Are we so in thrall of violinists that we have to copy everything they do?!Īdapting a violin method for the larger viola involves solving problems of both content and fingering, and in some adaptations the fingerings are simply left unchanged – I have seen so many violists struggle to traverse the fingerboard using the 'traditional' violin fingerings. I often wonder why there are so few dedicated scale or study materials for the viola.

But they all have one thing in common: they are violin methods that have been adapted for the viola. There are others of course - by such established names as Mogill and Ševčík, or more recent ones by Barbara Barber and Simon Fischer. Roger Benedict - The scale books of Carl Flesch and Ivan Galamian are omnipresent in teaching studios around the world, and they have clearly stood the test of time. «What’s wrong with Flesch or Galamian?» some said. When I told friends and colleagues that I was publishing a new scale method for viola, I was greeted with a few raised eyebrows.

Balancing the Scales - why I created a new viola scale method

E flat major scale viola 3 octaves