Thought I'd move the 'Starting Violin' thread to a new one and give it a more apt name, given that there are a few beginning violists on that thread too!!!!!

Great to hear that you're doign so well, Jojo! I had my first prac session in over 2 weeks today and do my finger ends know about it, or WHAT? I had a go with pinky and found it hard! Won't worry about that one just yet though as I have a lot of re-training of self to do and to get through all the stuff I was doing reasonably at before.

I had a go with the play-along CD that came with my book, (for the first time!!), and it was quite fun. I really do need to be able to tune my own instrument though as I felt I was just a tiny bit flat on the tuning track and that would then make me put my fingers in the wrong places in order to get the notes dead on with the CD. So, must attend to that soon.

Should be getting a new viola very soon. My quarterly rental comes up for renewal 30 April and I'm going to be ordering a Stentor Conservatoire. The one I have at the mo is a Schroetter 060 labelled as a Paesold and not even up to Stentor Student 2 level! Might be as good as a Student 1, but I'm ready to invest in something that will last me a while now, I think. Not that my playing warrants it, but my mood does.

I think the mods might be able to merge the relevant threads together/into this one, if you wanted to keep all the old info but the new name?

Hey Elizabeth, great to hear you're back to your normal self and not ill anymore and ready to go for it!

I practice and learn alongside the 'play along CD' VERY OFTEN....I thought it was a good learning tool..I play along the track that has the violin in it and also the one with the accompaniment only...BUT, wait for this...I have been learning the pieces from the grade one book from the CD that comes with it and have practiced them LOTS over the past three weeks, only then to have a lesson last friday where my teacher is asking me to make them sound different from what they are on the CD....so I have spent 3 weeks learning them as well as possible and now I have to go back to learn them with the 'expression' he wants me to put in them! Guess I should look at the bright side and think: learning these pieces in two different ways will make me a 'better musician'

On the other side, my piano teacher 'despises' the play along CDs and has asked me NOT to buy the grade one and two CDs (well, she left the decision down to me at the end but she recommended against)

Enjoy your new viola
have you seen they have put even more smileys now??? wow!



I'm sure they could, I'll leave this one to a vote

Well, I'm not quite well again yet, but a lot closer to it than this time last week and was able to get the place cleaned up a bit and some prac done. I could only play for about 15 mins this morning though, I was just too tired.

The CD with my course is made for all the string learners, so it's hard to make out viola in amongst it all. Still, it's quite fun to work with, although not very controllable from where I was sitting playing, (not fit enough to stand up as yet). Anyway, I'm not ready for books of pieces of music yet and wonder if I ever will be, it's so hard!!! Not sure if I'll bother with exams after all these days. I think I'll do the theory ones, but can't do them this June as they're on 16th and we'll be away on our happy hols then!!

This is definitely a viola, not a violin! Look at the expression on his face and the size of his instrument!!! He's bored to tears playing one of those one-note-repeated viola sections in the symphony!!!! Glad the powers that be have made the whole smilies business so uch easier to work with now though.


That would be a good idea. How does one go about making the request??

I'm OK with bow hand and wrist, so not much scratching and I don't hoave too much yowling from lack of bow pressure, plus my ear is OK and I'm doing OK for finding notes given that I've only been at it a few weeks. Still have some problems there, but I suppose I'm doing well enough for my stage.

Current list of 'to work on's:

Playing too near the bridge at times and bowing not being straight. Ooodles of rosin over the lower fingerboard when I come to clean off....

Not lifting my finger quickly enough when notes go down in pitch and thus ending up with an extra little note being put in. Ditto with changing strings.

Catching the wrong string when I'm playing, esp when looking at the music and not the viola.

Anyone got any good tips and which to work on first??

Hello everyone. Great name

I havn't had a lesson for about 2 months !

Also, I can't seem to keep my bow straight. My teacher says I wasn't using the right bit of my arm either and that is why by bow is not straight. But to keep my bow straight, I would have to look at the bridge instead of the music or my fingers....oh dear...what shall I do?!

Not that I'm an expert.....

But - bowing straight is more about being able to feel what bowing straight feels like. To be honest, bowing straight never looks straight to me. So looking at your bow may not help very much anyway!

It's a case of training muscle memory, so you know what it feels like. If you can maybe get someone to hold the bow quite firmly at both ends and move it back and forth while you hold the frog, then you will feel what it is to bow right, which may help.

