My stupid clumsy self

on Monday lunchtime while I was innocently sight-reading a particularly challenging piece written by my friend my stand fell on Otto and I dropped him. it is probably the worst thing I have ever done ever and the flashback has been haunting me for at least two maths lessons. He now has a massive crack all the way down the main body and the back is completely disjointed. the chatty guy (its either the dopey one or the chatty one in the shop) said that it would cost £650 and two weeks. I practically pooed myself. so as of today I am violaless. I have stolen my dads viola for the past two days but its so big that when I hold it up you cant see my face and my arm doesn't quite reach the scroll. what's more because im so weak I have to have a break every 5 minutes or so to give my arm a rest and this is not a particularly efficient way of practicing. naturally when I told my fellow orchesties I got a lot of "why would you spend that much when I could burn it for free" and "did someone jump on a viola when I was not looking and if so why wasn't I invited" and "im surprised you noticed the difference".  uuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm whatever shut up.

so now as dusty Springfield put it "i just don't know what to do with myself do do do dooooo".

I may even dig out my sisters violin from the basement if I get desperate but I hope it wont come to that.

its funny how you don't know how much you can miss scales when you cant actually play them.

:-/

The Viola d'amore

A baroque Italian instrument. The name translates to love viol because of the beatify sound it makes. this is because of the Sympathetic or resonance stings used which gives it a warm sweet sound.  like the viola da gamba it has either 6 or 7 strings but Is played and is the same size as a modern viola. the curved head is a representation of cupids blindfold (because love is blind). 

standard tuning around the 18th centaury A,D,A,D,F#,A,D

the standard range

 

"especially charming in the stillness of the evening." Leopard Mozart

 

 

A quick video of Thomas Georgi demonstrating the sound of a solo Viola d'amore. if you would like to listen to a piece where this instrument features in a larger ensemble I recommend the Vivaldi concerto for viola d'amore in D major or Romeo and Juliet before parting by Prokofiev.

Enjoy!



 





The viola da gamba

otherwise known as the viol but viola da gamba is more fun to say. you play it like a cello which is what gives it its name as it literally translates to viol of the leg in Latin. interestingly the viola and violin is called viola da braccio which means viol of the arm.  It has frets like a guitar but is bowed. The back is flat and the swirly holes look more like a C than an F like your average viola. instead of 4 strings it has about 6 or 7 gut strings and they a tuned in 4ths with a 3rd in the middle like a lute. the tuning is A,D,G, B, E,A.  the bow hold is best associated with a double bass.

the viola da gamba mainlined Spain around the 15th centaury and so it is normally associated with Spanish heritage (although like most things the Moorish crew invented the style). A dude called Stefano Pio around that time claimed the invention to Venice but it is difficult to prove and it remains a Spanish instrument.   

Other online violaness

youtube: Sidonie Smith is one of my favs. she doesn't post often but when she does its pretty cool. I recommend you subscribe especially if your not really into classical stuff.

another blog I like to look at it "Noble Viola I life on the working end of a viola". He is a professional viola player that posts very interesting things. He also has nice arty photos unlike me.

 

and then of course there is the ever beloved viola.com which is awesome. its basically got almost all the information you could ever want about violas and loads of advice. 

 

The joys of the alto clef

as a dyslexic violin convert I found that learning the alto clef was hell. admittedly it doesn't look as pretty as a treble clef or as arty as a bass clef but I find it quite groovy. being able to read the alto clef is like a super power (especially because most people forget about it past grade 5 theory). Transposing is easier as a general rule ,although this obviously also applies to reed players but lets forget about them briefly. I also feel that once you've mastered the alto clef anything is possible.    

A brief background

for those of you that don't speech French (including me) clef means key. its a bit like a key on a map to indicate where things are and likewise a clef indicates where the notes are meant to go. The alto clef is otherwise known as the C clef because it points to a C on the stave. you are then supposed to work the rest out yourself. in case your wondering, the treble clef is also known as the G clef and the bass clef is also known as the F clef. the alto clef is basically a viola clef which is why its special. other instruments that use it are the beautiful viol or viola da gamba, (which I will talk about in my next post) the mandola which is basically a lower pitched mandolin and the alto trombone. other than that the alto clef normally moves round in viola circles apart from composers like prokofiev, brahms and of course cage.

My viola

I bought my viola from what is in my opinion the best string shop in Bristol (where I live). Its called the Bristol violin shop but also sells violas, cellos and ukuleles etc. they have a room in the basement which is slightly demoralising but still very good and they leave you in there, free to play anything on any viola they have. I choose a 1920s German Antonius stradiuarius cremonenfis faciebat Anno. I am still in the process of researching this but there is currently not much on the web about these makes. if anybody does know more ad could message me that would be great.

I named it Otto because quite frankly it looks like an Otto and I luurve it. Otto is an unusual size of 15 1/4 " so basically its tiny like me. If I do decide to enter the music business professionally when I'm older I may consider a 16" because of the deeper ricer sound but for now Otto is perfect for learning on.

 

 

 apologies for the bad pictures. photography is not one of my strong points

Hello!

if you find the viola as cool as I do then this is (hopefully) going to be interesting and exciting and cool. viola jokes aside, the viola is a very beautiful and rich instrument which deserves credit which it seldom gets. I will use this blog to post my viola related findings or just stuff that I find cool. I may be the only one to visit it and if that is the case then hey ho but if I do get readers (which would be amazing!!!) lease follow and comment. 

cheers