I'm taking my grade 5 viola exam at Christmas, so I'm around that standard and I've worked my way through the 'Tune-A-Day' series, but I really want to improve my technique, and my position shifting (going into 4th, 5th, 6th etc.) as I haven't learnt them yet but I want to, are there any books that could help me with this, as my teacher doesn't ever really seem to me that focused on technique, he's more exams! Exams! Exams! And we never really focus on bringing my technique up. So are there any books that could help me to bring on my technique?

Hi !

I've just started playing and have been looking for some "self teaching" books. I found these which might be useful to you:Otakar sevcik; School of violin technique and The Original Sevcik School of Bowing I think there are about five books in each series so they should be quite comprehensive. You can find them at Musicroom.com . Not sure if they will be any use to me as I'm a complete beginner but I think I'l get them anyway; they might be useful in the future. How are the Tune a Day books; are they suitable for home study? Good luck with your exams.

Oops!

That link should be musicroom.co.uk not .com

Why don't you ask your teacher if you can do a relevant scale study and study from e.g. kreutzer, kayser , Sevik etc to go along with the exam pieces you're working on. That way, you cover both exam preparation and technique.

The String Builder series has a separate book on the 3rd and 5th postition which is also really useful.

I've worked my way through the Kayser studies and some of Kreutzer, as well as Mazas and found them really helpful- just last week I mastered a particular bowing technique with the help of Mazas study! Sevcik is apparently very very good for technique but I guess in moderation because to tell the truth I find Sevcik deadly dull!

I like the series of studies called Technique Takes Off and Technique Flies High,by Mary Cohen. published by faber.
The first book is Grade 3-5 approx,and the other for higher grades.
It may not be quite as thorough as Sevcik but infinitely more attractive to students!

Katie

Hmmm, shouldn't your teacher be helping you to work on your technique? If you wanted to just do exams, you could do that by yourself, after all.