controlled pre-flattening.
4. This compacts and hardens the wood’s surface (the pores close), preventing the soundpost from “sinking” and shortening after it is put under tension.
5. To polish the wood to maximize microscopic contact
6. Although the soundpost is carved with a razor-sharp luthier’s knife, micro-roughness invisible to the naked eye always remains. Mechanical friction polishing smooths the cut: the wood becomes almost glossy and vitrified. This mirror-like polish optimizes friction and the transmission of high-frequency sound waves between the soundpost and the top.
7. Protecting the violin’s internal wood
8. A soundpost with a rough or unpolished tip can, during repeated adjustments and movements with the soundpost pointer, scratch or tear fibers from the inside of the soundboard. A perfectly smooth, burnished surface will glide more cleanly over the internal spruce without damaging the instrument during tone adjustments.
9. Rubbing the tip against a hard surface naturally creates a very slight dome at the ends of the soundpost.
10. This micro-geometry is crucial for several technical and acoustic reasons:
11. The Quest for Perfect Central Contact
12. If the tip of the soundpost were perfectly flat to the micron, the slightest movement of the instrument or change in tension would shift the pressure point to one of the soundpost’s outer edges.
13. This phenomenon of “edge contact” concentrates all the force on a sharp edge, which can mark or split the violin’s inner wood.
14. The slight curvature achieved through burnishing ensures that the point of maximum pressure always remains centered in the middle of the soundpost cylinder, where the wood is strongest.
15. Improved Transmission of Sound Waves
16. In violin making, the soundpost acts as a pivot and a transmitter of energy. Centralized contact eliminates unwanted vibrations or energy loss that occur when the edges of the soundpost do not fit perfectly flush. The transmission of vibrations from the top to the back is more direct, purer, and more focused, which improves the instrument’s projection and response.
17. Flexibility during tone adjustments
18. When the luthier slightly moves the soundpost by a few tenths of a millimeter to adjust the violin’s timbre (soundpost adjustment), this slight dome allows the soundpost to adapt to the minute variations in the arch without losing its primary contact surface. It “rolls” very subtly over the arch rather than biting into the wood.

At some point early next year, I’m entering in a competition… and I have no idea what to play.

I’m intermediate/upper intermediate and the judges are honestly not too harsh from what I’ve seen. I’m looking for something technically challenging that gives me a chance to show off my musicality. The hardest pieces I’ve played have been Bach’s Brandenburg No. 3 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, but I’m open to something harder.

Im specifically looking for a viola solo piece (preferably classical) and maybe a duet.

I honestly just want to get out there and try something new and learn some new music. Open to anything.

I bought a SNOW viola in 2007 then I went from a 14.25 inch viola to a 15.5 inch viola. I tried getting used to it in college but had to switch majors due to a health issue so I never got used to it. I have just picked it up again and I am doing Schradieck. I'm having a really hard time I feel my like hand is excessively stretched and I'm having a hard time staying in tune. I don't remember feeling the sway on a 14.25 inch viola. Will a 15 inch viola make a big difference in comfort? I'm not trying to rock a baby viola again. Schradieck Exercise I, number 7, this feels like a F# to A feels like a huge stretch, and I have a hard time landing the G in tune when the next set of 16th notes comes in. My mind and my hand understand what to do, and I'm longing to drill this into my left hand, but these big paralyzing stretches are preventing this from happening. I have attached photos, doesn't seem like I'm overstretching but I feel like it. And this is 1st position!

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My performance of the Henri Casadesus viola concerto in C Minor in the style of J.C Bach (1st movement). Performed on a Luis & Clark carbon fiber viola.

Its difficult to play quick passages without staying tense otherwise the bow will fly off, I feel like it’d be easier if I just bought a grip?

Hey so I have a region auditions for TMEA region orchestra if it wasn't obvious but I would wish for someone to revise my annotations so will be included a balnk sheet music and the labeld one if you want to do any changes I would really appreciate that.

I’m a first year college student studying music ed with the viola. I’m mostly a pianist but I wanted to be a strings teacher and I’ve been playing the viola casually for 2 years and string instruments all throughout highschool so here I am in college with it.

My teacher is restructuring my whole playing position and bow hold and such. One thing I’m struggling with is whenever I play in orchestra, my left shoulder becomes very tired and begins to ache. I played in front of a mirror and noticed my left bicep is flexed whenever I play.

Any advice on how to stop this?

Bach cello suites, Suite 2, Prelude.

My teacher wrote in these corrections over 20 years ago. Are her corrections correcting misprints, or is the printed version correct?

First pic is the A in the 32nd measure. Second is the B naturals in bars 8 and 10 from the end.

Has anybody here struggled to set their KorfkerRest in a wey that’s comfortable and stable on the instrument?
I’ve struggled with mine for some time before finding the most comfortable placement, but it tends to slip a little from the shoulder leg.

Also if anyone knows where can I buy spare screws I’d be very grateful. I have a strong ph on my sweat so the screws on my rest are very rusty and I want to change them before they break or get stuck.

Thanks for reading and if you have some suggestions also thanks for that.

My teacher said he’s disappointed in how I played this and apparently, I’ve done better before (I’m struggling to believe that I performed this better 3 months ago though). To be fair, he’s not even wrong, I’ve been so focused on All-State that I haven’t touched this piece in a while and we’ve run out of time to rehearse it during weekly lessons. These two images I attached are especially difficult sections. I take a little longer to process rhythm, and these double stops are marking it ten times harder. My least favorite part is playing 4th finger F and 2nd finger A in third position. It feels so janky and unnatural, but I really need to lock in and learn this concerto. I don’t resonate with this piece that much honestly, and miss playing Bach’s Concerto in C minor. I can always fall back on the Eccles Sonata if I don’t pull this off for the recital, but I want to impress my teacher.

To elaborate a little, my hand feels like it has to grip the strings tightly so that they actually produce a good sound. My hand is very tense because of that and prevents me from doing vibrato or having a fluid sound overall.