Bach Partita 3; Prelude played on viola by Scott Slapin

[cuallito]

Hello Mr. Slapin,

That was wonderful!

I have written a piece for viola, but as all my friends are engineers, not musicians, I don't have anyone to play it. Would you be interested in playing it?

Regards,

Eric

[BigFatCode]

Sometimes the viola sounds better than her little sister,...

[Eva4eva226]

your amazing!!

[S4SS0F0N0]

best violist ever!

[CCBJesse]

which model of viola?

thank you

[tanyaviola]

@CCBJesse It's a Hiroshi Iizuka (Philadelphia)

[underwoodamy95]

Wow... that is good!!!

[dvorakfan1]

Viola shaped like a viol, quite interesting.

[TheDylanDynomite]

That guy has a pretty awesome last name

[gothicgrowler]

OMG I love that viola!! *o*

[S4SS0F0N0]

great sound!

[sand7452]

How many year does he have?

[Grobanite122549]

oh man that viola is so big! lol this was awesome!

[DrkAznAngel6]

holy crap..this is incredible. this helped me motivate on practicing my viola more often [:

[brownbootspanzer]

Excellent Playing! Great piece too. By the way, I have the Model 605 Russian as well. Great sound and the shape is a real head-turner.

[dblivezalwayz]

BRAVO! BRAVO! Clap! Clap! BRAVO!

[yankeeshogun]

Nice playing. On the subject of the photography, the shot from the tip of the viola exaggerates the size of the scroll, making it look huge compared to the body. Cool.

[Basketball677]

This makes my lion city piece sound pathetic :P

[richyloko97]

hey como se llama ese tipo de viola eske yo kiero una de esa forma xD

[richyloko97]

yo cde grande kiero ser como ese vato jajaja la netta xD

[musikgirl1]

You play beautifully.Great sounding viola.I would play it a little slower.

[musikgirl1]

Relax your left hand.

[mythicalviola]

Scott - where did your viola and what kind is it? From one viola player to another, it's beautiful!

[scottslapin]

@mythicalviola Thanks! The viola is made by Hiroshi Iizuka, who is based outside of Philadelphia.

[Beemerboy324]

23 people had their speakers plugged into the computer's mic jack.

[QW5ub255bW91cw]

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO LEARN THIS FROM THE START??!?!?

[bandgeekFH903]

Get a shoulder rest!! You'd be even better if you didnt have to support the viola with your thumb, let your shoulder do all the work(:

[pablo2646]

muy bien.

[maaxpoweer96]

Your Viola is HUGE.

[vi0lad0rk8]

Omg cant wait to try this. Im 13 and this is my next Bach goal after master Prelude. So excited to start this Tuesday :). I hope to be as good as you.

[sand7452]

Nice sound!

[MrJoejoe123]

who made that viola?

[str3123]

@MrJoejoe123 chuck norris

[RandomMalcolm]

My teacher said my hands where starting to get to big and I look uncomfortable playing violin so she switched me to viola. Im gonna make this video my goal of how well i want to be able to play. Its gonna take a long time XD

[klajai]

Very nice!,,,,,,,,

[247videos247]

what size viola is that?

[bf2019]

@247videos247 What size is that: EXTRA HUGE JUMBO BOAT size....hehe

[inthelifeofadog]

he plays the viola like a violin no timbre or deep viola qualities

[ijaszlevi]

What kind of viola is this? It looks much wider, than other violas. BTW it has a lovely sound.

[SuperCMB2011]

hopefully one day i can be as good as this guy!!!

[kelsinor26]

SO GOOD!! 

[sophiefredkin]

never seen the biggest viola,it looks so...weird haha

violin for ever!! haha kindding u are great!

[5that1dude5]

FOR ANYBODY WHO NEEDS SHEET MUSIC:

Check out: i m s l p. o r g / w i k i (without the spaces obviously)

It's a little discombobulated but once you find out the organization it's a god sent for music players.

