Learn Reger Viola Suite No. 3 with Me! – Week 1

If you’re a violist, you’ve probably heard the first movement of Reger’s first Suite for Viola…

But have you heard his third Suite? I’ve chosen to play it as part of my final graduate recital in the spring, and I’ll be documenting my learning process here on the blog and on Youtube!

Watch the video!

How I Started – Day 1 (September 8, 2020)

To start out, I listened to three recordings of Reger Viola Suite No. 3, all on Spotify. The first was by Paul Cortese, the second by Tatjana Masurenko, and the third by Nobuko Imai. It’s best to listen to a variety of recordings to get a feel for what is and isn’t commonly done, small nuances, and tempo.

When doing score study, I have a hard time paying attention and not getting distracted. I think it’s best to break up these listening sections. Maybe take a short stretch break and drink some water in between each movement, and take a longer break between listening to each separate recording.

Day 2 (September 9, 2020)

Warming Up

On Day 2, I warmed up in the key of E to get ready to play the Suite, as it’s in E minor. Warming up in the same key or a related one to the piece helps you learn the hand frame, and playing double stops in the key will help prepare you for the double stops you’re likely to encounter. I plan on starting to warm up in both E and G, since G Major has the same key signature (one sharp, F#) as E minor.

Sightreading

After warming up, I sightread the first movement. I went through it very fast (potentially faster than performance tempo), so I had to go back and read through it again quite a bit slower. Then I went through all the chords in the A section, tuning them slowly, then playing them in context. After that, I went through the A section playing just the top notes of the double stops (but still fingering both notes), and then I went through and did the same with the bottom notes. This helps the ear hear both lines individually, and it helps with intonation and muscle memory! This is one of my favorite (and most efficient) ways to practice double stop passages.

Day 5 (September 12, 2020)

More Score Study

I was having a hard time figuring out some of the rhythms (I’m not a fan of 32nd notes!), so I did some more score study. In addition to getting the rhythm in my head, I also heard that the violist in the recording was taking a lot of time in every spot marked espressivo. Rubato is definitely something I’ll play around with in this piece, but for now it’s not my main concern.

I also noticed that the violist was stopping his bow in between each slurred double stop, I think in an effort to disguise the shifts. While it made the transition between double stops “cleaner,” it really broke up the phrases and I found that I really didn’t like it.

More Shifting and Intonation Work

After my score study, I went back to practicing the double stops, particularly in lines 4 and 5 on the first page, pictured below.

What is hard about this chunk of double stops is going from C natural to C sharp in the first two double stops, and getting all the right hand frames on the first tries. It takes a lot of practicing to create the muscle memory needed to nail the double stops in context.

My First Lesson on Reger Viola Suite No. 3

A week after I began looking at the piece, I had my first lesson on it! My teacher and I worked on solidifying fingerings and discussed how my fingers should move to approach each double stop.

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Stay tuned for the rest of my journey with this work! I’m excited to continue documenting my process of learning a piece. Be sure to watch my Practice Vlog – it is much more detailed and you can watch me working through everything I discussed here! If you’d like to read more about my practicing process, head to my Learn with Me section to read about my journey with the Penderecki Viola Cadenza!