TECHNIQUE

Quick warm-ups to help you improve strength, endurance, flexibilty and control

EVAN WILSON 

Private viola teacher, former principal violist of the LA Philharmonic and former acting principal violist of the Boston Symphony

BORN Newton, MA, US

STUDIED WITH Eugene Becker, William Lincer

TEACHES Private students of all ages

There’s no question that the level of viola playing has gone up in recent decades, but viola jokes exist for a reason and I don’t want my students to become one of them! Learning to control the left hand, by mastering intonation and the way you put your fingertips down on the string, is an important first step. Finger calisthenics will help you to improve strength, fitness, flexibility and grace. This language is not typical in the string world, but we are athletes in our own way.

Calisthenics are especially important if you only have a very limited time to warm up. Have you ever turned up for an audition to find that the person before you didn’t appear, so you have to go in to play immediately? These exercises can be used to warm up your hands very quickly so that you can play all types of fingerings and doublestops right away.

EXERCISES

Begin by practising a three-octave scale, using the fingering in exercise 1 in every key, even starting on aB on the C string. This will help you to set your intonation and get to know your instrument.

•Always use the fourth finger instead of open strings, to build strength 

•Practise with 4, 8, 16, 24 and 48 notes to a bow 

•Play each octave at the frog and then at the tip

Now play a scale up the length of one string, using only 1s and 2s. Repeat using 2s and 3s, then 3s and 4s. Practise the same thing on all strings. This will help you to get really familiar with the fingerboard. If you have time, practise in 3rds, 6ths and octaves too.

In exercise 2, move your fingers as though they are pistons, with a muscular, athletic motion, to warm up your hand slowly and accurately. It’s like doing jumping jacks or running on the spot:

•Place the fingers down cleanly and precisely, without sliding. Aim for a popping feeling as you move each finger into position

•Don’t press too hard or you will find this difficult and painful, especially on the descent 

•Practise on every string. The C string is hardest, so take extra time there

When your fingers are strong enough to do this well, incorporate exercise 3 into your warm-up. Slide up to each note then pull back again, to strengthen your muscles and tendons.

BUILDING SECURITY 

I have a theory: in general you will only vibrate on a note when you are comfortable with it, so what if you could retrain the brain, by vibrating on every note and finger until everything felt secure? Exercise 4 is essentially a vibrato exercise, and it will strengthen your fingers even more. Play the chromatic again, but this time don’t place your fingers down or slide as you did in exercises 2 and 3. Instead, for each 1–1, 2–2, 3–3 or 4–4 fingering, rotate the finger on the string:

•Rotate the first finger from the D to the E and back again. Bow in groups of four, eight or sixteen

•Keep full control of your left hand, playing with a good amount of flesh on the string for a really nice, rich sound 

•Continue up the scale, repeating the action on each finger 

•Repeat the exercise with four, six and eight rotations per finger

To finish, play another three-octave scale, this time with four quavers (e) per pitch, at a faster tempo (exercise 5). Once you have practised a wide vibrato on every note, your left hand should feel stronger and more comfortable, in tune and secure, so that you can bring more life to your sound even at faster tempos.

REPERTOIRE

These exercises will help you to warm up so that you can play all sorts of viola repertoire, including rare passages where you have to use a 4–4–4 fingering (example 1 – see page 79). If you work on an E major scale before playing the small, awkward and exposed viola solo in example 2, you will never miss. Try slowing down any fast passage that doesn’t feel secure and practise it using the principles outlined in exercise 4: vibrate on every note until you feel really comfortable. Practising slowly with vibrato will help you to see difficult and virtuosic passages as expressive musical lines, even when you play them up to speed and without vibrato.

IN YOUR PRACTICE

The difference between great violists and great musicians who are violists is that great musicians transcend the technical limitations of the instrument. They also have a voracious appetite for learning and absorbing, and a commitment to excellence, which is something that I just don’t see enough of these days.

To learn true control over your instrument requires slow practice. This will give you time to do every little thing, to make your playing multidimensional and accurate, with good sound and intonation. When you have played something slowly once, take a few seconds to imagine the sound that you want to create before you play it again, so that every repeat is better than the last.

A marathon is 26.2 miles, but if you want to run the whole way you should train yourself to run 30, so that 26.2 seems almost easy. Take the same approach when you are preparing to play a piece in performance: over-prepare, because the stronger your fingers are, the better your endurance will be. You could even practise difficult passages while standing on a rickety chair, or spinning around in circles. If you can do that, you’ll be able to play them anywhere.

TIPS FOR TEACHERS

I try to prepare my students so well that if they lose their focus for a moment in a performance or audition, their tactile, aural and visual memory will carry them through. To check that they can play even when they’re distracted, I have them sightread music in different environments, like in front of a full-power table fan, so that everything starts waving around. The only thing I tell them is, ‘Don’t stop! Even if you drop notes, just keep going.’

We start every lesson by sightreading a duet, so that they become comfortable with me, my sound is in their ear and they improve their sightreading skills. Some kids completely panic and freeze up, but once we turn it into a game, they gradually become good at it and start to have fun. They love that we’re making music together, and it’s such a great way to start the lesson, because it’s so positive. It helps to warm up their bodies and their brains.

Sometimes I also ask students to read out the text at the beginning of my book of Leclair duets. Most do it in a monotone, so I ask, ‘Is that how you would play something?’ Then I say: ‘How can you read it?’ It’s because they know the alphabet, and all the letter combinations that fit together to make the words. It’s the exact same thing with music. That’s why they practise calisthenics, caprices and etudes, so that they know every note combination. Then when those combinations come up in the music, their hands will recognise them, even if they’re in different keys.

INTERVIEW BY PAULINE HARDING

FURTHER MATERIALS

The viola transcriptions of etudes and caprices from Dont to Campagnoli are so important, but play violin and cello music too. Challenge yourself with Bach and the major concertos, including Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Paganini. I always kept Paganini’s Moto Perpetuo in my back pocket. All the exercises mentioned can be done using this one piece. Try to have a good time!

NEXT MONTH Double bassist Danny Ziemann on jazz soloing