all state 2021

All State 2021

Concert (9th & 10th Grade) Orchestra

Viola Practice Packet

Fingerings and Exercises written by:

Kaitlin Springer, Violist & Teaching Artist

Table of Contents

Page 3 – Forward

Page 4 – All State Requirements

Page 9 – Excerpt with Optional Fingerings and Bowings

Page 11 – Scales with Fingerings

Page 13 – Etude Practice

Page 14 – Excerpt Practice

Page 15 – Sight Reading Tips for Audition Day

Page 16– What in the World is Score Studying?!

Page 18 – Score Study

0 – Score Selection of Required Excerpt

Forward

The following packet represents all the things that I wish I could have had as a young violist in middle school

and high school. As a Teaching Artist, it has been a great privilege to visit schools throughout Pinellas County

and get to know the hundreds of young people who make up the orchestra classes and youth orchestras in the

area.

One of the many goals that we have in The Florida Orchestra and in Pinellas County is to give young people the

tools they need to grow into successful adults. There is no better way to do this than to encourage young

musicians to put themselves out there by auditioning for All State and All County. The All State experience is

incredible – music students could join other top young musicians from throughout the state of Florida in a full

symphonic orchestra concert. It is an opportunity to make new friends, work with great instructors, and push

ahead toward greater musicianship.

Whether or not you plan on continuing music through college and adulthood, practicing music has great

benefits for your future success. By practicing music, we practice creativity, problem-solving, artistry, and

teamwork. Above all else – we have fun!

I hope that this packet helps to make the process of auditioning for All State at least a little bit easier. The

process will take many hours of dedicated practicing, but it is well worth it! If you are not used to practicing

your instrument every day, start small and work up your daily practice time gradually. For the first week

practice 30 minutes for four days. Week 2 practice 45 minutes for five days. Week 3 practice 1 hour for four

days, and so on. When preparing for an audition, I practice between 3-5 hours a day (and rehearsal hours don’t

count!), so that gives you an idea of how much a professional musician might practice.

For more resources and videos check out TFO’s Virtual Learning Site linked below:

https://floridaorchestra.org/education-community/virtual-learning/

For all the latest educational videos, performances, and news, subscribe to the YouTube page:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheFloridaOrchestra

Best of luck on your All State Audition, and Happy Practicing!

Kaitlin Springer

Teaching Artist, The Florida Orchestra

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FloridaAllState-3OctaveScaleRequirementsFingeringsbyKaitlinSpringer

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Kreutzer 7 All State Practice

1. Scale & Arpeggio practice- This etude is made up almost entirely of scales and arpeggios, so the first step

will be to practice the A Major 2 Octave scale and arpeggio. Play this with the drone on A and repeat every

day:

2. Passage work- Look at measures 3-4, bar 3 begins by outlining the A Major arpeggio we practiced with the

same fingering and bar 4 begins with a downward descent from the top of the A Major scale.

Break this passage down by finding the scale and arpeggio patterns starting in bar 3. Practice this passage in

first position to get the sound in your ear, then practice it with the given fingering:

Simple Fingering: Written Fingering:

Now add in the descending scale from the top A, pause, and add the arpeggio that follows it in the passage.

When you land on the A, check it with your open A-it should be a perfect match:

3. Ending breakdown- Kreutzer etudes sometimes have a wildly technical ending. This is one of those etudes,

so break down the last 2 bars by using the “cross and shift” method:

“Cross and Shift” – For every string crossing freeze and say “cross”-this is indicated by the “X”. For every Shift

say “shift”

Follow along with the Kreutzer 12 Practice Video on TFO’s YouTube page:

https://youtu.be/2VwMJST9D9M

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1.

1.

Mozart Symphony 35 Excerpt Practice Tips

1. Intonation Practice – Mozart’s symphonies represent the pinnacle of the Classical era. The harmonies must be

sparkling clean, with every note ringing true to the D major scale. Before tackling this music, practice the 2-octave D

Major scale with a tuning drone set to D. Once this is complete, simplify the main theme and practice slowly with the

drone. How slow? Slow enough that you can hear every how every single note sounds with the drone!

Example:

Practice one bracketed section at a time-if there is a trill do not play it

For set 1, keep the drone on D. For set 2, practice with the drone on D or A. For set 3, practice with the drone on A or F#.

