I just bought a viola recently but never realised how hard it would be to find a near-by teacher. There`s only 2 teachers in my area.. one isn`t taking anymore students and the other is on holidays I`ve been playing piano since I was 13 (I`m 15 now) but piano is easier to teach yourself to play than viola in my oppinion.
Now, I`m going to get books for it soon but can anyone tell/show me how to play the notes.. for ex. I can play the open notes, CDGA, but I have no clue of how I know where to put my fingers on each string for other notes. I`ve heard people say what to do once your in "first position" etc. but I have no clue what first position is either
I`ve can always guess the notes, slide my finger along the C string to get D, E and so on but surely that can`t be a good idea. I could understand guitar a bit easier because of the frets but viola doesn`t have them and I`m really confused
Well, I`ve read some of the other topics and I`m grateful that I now know why there`s no sound coming out of my viola. I`ll go do my 15 mins of rosining now =D Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks,
- Lee

.... anyone??? I need to know the finger positions mostly so I can get to the correct notes, some pleeeease help me

First of all, you NEED a teacher, get one as soon as you possibly can! Also remember that violin teachers can guide you through the viola basics ( the technique only strongly differs later on ). So if you can`t find a viola teacher, get a violin teacher instead.
But if you just want to start:

Bow- hold with right arm
Viola- hold with left arm

Start on the A string.

open string- A
first finger- B
second finger- Csharp
third finger- D

And on the D string.

open string- D
first finger- E
second finger- Fsharp
thirs finger- G

Now you can play a d major scale:

Open string- D
first finger- E
second finger- Fsharp
third finger- G
[ Now move over to the A string )
Open string- A
first finger- B
second finger- Csharp
third finger- D

Now you`ve played your first scale! Let this be a motivation to find a teacher, and soon!

Thank you so much. Oh, I got a teacher too! I left a message on her answering machine last week and she called back today, I start next Tuesday! And the best part is, I get to continue my piano lessons too, I`m so happy to start viola =D
- Lee