I don't play any bowed stringed instrument, I'm just a bedroom guitarist working a crap job. But recently I took an interest in viola/violin and just found your videos, and I just want to say I love them! Your personality is uplifting and I enjoy watching you play and go about your day in your vlogs. Such passion and optimism. Best of luck in your endeavors man.
When you fall, just get back up and move to the next thing! You can really only fail once, and that's when you decide NOT to get back up. =) #FailForward
ThatViolaKid hey I play the keyboard at my church and I've never tried to learn to read music (because I don't want to and also I feel I don't need to). I've "always" played by ear! Can I do the same with the viola??
the love and passion you put into making people happy and into music in general makes me remember why i started this journey in the first place. you inspire me to work extremely hard for my college auditions, and hopefully if/when i move to NYC for school i can listen to your wisdom and thoughtfulness in person. i love you man
Thanks for all the work and hours you put into creating your videos! I always enjoy them and get new perspectives and ideas and I'm sure many others do too. So just Thank You! Greetings from Germany:D
This is very inspiring thank you for posting. I do following pretty exclusively for the past few months. You know, auditions are so nerve racking. It's really awesome that even though you only got 3rd place, you still have things to look forward to when you get back to NY. I auditioned recently for The President's Own Marine Chamber Orchestra in DC, and it was pretty competitive. You walk into this warm room, dead silence, you don't see them, they don't see you. Maybe, you should do a video on how to be efficient and be succesful in auditions. I like these videos though thanks.
Broo this helped me so much! I'm a flute player but your idea of imagining a story to go with the music really worked for me. I used to do that listening to music in general but never thought of applying it to the music I play. I'm mind blown really hahaha. Thank you so much! Also I love your videos!
Love this video! Every teacher that I've had since high school have told me "If you can sing it , then you can play it". When I play, I usually come up with a story in my head and that usually helps me put emotion to the music. My orchestra director from my undergrad used to always tell me to show my character ( What he meant by that was that he wanted my personality to show through my playing). Congrats on that solo opportunity that you got by the way 😃
Third place is just a stepping stone.......I have every confidence that you will make it! You are driven, talented, hard working and have an incredible soul.
uuuhhh that "sing what you play" tip works amazingly for me, even if I play the piano, it really helps me sense where the music is going, what dynamics needs to be used according to how I personally feel the piece! for me it's.amazing when I manage to feel towards the piano the same connection I feel with my body when singing
Hey im a high school violist from cali. I’ve been watching for a while and i love all of the solo literature that have exposed me to I love the content. Thank you for that
okay so first thing that caught my attentiom about this video was the music. Obviously. Beautiful. Second thing was your eyebrows. I love them?? Thank you for existing, man. You've brightened my day. :)
When I was in college, I sang in my school's choir as well as played instruments. My last semester, we put on a musical - coincidentally the same one I did pit for in high school and I'd been wanting to dip my toes into musical theater for a long time. I'd never sang in front of someone by myself and I was a very insecure singer - tl;dr I bombed that audition so badly my voice would not come out in front of the entire music faculty and the theater director. I was so upset at myself because I knew I was at least slightly better than that and knowing that was now the impression my choir director had of me when I'd been sitting in his class for months. A few months later, the women's choir I was in did auditions for solos for our concert and I was able to eventually audition in front of a couple of people for that and actually got one of those solos - something that would have likely never happened if I didn't bomb that musical audition since I now had something to prove. So not only is not winning a good learning experience, completely bombing stuff can be an (eventually) positive experience!
love the editing of this video!! & the use of hiphop/rap... also, thanks for the tip on having emotion while playing, thats so hard for me so i needed that lol
i put in that last comment not even halfway into the video so here's my second comment now that i've actually watched: thank you so much for the singing and story analogy ideas! I've been looking for ways to explain this to my students, and this is a fantastic way to do it. Thank you!
This video is so old but thanks for the help! My solo sounds pretty good but this is what I needed to make it sound even better- earned a sub from me!!
Hii!! I really like your videos And you should give tips to how to control the nerves in a presentation or audition. It would help me a lot, thanks !! :)
Vibrato is also a good, cheap way to play emotionally! 😅🙃 Of course, it doesn't work for fast passages or notes of very short duration, but hey! It's still awesome! 😤🌠⚡
Heyyy I made a fairy tale like story for one my my pieces which has variations that represent trolls cats ballroom dancers and thunder. after making the story it really helped me picture how,say, a cat would stretch and then bringing that image into my playing :)
I had a state solo and ensemble and I went to state🙃 but the paperwork got messed up or something and I had to play a new song and I had to learn it in a week and a half. Unfortunately it was to complicated and I ended up literally failing at state and it was just horrible and embarrassing 😔
my teacher keeps recommending me to play with... _emotions, feelings_ BUT I FIND IT SO HARD TO PLAY UPBEAT AND HAPPY SONGS AND I AM A UNEMOTIONAL RESERVED PERSON ONTOP OF THAT- i feel like i lack passion or there's something wrong with me.... it sounds so dead like a rock every time i play :(
You just have to give it some time, Shiina. I promise it'll hit you one day. It's hard to be passionate when you're still starting out =) Playing our instruments takes WORK--so once you get a better handle of playing, your mind will be free to consider other things like emotions haha. It also helps to sing your part--singing helps you get right to the root of what you want to say musically
Cool tips. I've been studying Mikhail Glinka's sonata and it is quite hard to express the emotions over there. Actually I've heard a damn load of different interpretations. Just adding, one thing that helps also is to study the author. Get interested in his time and the person that wrote it. The style of music. Get to know the music you are playing. Don't play Schubert the same way you would play damn Tchaikovsky, etc
1:40 the best attitude to have when all is said and done :) 4:51 they call him "the dumpster"? 8:47 or even that dodgy taking a dump guy on the side of the cliff (that would be more punk style I'd imagine).
I'm REALLY curious to know what quartets you like as a violist, or ones you like in general. I know Beethoven does great stuff with the viola but everyone knows that lol. I can't wait to buy your recordings
This is not playing with emotions. This is just a show, which you make to impress the people. We are not in circus. We are on the stage. Why you can't just play music and don't pretend? You don't have to make this "inspired face" to impress the people. You have to do it with your music. I hate musicians who does things like this. (Yes, I'm professional musician)
I don't take lessons at the moment because I don't have the financial capability! I'll probably go back to school in a few years and start taking lessons again =)
