Stamitz Concerto in D for Viola

[spunkaygal]

i'm playing the third movement for contest. any suggestions?

[MiniMizRee]

what kind of viola is that? i play a handmade copy of the Antonius Stradivarius (1979) made in France. the model is an Elle I believe. i desperately need a new one. do you have an recommendations for one?

[MiniMizRee]

this is amazing. i went last school year playing the violin (for 5 years) but my orchestra director asked me to switch to viola so i did and i love it. im pretty good, but i wish i could play this well. (: its amazing.

[gigirandom]

25 people play only the violin and despise the magical C open!

[QQandGG]

can anyone upload one that is in g major??? plz

[evanea666]

good!

[MrVreDnay]

гыгы...а зачем смычок разделили белой полосочкой?это чтоб не потеряться?гыгыгы...

[darksith77]

Wow, some of these people are asses. Good Job! Ignore the people who say they are much better because I guarantee they probably aren't, just asses.

GOOD JOB! :D

[whadufxupwityou]

i'm playing the 3rd movement for NYSSMA and i really enjoy how you play, it's such a different take on the piece , beautiful.

[gsbreath2]

how long have you been playing?

[54294493]

fome

[francobreak]

malo esa cadencia del segundo movimiento apesta y se escuchan todos los cambios

[Blakeownzyou]

Yeah. It was pretty good!! 4stars.

However, I think that your still having to thinking about intonation a lot more than you should. Your shifts are a bit "iffy", almost like you're unsure of where to go on the fingerboard. Your upper register is a bit light; the opposite can be said for you lower register.

2nd movement- lighten up a bit

3rd movement- lighten up ALOT(it could help to move your bow hold up on your bow a bit)

[lespulido]

i loved it .. gime some tips, im just starting to play viola :)

[keboy22]

u play good i play viola too

[SigmaX305]

Excelent execution, but exist moments that you fail in the afination, but you're fine :) excelent.

[MNM0000000000]

Nice double stops.

what sixe viola is that? looks a bit small.

[anychow]

you can do without the little sticker on your bow (if that's what it is) :)

[Clarkedj2140]

Hey!

You have beautiful tone and a beautiful instrument. Sometimes it feels like your still thinking about the notes.

I'd love to hear this with an orchestra when you have learned it by heart!

[DaOrange22]

Fantastic. Although you could do something more with the ends of phrases in the second movement. Stamiz was a genius, and you definitely have the talent to pull it off, just add a bit more soul.

[OnlyTiBette91]

it sounds really nice!i agree with violinist22689..my teacher makes me play 3 octave scales all the time and i tell you listening really well instead of just playing will help your intonation.also,i recomend you bring your albow down some..its helps with sonud and you wont have to put a lot of force in your hands.Your vibrato is bautiful and i love how your left hand is very relaxed!KEEP UP THE GOOD JOB!^_^

[nistorik]

not so good...i play better...

[cheekychoppyoppy]

BIG HEAD!!! why not try to give support instead of being all up yaself, i play viola n violin too and hes really good for 1 or 2 year!!!! if u not got nothin nice to say dont say it at all!

[minid15]

nice technic and vibrato, but i think that you should practice the afination. five stars

[percussionist624]

that sounds beatiful, I think I might want to pick up viola myself, and if I do I'd want to play a piece like this when I am good enough. Well technichally it's a concerto so that would make it consist of movements rather than one piece, wouldn't it. Anyway well done.

[certainlylisa]

Wow. that was absolutely amazing. Very beautiful.

[violinist22689]

It sounded really nice, but how familiar are you with your viola? I'm a recent convert myself after doing my first college semester as violin performance, and I have had to do some basic tonalization exercises to improve my intonation. (It also didn't help that I bought a new viola to replace my old one.) How far did you get on violin before switching over? Something that I've found from switching is that when I go back to violin, my intonation is a lot better. Good job.

[walllboy]

I have played viola for over 37 years, taught privately and played professionaly for over 30 of those years. Many students have come to me with tape on their finger boards and bows. The first thing I do is remove the tape, may I suggest you do the same. Remove that tape and consider three octave scales a daily routine. You play well and keep up the good work.

[ivefalleninlove]

i wish i could play that good ive only played for 3 years but im not athat good :( but i will get better :P

[JaemaFiel]

Did you play violin before?

[nuryaGW4ever]

lovely..

[alex12431243]

it was ok

[wedranj]

o god. u rocks. u shouLd teach us . everybody.

u shouLd call yuri bashmet and teach him sme tehnic things about vioLa:>

U R our God!

