Learning the Viola?

A while ago I read that Horowitz tried to imitate how string players play scales.  And that was the first time the idea of learning a string instrument came to mind.

Then the other day, I read that Mozart and Beethoven both played the viola at times in an ensemble.  And I thought, maybe I should pick up the viola!

What other reasons are there?  Plenty.




1) By learning a string instrument, you gain a whole new understanding to a whole swath of music.

2) I've been doing ear-training--learning an instrument that requires finding the right pitch is good exercise.

3) Single-line instruments means perhaps I'll find out if I can memorize pieces more easily.  Even though I suppose I could test this with a clarinet--though it's been almost 14 years since I last played a clarinet.

4) As the pianist in a chamber music group, knowing a string instrument means I can critically listen to the string parts.

5) Will I learn to "sing" better at the piano by learning a single-line instrument?

6) Right now I have some free time.

Some viola specific reasons:

1) Chamber music: dearth of violists means I can slot in when necessary.  Like, in a piano quartet, much easier to find a pianist than a violist.  Also, viola parts are generally easier than violin parts.

2) I can't differentiate a viola from a violin, or even a freaking cello sometimes.  You won't believe how annoyed I am by this fact.  Learning the clarinet enabled me to distinguish all the woodwinds, so maybe learning the viola would help me distinguish the strings.

3) Familiarizing myself with the alto clef would make reading string quartet scores or or orchestral scores much easier.

4) The viola in principle can play all the notes the violin can play.  But I learned the last couple days that yes, it's in principle possible, just very hard.  But I can turn it into my specialty!

5) Unlike the cello, which would also be a good choice, it's much cheaper and much more portable.

Stewart thought I 'd pick the viola because of the clarinet... no no no.  I also have the misconception that the viola is a "superset" of the violin.  And my mind went "Viola is strictly better than the violin" and didn't seem open to turning back.

The only problem is that obviously string instruments are hard to learn.

But hey, better to learn it early on.  I'm not that old yet.  My fingers are still nimble.

Probably gonna rent an instrument online.  Probably in about a week or so.

Would I need a teacher?  Amazingly, I don't want to.  I don't intend on practicing much more than 20-30 minutes a day.  Though you can argue, it's exactly because I don't intend on spending that much time on it I need a teacher to make sure I pick up all the good habits.  I've watched a few youtube videos on how to play the violin.  The viola is just a slightly bigger violin.

Already, today, as I'm playing the Paganini-Liszt E-major etude (Caprice #1), I'm imagining how a violin would play this piece.  It does add a significant amount of interesting new ideas.  And it's funny, I practiced transposing this piece down a fifth... how one would play it on a viola.  Good practice on transposing.

Also La Campenella.  I listen to this piece and have a better direction how some notes "should" be played.  Like, turns; the violin tends to put undue (a pianist's bias?) emphasis on the first note of a turn (mordent).  I've been playing these turns light.  Accenting the first note is an interesting concept!