I can hear it.

Well done, oistrach!!!

it is horrible. I need to record it again <_<.

I've noticed something, I always seem to play better when there is some audience, usually my mother or sister, or when the acoustics are resonant, but not too much, such as my living room. unfortunately, the pc is in my bedroom, and I am recording through a very short distance mic (5$ headset ), this means that both an audience or good acoustics are not available.

Personally, I feel the Alto clef makes a lot of sense. I can't read the bass clef very well- i've recently started the piano and the bass clef and the higher notes of treble are giving me a bit of grief.

...I'll agree it makes sense...but I'm so comfortable in treble...and almost as comfortable in bass...the alto just confuses me...LOL...

You should play for some days only alto clef...also with your violin....(just think one note down, or personally I think it up from bass clef, I don't know why, just my habbit :lol.

...you're right...I should...I even found a beginner series for the viola that mixes scales in with simple studies...I should go to town on that...

Hmm... by that logic the 'cello shouldn't go high on the A string either, as that covers the best ranges of both violin and viola. But... the 'cello A string is also one of the most moving sounds a 'cello can produce ( who could forget the end scene in Strauss' Don Quixote? )
I'd say that the viola A-string is so distincive it use should continue. I preffer the main bulk of the melody being played on the G D and A strings with the C string being used for dramatic accent. I find that the A-string retains it's colour much more than the rather "crystaline" violin E-string.
For an example of great playing in this register, I'd reccomend listening to the 1985 recording Rivka Golani playing "Chromatic Fantasia for solo viola".
This is not to say the lower register shouldn't be used, I just think it shouldn't over-used.

Hello godzillaviolist, welcome to the forums!

The viola A D G strings I like very much - warm and A has certain qualities of a cello A. However I'm not a big fan of the viola C - perhaps because I don't often hear good viola players. Viola C can sound odd, don't you think?

__________________
Violinist
Site creator, founder (Long time ago )
http://www.classicalmusicworld.net

Thanks for the welcome!
A very good viola player can get a wonderfull sound out of the c-string; kind of dark, sweet, thick, very much like a heavy baritone voice. But this sound can wear on one after a few minutes! I like it when it's used for just a few moments to add "darkness" to a peice. But it can get tireseome.
As for my own viola playing, the c-string sounds like a giant bug trapped in the plumbing
But I'll get better
godzilla

I was going to say a bad viola C sounds like somebody's lower end.

On the other side of the question, is bad violin e is any better? Several of the violin students I know sound like squirels being squeezed when they hit the high notes... Also, violinists switching over to viola are often the ones responsible
I'd say from listening to viola students the c-string progress is as follows:

1. fart sound
2. bug sound
3. rough sound
4. dull sound
5. good sound
6. excellent sound

I'm a number two, moving on to three soon.
As for the best sound, I'd say it's the d string on both violin and viola, but thats just my opinion.
godzilla

When I first started out on Viola, maybe 5 years ago (I think), the C-string was my strong point. But for most beginners they master the A and D.

The c-string still gives me trouble in terms of reaction time: my fingers and bow tend be faster than the c-string is willing to speak. Allegro sixteenth notes nearly always tend to sound too soft.
But I remain optimistic that things will improve with practice. Everything else has.

<Post deleted for lack of purpose and a feeling of general ennui that overtook me while writing it>