Customer Reviews

The Viola: Complete Guide for Teachers and Students

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This book is an excellent resource for any violist, but teachers will find it especially useful. It covers nearly everything you need to know about the viola and how to teach it, from repertory lists and goals for each grade level, to music terms and practice techniques.

I am a violinist, but picked up this book looking for tips on technique and practice. This book is as helpful and relevant for a violinist as it is for my Brothers of the Bow of the Alto persuasion. Well-written and amply illustrated, this is a must read for serious viola students and a strong recommendation for violinists as well. It covers everything from how to hold the instrument to bowing technique to reading music and even (to my horror) transferring from violin to viola! If you are a strings teacher and haven't read this book I urge you to look it over. I don't believe you'll be disappointed...I sure wasn't!

Another book with a misleading title, this one is a rather academic review or summary of "best" approaches to teaching the physical aspects of playing the viola (or violin). Whether the "best" approaches are in fact being presented is open to question. Certainly, the physiology of playing the violin or viola is an important subject; but more and more my observation tells me that actual superior players of these instruments in our string ensembles are getting away from "classical" instrument-holds and moving toward the fiddle-player's tendency to "play" with the instrument in a forward position. That is what I have seen in the past few weeks from Midori and other well-known players. I cannot recommend this book to a beginning player of violin or viola. The intended audience is more for would-be teachers of the instrument; so it is all the more important perhaps to sound a cautionary note. There are many questions about the ergonomics of playing the viola (or violin) that need to be addressed, including even the reintroduction of the cello-style playing position. What the "majority" of teachers of these instruments are recommending to their students, or at least what is endorsed in this book, could push many young players to unergonomic and physically harmful techniques. Because this aspect of playing the viola, the ergonomics, is not directly addressed, all the recommendations as to development of technique are slanted toward a rather rigid style of play, one that is contradicted by the early historical illustrations we have of string players and by "folk" practice. This book should be approached with caution.

This is my favorite resource on playing and teaching the viola. I presented a copy to each of my graduating viola students as a gift. I'm delighted that it is still available.

I have been using this book with my Viola Studio for several years. Some of the most useful parts I find are the graded repertoire list, his discussion on technical set up issues, and he goes into several useful techniques on relaxation and breathing exercises and incorporating those ideas into making the "compleat" violist. I highly recommend it, and I include this as an optional text for my viola studio at the University of Florida.

Yes, it's a good book for anyone interested in the viola and the extensive literature for it. It has a lot of valuable tips on technique, etc. However, it is not a complete method for the instrument in the way that the Potter book is for the cello, which I was kind of looking for. It's more for reading than for practicing from. It's a valuable addition to the literature and would seem to be valuable also for violinists.

Very knowledgable book. The best book that I could find on the internet.