Viola Gauntlet, Day 2 (Tuesday): Shifting - key of D major. 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. Shifting in D major: guide-note shifts from 1st position up to 3rd, 5th and 7th, same-finger and new-finger shifts, one-finger scales and a three-octave scale with marked shift points. Every shift target is held over a drone of that note so you can hear whether you landed, and the day ends with a short melody that climbs to 7th position.
1. Open-string long tones - One unbroken tone per bow, in tune with the drone; closer to the bridge: slower bow, more weight (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. Guide-note shifts: 1st to 3rd - Slide the OLD finger to the small note, then drop the new one; hold and check 5. Shifts to 4th and 5th position - Bigger shifts, same method: light finger, steady arm, land and listen 6. Shifts to 6th position - Long slides on D and A: aim by ear, hold the target and match the drone 7. Shifts to 7th position - The longest slides of the day: D5 and F#5 on the D string, A5 and D6 on the A (stretch: 7th position: D6 on the A string in tune on the first try) 8. Same finger vs. new finger - Climb 1st to 5th position and back: slide on one finger, then swap fingers 9. One-finger scales - One finger slides a whole octave: the arm measures every distance (stretch: the A-string octave on finger 1 (up to A5 in 7th position)) 10. D major, 3 octaves: shift points - Shift where marked (3 to 1 going up, 1 to 3 coming down); keep the slides quiet (stretch: the top octave (7th position, up to D6) in 8-per-bow slurs) 11. Melody: climbing to 7th position - Sing it on the viola: the shifts are part of the phrase, not gaps in it (stretch: bars 13-14: the shift to 7th position and a full, in-tune D6)
Full week, PDFs and backing tracks: https://www.grahampaasch.com/viola-gauntlet