Category: Viola Teaching

Better Bowing Articulation: Free Mini Open-String Workouts for Viola, Book Two!

1/12/2021

About a month after I wrote Open String Bow Workouts for the Viola, Book One, back at the end of 2019, I got the first email asking for Book Two. As more and more people started asking for Book Two, I realized that I'd like a Book Two as well and I started mapping out what a second volume would look like.

It's taken a little bit longer than I'd planned (apologies to everyone who got a January 2020 estimated release date!) but Open String Workouts for the Viola, Book Two is finally here!

To celebrate, here is a second volume of free Mini Open String Bowing Workouts for Viola! The mini viola bowing workouts below are all-new and aren't included in the book.

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 1

Better Bowing Articulation: Free Mini Open-String Workouts for Viola, Book Two!

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 2

Because Open String Bow Workouts for Viola, Book Two focuses on articulation and bow control, these free studies work on some of the same skills that the book does: staccato, dynamics, double stop staccato, and spiccato.

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 4

Double stop staccato is a great way to get the strings ringing right away - which leads to better tone overall!

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 6

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 8

And finally, here are a couple of open string viola exercises on spiccato:

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 10

Did you miss the blog post with free exercises to celebrate Book One?

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Forked Deer: Free Mini Fiddle Tune Booklet for Violin, Viola, Cello, and String Bass!

10/4/2020

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All of the music was ready. The snacks, the chairs, the stands; we were ready for anything. Myanna and I had spent hours arranging music, making chamber groups out of names (level often unknown), answering emails, cleaning, and so much more. Summer string camp was about to begin!

Harvey String Teaching Summer Chamber Camp

The doorbell rang and the first student came in, always looking a little uncertain. It's hard to be first! But then the deluge would happen and soon our front porch would be covered with violin, viola, cello, and bass cases and no matter how prepared we had planned to be, chaos would reign for that entire first session.

We have always had students at a range of ages and levels sign up for Summer Chamber Camp, from first year players to high schoolers in advanced string quartets. But by far, the most challenging issue has been finding music for our "Blackberry Blossom" groups: first and second year students in larger groups who want to play with their friends (even if levels aren't compatible) and have fun playing!

The level range inside of these groups has been astonishing. Some students only know a few notes while others can play fluently in first position (but aren't quite ready for the early-intermediate trios and quartets at the next level.)

Problem-solving is pretty much our favorite thing. So Myanna wrote some easy, flexible tune arrangements for these groups.

First, there's a Regular Exercise and a Basic Exercise that can both be played together at the same time (and with all the instruments.)

Then, for each tune, there's an Advanced Melody, a Stress-Free Melody, a Basic Harmony, and a Teacher Harmony (plus, a piano accompaniment and full score, available separately.)

Here's a concert photo of one of our Summer Fiddle groups playing a tune from the Blackberry Blossom Fiddle Books!

We weren't able to have a summer camp this year due to Covid. But now, we're using these books both with in-person and remote string classes and lessons. And we're excited about how flexible the books are, both with level and instrumentation.

And now for the free booklets!

To give you an idea of how the books work, Myanna and I have put together a free set of exercises and tune arrangement of Forked Deer in exactly the same format as the Blackberry Blossom Fiddle Books.

This is an all-new tune that isn't in the books! Feel free to copy and hand out to students or fellow musicians.

Forked Deer: A Free Fiddle Tune Booklet for Violin

Forked Deer: A Free Fiddle Tune Booklet for Viola

Forked Deer: A Free Fiddle Tune Booklet for Cello

Forked Deer: A Free Fiddle Tune Booklet for String Bass

Forked Deer: A Free Fiddle Tune Booklet for String Class

Here are Free Play-Along Tracks for Forked Deer:

C. Harvey Publications · Forked Deer First Exercise

C. Harvey Publications · Forked Deer Second Exercise

C. Harvey Publications · Forked Deer Tune

Learn More

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Free Christmas Duets to Celebrate New Book Releases!

12/10/2019

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How three new duet books made it to press in the middle of a super busy fall...

In the middle of way too many scheduled performances and tons of teaching, Myanna was writing the books in the Dancing Into Bethlehem series.

Now, I just have to say that Myanna is wonderfully secretive. She never reveals what books she'll write next; no group-think or input from anyone ever inspires what will be written.

However, I can tell something new is coming when I hear strains of her duets wafting up from the studio below mine. Myanna's music is just so inventive, evoking film scores and folk dances, that I always know when I'm hearing her arrangements.

