new routines

As 2012 begins, I decided that, rather than make a few resolutions that I wouldn’t honor, I would do some new work on the viola. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about over the last few days.

Intonation is always a constant worry for string players, especially as one ages and the reliability of various fine muscle functions may begin to deteriorate. In recognition of that, I’ve decided to try a different scale system. I was originally taught on the Mogill Scale Studies (Leonard Mogill was a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowski and Ormandy), then in grad school was switched to the Primrose book [out of print] (William Primrose was perhaps the greatest violist in history, and certainly of the 20th century). Now I’m trying out the Galamian Scale System (Ivan Galamian taught for years at the Juilliard School and his former students include a who’s who of the great violinists of the past century), which also integrates a lot of double stop scales (playing notes on two strings at once) and a variety of arpeggios (broken scales that outline chords up and down the fingerboard). Using a different system is good because it forces one to use different fingerings than one is used to, which also requires that one slow down and listen more carefully to intonation. After working through this book, I think that I’ll use either of the Finale or Sibelius music notation programs to codify my own private system.

Along the same vein, I have long had a brace of favorite etudes or studies that I would return to over and over again. Kreutzer, Campagnoli, and Sevcik cover a lot of common basic problems that string players encounter in day to day repertoire. [viola geek alert] My favorite Kreutzer etudes (his 42 Studies in the International edition edited by Louis Pagels) have traditionally been:

•  #6 (played legato) for a gentle covering of the entire fingerboard;
• #8 for refining spiccato bow strokes;
• #9 for intonation and even rhythm of finger strikes;
• #10 for intonation;
• #12 for facility of shifting and intonation;
• #14 for smooth string crossings;
• #15 for trill execution;
• #24 for octaves;
• #30 for fourth finger extensions;
• #32 and 33 for extensions and double-stops;
• #35 as a general technical exercise;

I’ve also worked on a few of Lillian Fuchs’ 16 Fantasy Etudes, which very much address many of the issues that are to be found in the late-Romantic repertoire with its chromatic harmonies and I particularly benefit from Nos. 1, 3, 6, 12, 13 and 16.

The Sevcik (Otakar Sevcik may have been the single most obsessive-compulsive violinist in history) studies (which cover both the left hand and the bow in 10 volumes of exercises) that I’ve traditionally used are Op. 1, part 1 (exercises in the first position), which involves various finger patterns on all four strings in every possible configuration. This book is especially valuable in developing finger strength and consistency of finger placement, which leads to improved intonation. The other book that is a constant go-to for me is Sevcik’s Op. 8 (shifting exercises). Quite simply, this book involves shifting from each finger to each other finger in every possible interval from a minor second to an octave and above on all four strings. They are absolute torture, but like a powerful antibiotic, if they are used judiciously and with care, they can be technical life savers!

One of the aspects of my technique that has always bothered me, however, is my relative lack of facility. I was a violinist up until college, when I switched over to the viola. I played a number of fairly technical pieces as a violinist, but did not do a lot of study of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, for example, or the more demanding etudes. So I feel that I’m a bit deficient compared to others in terms of that technical background, so I’m turning to some of the more violinistic studies this year, including Rode’s 24 Caprices (I’ve already started work on #2) and Gaviniès 24 Studies. I’ve also ordered a set of contemporary music studies – Viola Spaces – by the extraordinary violist/composer Garth Knox. I’ll report on their merits at a later date. Especially helpful for these etudes is the fact that Knox has YouTube videos of himself playing each one.

Along this line, I’ve also decided to start working on some solo repertoire that is a bit more taxing, specifically the Three Suites for Viola by Max Reger, and some of the Sonatas and Partitas of Bach in their viola transcriptions.

Hopefully, along with all of my work with the symphony and the string quartet, this will result in a very rewarding 2012 from a playing standpoint!