[nikfiddle]

hey "wedranj" don't be so cruel with the guy. if this is his 1st or 2nd year he is very good! He has a relaxed hands, just he doesn't know yet how to use them. I hope he has a good teacher.

Good luck, guy! And use your ear! ;)

[hanok99]

amazing!!

i'm looking for good players~

check my video please!!

[meola]

To answer someone of your questions: I've been playing viola for 4 years. This video was filmed when I had been playing it for three years. I played in the Boston Youth Symphony. Thank you for the positive comments guys

[Brijustme00]

how long have you been playing? i'm not that good but i've been playing for 3 years! awesomeness!

[crapyb]

how long dose it take to get that good

[maneater345]

Depends on how much you practice. This is a pretty simple song in notes and counting. Perfecting it is hard. I remember playing this song in orchestra 2 years after i had been playing the viola.

[Violagrl10]

Nice song.

Need to work on you being the star, not your accompanist; tell them to quiet down a hair.

Remember to produce as much clear sound as you can in the upper positions.

Your shifting is good, but see if you can work on then being a little cleaner. This is stuff we all have to work on though. Nothing is perfect right away. keep up the good work.

[hcbxo]

great job but ive seen other peoples comments and i have to say the same thing. your elbow is a little awkward so lower it a little. it doesnt seem to be affecting your playing but it may seem a little more confortable. great job though!!!

[jdwalker84]

some of the suggestions from people are retarded...strings don't cause a squeak. anyway, you could really open up your sound if you'd relax both of your shoulders and open up your back. and use more bow!!!

[ciociolinu]

Good stuff! Just lower a little both instrument and right elbow - looks like taking off :) More relaxed position gives extra kick to the sound. More dynamics and better fingerings would help alot. cheers.

[KhmerSakura]

WoW this is so nicely done Alex! =D

[mjvmusic]

NICE song! *orders* I guess I'll give some little advice along with everyone else. You keep the bow between the fingerboard and bridge, which is really good. But yeah, if I had to say anything, it would be to get better strings since those seem to do the squeak. Good strings reverberate the tone and give it that thick, dark sound the viola is known for. But it might just be the youtube video quality. Good job, though!

[ickyyyyyy]

this is excellent, you make me proud to be a violist. rock on. =)

[spunkybelle1127]

wow sounds great, I played this piece and got into New Englands,but ended up not going (Vermont Youth Orchestra). You play well, although you are clearly a violin convert : ) I think you need to keep your right elbow in check, otherwise, nice vibrato keep it up!

[meola]

it's the primrose edition.

[Smacky08]

Are you gonna be in the NH All-state orch again tis year, or did you graduate? I was in it last year, but I was all the way in the back because my teacher gave me the suzuki edition of the audition piece, lol. i barely made it by sightreading. Your tone is nice.

I was wondering, though, which edition of the concerto are you using, because your cadenza is a LOT better than the one written in my edition by Milton Katims.

[Acekilahh]

hello=) i have to say you have very good arm weight and trills! with you're shifting try shifting on the finger that you are on.. thats what my teacher nags me about and it does work because you a frame of reference and you'll end up with clean shifts =)

[yulxlover4]

btw u look like the non-asian version of my boyfriend lol

^^

4th year huh?

damn ... its gonna take me that long to get where ure at? T.T

[sirsquickalot]

Your right elbow is way too high - if you're uncomfortable, it's not the right thing to do. Trust your body more than your teacher forcing you to have a high elbow. It doesn't help. Otherwise well done ;)

[yulxlover4]

hey u sound really good although there are a few mess ups.. .but thats okay im still really impressed!!!

how long have u been playing? ^^

i hope to get to where your at soon >.<

[meola]

this is the 4th year I've been playing. I played violin before that. thanks for the positive comments guys

[PingPongAssasin]

you are in the boston uth sym?

i'm in the kansas city uth sym.

neato.

[kcomeau56]

Hey Alex, finally getting around to watching the video. You sound great! I agree it takes some guts to put yourself out there like that, good for you. I know you know better than to pay any attention to some of those rude comments. I think you have a great sound. Mimi knows her stuff!

-Kate :)

[Lifestream]

Great video, man. I know how it is to play an instrument and just be brought down by elitists. Just posting this takes some real cajones and you know what, from the eye of a spectator, I really enjoyed this piece. I hope the bitterness of other Youtubers hasn't got you down. It seems all to easy to badmouth others under an anonymous alias these days.

Cheers, hope to hear more!

