Viola Gauntlet, Day 1 (Monday): Scales & arpeggios - key of C major / C melodic minor. A daily practice routine for viola with a play-along backing track: the score scrolls with a playhead, every exercise has a 2-bar count-in. Three-octave scales and the Flesch arpeggio cycle in C, slow bows first, then faster slurs. The drone and a soft string chord sit under every scale so you can hear intonation, not just feel it.
1. Open-string long tones - One unbroken tone per bow, in tune with the drone; middle sounding point, full even tone (stretch: 12-beat bows with no audible bow change) 2. Drone intonation - Each note rings with the drone - no beats; thirds low, leading note high 3. Fifths across strings - One finger flat across two strings: a pure fifth means the hand frame is right 4. C major scale, 3 octaves - Even tone and exact shifts from C3 to C6 and back; bow speed matched to slurs (stretch: 16ths at q=80, 8 per bow, without rushing the top octave) 5. C melodic minor, 3 octaves - Raised 6th and 7th going up, natural going down; keep the minor third low (stretch: 16ths at q=80 with the top octave as clean as the bottom) 6. Arpeggio cycle (Flesch), 3 octaves - Six arpeggios that all start on C: frame the hand, shift on the open finger (stretch: 6 per bow at this tempo; land C6 in tune every time) 7. Seventh arpeggios, 3 octaves - Four notes per octave: the hand frame changes shape, the shifts stay quiet (stretch: 16th-note pass, 8 per bow, through C6) 8. Broken thirds, 2 octaves - Finger pairs land together; hear each third against the drone 9. Scales on one string - A whole octave on ONE string: shifts by 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4, slow and slide-free (stretch: the A string octave (A4 to A5) clean, no audible slides) 10. Chromatic scale, 2 octaves - Tiny, even half steps; the fingers move like a zipper, not a slide 11. Performance pass, with a groove - Play the scales like music: steady 16ths, big tone, locked to the bass (stretch: all six passes at q=84 without a stumble)
Full week, PDFs and backing tracks: https://www.grahampaasch.com/viola-gauntlet