A common problem seems to be bowing round the corner, ie the right elbow moves backwards and the bow goes haywire.

I found it "felt" like I was bowing right and forwards to my right diagonal. Maybe think about your hand moving in a straight line? And staying in very roughly the same angle etc from the violin - ie your hand is moving closer and further away from the fiddle, but at a similar angle to it. And the bow stays at the same angle towards the violin too.

Not at all sure I'm explaining this well....

I'm not sure if I count - I'm taking the viola grade 1 challenge this term (just filled in my exam form!).

Is anyone else working for grade 1 any time soon?

Good luck Jane - not that you're going to need it

Thanks Sarah! I prepared the Black Adder theme for my teacher today. It was great fun to play, and he said it was already ready for examination. Which was pretty cool, really!

Oh cool! *suddenly wants to do grade 1 viola........*

I 'might' do my grade one violin in June (found out I still have almost 2 weeks to enter for it online), I am going to ask my teacher this friday if he thinks I am ready for it, if he says yes I'll do it! I know I can play the pieces, I have been learning the scales on my own (need my teacher to check on them though), not tried sight reading yet though but I think I should not have a problem with it (from what I see with the books I have I put a piece in front of me I've never seen before and I just play it, yes it will sound a bit scratchy or not as expressive if it's the first time I play it but I get the rythm/time signature/notes right).
will see, I'll let you know by the weekend

Good luck to ya'll who taking exams soon... don't think we have them here in U.S. for adult beginners, at least I don't know any. Maybe our teacher didn't mentioned to us because he figures we were learning our instruments for fun and entertainment at this point.

I haven't practice much this past two weeks either -- my son had penomia so we skipped our weekly lessons last week and I just wasn't in any mood to practice. Much to my surprise when I picked up my viola to find it complete out of tune!! The pegs were stucked a month ago with all the humidity from the on-going spring rain. After I went through the all lubricating routine, the pegs are slipping out of tune when it got really cold & heater was running non-stop the past couple weeks. I spend good 15 minutes just to tune them everytime I want to practice. I guess I just got really annoyed from all the tuning... Anyway, the point of all the above rambling is this : THERE ISN'T ANY!! I just want to whine a bit about how my playings sux.

As far as practice with CD that came with the book -- we did that at the beginning when we first started. Once we started bowing pieces, we preferred not play along with the CD. It was way too distracted and noisy background when we were concentrating on intonation. Our teacher wants us to use the CD to at least know what the pieces sound like when play them correctly. But the CD only go as far as #71 in the book, and the viola book doesn't come with a DVD. The violin book does have DVD which has all the pieces in the book, but the room we practice in doesn't have TV nor computer. To be honest, the DVD wasn't that great to watch it at any other time... (I know, I tried to watch it when not practicing. ZZzzzz...)

No, I won't be taking my G1 any time soon. November at the earliest and that depends on how well I progress....

Meerkat, delighted to have you on this thread! You can share a lot and I'd love to be able to play anything to a decent standard, never mind several instruments! If I do G1, then I'm going to pick 'Postman Pat' from the C list as I just can't resist it!!!

I'll ask my teacher's advice on what problem to correct first and how to go about it when I finally have a lesson on Thurs. I've had to miss 2 and am feeling it. I'm practisting again now though, but I couldn't do much yesterday as I still get so tired....

KC, there is a DVD with the viola book as I've got it! As all the pieces are the same anyway, you could use the violin DVD for most of them if you wanted to. Oh and you can take the AB's exams from abroad if you wanna be so brave! My next brave bit is joining in the Leeds concert, which I confess is scaring the heck out of me. I'm SO rubbish, do I really want to inflict my playing on others??

Hmmmmm.... Thinking... Debating... Soul-Searching...
NOPE!! I am much better at cheerleading on the sideline than being on the field taking exams


I was told that I sounds pretty good from afar... So I think you will do Wonderfully, listening from where I am.

j/k. I think we usually are more critical of ourselves. I believe you will do just fine in the concert and even progress much faster & improve because of it -- more practices and motivations if nothing else.

You can't stand me up now....

PM one of the mods - CMORRIS or one of the others. If you click on "my assistant" up near the top RH corner of your screen you can get to a linky for "the moderating team"

I have finally done it!
I have entered for Grade 1 and chose the last week available to give me more 'practice' time so I 'should' have my exam in the second week of July!
that will be my VERY FIRST music exam in my life and I can't wait for it, am really looking forward to the experience and eating bananas in the waiting room!

