The Importance of Relaxation

When one plays a stringed instrument, it is very easy to allow tension to creep into the practice room. This pesky menace locks up muscles, freezes joints, and can cause injuries like carpel tunnel (ouch!). Fortunately for you, the music student, there is a better way.

Be ever vigilant about sensing the level of stress on your muscles. Where are you holding it? Your lower back? Your neck? How are your shoulders? Are you squeezing the viola too hard? Periodically do self-checks of these common problem areas to ensure you arent tense and starting to get sore. It can be all to easy to allow focus and concentration on the task at hand to supersede your own body and what it is trying to tell you. So pay attention! If your problem is recurring, make sure you are using proper posture and that the weight of your head and bow arm are being utilized efficiently. Holding up your instrument shouldn't be a chore!

If and when you do feel tension beginning to build, take a short break. This could be as simple as getting a drink of water, having a brief chat with a friend or relative, eating a light snack, or doing a homework assignment. Anything will be a change of pace that will keep you from going into the danger zone.

Keep your emotions in check. It can be easy to get frustrated with your progress, or lack thereof, in a perticular passage or exercise. Don't let it get to you! You are the master of your instrument. Not the other way around. Take deep breaths and step back from that section to see the bigger picture. Play something easy or that you have previously mastered that gets you in the right frame of mind. Listen to a recording of your favorite piece, or the piece you are working on. This can inspire you to make that breakthrough!

That's all for now friends.

Happy practicing!

Solfege; It's not just for singers!

You might be thinking "why should I learn Solfege when I'm not a singer? The answer is simple: understanding scale degrees and their relationship to one another is key (pun intended) to understanding music. Where are the half steps? Where are the whole steps? Is this position have open intervals or closed ones? is that a Major or minor 3rd? all these questions can be answered by knowing what scale degrees you are playing.

You may not want to learn all these funky syllables and such because strings. But I assure you that they are better than numbers for us because we already use numbers for so many other things: positions, counting, and not the least of which; fingerings! It is much easier to keep Do Re Mi in line with 2 3 4 (fingerings) in stead of 1 2 3 (scale degrees). See what I mean?

The Basics

Do a dear... no I'm not going to sing the song. But the basic Major scale is just that. The thing from the hit musical production 'The Sound of Music.' Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do. With the half steps appearing between Mi-Fa and Ti-Do. Their pronunciation is also akin to that found in the musical. Doh Ray Me Fah Soe Lah Tee Doh.

To raise them or lower them by half step, we need to introduce new syllables. Between the half steps there needn't be any new syllables because they are already half steps.

So to raise a syllable, change the vowel to i (ee). E.G. Do -> Di, Re -> Ri etc.
The sum total of new syllables we get are Di Ri Fi Si Li.

To Lower a syllable, change the vowel to e (eh). E.G. Ti -> Te, La -> Le etc. The exception being Re becomes Ra. ( SIDE NOTE: Some solfege aficionados reverse this;  for them the second full syllable is Ra and it's lowered counter part is Re. I don't have strong feelings but this is the traditional way, so it is what I am showing here.)

Thus we get our full chart:

Note where the natural half steps are, highlighted with green lines. 

Application

So how does this work with music? First of all, let me explain that what I am showing here is the movable Do system, where the letter name that coincides with Do changes depending on the Key Signature. In this system, Do is always Tonic or the letter name of the Major Key. The minor key we use La for tonic. But I'll get to that in a second. 

This helps with finding key signatures immensely. This is because key signatures are always the same. Sharps (#) = F C G D A E B, and Flats (b) = B E A D G C F. Because of this we can predict with certainty what solfege syllable the last flat or sharp will be. 

The Last Flat is always Fa (meaning that the 2nd to last flat is always DO!!)

The Last Sharp is always Ti

Thus if we have 4 sharps, they will always be F# C# G# and D# which means (if the piece is Major) we are in the key of  E Major because E is the step above D# (or Ti.) so Ti = D# thus Do = E. Key of E Major. If we are in a Minor key, the key is C# minor because C# is La. and the minor tonic is always La.  This is true because C# Minor and E Major share the same key signature, and are thus referred to as Relative major and minor keys. No Sharps or Flats is always C major-A minor. thus C is Do.

On your instrument...

It is also useful for position work. If you know that first finger is Sol and there are no accidentals, you know that you are in a high 3 finger pattern. Thus you can know exactly where the half step is.

In scale work it is very useful so that you don't get lost in a scale. Keeping track of what syllable you are on helps you to know exactly where you are, where tonic is, where the half steps are and how far you have to go.

