Miriam Morris - The Art of Playing the Viol

This is a comprehensive tutor designed for beginners on the six stringed bass viol. With photos of Miriam and John Weretka (showing a small and a larger person), lots of great tips, scales, and pieces, Miriam will take you from how to sit and hold the instrument and bow, through to being able to play simple pieces, chords and use different articulations. Spiral bound to lie flat on the stand.

Price: $30 ($33 inc GST) plus postage. Weight: 230g.

About Miriam Morris

Miriam Morris teaches the viola da gamba and cello from primary to tertiary level. She introduced viola da gamba teaching in primary and secondary schools in Australia in the 1980s and wrote a beginner tutor entitled "Right from the Start" to support the program. She was an AMEB examiner for over 40  years, writing the previous Cello syllabus and Cello Technical Workbook and the Technical Workbook to the present syllabus. Miriam has enjoyed performing with Consort Eclectus and Convivio and has performed throughout Australia and overseas. She has recorded for ABC Classics and Move Records. Her CD "A Souldier's Resolution", the solo music of Tobias Hume, received critical acclaim. Miriam is also an artist. www.miriammorrisarts.com

This is the first dedicated viol tutor to be commercially published in Australia.

Contents includes

Preliminaries - Choosing a viol, warm-ups, seating, tuning and scales

1. Left hand and left arm positions

2. Top three strings in bass and alto clefs

3. Bowing

4. Articulation, bow divisions, exercises, retaking the bow

5. Holds, slurs, staccato and legato, dynamics, tenuto

6. Top four strings. Fingering, barring, tucks

7. More on the top four strings

8. All strings. Broken chords, slurred string crossings

9. Shifting

10. More studies, including slurred bowing

11. Broken slurring and more studies

12. Lute and contracted fingering

Each chapter includes a mixture of exercises, pieces and scales.

With thanks to John Weretka and Laura Moore who assisted Miriam with the preparation of the tutor.