How To Properly Hold A Viola Bow

How To Hold The Bow – Place your thumb in the C of the bow frog and place the other fingers on the other side of the stick with the pointer finger towards the tip of the bow. Keep the all the fingers comfortably together and relaxed. With the pinky curved and the tip on top of the stick, turn your hand counter-clockwise so that the fingers lay at an angle. The bow’s stick makes contact on the first fingers knuckle with each following fingers closer to their tips. Finally the pinky needs to learn to sit on top of the stick and stay there. A proper hold will enable you to make flexible smooth bow changes.

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How to Properly Hold a Viola by Violaman.com

Begin with your legs comfortably spread at about shoulder width apart. Start by placing the viola on your left shoulder/collar bone, lifting your chin slightly and placing the end pin of the viola towards the center of your neck. Lower your jaw/chin so that it rests comfortably on the chin-rest. Find a good comfort zone. If it is not comfortable you may eventually need to find a better chinrest. Do not over squeeze the viola to hold it, rather gently rest your head on the chinrest.
The viola should point slightly to the left. Not straight in front of you and not way off to the side. Keep the instrument high enough that you will be able to reach the tip of the bow and that it will remain balanced.

How to hold your viola

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First Time Setting Up An Instrument Shipped From A Store

This is what you do when you first receive an instrument shipped from a store. See how to check that everything is OK and tune carefully so that the bridge doesn’t fall and is in the right position. How to get rosin on a brand new bow.

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New page added to Violaman.com

In an attempt to equal Fiddlerman.com Violaman has added a page called “VIDEOS”.
This page will eventually fill with many how to videos and tutorials for viola. Two videos were added today for the basics of how to hold the viola and how to hold the bow. Stay posted for new videos very soon.

Latest videos:

 

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Win a Cecilio CVA-400 Viola

Congratulations to Mustang for winning the CVA400 viola. Details about Mustang soon to come. Thanks for all who participated.

The CVA-400 comes with everything you need to get started. It’s a beautiful instrument and produces a great sound right out of the box and normally costs under $160. If you are starting out on the viola you probably can’t find a better sounding instrument for the same price. You can be the lucky winner of the fine instrument.

To be eligible to win this instrument you need to do three things:

  1. First share this post on facebook and share with as many friends as possible.
  2. Next LIKE this page. The link can be found on the top of the right hand sidebar
  3. Lastly, make at least 10 good relevant posts on the violaman forum.

More posts give you better eligibility and you may be entered more than once for a greater chance to win. Note that your posts should be pertinent to the viola, string playing or music in some way. Also the posts must contain more than just a few words to be counted.

The drawing for the CVA-400 will be the first week of January. Stay tuned for details of the exact date.

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Cecilio’s CVA-600 Viola Review by Violaman.com

First impression when opening the box and the case was that this is a beautiful instrument. Nicer than expected and hard to believe that one could get such a nice instrument for so little money. After checking the instrument and tuning it I rosined one of the bows included in the case and began to play.

I was very impressed with the first sounds coming out of such a green (brand new) instrument. I couldn’t put the viola down until I had played for at least one hour. In the short time that I played the viola began to open (became louder and easier to play) in sound. The next day I turned on the video camera and made my review posted above.

Pros for this particular viola (CVA-600) is:

  • It has a great sound despite its age and complete lack of being played on.
  • The look is one of a handmade instrument that costs many times more.
  • Real inlaid purfling.
  • Large enough case to store a lot of accessories.
  • Well working pegs and fine tuners.