It is also very helpful for intervals. Knowing how these scale degrees relate to one another from m2 to M7 and P8 is very helpful for understanding the sound of intervals on your instrument!

Practice

So how do we make this work? Practice your solfege just like you would any other ability! Sight sing your scales, arpeggios, your etudes, and your repertoire pieces! Join a choir that uses solfege and sight sing with them. (HINT: if you are going to go to college for Music, this will IMMENSELY prepare you for your music theory classes that will most definitely have accompanying sight-singing or sight reading classes as well.)

Solfege for the win!

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Practicing is the key to success on any instrument. But practicing effectively is paramount. If one does not use effective practice strategies and techniques, one will not progress the way one wants to. Here I have outlined some basic ideas to help you practice as effectively and fruitfully as possible.

1. Set aside time when you know you will be as alert and energetic as possible.

We all have energy cycles. As you develop your routine, observe how energized you are throughout your day. Keep a journal of low energy periods, and make a note of any patterns that emerge over time. Avoid practicing during times that you know are consistently low energy for you. Or if you have to practice during these times and have no other choice, eat or drink something that will give you a quick boost of energy. Have a cup of coffee, tea or juice. Eat a healthy snack like fruit, nuts, or granola. Practice for short periods, like 15-20 minutes and take short, strategic breaks for water, juice, or a light snack.

2. Be consistent in your practice routine.

I get it. We are all busy. You have soccer, piano, tae kwan do, homework for honors classes, and clubs after school. And your siblings have even more. But you are also taking Viola (or Violin) lessons. You are in orchestra at school. If you want to play well, you will need to be consistent in your practice routine. Try to find a consistent time at least 5 days a week to practice between 30 to 120 minutes. If you can't find that kind of time, even 10 to 15 minutes a day can make a difference when done consistently. 

3. Practice smart, not hard.

Using your time wisely is vital for success. Especially if your practice time is limited. While doing "run-throughs" of just the piece of music you are working on is fun, is not nearly as productive as disciplined, focused practice. Practicing your instrument is about practicing concentration. A run through to find "problem spots" can be productive, and should be done once in a while. But if it is the only dish on your plate, it is the nutritional equivalent of eating only desserts. We have to have protein, starches, fruits and veggies as well. Something to keep in mind: the french word for "practice" or "to rehearse" is "répéter" or literally "to repeat." And repetition, particularly of the following, is the theme of this post.

Focus your practice in three broader categories: scales, technique, and repertoire (suzuki songs and other pieces of music) Ideally you will set aside a minimum of 15 minutes each (30 min total) for scales and technique, and 30 minutes for repertoire. But as little as 5 minutes each daily will be somewhat beneficial. For more advanced students, practicing 2 hours a day is not uncommon. Many teachers require this much time. And even with a busy schedule it is possible to break this up into smaller pieces to achieve it every day. This will be especially important for those who are very serious about their pursuit of excellence on the Viola or Violin.

Scales

for those in the earlier books, practicing even a simple 1 octave scale (open D up to 3rd finger on A) is not only a great warm up, but helps you to focus your attention on fine tuning details like tone, intonation, and posture. All of which are vital to playing well. Use a metronome! And a tuner if specified by your teacher. Any technique that you are working on can, and should, be practiced in a scale. Arpeggios for more advanced students are also important. Together with scales these are the building blocks of all music.

Technique

If you don't have a technique book that I have assigned to you, I will have given you "exercises" that accompany the piece that you are working on. These should be practiced in this section, and always with a metronome, and possibly a tuner if required. Focus on the quality of the exercise, not the quantity of times played or even the musicianship. While these are nice, they don't necessarily contribute to achieving the goal of the exercise. The goal is to master the technique that the exercise focuses on, and to strengthen you as a player both mentally and physically. So if you make a mistake, STOP. Mark it. Study it. Fix it. Repeat it. Again. And again. And again. Using this practice method you can easily learn an exercise in 15 minutes. And master it in five 15 minute sessions. 

Repertoire

Finally we get to the fun stuff! Well, yes and no. Remember that we are going for quality practice, not quantity. If time is short, and you know what you need to work on, start there. Don't start at the beginning and work up to it. That wastes time. Use practice boxes to your advantage. And mark up your part! the more marks on a piece of music there are, the better studied it shows you to be. The above mantra for Technique applies here also. 

Mistake? STOP. Mark it. Study it. Fix it. Repeat it. Again. And again. And again. 

Some tips for the "Study it. Fix it" portion. 