The octaves present the biggest challenge, so meet this challenge with great patience and discipline!

2. Rhythm Practice – Mozart 35 is full of rhythmic challenges because there are many rests and long notes. Studying

the score is a great way to learn how the music sounds-it can help you create a soundtrack in your head to play along

with during the audition and it also helps us understand how our rhythm fits in with what’s going on. We will cover How

to Score Study later – for now, try an exercise that I use all the time to improve rhythm performance in auditions. Count

the pulse out loud as you are playing the following exercise. The metronome should always be on for this exercise.

Example 2 –

Before trying the Count Out Loud exercise on the entire passage, get used to counting the whole notes out loud-this will

help you keep track of the pulse and stay steady.

Challenge: Count out loud for the first two bars of Rehearsal A!

3. Practicing the fast notes – We are going to call this next exercise “Lightning Practice”. This is where you practice

a fast passage by breaking the section down into the smallest bits and practice those extremely small bits extremely

quickly. Lightning Practice the 2nd bar of Rehearsal A.

Example 3: Translates to:

Can you play each little bit in tempo? Gradually make the space between each bit smaller and smaller until you can play

the passage as written!

1234 1234 1234 1234 1234 1234 1234 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

2.

3.

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Sight Reading Tips for All State Audition Day!

Sight-reading is a valuable skill when you are learning new music or if you want to be able to read new music

with your friends. You will also have to show your sight-reading chops when you audition for All State. The

more you practice sight reading and improve at it, the more confident you will be when you learn a new piece,

sight read for an audition, or play music with your friends!

Here are some things to think about as you practice sight-reading:

1. Identify Key Features using the STARS method:

Sharps/flats (Key Signature) – Make sure to scan the whole page for key changes that might come in

later and take you by surprise!

Time Signature/tempo – Make sure to scan the whole page for time signature changes as well.

Accidentals –

Rhythms – Look out for changes in the rhythm pattern as well as complex rhythms.

Signs – Repeats, endings, dynamics, articulations

2. Sing ahead – Silently sing through portions of the excerpt while lightly tapping a pulse. If it is a long

excerpt, do this with the first line and with some of the challenging parts that you identified with the help of

the STARS method.

3. Shadow play – Silently air bow as much of the excerpt as you can. If you have extra time, spend a little

more time on the first line of music and the challenging parts you already identified.

4. Take deep breaths – This is one of the most important and helpful things we can do, but in the

moment it is so easy to forget to breathe! Try this exercise to practice deep breathing:

Inhale for 5….4…..3…..2….1, and Exhale for 5….4….3….2….1

Inhale for 7….6….5….4….3….2….1, and Exhale for 7….6….5….4….3….2….1

Inhale for 10…9….8….7….6….5…..4….3….2….1, and Exhale for 10….9….8….7….6….5….4…..3….2….1

The challenge is to be slow and deliberate in your breathing, take 3 deep breaths before you start playing to

relax your body and calm your nerves.

5. Take your time – Last but certainly not least! Remember that this is your time, and the adjudicators

want you to succeed. There should be at least 7 seconds of preparation time before you start playing each of

your pieces. That means there should be a 7 second space between when the adjudicator says time is up and

when you actually start playing. This is the time to take 3 deep breaths, look over the first line of music one

more time, and take another 3 deep breaths.

6. Be kind to yourself – Before you start playing tell yourself something kind, like “I’ve got this!” or “I

know this piece so well, I’m going to do awesome!”. When the audition is over do the same thing. You might

say something like “I did my best!”, or “I did well at…” and list at least a couple things you were happy with.

It’s easy to get caught up with the imperfections or to feel down if something goes differently than you hoped,

but what is important is that you learned your music and you had the courage to put yourself out there!

15

What in the world is score studying?!

By TFO Teaching Artists Kristin Baird, Violin

Kaitlin Springer, Viola

What is a score? A score is what the conductor looks at. All of the parts for every instrument are shown on the same page. That’s why the conductor’s part has so many pages!

What is score-studying? Every section of an ensemble has their own part, but all of those parts together make a piece of music. Score studying is when we look at the score to learn how our part fits in with everybody else. It helps up to learn our own part with confidence, musicality, and accuracy.