Writing is just the first part. After that she figures out bowings, edits the books, plays through the books many times, tries the duets out with her many students, and finally sends the books to me. Yay.

Although I've figured out that new books are coming, I can only prepare so much. Most of the work I do can't start until I actually have the manuscripts.

I pick the titles, design the covers, set up the layouts, do more proofreading, register the ISBNs, send the books to our various printers, make book cover and sample page images for the website, write the book descriptions, design the webpages, order the books, and finally start letting everyone know.

Let's just say that Black Friday shopping didn't happen. I didn't even have time to do Cyber Monday shopping! Instead, I caught a few of those "Cyber Monday Extended" sales. Yep, those extended sales are just about perfect for us.

As an aside, I'd like to thank our wonderful UPS, USPS, and Fedex, and AmazonFresh delivery people, without whom this company (and these hungry musicians) would not be able to run!

Here's a little bit about the new books:

All duets are compatible between instruments (violin and viola, violin and cello, and viola and cello can play together!)
All duets are intermediate. The violin and viola books are all in first position but are musically and technically challenging. The cello book uses first through fourth positions (but no tenor clef.)
Myanna picked a really neat selection of carols and Christmas music! I love her other Christmas duet book, Sailing Into Bethlehem, and I'm excited to have new music to play with my students this year.
These duets can be played for gigs, in lessons, or just for fun. They bring an enchanting, lively warmth to the Christmas season!

And to Celebrate the Release,

Here Are Some Free Mini Books of Carols!

These free violin, viola, and cello duets are compatible between instruments, just like the duets in Sailing Into Bethlehem and Dancing Into Bethlehem.
These duets are not included in either of the two Christmas duet books; they're only available here!

Christmas Duets for Two Violins - A Mini Ebook

Christmas Duets for Two Violins -Free Sheet Music

Manger Lullaby - a Free Violin Christmas Duet

Masters In This Hall - a Free Violin Christmas Duet

Masters in the Hall - a Free Violin Christmas Duet by Myanna Harvey

O Tannenbaum - a Free Violin Christmas Duet

Christmas Duets for Two Violas - A Mini Ebook

Christmas Duets for Two Violas -Free Sheet Music

Manger Lullaby - a Free Viola Christmas Duet

Masters In This Hall - a Free Viola Christmas Duet

Masters in the Hall - a Free Viola Christmas Duet by Myanna Harvey

O Tannenbaum - a Free Viola Christmas Duet

Christmas Duets for Two Cellos - A Mini Ebook

Christmas Duets for Two Cellos -Free Sheet Music

Manger Lullaby - a Free Cello Christmas Duet

Masters In This Hall - a Free Cello Christmas Duet

Masters in the Hall - a Free Cello Christmas Duet by Myanna Harvey

O Tannenbaum - a Free Cello Christmas Duet

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Improve Your Viola Bowing: Free Mini Open String Workouts

4/1/2019

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This past year Theresa Villani, a wonderful cellist and cello teacher, wrote and asked if I had any exercises for bowing on open strings for one of her students. I had a few pages of an incomplete book, which I was happy to share. She wrote right back and said "Please make a book out of these!" (Incidentally, that's how a lot of books get started; share your ideas on this page.) Then, another teacher wrote and asked for a book of open string studies for violin and viola and here we are!

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 2

A few thoughts on how to use both these exercises and the studies in Open String Bow Workouts for the Viola, Book One:

1. Playing open strings really well is hard! They look easy (at least at the beginning of the book) but this is deceptive. Because the sound is so exposed, I found myself getting super picky with the sound I was producing.

When you play these exercises, work on fluidity in bow changes, relaxed wrist and fingers, and getting the string vibrating with the least possible motion from my hand.

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 4

2. Playing open string bow studies is a great way to isolate the bow, especially when you are struggling with note-reading. Myanna has been using Open-String Bow Workouts with some students who have trouble reading notes. Since there are just four notes in the entire book, the students could work on bowing without worrying about reading notes (and as an added bonus, their reading improved!)

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 6

3. Playing open string bow studies can help violists at every level. We've used this book with students who had just started playing a few months earlier and also with intermediate and very advanced students. It helped them all, in different ways.

The beginning students used the book to discover what the bow can do. Pure bow technique, such as string crossing, rhythm, and slurs can be taught using this book.