Way to go, Jojo!

I'll try for mine in November along with G3 theory. Are you planning on doing theory exams too? I would have done my G2 in June, but the date is 16th and we'll be on our way back from our hols at the time of the exam!



Thanks, Sarah. I've just made the request.

Well done, Jojo!

Hi Elizabeth,
of course I do want to do grade 5 theory at some point (as it's so needed for the higher grades in practical) but I don't know if I will/should do any before that...the thought of theory exams does not 'excite me' as much as practical musical exams, maybe because I have done so many written exams in my life having been at university as a mature student and still studying because of my type of career...so I think I will discuss with my piano and violin teachers about this one, if they think I should do one to 'warm up' then I will ask which grade they suggest but I think I won't do it unless they think it will be really beneficial and will then only do grade 5.
I am planning to do a practical in piano in november, I am doing grade 2 stuff at the moment on piano and it's only end of april so I don't know if I will be any close to grade 3 by november? I will be quite happy to do grade 2 but if I fly with my progress and my teacher suggests grade 3 then I'll go for it (I have just ordered my grade 3 books as I would like to take a look at them), mind you, I'd rather play a large repertoire so I'll be very happy to do grade 2 in a very confident way if I have learnt lots of pieces at that level.

Mmm, yes, similar to my thoughts there. I'm planning on doing on G3 and G5 theory. I don't want to do it all at once, so I'm happy to break it down into these 2 stages.

Also, I'd kinda like to enter for my G1 practical when I'm pretty much good enough for G2!! Sure of a very flattering and confidence boosting distinction then.

I have just seen this thread! Nice idea Elisabeth!

I'm playing grade one pieces at the moment, but to be honest I would rather start violin exams at a higher level- not because I think grade one is worthless, but because my practice is a bit erratic at best and also because I don't 'feel' grade one. I still feel like I did on the first lesson! I'd rather wait and do grade 3 or 4 first, when I can sound a bit nicer and not as scratchy and squeaky.

The piano was different; I did my grade 2 in March after just under a year of learning, and I did 'feel' grade 2, probably because even I can't scratch and squeak on a piano I'm going to do grade 4 next, after I've got lots of repertoire under my belt.

Anyway, back to violin. I can play Ode to Joy really well now. I almost found it too easy; it took me about five minutes to learn and fifteen minutes to polish but I am sure that's because I knew the tune already! My teacher told me she's going to give me a harder, unknown piece on Friday, so I'll know for sure that I really can't play then

Also, I have FINALLY mastered scales- well, they sound a bit better anyway. I had a week off on holiday without playing at all, and when I came back I could do it hooray!!

So all in all, good progress. I shall just have to wait for Friday to find the next obstacle!!!

Hmm, I was just thinking along similar lines walking home from work this evening! I as wondering how much actual progress I've made in the last couple of months. I feel like I'm not improving in the least, but as I've been at it less than 3 months, maybe I'm demanding too much of myself?

I'd love to be able to play anything at G1 standard, but I can't even do more than 2 strings at the mo and the idea of moving onto the G and C, even though it's great in theory, rather scares me as I catch on other strings so much as it is and have hecks delight moving my fingers from one string to the next in time!

Sometimes I just CANNOT understand how anyone manages to play these things.....

LOL Elizabeth I understand how you are feeling I think of that too so many times....but then I try and remind myself that even the best ones out there used to screech and catch on the wrong strings (they may have been 3 years old when they did that but they still DID !! )



Hello littlelady, I also play Ode to Joy from grade 1 book, so far I have also done: J'ai du bon tobac (sorry if wrong spelling), then Fiddle Time, Minuet and 2 others I don't remember the titles (I am at work and cannot check, one has the 'garden' word in it, can't remember the other's title for my life!). I am also playing a piece from the list which is not in ABRSM book but is one of the 'alternative' pieces, 'Clever Clogs', this one is played VERY fast on the CD from the authors but not so fast on the ABRSM cd, I think I'll do the 'slower version!'
How are you getting on with the G major scale in slurred notes? I sometimes find it a bit 'catchy' when I go down from the D string to the G string (as you are slurring from D down to C, I sometims don't make it a 'clean' change between the notes).
Having done all these scales and arpeggios on the piano already I find it easier on violin as I know what they should sound like, do you find it the same?
good luck for your next piece

So do I, and I supposedly play the blessed(!) things...

