This group met during the early days of the pandemic as a way to stay motivated, inspired, and connected. For the month of August we added Practice Bootcamp to help get ready for the new school year and orchestra seasons. The warmup ended at the end of August and is not currently meeting.
In these blog posts you will find resources we used during the warmup and meet some of our special guests.
Kayleigh will be back on August 21 to talk about self-massage and fascia. To get the most out of this experience, you will need two soft balls- one medium, and one small.
Here are some links to get an idea of what you will need.
Smaller ball here.
I also like bouncy balls from vending machines!: If you buy them online, you unfortunately get 20-100.
The pinky ball.
There are many different manufacturers and sellers for this, but the "toted" version is from Yoga Tune Up.
Website:
FaceBook page that includes several tutorials as you scroll down. Also find FB live classes from several months ago.
https://www.facebook.com/SternMoves/
Articles in the International Musician.
1) A general explanation of the benefits of Pilates for Musicians.
2) Breathing for upper body relaxation
https://internationalmusician.org/pilates-for-musicians-great-exercise-for-seated-athletes/
https://internationalmusician.org/pilates-breathing-exercises-for-upper-body-relaxation/
Thank you Brenton for sharing with us today!
While I take a break from the Warmup, here’s a list of some things you might want to check out to keep you motivated, practicing and learning in July.
Practice Blitz- led by Susanna Klein, creator of Practizma
“What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body”, a class by William Johnston, violist and Licensed Body Mapping Educator.
Viola Gators Online, Tuesdays at 10amEDT. Join Lauren Hodges
Yoga for All Musicians, created by Warmup guest Claire Howard. Yoga taught by musicians for musicians. Yoga for All Musicians is a virtual yoga studio created to cater to the specific physical and emotional needs of musicians. They also have a student rate!
A big Thank You to Rose Wollman for joining us today. To find a copy of her dissertation, Balancing the Scales: A Practical Viola Scale Method, click here. Go to the bottom of the page on her website to find the link to the file. Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed “making a joyful noise” with the subharmonics!!
First of all, a big THANK YOU to Molly Gebrian for being a guest today. The presentation was fascinating!
Here are some different resources mentioned by Molly Gebrian:
Check out her youtube channel for some great videos.
Here is the document about your brain and the Metronome from the AVS Teacher’s Toolbox series.
Here are the apps we used today: TimeGuru and Tempo by Frozen Ape
Have fun training your brain! And thanks for being part of our Viola Warmup community!
If you haven’t already, join the VlaTutti community and email list…there’s a free gift for you if you do.
If you haven’t already, please sign up for my email list. There is a gift for you when you do…
Thank you William Johnston for a great intro to Body Mapping today!
Find info about Claire Stefani, who specializes in player setup, at www.voluteservice.com
Other sources for chin rest fittings:
Lynne Denig at https://www.chinrests.com/about
Hello! Here are the pdfs for today’s warmup.
And here is the pdf of the Svecenski.
Hello!
Find the PDF’s for Johanna’s warmup session below. We will be circling back to the last shifting exercise if you want to print it out for Monday.
I wanted to send out a big THANK YOU to Claire Howard of Practice Room Yoga for the great warmup today.
Find her info here.
I think this is a great resource, not only for us, but for our students.
Here are the pdfs from our warmup with guest Lauren Hodges.
Someone mentioned in the chat box that the Perry warmup is also attributed to John Kendall.
If you haven’t already, please sign up for my email list. There is a gift for you when you do…
Hello!
Here are the pdfs from our warmup session. It was fun to have Rafael Videira join us and introduce the Yost shifting exercises. You can find the Yost book that Rafael transcribed for viola listed on the resource list.
The Virtual Viola Group Warmup is community. It’s motivation. It’s a place to learn new resources and warmup exercises. It’s a place to get ready mentally and physically for practicing or going about your day.
Here’s how it works: (usually!)
We start with about 15 minutes of gentle stretching.
We then ease into playing: (by the way, you are muted, so no one hears you play. I even mute myself- you won’t hear me play either….)
Open strings, a slow warmup for the left hand. Scales, shifting, arpeggios, double stops, and sound and intonation.
Every Friday we have a guest, and on Monday we have a Mindfulness Moment.
Each session lasts roughly 50 minutes.
To steal someone else’s phrase: all the fun, and none of the commitment!
Hello everyone!
Here is a list of resources that my guests and I have used over this last month. I love it that I’ve learned some new warmup exercises contemporary sources.
One-Position Finger Pattern Scales for Viola, by Melissa Matson
If you can, buy this and other Bornoff books from The Foundation for the Advancement of String Education (FASE), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that promotes the philosophy and pedagogy of Dr. George Bornoff by providing financial support for the development of string education and teacher training. Buying from them is win-win!
Exteme Viola, by Ellen Rose.
This is an encyclopedia book of scales, arpeggios and double stops.
18+3 Etudes for Solo Viola, Jorge Variego
Find the PDF version here.
A Notebook for Viola Players, by Ivo-Jan van der Werft
Warming Up, by Simon Fischer
This book, which looks great, is currently unavailable, it seems. However, there are many other books on offer, so take a look here.
Viola Scales and Arpeggios, published by Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM). This book has the best section on chromatic scales that I’ve seen.
Superior Finger Exercises, Emanual Ondricek
a compilation of finger patterns in all positions
The Dounis Collection, by Demetrius Constantine Dounis.
The eleven books that make up this anthology are the most comprehensive collection ever published of his works.
Scale and Arpeggio Studies, by Samuel Lifschey
The first “American born viola virtuoso”, according to wikipedia. We owe a lot to Mr. Lifschey. He was one fo the first violists to arrange and transcribe violin technique books for the viola. (Such as Schradiek and Ševčík.) He wrote many technique books in the late 20’s and 30’s, They seem to be out of print, but you can interlibrary loan them if your interest is peaked.
30 Studies for Double Stops, by Enrico Polo
This is on imslp, but beware of copyright issues. It all depends on what part of the world you live. It’s definitely ok for Canadians to download this. EU folks….I don’t think it’s in the Public Domain yet.
Exercises for Changing Position, Yost, transcribed by Rafael Videira
Every combination and permutation for changing positions
Practizma, by Susanna Klein
This is a wonderful practice journal that just came out this year (available in both hard copy and digital form.) This journal is all about the feeling of empowerment, efficiency, and joy associated with practicing music. I wish I had had this when I was a music student!
Performance Success, by Don Greene
Check out his website, Winning on Stage which is an educational community where performers at all levels can learn to master their performance skills under pressure. This is where you can find the centering process we did in the warmup. You can also take some assessments to learn what areas you might focus on. The book includes the assessment as well. It’s all fascinating!
Here they are!
Thank you to Kimberly Sparr for being a guest on the Viola Warmup!
Find the PDFs from this session here: