Exploring Excerpts: a violist’s guide to building skills for orchestral playing, by Melissa Matson
I could not be more excited to offer this insightful and encyclopedic resource about viola audition excerpts!!
Melissa Matson, former principal violist of the Rochester Philharmonic, is bringing her detailed excerpt practice sheets, amassed over thirty years of teaching excerpts at the Eastman School of Music, together for the first time.
Practice sheets include:
“The Essentials”, which explains what this excerpt is about in terms of intonation, sound, rhythm, style and articulation;
Etudes to help develop the technique needed to perform difficult passages;
Excerpts arranged for 2,3, or 4 violas so you can play these excerpts in context.
Exploring Excerpts, Complete, Parts 1 and 2 in one volume
(Save $11 when you buy Part 1 and 2 together)
“Exploring Excerpts will be your new essential practice companion for tackling challenging orchestral passages, whether you are auditioning for a top-tier orchestra or new to the process. Melissa Matson uses thoughtful and detailed exercises to address all aspects of the technical demands we face. She even includes beautifully crafted viola ensemble arrangements relating to the surrounding musical context. It’s all expressed in Melissa’s joyful and enthusiastic style, overflowing with her four decades of experience as principal player and master teacher. Thank you, Melissa, for this brilliantly comprehensiveguide to excerpt preparation!”
Joan DerHovsepian, Principal Viola Houston Symphony, Artist Teacher of Viola, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music
Melissa writes:
“As a violist in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for nearly four decades (with over two decades as Principal Violist and an earlier decade as Assistant Principal), I experienced first-hand the technical and musical challenges of being part of a much larger musical instrument - the symphony orchestra. Learning so much repertoire throughout this rich and inspiring career has required the mastery of a wide variety of techniques, all ready to be called on when needed - making me a better violist!
Over many years of teaching Orchestral Repertoire to violists at the Eastman School of Music, I found myself addressing the same issues with every group of students, year after year. Rhythmic accuracy! Intonation! Articulation! Sound! Style! These should be considered “basics” for any violist - and yet they seem to be thrust into a more extreme examination when put into the concept of “excerpts.” In addition to discussing the expectations, I created etudes that isolate particular elements (through rhythm practice, bowing patterns, melodic simplification or framework, guide fingers for shifting, etc.). These etudes evolved into detailed lessons for practicing excerpts with focus and intent. Some ideas are fairly standard while others are admittedly a bit wacky - but all are intended to inspire the journey towards the dexterity, reliability, and stylistic versatility of a successful orchestral player.”
Reviews
“Exploring Excerpts will be your new essential practice companion for tackling challenging orchestral passages, whether you are auditioning for a top-tier orchestra or new to the process. Melissa Matson uses thoughtful and detailed exercises to address all aspects of the technical demands we face. She even includes beautifully crafted viola ensemble arrangements relating to the surrounding musical context. It’s all expressed in Melissa’s joyful and enthusiastic style, overflowing with her four decades of experience as principal player and master teacher. Thank you, Melissa, for this brilliantly comprehensive guide to excerpt preparation!”
Joan DerHovsepian, Principal Viola Houston Symphony, Artist Teacher of Viola, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music
“Melissa Matson's "Exploring Excerpts" is an exceptional new resource for aspiring orchestral violists and/or their teachers. Melissa draws on decades of experience preparing, performing and teaching the most important viola audition repertoire to provide uniquely creative strategies for conquering the most demanding musical tasks. Her viola ensemble arrangements of the audition excerpt moments are illuminating and fun! This book can be used effectively in individual instruction or in a small group setting.” -Anthony Devroye, Northern Illinois University School of Music
"Melissa Matson’s Exploring Excerpts: a violist’s guide to building skills for orchestral playing is an incredible resource for players, students, and teachers alike. As a violinist who occasionally coaches violists in orchestral repertoire, it’s added a whole new perspective on technique and invaluable teaching tips. Melissa gives thorough and thoughtful descriptions of every aspect for each excerpt that are easy to comprehend no matter the background of the player. It’s incredibly detailed and has been a fabulous tool in my own collegiate-level teaching!”- Ross Winter, University of Central Florida
“Working with these well-detailed excerpts has been a great experience. As a musician who goes to orchestra auditions, we are used to playing excerpts thinking that just playing the right notes will be enough, but we don’t pay attention to the very important details that are explained in this book. I enjoyed every section of each excerpt I’ve worked on so far. It gave me a whole different perspective of how to practice them correctly, from rhythms and shifting tips to dynamics and styles. Also, fingerings were very comfortable to play. Truly a book that I would highly recommend to my violist friends! Thank you!”- C.S., student