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Here goes, my current version of the Casadesus viola concerto (which I like very very much) movements 1 and 2 - there's no way that I'll try the 3rd anytime soon.
It's work in progress, but I'm doing better than last time I tried recording them (more than 2 years ago!). In fact it's been a long time since I recorded anything, in video. I'd forgotten how stressful it was!
This is a first take, with plenty of mistakes :--)
Mvt 1 : *link removed*
(In 2 ou 3 places I'm rushing because I'd rather go slower than the accompaniment...)
Mvt 2 : *link removed*
I still have a hard time playing soft (should be pianissimo in many places, problem is, I tend to lose sound "consistency").
And I think I should work on shifting in general - my shifts are hazardous.
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Now if you want to hear a beautiful version, here it is : Casadesus viola concerto - by Michel Michalakakos
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[Links will self-destruct after a while]
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Wow, @wtw They were fantastic! Your viola has a great sound, and you really bring it out.
Also, you have a really nice camera presence.
I was looking at your left hand, more like wrist. It looks so comfortable. My left wrist starts hurting when I play, itis bent so much, so I have not been able to play my viola much, of late. I really miss it. I love the viola sound.
In looking at your wrist, I think I seem to bend mine more and I don't think my entire left hand and wrist are not as comfortable as yours looks. I wonder what I am doing wrong. I will have to check it out again.
Also, you have a lovely vibrato, and wonderful dynamics when you play. You play with confidence.
Thank you so much for sharing those videos!
The Bumble Bee Flies
Learn Viola on Violaman and Fiddlerman's Fiddle Talk
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Playing softly is possibly a problem with the viola, as more pressure is needed playing into the heavier strings, but you can compensate with slower bowing and only a little more pressure.
But also playing softly is more of an attitude thing than a decibel thing. In your room everything you play will sound loud, but at a distance it's the attitude that the audience will pick up on. If you play too quietly, they won't hear anything. This stands, of course, even if you have no intention of playing for an audience, as I don't.
Based mostly on the second video: -
Your left thumb is a bit far around the neck.
And note how your right hand starts a bit like a claw, then the pinky is brought up to a more comfortable closed position. The viola bow hold is new to me - having it a few inches up the stick increases leverage, which is a good thing. Here's William Primrose (video from 9:35). His constant seems to be the right thumb.
And a FB photo with a weird URL. The original must be out there somewhere.
https://scontent.flhr2-3.fna.f.....e=680FE4AA
However, in his book he makes a big thing of the right elbow always being lower than the bow so that the arm's weight is supplying the pressure into the string. I don't see a lot of that going on in the video. And his Ave Maria (Schubert D839) is a bit mechanical in places compared with Menuhin's: -
This is probably the best reference pic: -
This one's amusing, but informative.
Sorry, I don't mean to flood wtw's thread with irrelevance. I'm not sure what else to critique. Have you tried "slow-approach shifting" to minimise the risk of hazard? Apart from that, the intonation needs work. I'm not sure how many positions you are using. If mainly 3rd, you could try slow scales such as F and G, and C when it gets to 3rd on the D string. There's some shoulder-hunching and other movement going on - this tends to occur as you are getting into the music, but can hinder technique.
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Thanks @Mouse and @Gordon Shumway.
Quite possibly, I'm inaudible from a distance. Maybe it's more a matter of playing louder the normal passages, rather than softer. I don't want to reduce 'playing softly' to an attitude thing. Had some fun playing outside yesterday - na camera, no neighbours, it feels different.
True about my claw-hold on the bow, on soft passages like the beginning of mvt 2. I think I'm sort of trying to suspend the bow over the strings, lifting it with my hand so that there's less pressure on the strings. As alternatives:
- holding the bow more with the tip of the fingers? Used to do that, then I thought it was a bad habit(*), but your Primrose and Menuhin videos tend to show that it's okay (both look like they're not fully grasping the bow on the first part, before the double stops, afterwards their hold looks different).
(*)It certainly is a bad habit in regular playing, so I'm glad I got rid of it in general.
- or maybe a high elbow/shoulder helps reduce pressure too? Menuhin does look like he's going to hurt his right shoulder, the height at which he's playing the first part of his Ave Maria. Or it's a camera angle thing, but I don't think so.
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I'll look up the "slow-approach shifting", not really sure how that works. Shifts that lands on the right note often feel like a miracle to me :--).
I don't really know which positions I'm using (3rd for sure, and a few others but I don't know what they're called, never worked on any except 3rd). I have no idea what notes I'm playing, either (no sheet music) - and I wish to keep it that way, I've no interest in reading them.
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wtw said
- or maybe a high elbow/shoulder helps reduce pressure too? Menuhin does look like he's going to hurt his right shoulder, the height at which he's playing the first part of his Ave Maria.
A high right shoulder is always bad, but Menuhin is playing in C on the G string. But he was famous for having dodgy bowing (if the knowledgeable folks on VCom are right). The rest I couldn't comment on without holding a violin or a viola to try it out.
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