I’ve been working on the Cadenza for Solo Viola for about a week and a half, but in the first week alone, I discovered a lot. I had a few questions, and I found a couple great ways to practice. It’s been a challenge, but I think it’s going well so far!

 

Questions that Arose

The first question that came up in my practice was, “How long do accidentals apply?” The piece is written without time signatures, key signatures, or bar lines. After some thought, and after listening to a few recordings, I realized that in this case an accidental only applies once, to the note it’s directly in front of, since there are no measures.

The second question that came up, and that I still have, is, “How should I roll the chords?” There are many triple stops throughout the work. As of now, I think each chord should be treated differently, and that there is no one rule dictating how to roll every chord in the piece. At the bottom of the page, there’s a chordal sequence containing a low pedal G with a seventh on top. I think these should be rolled from the G to the two notes that make up the seventh, rather than splitting the double stops into two and two, repeating the middle note.

As I practiced through the week, I started thinking about the two eighth notes in the beginning (I’ll refer to these as the “sighing motif,”) and the rests surrounding them. Should I lift my bow in between the notes, during the rests? In a lesson, my teacher and I decided I should lift my bow, as the notes separated by rests are separate ideas. Lifting my bow will help show the distinction.

 

Challenges

During my practice, I realized that I was trying so hard to find and tune each note that I was actually neglecting the rhythms on the page, taking it all out of context. I should start thinking about how fast I need to find each note or chord in the context of a tempo, even if it’s a very slow one.

I decided to warm up with a scale of major seventh double stops. It went great… until I realized I had played all minor sevenths! I need to get the sound of major sevenths in my ears and hand so that playing them correctly in the Cadenza is no harder than playing a fourth or fifth–intervals that have become second nature to me.

 

Breakthroughs

Practice with a tuner

Practicing with a tuner helped me get a great start on the Cadenza! After I had struggled with one particularly mind-boggling spot, I got out my tuner, and have kept it out since. It’s helped me confirm that, yes, I am playing major sevenths, but no, I’m not shifting to the correct notes in a few areas. I’ve never really practiced like this, but for a piece that is so different from what my ear is accustomed to, it’s been a huge help.

Learn notes with an “easy” fingering

I’ve done this before with solo, chamber, and orchestral music. If you can’t locate the notes, or you want to make sure you’re playing the right notes in an unusual position, try playing them somewhere more comfortable, or an octave lower if the notes are really high. Play the passage a few times in the comfortable position to get it into your ear, and then try it in the difficult position again. It should be a lot easier! If it’s not, keep going back and forth between comfortable/difficult positions until it gets better. You might even find that there’s no compelling reason to play it in the harder position, unless you’re going for a certain timbre, or you need to play an interval that can only be performed in that position.

Figuring out chords

As I’ve already said, I’ve struggled with learning such dissonant chords. Here’s the technique I’ve used to help me figure out the hard chords:

1. Play each line separately with an easy fingering
2. Play each line separately with the final fingering
3. Finger both lines, but only play one line at a time with the bow
4. Play the chords stop/set (stop, set the bow, find the notes with left hand, then play)
5. Put everything together

Practicing the chords like this helps me understand how they move, where my hand needs to go, and what kind of positions I need to be in. It also helps me hear any melodic lines that move through the chords.

Don’t go too fast!

I always end up playing things too fast when I’m practicing because I just want to be playing the finished product already! We need to practice slowly because there’s so much to think about. Of course you can focus on just one or two things each time you practice a passage, but when you put everything together, you’ll need to go slower to make up for it. I like to think the slower I practice, the more linear my progress might be, because if I practice too fast, I always have to go back and fix mistakes. There’s no reason to take everything up to performance tempo when I’m just practicing by myself! Take the time to learn hard passages; it makes everything smoother.

 

In Conclusion

Starting to learn this piece has been challenging, but it’s not as daunting as I had thought it would be. I can do this! I hope you’re able to apply what I’ve learned in your own practice, no matter what you’re working on. Keep an eye out for next week’s post, which will include a video!