The intermediate students used the book to listen more and improve their tone. At an intermediate level, it's easy to focus on the left hand and forget about the bow. Playing an Open String Bow Workout at the beginning of every lesson has helped our intermediate students build better bow control and tone.

And the advanced students played the slow exercises at an Adagio tempo and the fast exercises as fast as possible to expand the range of their bow technique.

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 8

4. Playing open string studies can really help your tone improve! When I started playing open string studies myself, I was skeptical; how much could it help? But the difference I heard in my playing and felt in my bow hand convinced me that open strings can be one of the most effective ways to practice bowing. And adding just one page a day to your studies can make a difference over time.

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 10

To celebrate the release of the new book of Open String Bow Workouts, we are offering the above mini set of (all-new) viola open string studies for free!

When you play these, focus on correct form and how you're holding the bow.

Keep the bow arm shoulder, wrist, and fingers as loose and relaxed as possible. The thumb should be gently balanced on the bow; never squeezing.

Listen for the smoothest, most even sound during each note and keep the bow moving at the same speed while you change bows so there is no variation in sound.

For more viola studies that help you play with better tone, check out this book:

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Alternative to O Come Little Children

8/23/2018

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When a teacher mentioned that her student wasn't allowed to play O Come Little Children because of religious reasons and asked about an alternative piece, I wrote this piece as an option that still teaches many of the same techniques: string crossing, slow and fast bows, etc.

O Come Little Children, in Suzuki Book One for Violin (or Viola, or Cello), is also a Christmas carol and some teachers may be looking for a substitute when students or parents request it. Or, Spring Melody (below) can be used as a supplemental piece in addition to O Come Little Children when students need more work on these skills. Beginning violin, viola and cello adult students can enjoy this free piece as well!

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Violin

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Beginning Violin

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Viola

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Beginning Viola

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Cello

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Beginning Cello

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Free Viola Scale Bowing Variations

8/10/2018

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I love the fact that scales are such a great vehicle for learning different skills on the viola! Scales can and should be much more than just playing notes in order in a particular key in a particular set of places on the viola; they can also be used for learning rhythm and bowing skills.

Today in the blog, we're going to focus on using a simple C major scale to work on viola bowing. Now, the possibilities here are endless. I could start writing today and never ever reach the end of variations I could make with this scale. But there are other books to write and so I will stop at 15 pages for this little booklet. Of course, I'll probably come back every once in awhile with another blog post on scales; scale variations are a bit of a passion of mine!

Scales are helpful because they are so predictable. You know what's coming and the notes (at least in these scale pages) are fairly easy. But that doesn't mean you should turn off reading and play from memory just yet; I have some breaks in the pattern built into these scale pages to help keep your attention while you play.

Scale variations are a perfect way to multitask. Variations are a great way to train your left and right hands to be more coordinated and also a great way to make your practice even more efficient; you're working on multiple skills at once!

Feel free to make variations on the variations! Boredom lets you turn your brain off and can be the opening for building bad habits! Viola technique should never be taken for granted; every minute of your practice should be spent actively trying to improve. Varying the exercises can help you stay focused. I play different pages of scale exercises every day (that's one reason why I had to write so many books!) These variations can be played on any scale but they're simplest on a 2-octave scale that starts on an open string.

Viola Scale Variation:
Long Bows and Building Tone

Viola Scale Variation:
Bow Rhythms

Viola Scale Variation:
Intonation

Viola Scale Variation:
More Bow Rhythms

Viola Scale Variation:
Slurs Without String Crossing

Viola Scale Variation:
Triplets

Viola Scale Variation:
Staccato

Viola Scale Variation:
Spiccato

Viola Scale Variation:
Slurs with String Crossing

Viola Scale Variation:
String Crossing

Viola Scale Variation:
Fiddle Bowing

Viola Scale Variation:
Rhythmic Bowing

Viola Scale Variation:
Combinations

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Adventures at the 2018 ASTA Conference

3/12/2018

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A storm was headed our way...

with a projected 6-12 inches of snow! We packed the rented Ford Expedition with books and displays (thanks to amazing glassmaker John Koutsouros!) and headed out early Wednesday morning. My mom (Judy Harvey) was going to fly but we knew the flights would be canceled so she came along for the ride.

The ride was rough for a few hours but around the time we hit Virginia, things started looking sunny.

We stopped for lunch/dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant.

El Restaurante Ixtapa deserved every good Yelp review it got;
the fish tacos were to die for.

