Now You Have to Teach Viola

A terrible thing has happened; you have to teach viola. Perhaps you are a private violin teacher and a student showed up with what they thought was a violin. Maybe you’re a cellist who moved recently and needs to take a viola or two to fill out your schedule. Maybe you’re a band or choir director who has been saddled with an orchestra class this year (in that case read this article first, then come back). Whatever the case may be you need some tips to teach viola. Well, you’re in luck, because this violinist turned violist has a whole list of things to help you. Let’s go into my top twelve tips for teaching viola.

Number One: Learn the Clef

This is the most important step, as well as the major distinguishing factor for the viola. It is important to be able to teach your students to read the clef so that they can communicate with other violists, and if you can’t read it, they won’t be able to. It’s not as daunting a task as you may think it is. The key is to practice doing it.

You can start with some of those lovely sayings just like thousands of people use to learn the treble and bass clefs. My favorites for the lines are “Fat Aardvarks Can’t Eat Grasshoppers” or “Fat Alley Cats Eat Garbage.” For the spaces we can use “Good Boys Do Fine,” in the vein of popular sayings for the other two clefs. That’s great, but let’s also give you a couple of tools to supplement. Clef translation is the easiest. You may have done a version of this if you started on the treble clef and then later learned bass clef, or vice versa, by moving the notes on the staff up or down a third. It’s even easier to do when going from either treble or bass to alto. When coming from treble clef, simply shift the letters down by a single step. That means the third line B becomes a third line C. When coming from bass shift everything up, so that third line D is now a third line C.

This is a super quick way to translate your notes. Keep in mind – this works for the letters, but the pitches are an octave away from the treble/bass note you’re using to translate.

A great way to practice is to actually get a viola and play familiar music written in alto clef. If you are at all familiar with the Suzuki books, get a copy of the first viola book. The good news for the violinists; outside the addition of two songs, the viola book has the same pieces as the violin book. Doing the reading while you have a familiar tune can really help to connect the notes in your brain.

Number Two: Alto versus Tenor

The viola does not use that tenor clef that cellos and other bass clef instruments will occasionally use in the higher ranges. Do not mix these two up. They behave the same in that they are both C Clefs, which places the middle C on the line that intersects the curves, but they are not the same. A professor in college got a bit embarrassed with they tried to tell me I was wrong about it, only to look it up in front of everyone and see they were wrong. So unless you want to hand one of your smug violists (they are rare, but they’re out there) a victory at your expense, don’t mix them up.

Number Three: Beginners

If you’re already accustomed to teaching beginning violin students I have good news; the technique is basically the same. The details change once the students begin to use violas that are larger than the full size violin (14 inches), but as long as they are below that size you can treat aspects of posture and positioning pretty much the same as you would a violinist. Even so I would transpose any violin exercises down a fifth so that they are working the same string crossing technique as the violins. You can do this in a mixed group setting. At the same time it’s also good to do exercises in keys that both instruments can play in easily (ever wonder why so many beginning string methods are in D Major for so long?)

Number Four: The Bigger Instrument

So what are the considerations of the larger instruments? First, get used to the fact that violas are sized in inches instead of the fraction system of the other strings. Then, keep in mind that the bigger instruments are naturally going to be heavier, so cut your violists with large instruments some slack if their scrolls aren’t as high as the violinists. They should still play with good posture, but insisting that a 16.5 inch viola be the exact same level as a full size violin could actually cause the violist back problems over time (I speak from experience).

Also keep in mind that the spread of the fingers will be slightly different on these larger instruments. While a half step on violin might mean the two fingers are squeezed together, this might not be the case on viola, depending on the instrument and the size of the student’s hands and fingers.

Number Five: The Strings

Speaking of the strings. They are down a fifth from the violin. And you know that they share the G, D, and A. Don’t let that keep you working the exact same exercises as the violinists. Doing so will make the violists used to playing on the D and A strings, and that’s what second violins are for. Like I said earlier transpose your exercises down a fifth for the violists. This doesn’t have to be written out (although it could easily help both you and them reinforce note reading), or even explained very intensely. It can be as easy as having the students echo an exercise and telling the violins to start on D and the violas to start on G. It literally takes two seconds to make a very important distinction.

Number Six: Weight in the Bow

The viola has thicker strings than the violin – especially that low C. This means that the violas will have to use a little bit more weight in the bow to get the same sound as a violin. It’s a subtle distinction to reinforce in the classroom, but an important one. I think this is one thing behind some of those wimpy viola section stereotypes. Encourage your violas to dig in. It’s always easier to have them back off slightly than to put more weight in. When I have beginners who use too much weight and get a little scratchy I actually get very excited because that means they’ll eventually get a good sound.

