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Course: Music > Unit 4
Lesson 1: Strings- Harp: Interview and demonstration with principal Nancy Allen
- Violin: Interview and demonstration with concertmaster David Kim
- Viola: Interview and demonstration with principal Rebecca Young
- Cello: Interview and demonstration with principal Jerry Grossman
- Bass: Interview and demonstration with principal Alexander Hanna
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Viola: Interview and demonstration with principal Rebecca Young
Created by All Star Orchestra.
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- Is there any difference in sound because of the different format in each viola?(7 votes)
- Every viola will sound slightly different.
Viola are made in two main shapes, if that is what you are asking. There is the shape that is like a violin, except bigger, but the more common shape is the lower bout is reduced in size and the upper bout in increased in size, allowing for ease of navigation. There are of course, other shapes, but those are the most common ones.(7 votes)
- I noticed that some people were playing Viola with their fingers, instead of a bow. Is that another technique that produces a different sound effect?(4 votes)
- Yes! It's called pizzicato and makes a kind of percussive sound. To do this the musician plucks the string instead of using the bow.(10 votes)
- I dont play violin so do you get blisters from playing?(3 votes)
- Once you've been playing for a while, you get calluses on your fingers, but not really blisters.(5 votes)
- Is it a possibility to find a high level viola with 4 fine tuners, because i am paranoid about using the pegs.(2 votes)
- Yes, although you must be prepared to spend a huge amount of money. Before buying a high quality viola, you must first be assured of its quality, age of the wood, and easy-turning pegs that stay in tune. You can buy one for under $2500.(3 votes)
- Does anyone know of an easy way to play notes with your fourth finger(pinky) on the viola? I'm having a really hard time playing a note with my fourth finger (I have a 15in. viola, so it's not huge) but I cannot reach for a note with my fourth finger without having to look at the fingerboard and displace my entire hand. if I do that, I end up slowing down and messing up my notes(tune-wise and playing the right note) after my fourth finger notes in an attempt to move my thumb/hand back in place. Any tips or advice would be welcome!:)(3 votes)
- Well, I play the violin, but if you practice a lot, maybe you'll get it. Remember, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!! You'll get used to it and then you will know how to do it(2 votes)
- Does the type of wood affect the overall sound of string instruments(3 votes)
- It can. The density of the wood, which will vary between types of wood, will produce a different sound. For example, Antonio Stradivari, one of the most esteemed string instrument-makers of history, built his instruments in the 1700s, when Europe was going through a mini ice age. Not as extreme as the movie or anything, but it was overall a bit cooler. This made the wood from the trees Stradivari used to be a bit denser than normal. Some of his instruments survive today, and can sell for hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars! Sorry this was a bit long, hope it helped!(3 votes)
- is the violin and viola hard to play.(2 votes)
- Not particularly, but then the same could be said for nearly any musical instrument. Any instrument will require practice to get better.(2 votes)
- She says in 0.28 that hers is bigger than normal. does that effect the sound that it makes? will it make a deeper sound or will it sound normal?(3 votes)
- Traditionally, people play violas between 16 and 17 inches. This general size produces the sound characteristic of the viola. Technically, the viola is an acoustically imperfect instrument. If we were physically capable, people would play violas closer to 20 inches as "to get the best sound from the lowest notes the string would have to be so long that it would be impossible to play" (Peter Reynolds). Having a larger-than-usual instrument will help to contribute to the dark, rich sound that is the holy grail for all violists, but not significantly. An inch or so will not make a huge impact from the audience's perspective (however, Rebecca Young would notice the difference).
