Easy Christmas Carols Instrumental Solos for Strings: Viola Book & CD

Warm, familiar, and purposeful. These carols carry their own emotional weight, and Alfred's arrangements honor that by keeping the writing clean and the harmonic support steady. You'll feel supported by the accompaniment without being overwhelmed by it.

Viola students at the early elementary reading level who are ready to perform real repertoire beyond exercise books. This works equally well for private studio lessons, group classes, and holiday recitals, since the arrangements are flexible enough for solo performance or combination with other string players.

• Listen to the demo track first with your instrument in hand. Mark any bowings, dynamic shifts, or articulations that stand out in the recording, then apply those details to your own performance.
• Work through each carol in short phrases rather than top to bottom. The play-along track will be there once you're ready, but breaking the piece into 4 or 8-bar sections builds accuracy faster.
• Pay close attention to the balance between melody and accompaniment on the CD. The recorded strings show restraint, giving you space to sing through your line without fighting the texture.

Build a winter concert around a mix of these solos and duets. If you have violins and cellos learning from the same series, you can program selections as chamber pieces or keep each instrument separate depending on how your ensemble develops. A few carols also work well as interludes between larger ensemble pieces.

• Reading in first position across the full range of the viola
• Sustaining tone quality at varying dynamic levels
• Phrasing within familiar melodic structures
• Listening and playing along with recorded accompaniment
• Coordinating bowings and articulations from a notated part