When we pulled into the Hyatt Regency Atlanta,

we were absolutely exhausted and ready to sleep. However, there were only two single beds for three people. The Hyatt Regency Atlanta said they couldn't bring in a cot because of the fire codes and suggested that one person sleep on the floor. (Bear in mind that none of this was told to us at booking.) You never know what you'll get when you travel!

Anyway, Myanna headed out the next day to get an air mattress. And an air pump. That didn't work because it needed a car cigarette lighter for power. Hmm.

Judy came to the rescue with an unorthodox solution!

Never would have thought of this but it actually worked!

Conference setup day!

It's a mammoth task to unload a "tank" full of book boxes and displays, drag it all up to an exhibit hall, and set it up. This year was better because we had a proper cart.

Glamorous booth set up...

Finally set up.

Almost ready to open.

Beautiful hotel elevator ride

photo by Judy Harvey

The conference was amazing!

We met many wonderful teachers and the booth was humming with activity. I loved the chance to interact with musicians from all over the country and talk string technique. From cello shifting to violin scales, we had fabulous conversations and (happily for our aching arms and backs) came home with empty book boxes.

If you are thinking of attending at ASTA conference, definitely try it out; there were so many great sessions and just the coolest people ever. Hope to see you next year in Albuquerque!

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How to get a 9-year-old girl to fall in love with cello exercises.

3/3/2018

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When I was a little girl, my younger sister Myanna took violin lessons from Estelle Kerner. Mrs. Kerner exuded all of the old-world glamour of the music world that I was craving. She had a hair net and wore clothes that looked right out of Tsarist Russia. Lots of makeup and copious quantities of white face powder completed her look.

Her soft calm voice had steel running through it and I was both scared and enthralled. Myanna was five years old and as she stood in countless hour-long lessons for the next thirteen years, Mrs. Kerner helped her fall in love with music and the violin. It was only many years after that that I realized how much Mrs. Kerner had changed my life as well.

You see, Mrs. Kerner taught with Schradieck and Sevcik (multiple volumes), with Wohlfahrt and Mazas and Kreutzer, with Flesch and Galamian and with a slow but extremely methodical march through Rieding and Kuchler and Vivaldi and Bach Violin Concertos, all the way up through Bruch and Brahms and Paganini.

Schradieck's School Of Violin Technics

I looked at Myanna's pages of Schradieck and Sevcik finger exercises with envy and tried in vain to play them on the cello. I realized almost immediately that the notes wouldn't work on cello, even an octave lower. I needed to know the ideas behind the notes and transfer those ideas to the cello. And I knew that I didn't have the knowledge to figure out those ideas yet.

My fingers didn't work well; they felt slow and plodding compared to Myanna's. My teacher gave me just two measures of a Feuillard page and five measures of Sevcik Op. 8 shifting each week. When I asked her for more pages of Feuillard and more lines of Sevcik, she said "Oh sweetie, you don't need those!"

Two Measures of Feuillard's Daily Exercises

Five Measures of Sevcik's Op. 8

My mother was horrified.

She saw Myanna getting better steadily and at the same time, she saw me struggling technically. So she did what any good mother might: she took me to the sheet music store and (even though money was really tight), she told me to pick out what I needed. I still have the Werner method and some of the other books I bought and devoured back then.

With Mrs. Kerner's teaching an ever-present influence, I began to give myself the best technical foundation that I could paste together from the method and exercise books I bought. All through my teens, with other teachers and harder music, I kept searching for and buying exercises until I hit a wall. There just wasn't a Schradieck for the cello. Klengel, with his Daily Exercises, came the closest. But his book started in half position and got complicated too soon and my students were struggling. I needed more shifting exercises than I could find. I desperately needed more work up and down the A string as I was playing Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations...

So I started writing my own exercises.

It was a heady feeling, realizing that I would never run out of exercises again. The first book I published was Serial Shifting; Exercises for the Cello: a different take on the Sevcik Op. 8 concept of moving through the positions:

And the second book I published was my very own book of Finger Exercises for the Cello so I could have faster fingers, at last.

So this blog is written for

everyone out there trying to play their instrument better. For teachers looking for their own version of Schradieck. For everyone who has had a technical weakness and hasn't known where to start to overcome it. For everyone who has had a sister (or a stand partner) with faster fingers.