Number Seven: Second Position

Shifting is an orchestra teacher’s nightmare. Basses have to do it from the beginning, cellos not long after, but the violins and violas can get by for a long time without it. Once they start it third position is the first one that should be taught. That’s established in countless methods. What isn’t as reinforced is second position. In my time as an orchestral player I have played first and second violin and a lot of viola. Because of this I have come to the conclusion that second position is the viola player’s best friend. In my experience it is useful more often for violas than violins.[1] It makes life easy for so many keys in the orchestral repertoire. So as soon as third position is comfortable the violas especially should start working second position. It’s great for all upper string players but crucial for violists.

Number Eight: Keys

Keep in mind that sharp keys are less friendly to the viola than they are to the violin, and that flat keys are better on viola. This makes sense if you think about how the instruments work. Any string instrument has open strings that will sympathetically vibrate with certain pitches, which contributes to a pleasing tone. Thinking about the open strings on violin we see that they can play in the keys of G and D without losing a single open string on the sharp side. Even the next key only loses a single string, and since it’s the low G it usually doesn’t affect the sound negatively. On the flat side though, the violins lose the E string after a single flat key, and the A string with the next one. This quickly starts to take away the sympathetic vibrations and begins to complicate the finger patterns.

The viola meanwhile, loses the C string almost immediately on the sharp side, and the G after that. And when you consider how often the viola is on those bottom two strings as a function of their range of the orchestra it can get tricky when you have no open strings to help reinforce the tuning. The flat keys are usually easier because even though the A string gets lost in E-flat, much of the viola’s tessitura is on the three lower strings and the E-flats are all completely manageable with common finger patterns. It also helps that there isn’t too much orchestral literature that strays far beyond E-flat major. Again, a subtle distinction, but definitely one to keep in mind, especially when playing in keys with two or more sharps.

Number Nine: Getting into the Stratosphere

When dealing with the higher positions the bigger body of the viola usually requires some manipulation that violinists don’t have to do. When getting much higher than fifth or sixth position most violinists can keep their thumbs anchored in the saddle of the neck, depending on their hand size. Due to the standard size of a full violin this isn’t usually an issue. Depending on the size of the viola however the violist will likely need to employ a “thumb position.” This is different from the cello thumb position, where the thumb rests on the string, essentially like a capo on a guitar. For the viola the thumb should continue around the bout and along the A string side of the fingerboard. This allows the violist to maintain some control in the higher positions. It can be incredibly disconcerting at first, and great care should be taken to drill the shift between the regular and thumb positions, especially on the descent back down around the neck. The exact place this change will need to occur pitch wise will depend on a number of factors including which string is being played, the size of the viola, and the size of the player’s arms and hands. While these higher positions are unlikely to happen in orchestral literature (that’s what second violins are for), it is still good technique to be aware of, especially if you have students who intend on working advanced literature.

Number Ten: Cello Parallels

The viola and the cello share the same strings, with the violas being pitched an octave higher. Because of this it can be tempting to give violists cello exercises that have been transposed into the alto clef. This is possible, and can even be helpful at times, but you have to pay careful attention to which cello exercise you give the violist, because the rules of bowing for cello and viola can be extremely different. Such exercises won’t be an issue as far as pitch is concerned, but can cause havoc by forcing the violist to work incredibly awkward bowings that are not realistic for literature.

Number Eleven: Violists are People Too

Do your best to give the violas their own identity. While using violin and/or cello exercises and literature might be easier for you, finding some pieces that are exclusively written for the viola is a good idea too. It makes them feel like more than just a rejected violinist.

On the same note, communicating with them in their clef is the best thing you can do. Fluency in that clef will make them feel like you’re paying attention and care about what they do. I honestly think this lack of alto clef knowledge is a big contributor to the stereotypes of bad viola sections – because orchestra directors are uncomfortable communicating in the clef they pay less attention to the violas (often unconsciously) and the skill level of the section suffers.  It’s why I make learning the clef rule number one.

Number Twelve: Make a Strong Section

Encourage the students you know are good musicians to play the viola. Too often the viola sections of school orchestras end up with the students who fit nowhere else. While this is not necessarily bad it can mean you’ll end up with a weak section of noncommittal players. Do your best to sell the viola to students at recruiting events, and if you notice any violinists who have skills you think might make them a good violist encourage them to make the switch. You can use the method my private teacher used in high school. My senior year he handed me a viola and said “you’re going to learn this too, you’ll get more jobs.” And he was not wrong at all. As for the actual physical switch of the instrument, it can be as simple as changing the strings on the instrument. Although that is not an ideal long term solution it can work well on a trial basis or if money is an issue for the family.

 

Don’t let the viola frighten you. At the end of the day it has more in common with the violin than not, at least from a pedagogical standpoint. The detailed differences that can affect your students are all spelled out here. Follow them and you’ll be fine. And feel free to leave any questions you have in the comments.



[1] Though I could be biased here, because most of my orchestral playing has been viola. Though the anatomy of the fingerboard and the keys commonly used does seem to back me up a bit.

KJ Bell