[TheLilmiss92]

wow you are amazing! ive been playing for 28 years and i could never sound like this!!! keep playing!!

[GetZooteeed]

amazing! The ease of a playing a violin with the beauty and richness of the viola

[Rarodar]

When this ended i thought i was suppose to hear clapping, then i remembered it was a youtube video.

[Kaatisu907]

Sheet music? (:

[piferrg]

@Kaatisu907

"6 Violin Sonatas and Partitas, BWV 1001-1006 (Bach, Johann Sebastian)"

imslp.org/wiki/Special:Imagefr­omIndex/29357

[pamelareno00]

i play a band instrument but now i think i should have chose viola... i was so stupid. anyone who was wondering, i play clarinet. my band teacher says its band.

[Seitong19]

Awesome viola and nice playing I think i played this partita when I was younger but not that fast :D.

[re1dbaron112]

Dude well done, but seriously slow down a little. The viola does not respond like the violin -it is not as highly strung. So had you played it a little more slowly the beauty of the sound would have been far superior.

[re1dbaron112]

Dude well done, but seriously slow down a little. The viola does not respond like the violin -it is not as highly strung. So had you played it a little more slowly the beauty of the sound would have been far superior.

[Shadowtech666]

@re1dbaron112 i see where you are coming from and you're right, but also this piece has a certain polyphonetic effect that only works as a rather fast tempo. That is the interesting thing about Bach, play the same piece at a different tempo and an entirely different mood emerges.

[estan247]

AWESOME!!!! cool viola

[alicevlogs]

Beautiful, thank you.

[Greenleaf3791]

Well done! I really enjoyed it and I think that the viola looks very interesting. =)

[1BigRedDog4u]

Magnificent.....

[Vaylemn]

Why do most violinist have a flab underneath their chin? I know why now. I hope I can prevent this to myself.

[skippertee51]

Tht was awesome!

[rhonda6004]

amazing, thank you for posting for us to see & enjoy. Saving this one!!

[falloutboyfanforeve1]

this is pretty:) i like it

[Drmarrell]

I love the sound

[TwinkleToezReviewz]

If I'm not mistaking, that's an Andreas Eastman model 605 viola to anybody who's wondering. I'm actually thinking about getting one for myself. Especially after watching this video.

[Swimmingmania]

@TwinkleToezReviewz I have the Eastman 305, which is similar to the 605, i considared buying it but decided for highschool I didn't need to spend the extra money towards it. That's not the 605, the 605 is the classic shape based off of the stradivarius. If this is an Eastman, its from the master series, it should be the 905.

[TwinkleToezReviewz]

@Swimmingmania Actually I think we're both wrong. lol. I googled it and that is a one of a kind viola that he owns. It's no particular model. It was made just for him.

[Swimmingmania]

@TwinkleToezReviewz Ah, maybe. It looks like the 905, I was just correcting that it wasn't the 605 for sure. Thanks!

[AnotherViolist]

I must say this is a somewhat messy recording. It seems like he has a nice viola though, for which I am jealous. He seems to not have very fine bow control though.

[NerisseRayne]

Sounds very good!

[RetardedCoati]

19 people play band instruments.

[dolofonos]

@RetardedCoati Your comment well-suits the prefix of your name. I can think of few musicians of talent more sought after by Baroque composers than those who played brass instruments.

[dtgallagallallagher]

@dolofonos umm... he was making a funny joke.

[SCharton1972]

Very nicely played, Scott. You've got some chops fo sho! Either you're playing a HUGE viola or you're a tiny man. LOL Which is it?

[TMSVioloncellist]

HUGE and different viola...

[lateresponder900]

iv been trying to fine this piece but i cant where did you get it

[SCharton1972]

@lateresponder900 How much are you going to fine it? Was it going too fast?