Why should I study the score? Score studying helps us to work better as a team in an ensemble. For example, if you have the melody you might sing your part more. If you have a long note, you need to know what kind of inflection or shape to make in order to support the melody. If someone else in the orchestra has running eighth notes, you need to play your part more metronomically without taking too much time. This is why we look at the score while listening to a recording - so we can mark our own part and better understand how we fit into the larger picture.

How do I find a copy of the score? Many scores can be found on IMSLP.org. You can also ask your school orchestra or band teacher if they can make you a copy.

Things to look for in the score. Page 2 is an example from Beethoven’s Egmont Overture.

• Check the key signature, time signature, and tempo markings.

• The Melody is highlighted in yellow. Always know who has the melody! If you have the melody, your part is probably very singing and melodic. If you don’t have the melody, how can you shape your part so that it supports your friends that are playing the melody. You’re a team!

• Metronomic rhythms are highlighted in. Parts with smaller note values function as our ensemble’s metronome.

• Rhythms that must fit in with ours like a puzzle piece are highlighted in blue. These are

the parts that often play during rests, like off beats.

16

If you play a yellow part, you have the melody! But make sure you’re not late after the rest. The blue parts make up the first 3 eight notes of the bar, you have the last three eight notes of the bar.

If you play a blue part, make sure that you’re matching the shape of the yellow part and doing the same amount of crescendo.

If you play a green part, make sure that you very even, steady, and matching the shape of the yellow melody. If you are holding a long note, play the same shape as the yellow melody, but change your notes at the right time by listening to the rhythm in the blue and green.

17

Score-Study : Mozart Symphony 35

What is Score Studying? - Score studying is when you read a full music score to learn more about a piece of

music.

What is it good for? – Score Studying is extremely valuable when you are learning chamber music, orchestra

music, or practicing for auditions. By learning the other parts of a piece, you can learn how your part fits in

with the other parts. If there are complicated rhythms, you can make sense of what the rhythms should

sound like together. Use the score to help learn the role of each part – who has the melody? Who has the

harmony? Which part should be heard the most? Which part is providing support to a melody or even counter

melody? The answers to these questions will guide you on how to better practice your music.

Where do I find a score so that I can Score-Study? A lot of chamber music scores and orchestra music

scores are available on www.IMSLP.org. If the music you are learning is not in the public domain, you may

have to purchase the score online or at a music shop.

Score Reading Tip It always helps me to listen to the piece while I am studying the score. If I am trying to

learn something extremely well, I will listen to other instruments that I think will be important so that I learn

the other parts as well as my own.

Where do I start? Let’s start by looking at the score of Mozart’s Symphony 35, Mvt. 1:

Melody

Rhythm

Rhythm

Flutes

Oboes

Bassoons

Horn

Trombone

Timpani

Timpani

Violin 1

Violin 2

Viola

Cello/bass

18

http://www.imslp.org/

Identify the circled parts of the score that we know:

1. The viola part is near the bottom – String parts are always at the bottom of the score

2. Key/Time Signatures – We can see that the key signature is D Major. There isn’t a time signature symbol,

but each bar has four beats so we can assume 4/4 time or cut time (It’s in cut time)

3. Rehearsal letters and Measure numbers – Helps keep track of where you are!

Look at Rehearsal A and ask some questions:

1. If the violas start with a bar of mostly rests, what is happening in the first bar? – The violins are playing the

music that the violas are about to play in the second bar, so they are passing us the line to continue.

2. What is happening when the viola part is only whole notes? Is there a melody or rhythm that we can listen

to that will help us keep track of where we are? - Yes! The violins have the melody, and the basses and

bassoons have steady 8th notes that help us keep track of where we are! When you are practicing, listening,

and even as you are on stage, try to hear one of those rhythmic driving parts in your head to help keep your

long section of whole notes steady.

These are some examples of how score study can help you understand a piece better and improve your

practice sessions. You can also look in the score for signs that the key has changed and the harmonies should

sound different, you could look for other instruments that are playing the same music you are, or you can use

it to help understand which part is important. Sometimes when musicians play in ensembles together we have

to look at a score to determine what to bring out or what should stay in the background. There are a lot of

great ways to use score study – next time you listen to a piece of music try following along in the score and see

how the experience is different!

Melody

Rhythm

Rhythm

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