[ixlovexcarly4]

hey bro not too shabby. ive been playing for 6 years and it sounded nice. keep your bow straight and put a bit more feel into it and use the whole bow but then again im not too familiar with this piece so i wouldn't know how much bow to be using. props though man it takes some courage to post this on youtube.

diggin the glasses

[zauntel]

....that was brave of you to put this on the internet for the world to see.

[meola]

alright. if you're going to post a comment about your life story and how long you've been playing music and how you think this piece is easy I don't really care. Put something up of your own and show us what you got. Don't tell me you've played way harder music because I don't really care. I'd rather have someone tell me that I suck than they're first chair in their high school, they've played in different orchestras, and on top of all that they're in the "nineth grade" only.

[SuperKitsune13]

Wow, I'm only in the nineth grade (this year) and I'm planning on trying for a harder course of music. I've only tried things that were...eh...easy to alot of people I guess. I hope I get a good seat this year, I had to be in sixth out of seven violas, ONLY because I missed one point out of twenty. XP I made up for it though, cause when I tried for Honor Orchestra, I got second char out of 8 or 9 violas :3

[Roryx9]

hey im first chair in my high school orchestra and something i can tell you is to really got to put some more effort in controlling ur bow movement... (Create pressure in different areas of ur bow to create different volumes and textures) anddd u really gotta have some fucking vibrato.... its so boring without it...

but pretty much everything eles was fine. good job :) 6/10

[violalord1]

you could be a bit deeeeeper. Crap, I haven't even seen the whole video.

[Korsair777]

not really that special, ive been studying viola for 8 months, and am able to play that, pretty simple song, but then again what isnt?

i never had a tutor, just two days of the basics, and learned everything off videos, correct bowing, pizzacato, everything much. =]

[Divina09]

there is no way in hell you can do that it takes years of experience to be even called a good player stop hating............

[meola]

divina09, it takes about 4 years to do all that.

[ipmoic]

This is youtube. Don't expect a professional every time you tune in! Nor be overly critical of a learner. However, for Meola to say he is "satisfied" with this raises some serious questions......

[busy91]

Your vibrato is fantastic. There were some pitchy notes but all in all really very good. I haven't played the viola in 24 years, I switched to violin recently. But you sound lovely.

[ijsselland]

Have you no shame?

[TTom1234567]

nice job!!! I'm a violist myself and I just performed this song for a judge and got perfect score. You were a little pitchy and u might want to learn how to save your bow but produce big sound at the same time. Oh by the way, im 14 and playing the same solo as u. Ha

[mzcharmingz]

just lovely<33

[calum111]

Pretty nifty.

Give me tips.

[drurylane5]

it seems like you should work on more bow technique (some parts were rushed and you ran out of bow), also it was a little pitchy.

[meola]

First things first I'd like to thank people for the compliments and the constructive criticism. However, I can't take any of the people who bash this video seriously because none of them have their own videos up. Btw, tomorrow night I'm performing Bach's Brandenburg made for viola d'gambas but transposed/re-written for four violas and cello. I'll have the video up on the site by Wednesday.

[Hippieelfchic]

yay viola players! I'm a violist meself. I'm looking at your viola and it seems a little small. How big is it?

[meola]

It's a 15 and a half. made by rudolf doesch (spl?). It's fairly small but I think it makes a great sound. Btw, everyone out there, I'll be posting a new video up next Tuesday night of me and 4 other violists playing Bach's Brandenburg for two violas, and two viola de gambas.

[lolotx]

nicely done good sir...hehe i play viola too! viola players till the end!!!!!

[joanmirolives]

i disagree with the comment before the last one

slow movements on the viola should be lighter on the vibrato

you should also relax your hand more on your shifts.

it will fix most of the intonation problems

in the end

you are well on your way to mastering this piece

good work

you need to use your bow more effectively

[Violasinno]

Well i disagree with both of you. i feel that you should swith up the amount of vibrato that you use. to make it seem alive. but you should never use like huge vibrato because it just sounds out of tune

[princsprk08]

beautiful. keep it up

[mrhumpydink]

sounds pretty okay..

intonation is not the best thing in the world..

but hey you're still young

try more vibrato

EVERY GOOD VIOLIST SHOULD HAVE A STEADY VIBRATO TO ENRICH THE LOWER SOUND

[ifrit1780]

pretty!

[theopticking]

süperrrrrrr.oh my got!

[vlnvlaclogbaerhpno]

if you've really only been playing for a year and a half, GREAT job. there are lots of schools of playing and philosophies on technique, interpretation, and BOWHOLD. I think you'd have a better time if you lost the 'Russian' bowhold and retracted your index finger. also, you'd be wise to not do trills using you 4th finger. try to just use 2 and 3 for the trill notes...it makes life much easier.