[FERViolin2010]

@lateresponder900 it piece was meant for violin as u may or may not know there arent alot if viola music as a solos compared to cello and violin, this piece was for violin the name is called Bach Sonata VI is from its Bachs violin Sonatas and Partitas :)

[luiscocoo123]

la tokas bn pero la tokas mas ahuevo que por querer tokala con mas pasion disfruta la musica

[MrSkinner25]

so....amazing. its people like this who make me want to play the viola.

[viyolaist]

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[lilmamma411]

...So beautiful... :O

[estyefjb25]

dude this is amazing!!!! by the way i love that viola shape!!!! anyway keep playing you have an amazing talent!!!!

[chelseaEbaby]

i play viola also, its cool. its god when you are the only one too. yo get alot of attention. ive been playing since i was nine and im fifteen now. its a good life skill to have. best thing that ive learned is 3rd positiona and VIBRATO!!

[Davinp123]

All I can say is awsome

[katiekatlovesu]

AWESOME!

[langdeezey]

Beautifully played. I have been playing viola for over 8 years now. I played in the University of Arkansas symphony orchestra two years ago. I've never heard music flow so freely from someone before. I can tell it came straight from the soul. I also listened to Nocturne on your website and it's one of my favorites. Love that viola d' amore too. I'd love to get my hands on one. Keep up the awesome music! We really need more musicians in the world like you.

[OrigamiDragon10]

nice!!!

[tommyontheedge]

amazing song i can nearly play this on violin and learning it on viola im 14 but its hard and well worth the comments

[ezralogan]

Beautiful, id love to play this so amazing. 

[thenikkishow1]

i am eleven and i play the viola and i hope to one day play like this wonderful man!

[TheVideogamebeats]

i wish i can play like that...

i wish i can find me a trainer like that

[feydust]

great performance but sincerely I don't like this piece on viola, it's way too opaque.

[FortunateFox]

@feydust what do you mean by opaque?

[feydust]

@FortunateFox It's a bit hard to explain without sound, have you heard this piece on violin? if you have you'll notice that it sounds, well there's not other word for it; bright, like small golden bell sounding like light and physically reflecting light, it's written in E Major, 4 sharps; VERY BRIGHT, in order to transcribed to viola, it must be lowered a fifth, to A Major, more mellow, sweeter but not so bright, thus it's more opaque like the same golden bell but with dust covering it...

[feydust]

@FortunateFox ... what I love about this piece is that somewhat it sounds like waterfalls of light, I think Bach meant for this piece to be almost ridiculously bright, it's beautiful that way.

[JaydonTWhistler]

DAMN!!!! that's real good..

amazing skill and control over the viola.

take care

Jaydon

[ilovezuerich]

its perfect!!

[Jamie7466]

Does anyone know where I can find the music to this? This is truly a spectacular video.

[zatsega]

idk how u can do it i cannot play without my music 5 stars for alto clef :D

[cnewtonc]

EXCELLENT! BACH would be PROUD.

[compremCDs]

What a noble sound! Scott is a master!

Viola is such a wonderful instrument!

From Brazil

[MadPlagueRat]

this is awsome :o

I play the viola as well and I absolutely adore this !

do you have the sheetmusic to this piece?

it's enchanting !

you play marvelous !

[oompa1014]

dude! you should play on america's got talent! i play viola but i only started this year! i am not that good and i wont be for years!!!

[Violanerd6]

@chasincam baroque is all about technical finesse and ornamentation. not emotion, all these harsh critics are haters.

[ChemicalKimono]

amazing.

[Davinp123]

Love the viola

[MaestroBabs]

cool shaped viola

[SanJuaquinLady]

beautiful

[ker246]

I hate hearing this song on violin. I like it lower on the viola though :) Nice!

[Violanerd6]

Not all bach pieces are meant to have emotion. Also I love your viola! who made it?

[chasincam]

@Violanerd6 THANK YOU! Baroque music sounds very "organized" and neat with a crisp, almost finality to each note. Not always, but certainly more so than Romantic, classical or even contemporary. Romantic is my favorite, bur baroque can be the most fun to play.