The cons are:

  • Steel core strings hinder richer sound and make it difficult to play in-tune.
  • Two bows with little hair and brittle as well (broke off at least 10 in an hour).
  • Badly cut and sanded bridge
  • Badly fitted soundpost (will have a luthier refit to hear the difference).
  • End pin not fitted deep enough into the end block
  • Cheap case (loosely glued fabric in some places reveal thin fabric and Styrofoam)
  • Very dusty white rosin (would prefer a stickier higher quality rosin)
  • No shoulder rest included

The cons for me are not as important as the pros in this case. The accessories are easy to change but I wish that Cecilio would only include one high quality bow instead of the two included. Secondly, extremely few consumers will be able to set or fit a soundpost correctly. I would suggest that the time given to the makers who fit the soundposts be lengthened and that they are inspected more diligently. Lastly, I feel that the steel core strings should be traded for high quality perlon core strings for an instant improvement.

To summarize my review I would gladly recommend this viola to both beginner violists and more advanced players looking to upgrade.

 

 

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University of Tennessee Viola Celebration to be held This Weekend, Oct. 22-23

UT Viola Celebration 
5th Anniversary Extravaganza
October 22-23, 2011

The University of Tennessee is proud to announce the Fifth Anniversary Viola Celebration is scheduled for October 22-23, 2011.  Violists of all ages and abilities are encouraged to join the festivities which will include a concerto performance by James Dunham and the UT Symphony Orchestra, the All-Viola Orchestra led by David Holland, Master Classes with renowned violists and more!  As an incentive to apply early, the first 10 students to register on-line will be invited to perform a duo with one of the Faculty at the final concert!    Activities have been organized to allow for all ages and abilities to celebrate the viola in this FREE weekend of fun and learning.

Special Guests

We are honored to present violists James Dunham and David Holland as our esteemed guest artists for the 5th anniversary of the UT Viola Celebration.  A renowned performer and pedagogue, James Dunham will perform the Walton Viola Concerto with orchestra as well as lead a full day of activities including a discussion on historical puzzles of the Walton Concerto, a master class and will also perform duos with two lucky student participants!

All-Viola Orchestra

The beloved All-Viola Orchestra is back and better than ever!  Violist David Holland will take the baton to lead this crowd-pleasing event.  A middle voice instrument, violists don’t often get the chance to shine in ensembles the way our more famous cousins do.  For one weekend, the Viola Celebration shines a spotlight on the viola.  Violists of all ages – students and professionals alike – join together to perform in a rare exaltation of the alto clef!  Our last Viola Orchestra had 93 violists on stage; will we hit 100 this year?

Buddy Program

New this year, the Buddy Program will pair younger violists with interested college students as mentors for the weekend.  During the Viola Celebration, Buddies will sit together in orchestra and will have coaching time on the more difficult spots in the repertoire to allow every student to feel confident in the final performance.

Performance Opportunities

In addition to the All-Viola Orchestra, the Viola Celebration boasts five separate master classes and an opportunity for 10 lucky students to perform duos with the faculty! Duos will be assigned to the first 10 applicants, so register early. Due to technical difficulties, Web Registration will now open at Noon EST on September 2nd.

 

For more information on what sounds like an exciting and entertaining weekend, check out the official website here.

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What’s going on at Violaman.com?

OK, so we just got violaman.com rolling with much ambition for the future.
Presently I am adding simple appropriate sheet music a little at a time with hopes of building a giant unique library much similar to Fiddlerman.com.
Today I added another Christmas piece at the same time as it was added to Fiddlerman.com. A few days ago I created a facebook violaman page and yesterday I added a facebook like button that I hope will generate some new visitors.

Plans for this week are to create basic learning lessons and etudes for the person who wants to teach themselves to play. Am working on the viola tuner as well and should have that ready soon. Eventually the Violin Fingering Game will also be “transposed” to the Viola Fingering Game”.

If anyone would like to contribute youtube lessons please contact me: admin@violaman.com

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Fiddlerman’s Christmas project 2011 – What Child Is This and Carol of the Bells combined | Fiddlerman

The 2011 Fiddlerman Christmas Project is complete. See what we accomplished. I will be accepting suggestions for the next project on the forum. A great big thank you to all who participated.

