Building Technic With Beautiful Music, Book III: Viola Book

This book meets viola students exactly where they are developmentally, offering repertoire that sounds substantial and rewarding to play while building the left-hand independence and bow control that young violists often struggle with. The careful selection of pieces means you're not assigning exercises disguised as music; students actually feel like musicians while their technique deepens.

The pieces in this collection read as accessible yet genuine music, avoiding the overly simplified sound of typical exercises while remaining technically manageable. Each selection feels substantial enough to hold a student's musical interest, transforming technique practice into actual musicmaking.

Young violists working through intermediate early-intermediate repertoire who benefit from structured technical development without sacrificing musical substance. This book works well for players in later elementary through early middle school levels, especially those preparing for more demanding orchestral or solo material.

• Focus on achieving a consistent tone in the solid bowings before moving faster. The beauty of these pieces depends on bow-arm stability, so resist the urge to rush tempos.
• When introducing spiccato passages, isolate them in slow rhythm patterns first. The fundamental rhythms in this book build spiccato gradually, so honor that scaffolding.
• Use the book's order deliberately. Starting with earlier pieces helps establish the left-hand habits that make later, more complex passages accessible.
• Attend closely to Applebaum's editing marks and fingering suggestions. They reflect specific pedagogical choices designed to develop proper hand position and shift technique.

Use this as a core supplementary book alongside your standard method, working through it systematically to solidify bow control and left-hand facility between method book lessons. The graduated approach also makes it valuable for violas joining a string orchestra program mid-year, as it quickly builds the fundamental technical skills needed for ensemble work.

• Solid bowings in fundamental rhythmic patterns
• Consistent bow-arm control and tone production
• Left-hand independence and finger agility
• Basic spiccato stroke technique
• Finger position accuracy in first and second positions
• Musical interpretation of simple phrase shapes