Good Things To Happen on a Rare Day Off [A Bug's Life]

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* Be phoned early in the morning to hear your viola is mended and ready for collection.
So I can pick it up today (in my day off), and get a bow and a case, then go in to town and buy a Teach Yourself Viola book (in my day off), and go Arg! The alto clef! WTF's with that? And then start to play it, and realise just how difficult it's going to be.
It's nice of the Universe to arrange itself for my convenience like this :-)

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There are 4 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

Have you played the viola before?

If yes, then gosh, I didn't know!

If no, then can I recommend that you get a few basic lessons from an experienced player/teacher, as getting the grip on the bow, the tuning etc. right at the beginning will give you good habits that become automatic and makes everything else much easier later on. Certainly that's what I've done with violin ...

I'm thinking about returning to my old violin teacher here in/near Cambridge as she was very good and in the right style of music for me (folk fiddle, Irish, Cajun etc.), jsut waiting for free time and money to coincide!

There's half a dozen or so Cambridge-area viola teachers listed on this website if you need one ...

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I have it now!

I played violin to the age of 12, the viola was my father's and I've had it sitting around stringless and with bow bug for the last 6-7 years. It's taken a lot of fixing, but I'm very pleased to have it now. I can still do scales and arpeggios, making a horrid scraping noise and being a semitone off only about every three notes.

"Take a few lessons, then join an orchestra!" says the violin-fixer, because she likes to scare me. So thank you very much for the list of teachers, it's just what I need :-) But first I need some nail scissors, I had a flashback to my primary school violin lessons and the books covered in the teacher's scrawl "CUT FINGERNAILS!!!!"

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The violin-fixer is absolutely correct!

The few lessons will make sure that your slightly bigger than a 12-year old left hand fingers, wrist, thumb etc. are all in the correct place and that your posture and bowing action etc. are right for your current physique (I too played violin until I was 12, and found that I was a fair bit different in size now!)

The orchestra will give you a regular rehearsal, practice playing with others, and an incentive to keep getting better. That's why I've just started going to the Irish session at the Rathmore on Wednesday's ... though that's currently mostly me on guitar, but I'm going to practice and get lessons on the fiddle then go back for fiddle lessons (ditto bodhran! And maybe tin whistle)

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