Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with viola

Get rid of a Viola Hickey?

kylej — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:11:26 -0800

How to get rid of a viola "hickey"? I play viola, and I have a "viola hickey". It's reddish and rough on the underside of my chin where it goes on the skin rest. Any viola/violin players now how to get rid of it? I'm a guy, so makeup wouldn't really work. Here's a picture of one (not mine).

DIY Viola repair?

spacefire — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:55:11 -0800

Best way to go about fixing a viola nick. I dropped the music stand on my wife's viola and it made a small nick on the edge that goes around the top face of the instrument (forgive my lack of knowledge on terminology). A bit of material is missing. Can we attempt to fix it ourselves or should we take it in? This is a high quality instrument that cost a lot of money.
If we can fix it ourselves, what do we need to order? Note that I used a bit of wood coloring on the nick to make it look less obvious but we want to make it look better.

Here's a picture of the area nicked.

The "treble" with alto clef...

ViolaGrinder — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 10:03:26 -0800

Violin-to-Viola: please help me with a sound, non-bad-habit-forming technique to read and play alto clef after 27 years of treble only. I am a violinist of moderate skill who has played since 5th grade (I'm 38) but never took lessons, and studied music theory for just one semester many years ago. Most of my previous experience is "classical" in nature.

I have been seduced by the husky, sultry tone of the viola, and its greater size and wider finger spacings fit my large body/hands better than the violin ever did.

Unfortunately, in the 1.5 years since making the switch, I have only worked with bands (folk, rock, bluegrass/country) where my playing is largely improvisational, or in original musical theatre where the composer simply used software to transpose the viola music so I could "pretend" it was in treble clef. This has allowed me to work on my ear, and my playing technique, mechanically speaking, but hasn't helped with reading sheet music written in alto clef.

Now, a fellow string player proposes a small chamber ensemble to make some extra cash playing weddings and such, and I realize reading viola sheet music reliably is going to be required.

I understand the theory that the clef tells me where middle C is on the staff. But after 27 years of reading only treble clef, when I see that note, I see "B," and my first finger wants to press on what would have been the A string of the violin. It's obvious how this would mess everything up.

I don't want to just transpose on the fly--to see "B" and have to do the mental calculation "no, that's 'C'"--everything I've read suggests that is a lousy technique. I think it must be something like learning a foreign language as an adult--trying to translate on the fly instead of "thinking in the language" is always discouraged by educators.

If you give me the tonic, I can generally sight read/sight sing pretty well because I can recognize intervals on the staff. Could this be my key to "switching" my brain between alto and treble clefs?

Can you tell me anything about how my (normal, as far as I can tell) brain works that will suggest a good technique? Can it be as simple as playing scales while reading them on the staff, over and over and over, until some switch goes off in my brain? If my foreign language experience is any indication, this will take forever--if it happens at all. Lessons are not an economically feasible option right now.

A piano, a viola and a jungle book. Music assistence, please.

albernathy0 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:42:05 -0800

A piano, a viola and a jungle book. Music assistence, please. Three pieces of music, as follows:

A piano:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U--crJlzHs

A viola:
http://datadragon.com/education/instruments/sounds/viola.aif

A junglebook:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013ADY2W/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk1?ie=UTF8&qid=1207344880&sr=8-3

As for the last song, I'm more interested in if anyone can recommend an artist or song that has that 50s lounge, exotic (perhaps tacky) sound to it (and I'm pretty sure the overture from the Jungle Book is American in style, but if there is actually an Indian derivation, I would be much more interested). Thank you very very much!

Which classical stringed musical instrument should I learn to eventually join an amateur string quartet?

dan_of_brainlog — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 14:30:06 -0800

I'd like to learn a classical stringed musical instrument and eventually join an amateur string quartet. I'm an adult with decent musical ability and a good sense of pitch, but no background with stringed (especially bowed) instruments. I'd be equally interested in any of the stringed instruments typically found in a string quartet. Which instrument should I choose? Which instrument would make me most valuable to a potential quartet? Are there more adult amateurs playing one than another? Any advice on learning a stringed instrument as an adult?

$50 Gift suggestions for: A clarinettist, a violist, and a cellist

sirion — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 23:28:41 -0800

Gift suggestions for: A clarinettist, a violist, and a cellist(who is also a composer). ~$50 each, I have 12 days to get these gifts. Prefer online ordering. 3 (student) musicians are playing for my senior undergrad recital, and I want to get them thank you gifts. This is often done around here in the form of gift certificate cards, which definitely works, but I could use suggestions on vendors if I go that route.

I'm thinking of a big fat gift certificate to tismusic.com (obscure piano and vocal music vendor) for my pianist, but I imagine a violist has little use for piano and vocal music.

Other note: The cellist is a composer by trade, and the other two are aiming to be professional musicians.