One viola, two viola.....VLA Vla vla

I have the worst memory ever! I am sitting here listening to some opera wondering how the hell do this people memorize all of this stuff? When I think about memorizing something on the viola, I get freaked out. Mainly because I have had memory slips in performance and it really really sucks! However, I have performed most of my vocal concerts from memory. In that respect, maybe it isn't so incredibly difficult for these opera singers. Depending on how you learn a piece, whether or not you really know it, will define your understanding of it. On many occations, I have heard many professionals state that you don't really know a piece until you memorize it. I do think that to be true. To this day I still have Bach cello suite I memorized....although I would have to refresh my memory. I'm sure if I had to play it, I could work it up in a matter of a week or so....memorized. That is the one piece I had such incredibly bad memory slips on. It was like yesturday.....I was playing in front of a judge, my friends and fellow school mates when I got nervous....my concentration left me and all I could think about was the audience. Now that is my mistake right there.....lack of concentration leads to finger memory, which then leads to many mistakes. If you don't rely on your brain and your fingers at the same time, you are pretty much fucked! I remember the first time I played a piece in front of a large audience and remembered what I did! Nerves have quite a bit to do with it. I wasn't nervous for one. Second of all, my concentration was amazing. I was thinking about every single note, what I wanted to do with each phrase and how the movement as a whole fit together. It was so incredible. The feeling of standing up there making everything happen that I intended to make happen is something so extraodinary. That was my first year of college. About a year before that, I performed at the IVS (International Viola Society) convention. I played a piece written for five violas and performed it with other high school students. I was very nervous for that performance. I was standing up in front of so many great violists from around the world! I remember messing up a little, but not too badly. I certainly recovered though when I showed up the college guy! There was this piece for 10 violas (yes, I know...a slip and slide on stage), and each part was doubled. I lucked out and got to play the first part. The guy messed up and let me say, damn it felt good to nail the shit out of that piece! I've had great performances and very shitty ones. But it is the shitty performances that make those great ones so incredibly rewarding.

I was in tower records recently. I was flipping through the viola section just to see what they had. Have you ever noticed that only violists record those odd cds...you know the type...modern music with no real composer. Who the hell buys that shit? It isn't even contemporary stuff that we have on viola...it is similar to Josh Groban's new cd. It is difficult to describe....ahhhhh...i guess I would say the smooth jazz of classical music, if you know what i mean. It just boggles my mind to know that I am one of these freaks! Only violists would come up with that! Reminds me of a viola joke: How do the professionals figure out if the concert stage is level?

do you know?


Drool comes out of both sides of the violist's mouth!
*what do you call a violists with two brain cells?
-pregnant
*what is the difference between a violin and a viola?
-viola holds more beer.
*What is the difference between a singer and a porshe?
-not everyone gets to test drive a porshe.
and last but not least:
*a violist and the oboest got into a huge fight at an orchestra rehearsal. The violist got so angry he broke the oboe! The conducter finally sees what is happening and asks what happened. The oboe player said that the violist broke his oboe in half. The violist, defending himself said, " He turned one of my pegs and now I can't figure out which one!"