My teacher lurves me. My pitching is 'superior', my bowing is 'coming along very well', my fingering is 'superb', and my sight reading (in the evil alto clef) is 'very good'.

I love learning new instruments - it's such an ego boost!

Careful, we'll think of something to take you down a peg or too if you jubilate TOO much on this thread!!!! It's for screechy scratchy beginners, remember!!!

I had a go at the slurred scale and I found that smoother than the one note per bow one. I'm still getting my fingers 'stuck' on the string and thus inserting an extra hemi-demi-semi-quaver in there where's it's jolly well not required!! It doesn't show on the slurred one!

Next lesson tomorrow and back to fighting with 4th finger. Finding it still very hard (but oddly enough, easier when I play standing up than sitting down) but I guess I'll get there in the end.

It makes sense that you're finding it easier to play standing than sitting - it dramatically improves your posture, and everything kind of naturally comes down in the right place.

Are you doing anything to strengthen your little finger?

Thanks, it's good to know that my observations there aren't crackers!!

Someone posted a link to some exerciese, esp finger independence ones, which I need to get started with (I daresay the arrival of the new viola within the next week or so will provide good motivation there ), but do you have any good ideas beyond that.

PS, How many and which instruments do you play now?

I am finding the little finger really hard on the cello - to press the thickest strings down properly is a real difficulty. So I sympathise

I just had another lesson today... (I have them fortnightly, not weekly) and as I have entered for grade 1 in June my teacher came armed with aural tests and sight-reading tests and has done a 'kind of' mock exam for me (I also played 3 pieces for him). Well...he said:'You could pass the test tomorrow'! So he is confident that by June I should be able to get a good mark as I am already there, all I have to do is 'perfection' some 'fine points'
that was a reassuring thing to know, it makes me feel a little more relaxed about things and I am pleased to know I am progressing well (he reckons I will be ready for grade 2 very soon but I don't want to take any more violin exams until next year in March (as I will do piano in november).

That's a nice position to be in - much better to be "almost there" already for one's nerves etc!

Oh man! When I think that you only started violin a very short while before I started viola..... I'm nothing LIKE ready for G1! Still, I also can't practise for 45 mins a day, so.....

Well done, Jojo! Looking forward to congratulating you on your G1 distinction in the summer. Let's hope everyone can do that for me in the winter!! Then it'll be time on the upper strings beginners' thread!!!!

I have a home based day today, so I will have a few goes on Vicki. My teacher said that my 4th finger was OK for someone at my level and that it would stretch in time, (feel for you on cello there, Sarah! ), so I also printed out those finger independence exercises and will start out on those as soon as I can. Meerkat might have some ideas too when she has time to respond. Other than that, I'm still catching the wrong string, making funny noises (not all the time though) bowing going all over the shop and getting my first finger a bit sharp about half the time. That's an improvement though as it used to be really discernibly sharp all the time!

Should get my Stentor Conservatoire v soon, which I'm looking forward to keenly and also to deciding on her name. I like 'Violette' pronounced the French way (vee-oh-let) so it's almost like 'Little Viola'. We'll see how I feel when I get her.

Much empathy!

thanks Elizabeth
For stretching your little finger.....I have pictures in my head of little instruments of torture like the ones that the Addams Family would use!! ever thought about using one of those?
I will happily 'postpone' my grade 1 party to november so that we can have a big one all together

actually...about parties, it will be A VERY BIG ONE as in November I will have my G2 piano as well!!!
can't wait for the drinks and the cakes, even if virtual ones

Elisabeth, you are probably closer to grade 1 than you think; didn't you say you were learning/about to learn Ode to Joy? That's a grade 1 piece!

I think for me, pieces and sight-reading won't be a problem in the future, it'll be the scales and aural but hey if I can get 15/18 for the aural in my piano exam, then my ear can't be that bad, right?

Lastly, can I also join in with the empathy? My fourth finger is especially weak- it's double jointed and clicks in and out of the joint when I move it- not good!

Ouch, that sounds painful, littlelady! Don't take up the cello

Aww, I'd love to learn the cello! Someday...

It's not especially painful, except when it does it randomly. Most of the time I can tell when it'll click.