• Go slow! Take the problem section well under tempo, even one note at a time, with a tuner if necessary. This will give you the ability to identify what you are doing incorrectly and analyze how you can address it. 
• Use alternating fast-slow, slow-fast rhythms. This is especially productive for long runs of a single rhythmic value like eight notes or 16th notes or triplets. These runs can be the bane of our existence as players, until we master them. And then we get to show off! Using patterns like the ones shown, we can vastly increase the tempo at which we can play the passage very quickly. Each of the following groupings connected by the horizontal bar (flag) is how the passage should be played as a whole and correctly before moving on to the next grouping of two, three or four.
  
  
   Two notes: Long-Short (throughout) THEN Short-Long(throughout) etc...
  
  

When these are complete, then play the passage with the printed rhythms up to tempo.

• Gradually increase the metronome to performance tempo. This is especially effective where using rhythms is either not feasible or impractical. Start at a tempo at which you can play the passage perfectly. Even if it is at the bottom of your metronome. Play it perfectly 3 times, then increase the tempo by 4 to 6 BPM and no more! Then play it until you play it perfectly 3 times. If you make a mistake, stop and start over. If you are still making mistakes, slow the tempo back down and do it again. Like boiling a cold blooded animal alive, the gradual increase in tempo becomes unnoticeable and you find that in 5 minutes you have mastered the passage.
• Isolate troublemakers. Things like shifts, string crossings, fingerings, and bowings can cause problems in a single beat or measure that derail the whole train to catastrophic ends! So compartmentalize! Take just that shift, or just that fingering, or just that bowing, and repeat it slowly until it is perfect. Up the tempo and repeat. And repeat until it is up to tempo. If necessary, put down distractions like your bow, or your viola, and only work with its counterpart. Isolating the offending appendage is just as effective as isolating the passage itself. Work it until you are comfortable, then add the counterpart and play it. Again! And again!
• Reintegrate back into the whole. When working on a passage, add a bar in front and a bar behind and play it again until it is perfect. Or even just adding a not in front and a note behind will also be effective. Repeat until the passage is reintegrated to the whole section.
• Work backwards! This is especially effective for reintegration. Start with the last measure and play it forwards. Then add the previous measure and repeat. Then add another and repeat, and repeat and repeat, again and again until the whole piece is played as a whole. This is a great way to work out the ending of a piece in perticular. 

These tips needn't ALL be done ALL the time, but are rather useful methods for working out troublesome passages when necessary. Alternate which ones you use on which days! Pick and choose at your leisure. But use them all in the course of a week and you will be playing like a pro in no time!

Happy practicing!

The Alto Clef

Music is language, both audibly and graphically. The printed language of music is quite literally a graph, with Pitch (or high to low sounds) on the vertical axis, and time (rhythms in tempo) on the horizontal axis.

 

The musical graph is known as a staff, which is composed of five lines with four spaces in between. Each line and space represents a step in the musical Ladder known as a scale. Each step is given a letter name ranging from A to G. The simplest scale to examine is C Major which starts on C and uses all the natural note values on our staff.

Often times short extra lines, called ledger lines, are added for pitches above and below the staff's range.

Clefs represent the pitch range in which a singer (or instrument) usually sounds. In Alto Clef, Middle C (or the note named C that is found in the middle of the audible range) is located on the Middle Line. The symbol used for Alto Clef is called the C Clef, just as Treble Clef is the G clef and Bass clef is the F clef, because the arrow pictured in the symbol points to Middle C. The image below is a whole note on Middle C in Alto Clef:

When reading Alto clef on a Viola, it is key to remember where the Open Strings are. This image below shows the notes played on the four open strings of the Viola.

In first position, it is good to remember that notes on Spaces are played with either the 2nd finger, 4th finger or Open String, and that Lines are played with either the 1st finger or 3rd finger. Study the fingerings shown below:

Note that in this C Major scale, the 2nd finger on D and A strings is Low, meaning that it is played next to the first finger in first position. This is due to the fact that in major scales, there are 2 half steps that are half the distance away from each other than the rest of the steps in our "ladder." In the C Major Scale they are located after the 3rd step up (E), and after the 7th step up (B), with the 8th step up being the same letter name as the starting note (C). Also note that in first position, 4th finger and open are the same note. 

Sharps and Flats (# and b)

When these symbols are placed on a line or space either before a note (called an accidental) or in a

Key Signature (found at the beginning of every staff after the clef symbol) they alter that pitch by a half step.

Sharps (#) raise the pitch by 1/2 step

Flats (b) lower the pitch by 1/2 step

Here is a helpful chart to see exactly which notes are played by which finger and where on the fingerboard of your viola.

The above circles that are cut in half, showing # and b, are 

Enharmonic Equivalent Spellings of the same pitch.

This should get you started with recognizing pitches in Alto Clef.