[Mah150491]

you have a beautiful viola ^^

Great soud too.

[tchuman]

is this a original Hiroshi Iizuka viola??

[Leirbag999sad]

OMG man, u rock

[robviolin1]

Scott - I really enjoyed your playing.

[ILOVESONIC64BITS]

viola rocks!!

[Spamphie]

This makes me want to learn how to play, it looks fun and sounds lovely!

[Samoriah]

It's a beautiful song, but I prefer the lute suite #4 version. It sounds better on a lower sounding instrument.

[escritora84]

Viola rules!!!

[saiplayer2525]

I'm jealous! I want to be able to play it...

[sosome57]

Wow, I like the depth of the tone of the viola on this piece. I've heard it on about every thing playable out there. This is really superb. Thanks for sharing.

[BellaChellaaa]

This is really great, love it. Awesome work

[Violanerd6]

this is a really good viola recording. ignore those wannabe violists. what edition is this? im thinking of getting it.

[lekmioas]

It flabbergasts me how some one-in-a-dozen player deems he's good enough to expose himself before the world like this. On behalf of us scrupulous players like me I advise him to take viola and self-control lessons. You gotta set the bar much higher, pal.

[DelightfulSweets]

@lekmioas don't hate you act like you could play better.

[RWoosten]

@lekmioas "It flabbergasts me how some" people seem to be unable to leave a usefull comment. I totally agree with you that quite a lot of videos here on youtube are not worth watching at all, but this guy is obviously trying to share his art with us. If you dislike his playing, tell him what exactly you do not like. If you dislike the videos on youtube, tell it's organisition.

Anyway, tanyaviola, good job! ;)

[writerification]

who could dislike this?

i think it is beautiful. i always liked the viola more than the violin.

[and i myself play the violin.]

people pay more attention to the mistakes more than the beauty it creates.

[SnipeurHead01]

Nice playing mate!i am too a viola player and i really enjoy this piece,i say that's a very interesting viola you have there,is it a replica of a viola d amore?

[aspnome1]

a very good performance and i must say it sounds great on viola!

[benestwice]

C'est assez rare que d'entendre que des notes justes dans cette catégorie de pièces.

[Jaegermeister42]

that viola is shaped kind of oddly

[TheJackHarkness]

@Jaegermeister42 Because it's a V.I.O.L.A.... Duh.

[chasincam]

@TheJackHarkness lol, no, viola's are not all shaped like that. This is just a custom viola and was shaped this way for an intended uniqueness.

[TheJackHarkness]

@chasincam Ah. >.> -hides- xD I thought it looked kinda weird.

[benjerrylover]

@joudo2 yeah it is....

[MrMKH2010]

@Jaegermeister42 : The viola is larger than a violin. Where violins are fractional (1/2, 3/4, 4/4) violas are measured by the size of the body. Adult violas are 15" to 17.5" and even as large as 20"

[Mangaroll]

@MrMKH2010 no, look at the top half of the body.

[Resodeus]

@Jaegermeister42 probably why it sounds so beautiful

[olivegreen41]

very good, its so ez to recognize a viola is playing this instead of a violin

[purplesnookums85]

I had never concieved even trying to play this piece on viola, despite it being one of my all time favorites. This video, however, inspired me to give it a shot. So thanks, Scott Slapin.

[violatione]

@purplesnookums85 You know what else sounds great on viola? Telemann fantasias for flute.

[snowman5689]

Gotta watch those string crossings, some were very muddled.

[aceTL87]

@2JAMMY such harsh criticism! if you have to criticize atleast do it more politely! I mean really.. can you do any better? if so lets see it! ;)

[JanaDasMuhiii]

omg you're great !!!

[ErikaRagazzi]

amazing music!!!!!! 5 stars ♫♫♫♫♫♫

[MadnessINK]

Wheres the PASSION!?

everything is technically there, except feeling.