A few lessons back, Teach was trying to show me the position my left hand should be in, and she tried to bend my fourth finger slightly, only to find it kept clicking back into the first position. I had to try not to laugh; she couldn't work out why the joint was so supple! In the end, she just held it in place

It's in my book as an exercise on 4th finger. It's all done on the D string and doesn't use the proper bottom A, but the 4th finger on D string A. It's nowhere near a G1 piece, this version!! Also, it's not a G1 viola piece. It doesn't feature in the viola syllabus. Also, there's no AB book of exam pieces for us, so lots more sheet music to shell out for.
I haven't even started on the G and C strings yet! Nor low 2nd finger. I have a long way to go yet and I think November will be a good time for me. I'll be thoroughly ready by then and working on G2 syllabus, I hope!!



I'm not concerned about these 2 sections at all, so we're going to panic in different places, I think!!



My teacher is double jointed too and she says it's a little problematic, but she's also a pro, so there's hope. Don't feel too disheartened by that! She also learned cello, so I daresay you can too. Maybe more a control challenge for you, but I think it should be possible.

Got my Leeds concert duet piece through a couple of hours ago and I have been working on my lesson planning/materials prep for the next 2 sessions for hours now, so I'm off for some practice instead! Wanna have a go at my new music! Clever Katyjay has found something all on the D and A strings, with just open string, 1st and 2nd fingers! Also, the two parts are the same standard, so she's kindly come down to my level and picked something that I won't look especially dumb on!!

Can't do any 4th finger strengthening exercises. Accidentally closed my door onto the doorframe with my little finger in it. That was at 7.35am in the morning when I got up to go to the toilet. That's what happens when you're still half asleep. Oh my god, it was sooo painful I couldn't even grab my pinky lol to ease the pain. Ouch. Violin playing's fine though, just no exercises like pressing my pinky to my thumb etc etc.

So which exam are you taking elisabeth? I'm getting all confused. Heeh. I got the score for Praeludium & Allegro. I dream to play it one day muahaha. Right now, I can only play the 1st page pretty well. But that comes from hearing the piece so many times.

I was born confused, Hun! You're doing quite well!

It'll only be viola Grade 1 and no, I haven't selected pieces yet as I'm nowhere near ready for it. I'll also take theory grade 3 in the same series of exams. Would have done it this coming series, but we're on holiday the day of the theory exams. Rats

I started in September 06 so that's eight months now and I'd just like to offer a little hope.... my fourth finger is really a lot stronger and hits the right note most of the time I only used stretching exercises while I was actually playing and it was not easy because I have very short gingers.

But, the stretching has gradually become easier so don't give up!!! My finger clicks a lot but I can't remember if it did that before I played the violin. Anyway, I'm playing a piece for my Grade 2 in June that has a lot of fourth finger in it and I have to remember to stretch properly to find exactly the correct pitch so it's not quite second nature yet.

I get so nervous I'm just hoping for a tidy little pass in my exam... not long to go now... think I'll get off the computer and go and practice....

I've just put my grade 1 exam entry in...

Ooh, good luck everyone (slightly ahead of time but hey).

I haven't practised since Friday so need to get some in... I've been concentrating on my first three page piano piece with two movements

My teacher said that my scales were coming along nicely. G major in slurred is quite hard but I've been practising slurring absolutely everything and it seems to work It's the melodic minors that are hard now.

Hehe - lottie, that's my favourite typo in ages

Sounds like you're all doing great - good luck with the G1, MK, not that you will need it!

YEAH! I'm taking mine in Croydon (Surrey), where are you taking yours?
I'll have somebody to celebrate with when I get my results then we can have a BIG party in november when Elizabeth and others will also sit their exams

The thing about scales is that you have to keep playing them. If you stop playing them for maybe a month, that's it, they're all out of the window. Whilst I can still remember my major scales, my minor scales are all gone. Haha. My teacher has actually completed me on Book 1 of the violin scales (ABRSM one) which means it covers Grades 1 to 5. Lol. Sigh...I just don't like scales very much right now lol.

Good luck for the exams guys! I'll be taking part in a music festival cum competition. It's my very very first competition and I'm quite afraid lol. The lady told me there's slightly under or over (can't remember) 1000 competitors. If any of you are in Australia (Western Australia), it's the Eisteddfod. I'll be playing the piano though. Hehe.

I didn't know we needed the melodic minors - I thought it was only the harmonic for Grades 1 and 2?????




shucks - I have a degree in English and a touch-typing speed of 60wpm too

Don't panic

At grades 1-5 you can choose - you don't need the melodics til grade 6


I thought it was fab - very short gingers... tickled my funnybone we all do great typos now and then, I'm proverbial for it

Haven't had a very special couple of days so the giggle was appreciated