See the instructions from before making the video below along with the click track, instructional video links and sheet-music:
All interested members can record themselves individually using a click-track to create a memorable and new yearly Christmas tradition for the Fiddlerman family. Download the appropriate part or all the parts and learn them as well as you can. If you wish, upload your progress and embed on the forum to receive constructive criticism for improving your performance. Record the finished project and send it to Fiddlerman using Sprend. Click on “Browse” and locate the file on your computer. Paste “pierre@fiddlerman.com” in the space marked “The recipient’s email address” then click on “Sprend the file”.

Watch the demo videos for help on how to perform the parts. Fiddlerman will mix all the parts and post the result on youtube and here sometime in November.

The pieces being played are a combination of “Carol Of The Bells” and “What Child Is This” and were voted on by Fiddlerman’s members on this forum thread.

Everyone is welcome to participate in this fun and exciting project.

Download any or all parts and choose the most appropriate one to record based on your capabilities.

  • CLICK TRACK for Fiddlerman’s Christmas Project for use with recording your recording. Play through your computer or use with MP3 player through earphones, jacks or headphones. Not to be heard on the recording.
    To save, right click on the file (Mac – control click) and choose “Save Link As…”
    Choose a location on your computer and save.

[youtubegallery]
Violin 4 demo|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QskNDx2tuQs
Violin 3 demo|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0CNZfnrWUg
Violin 2 demo|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuPvUBZmP7Q
Violin 1 demo|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLBkDS-cOF8
[/youtubegallery]

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Viola – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola’s body is between 1 inch (25 mm) and 4 inches (100 mm) longer than the body of a full-size violin (i.e., between 15 and 18 inches (38 and 46 cm)), with an average length of 16 inches (41 cm). Small violas for children typically start at 12 inches (30 cm), which is equivalent to a half-size violin. For a child who needs a smaller size, a fractional-sized violin is often strung with the strings of a viola.[2] Unlike the violin, the viola does not have a standard full size. The body of a viola would need to measure about 20 inches (51 cm) long to match the acoustics of a violin, making it impractical to play in the same manner as the violin.[3] For centuries, viola makers have experimented with the size and shape of the viola, often adjusting the proportions or shape to make a lighter instrument with shorter string lengths, but which still has a large enough sound box to create an unmistakable ‘viola sound’.

Experiments have tended to increase the size of the viola, in the interest of improving the instrument’s sound. Hermann Ritter’s ‘viola alta’, which measured about 18.9 inches (48 cm), was intended for use in Wagner’s operas.[4] The Tertis model viola, which has wider bouts and deeper ribs to promote a better tone, is another slightly ‘non-standard’ shape that allows the player to use a larger instrument. Many experiments with the acoustics of a viola, particularly increasing the size of the body, have resulted in a much deeper tone, making it resemble the tone of a ‘cello. Since many composers wrote for a traditional-sized viola, particularly in orchestral music, changes in the tone of a viola can have unintended consequences upon the balance in ensembles.

More recent (and more radically shaped) innovations have addressed the ergonomic problems associated with playing the viola by making it shorter and lighter, while finding ways to keep the traditional sound. These include the Otto Erdesz ‘cutaway’ viola, which has one shoulder cut out to make shifting easier;[5] the ‘Oak Leaf’ viola, which has two extra bouts; viol-shaped violas such as Joseph Curtin’s ‘Evia’ model, which also utilizes a moveable neck and a maple-veneered carbon fibre back, to reduce weight:[6] violas played in the same manner as cellos (see vertical viola); and the eye-catching “Dalí-esque” shapes of both Bernard Sabatier’s violas in fractional sizes – which appear to have melted – and David Rivinus’ ‘Pellegrina’ model violas.[7]

Other experiments that deal with the “ergonomics vs. sound” problem have appeared. The American composer Harry Partch fitted a viola with a cello neck to allow the use of his 43-tone scale. Luthiers have also created five-stringed violas, which allow a greater playing range. Modern music is played on these instruments, but viol music can be played as well.

via Viola – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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