I'm sure someone able to play "this well" could put more focus on making this piece SING.

*25 years as a musician myself.*

[not4climbing]

agree

[luvthedoctor]

@MadnessINK you know what? turn off the visual, and then see if you can hear the passion in the piece. because that is the true test of a piece, and an artist. if you think you are qualified to say something like that, then i think you should post a video of YOU playing this piece with that much feeling, and that degree of talent.

[theclarinetist]

@MadnessINK exactly what kind of musicality are you looking for? In my opinion, the interest in bach comes from the harmonic structure of the music and the lines and/or counterpoint... playing bach "musically" to me should be playing in a way to highlight the structure of the music, as opposed to relying on romanticized cliches of musicality...

[Itsjames1]

@MadnessINK thepassion is there?  i can hear it.

[LT4719]

I thought your playing was wonderful. Truly an inspiration for ALL violists! Please keep up the good work!!

[Sylfira]

I like the shape of the viola and the playing is great

[KindFurryBoy]

Why do you play some notes longer than others at some points? It sticks out quite a bit, if you are doing it to compensate for hard shifts you should just slowly change the tempo then going "long note" shift "long note".

[247videos247]

@KindFurryBoy its the style of boroque other wise it sounds very boring

[thanatoscharun]

I can't stand how he plays it. Seriously, some parts are so unclean it sounds like he doesn't know how to play it. I admit its harder to play clean on viola but even for viola its unclean. His intonation also suffers quite a bit. -.-

[zafgoesbaroque]

i thought it was pretty good. why don't you post your attempt playing it?

[xXNicholasSeanHCXx]

Very good Scott....That is a unique Viola you have there :)

[violinman606]

gives me chill bumps lisening to a viola play that i have played it on violin but i love the rich sound of it on viola

[chinggggggggg]

good job

[gymnast768]

dont care for this on viola. sorry. just dont

[swiftslip]

then why watch it?

[violatione]

Because you haven't heard me play it.

[anisometropie]

I'm playing this on the cello. Even though we have very very long string, some fingering are way easier to do because we always have at least one semi tone between two finger.

But the partita 3 is maybe the only one I can play entirely, In the other sonatas and partitas, there are akward chord, impossible to play unless you have gigantic hands, or a very small cello.

[ThecitizenofTheworld]

this guy seems to have stage fright to a paralytic extent. he must be really good without it.

[assa123assa123]

but still it sounds better on violin. because it can sing well. in fast phrases viola is not fast enough to respond and that is obvious in this recording. maybe play this piece on double bass? =D

[mbrsart]

I've thought of a double bass arrangement, but I think there's a reason I haven't ever found one.

Though...I have found an transcription of Paganini's 24 caprices for the double bass.

[kowalityjesus]

trudat, brutha. but that what makes it a challenge!

[violatione]

That's absolute bullshit! I can play as fast and clean as any violinist. If a violist is not clean it's for lack of bow technique and coordination. How do you explain the fact that cellists play as fast as violinists?

[assa123assa123]

you are wrong. maybe double bass players too?

thick long strings can't respond to the hair that fast. so cellos have something of viol family to their sound, a bit lazy to reach full resonant tone. you can bow fast, but the instrument won't sing fast

[violatione]

Have you ever heard the the last movement of the Haydn C major cello concerto or Popper's elfintanz? Yes cello can go as fast as violin and so can viola. Listen to the Emerson string quartet play the last movement of Beethoven's Op 59 no 3 and write me again.

[rasrames]

What happens in chamber music where there are rapid passages? I guess the composer just writes the viola and cello out? Be for real Assa123!!

[247videos247]

@assa123assa123 ya but double bass have a special rossin for their bows that is a melt on rossin iff you want to see really good bass playing you should look up eccles sonata in g minor 4th movment it is amazing how he jump so perfectly from spot to spot.