And this blog is dedicated to three women:

Estelle Kerner, who showed me what teaching could accomplish and how to craft a solid foundation for a student.
Judith Harvey, who herself fell in love with violin exercises and who taught her 9-year-old daughter to go looking for books that might help solve her problems.
and my teacher at the time, who showed me the limits of teaching without enough exercises. And who, by withholding more studies, made me desperate to find and then write them. All three of these women helped a 9-year-old girl fall deeply in love with exercises as a means of learning and teaching a stringed instrument.

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Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 2

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 4

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 6

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 8

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 10

​Sign Up to Get Free PDFs of these Mini Open String Bow Workouts for Viola!

Here's a concert photo of one of our Summer Fiddle groups playing a tune from the Blackberry Blossom Fiddle Books!

And now for the free booklets!

Here are Free Play-Along Tracks for Forked Deer:

Sign Up to Get Free PDFs of the Forked Deer Fiddle Booklets!

How three new duet books made it to press in the middle of a super busy fall...

Here's a little bit about the new books:

And to Celebrate the Release,​​Here Are Some Free Mini Books of Carols!

Christmas Duets for Two Violins - A Mini Ebook

Manger Lullaby - a Free Violin Christmas Duet

Masters In This Hall - a Free Violin Christmas Duet

O Tannenbaum - a Free Violin Christmas Duet

Christmas Duets for Two Violas - A Mini Ebook

Manger Lullaby - a Free Viola Christmas Duet

Masters In This Hall - a Free Viola Christmas Duet

O Tannenbaum - a Free Viola Christmas Duet

​Christmas Duets for Two Cellos - A Mini Ebook

Manger Lullaby - a Free Cello Christmas Duet

Masters In This Hall - a Free Cello Christmas Duet

O Tannenbaum - a Free Cello Christmas Duet

Would You Like Free Printable PDFs of These Duet Books?

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 2

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 4

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 6

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 8

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 10

Want to print these exercises out and play them?Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in Ebook form and learn about sales and free book offers through our newsletter!

For more viola studies that help you play with better tone, check out this book:

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Violin

​Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Viola

​Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Cello

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Viola Scale Variation:Long Bows and Building Tone

Viola Scale Variation:Bow Rhythms

Viola Scale Variation:Intonation

Viola Scale Variation:More Bow Rhythms

Viola Scale Variation:Slurs Without String Crossing

Viola Scale Variation:Triplets

Viola Scale Variation:Staccato

Viola Scale Variation:Staccato

Viola Scale Variation:Spiccato

Viola Scale Variation:Spiccato

Viola Scale Variation:Slurs with String Crossing

Viola Scale Variation:String Crossing

Viola Scale Variation:Fiddle Bowing

Viola Scale Variation:Rhythmic Bowing

Viola Scale Variation:Combinations

Want to print these exercises out and play them?Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in ebook form and learn about sales, discounts, and free book offers through our newsletter!

A storm was headed our way...

We stopped for lunch/dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant.

When we pulled into the Hyatt Regency Atlanta,

Conference setup day!

Glamorous booth set up...

Finally set up.

Almost ready to open.

Beautiful hotel elevator ride

The conference was amazing!

Are You a String Teacher?​Sign Up for our Teacher List!

Schradieck's School Of Violin Technics

Two Measures of Feuillard's Daily Exercises

Five Measures of Sevcik's Op. 8

My mother was horrified.

So I started writing my own exercises.

Sign Up to Get Free PDFs of these Mini Open String Bow Workouts for Viola!

And to Celebrate the Release,

Here Are Some Free Mini Books of Carols!

Christmas Duets for Two Cellos - A Mini Ebook

Want to print these exercises out and play them?

Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in Ebook form and learn about sales and free book offers through our newsletter!

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Viola

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Cello

Viola Scale Variation:
Long Bows and Building Tone

Viola Scale Variation:
Bow Rhythms

Viola Scale Variation:
Intonation

Viola Scale Variation:
More Bow Rhythms

Viola Scale Variation:
Slurs Without String Crossing

Viola Scale Variation:
Triplets

Viola Scale Variation:
Staccato

Viola Scale Variation:
Staccato

Viola Scale Variation:
Spiccato

Viola Scale Variation:
Spiccato

Viola Scale Variation:
Slurs with String Crossing

Viola Scale Variation:
String Crossing

Viola Scale Variation:
Fiddle Bowing

Viola Scale Variation:
Rhythmic Bowing

Viola Scale Variation:
Combinations

Want to print these exercises out and play them?

Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in ebook form and learn about sales, discounts, and free book offers through our newsletter!

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Sign Up for our Teacher List!