[retardedfolks]

OMFG! AL DI MEOLA!

[xandloveimyoursx]

Don't listen to those ignorant people. You are correct, your arm level is supposed to change according to what string you're on. I'd like to see that guy do string crossings as well as you do. Who cares if you play on a small viola, it's just preference. Ugh, the arrogance of some people. Excellent job my friend, kudos to you and your teacher.

[meola]

thanks for all the positive comments everyone. I'm still working on finding a way to convert my other concert video to a smaller file to put up here.

[AmaireDeznater]

You look fine to me.I've played worse. >_< I'm getting there...i tink.Anyways,your sound isn't as bad as people make it look like.Your elbow is fine. I fink my teacher would be proud of you if you were his student. ^^

[popminer]

i think you sound good.

technique is however you see it.

does anyone remember the famous violinist who only used about....15% of his bow?

yeah.

[compuryan123]

Geese there are some nasty comments here. You're doing a great job. Intonation and style are excellent. Everyone's technique can always be improved. Your tone could also improve, a new instrument and bow would help more than you might think, depending on the quality of the one you have now. keep playing!

[jayjay925]

man i wish you had a better cadenza to the 2nd movement; it's supposed to be a pure display of virtuosity, and frankly... yours shows nothing. perhaps i can send you mine (though i think you might have some trouble learning it)

[Tshj0M3]

nice effort, but your overall expression on the piece doesn't show, it's probably because your reading the music, but if you can put more body movement and emotion to every single note you play. Also make the notes more clear and vibrant and MORE VIBRATO PLZ!!

[mandaaa44]

YAY VIOLISTS! we need more in the world :D. great work man

[bas92190]

Well, it's a good start. I say that in the nicest way possible and as someone who's only been playing for half a year and will already be in Advanced next year.

That is a small viola.

Fix your bow hold, and... stuff.

The viola's tone quality isn't amazing, but that's not neccesarily something you can fix.

Just keep working, and you'll get better.

I do agree the shifts are too obvious, and I don't even shift yet. >.<;

[isovelvetgruyere]

the best way to play anything is naturally. Drop the arm. Especially if you are crossing from the lower to the higher strings. And you are not russian. The best musicians always say "I put my bow on the string and when I get to the end, I go the other way." Watch the great violists. They dont look like chickens. You also sacrifice alot of tone that way too.

[ares7768]

who are you, Leopold Mozart with that "drop the arm stuff"? THIS IS STAMITZ! You cannot play like it was something out of Haydn's imagination! That antiquated styling was thrown out centuries ago. "Naturally" for a violist means arching and moving, and moving often. How would you expect to play anything on the C string w/o arching the arm or anything? You'd end up with a horrible Russian bow hold.

[isovelvetgruyere]

I just want to slap his teacher. Where do you learn to hold a bow like that?

[meola]

dude, you're an idiot. without the higher elbow, string crossings wouldn't be as easy as they are. I agree that the dynamics aren't expressed correctly. But don't diss my teacher, she knows what shes doing. I have a copy of the video I played with my school's orchestra that im working on converting to get onto this site. once its up u'll see that I can play dynamics and that my bow arm helps produce a great sound.

[isovelvetgruyere]

elbow is too high. vibrato is too slow. Shifts too obvious. Lacks dynamics. Singing and conducting helps.

Good job piano lady!

[chogno98]

I'm a violist and I must say, good job buddy! Keep it up.

[htom91]

oh my god i hate stringaholics...don't let those arrogant jerks put you down...you sound better than i ever will! keep it up!

[rondamon]

I am a violist too, i know how hard is it, dont let bad comments , keep practicing, its ok. Sorry my english.

[Lord0fTheCheese]

Is that guy huge? Or is that the smallest viola you've ever seen??

[IhaveaCstring]

this is nice =D keep up the awesome work! =]

[Fofofogo21]

I hope you are not serious. This is awful! No movement, no intonation, no phrasing. I wonder you´ve had a nerve to take it on You Tube...

[asiancraig27]

Good shiz Alex.

[mmccarn]

what kind of viola you got? it doesn't sound like a very good quality

[melancholybutterfly2]

You did great is there any chance you have the sheet music to this piece?

[jpteh4th]

quite good meola, i must say i am impressed

[retardedfolks]

LOL. AL DI MEOLA~~~

..

[genmaximus110]

I love the viola. Keep up the good work. Where's movement 1? :) Great choice of concerto.

[1DorK]

It sounds great. Good job buddy

[franzsilvestri]

al di meola,you're the best!!