Hope this helps
Source: http://ymmd.org.uk/sites/ymmd.org.uk/files/resources/writing_for_string_quartet.pdf(2 votes)
- but the violin is small that the viola ,but what difference?(2 votes)
- A full-sized violin is smaller than a full-sized viola, and a violin's lowest string is a G, and a viola's lowest string is a C. They have the same number of strings, though. So a violin's highest string is an E, and a violas is an A.(3 votes)
- What's a difference between Viola and Violin?(0 votes)
- The viola has a deeper sound and also play on the tenor C clef while the violin play on the treble clef. Their strings also have different notes.(6 votes)
Video transcript
(orchestra music) - This large instrument is a viola. It's actually larger than most violas. Most violas are about this, the body part, comes up to about here, this one is here, and it doesn't seem like a lot, but it's huge when you
need to reach something. Not many people can play this instrument. Violins are pretty much
all about the same size. Violas do come in many
different shapes and sizes. If you look around in an orchestra, some of them are cut down like this and they look awfully pretty and some of them are big
down here and small up here, which is kinda nice because
it's easier to get up here. You know, you don't have to worry about this shoulder
here, it's easier. (orchestra music) Violins are tuned like this. (violin strings ringing) Okay, violas sound like this. (viola strings ring) We're much lower. It's like, if you have a singing group, and you have sopranos, and you have altos, there's violins, and then the
violas are the alto voice, and the cello is the tenor
and the bass is the bass. (slow orchestra music) A bunch of years ago, I was playing a double viola concerto that was written for me and my stand partner, Cynthia Phelps. And she had just acquired a
million dollar instrument, Gasparo da Salo, from Italy, and I was playing something
that got me my job, that, I mean, I played, I got it myself, but the instrument that I was playing when I got in the Philharmonic, I also got a major job
in another orchestra at some point on that instrument. The sound just didn't
compare to this Gaspar, so the orchestra administrators, I guess, and the powers that be, said, go find yourself an instrument. And so, the orchestra
owns this instrument. I went out and I asked around and the people put the word out and I tried many instruments. There was one that I
had fallen in love with, but once we went to find
out the background about it, it was a little suspect. Anyway, a lot of politics in instruments that I didn't know about,
but found this one. It's so big, that it is, I
said, don't show me anything 17 inches or over, and this
is actually 17 1/2 plus, but the guy who was showing
it to me, Christoph Lienemann, said, "You have to hear this instrument." So, I picked it up and I went, oh, no. I really love it. (soft orchestra music) I always knew I was gonna be a musician. I started because I used to go
to the Young People's concert when I was two and a half, and I saw people playing,
and the story goes, I don't remember, but my mom said I used to roll up the
program and put one here, and put one here, and pretend, and then, when it came
time to play, my mom said, "Would you like to play?" I asked her one day, I
remember like it was yesterday, we were standing in the garage and she was putting
garbage in the garbage can and she had the can in her hand, like the top in her hand
like this and I said, I wanna play violin. And she said, "Well, don't
you wanna start with piano?" And I said, no, I wanna do this. So, she found me a teacher,
shortly thereafter, and got a fiddle and I started playing. And then, I guess I got kinda good. And I auditioned for Juilliard Pre-College at eight, but I didn't get in. But they sent me to a teacher, Fanny Chase, who is no longer with us, but she taught me every
technical thing that I know on the violin or viola. And then, I re-auditioned
five years later, and I got in when I was 13, to Juilliard. But by the time I was done, I guess I was a little bit bored. I used to like to play
the second violin parts, which are always the harmony
parts, not the melody parts. And I even, with my own children, I would always make them
sing the melody of something, so that I could sing the harmony, like for a commercial on TV,
I would always make them sing the high thing, so I could
sing the middle thing, but it was the same thing
for me in string quartets. I always wanted to play the middle voice. So when I was ready, I
was not happy with it. I guess I was a little bored. Somebody suggested to my mom, "You know, in Pre-College Juilliard, "we need some more violas. "And she's tall, and she's got long arms, "and maybe she could play the viola." So I said, alright, I'll try it. And I tried it and I loved it. And my teacher was very inspiring, and it was only nine months with that one particular
teacher, Eugene Becker. (light orchestra music) That's what I always did. It's what I always knew I would do. Not only did I always know
I was gonna be a musician, but I always knew I was
gonna be in the Philharmonic. Don't ask me, it's just
the way it always was. It wasn't, oh, I hope I this audition, or I hope I can get into
Juilliard, or I hope. It was just, okay, now I'm
gonna take this audition, and now, I'm gonna do this and it just kinda, I
mean, I'm lucky, I guess. (calm orchestra music)