As I stated in a previous post, I’m a self taught player of 9 months. I play guitar and several other non-string instruments but Viola is my first instrument where I have to constantly “think” about intonation.

On all the other instruments I’ve tried there comes a point when you just start “feeling” it. I can play the guitar and not think about. I could do my taxes in m head and still sound decent.

But on viola I have to constantly “think” about my intonation. Obviously this is because there are no frets to guide me, but I still wonder does there come a point on viola where you just start to “feel” it?

I know I will always have to practice my scales and stuff to stay good, and I like the fact that I’m not learning a Mickey Mouse instrument. But, part of me wants to just be able to pick up the viola and play a song for fun now and then and not have to think about it so much.

I know this is sort of an impossible question but, does this point ever come? Does the listening for “ringing tones” become automatic? Will my fingers get enough muscle memory to land perfectly without me thinking about it?


Thanks,

Yes, Shaun, it will become easier. But the more effort you put into it now, the more it will pay off later. Ear training is so important! As time goes on, the adjustments your ear tells you to make will become smaller and smaller because of muscular memory. You are off to a great start.

Good morning! Yes, it will become easier after lots of practice, but it will never be completely simple. Have fun!

Frankly, if you are not having to listen for the right notes on the guitar, you aren't playing it correctly. There is less difference between the guitar and the violin with regards to intonation than most people think.

You see, the guitar is not a piano. The frets are imperfectly placed,; they are placed using a simple mathematical division into 12 equal spaces, but the stretch of the strings makes that imperfect. Furthermore, you don't have to play in equal temperament! Yo ucan stretch or flat a string to get it into a sweeter place.

So when you play guitar, you really need to push or pull the strings--sharper or flatter--to get the note to ring in tune. This is true with both metal and with nylon, and is especially noticable (and easier to do) when you play btween the 7th and the 21st fret. (It is more difficult to flat a note in the 1st position--which is sometimes a problem for intonation!).

The skills you are learning on the viola--listening to the pitch, finding the rigning tone, finding the intervals etc will be transferrable to the guitar.

In time, your hands will gain a "muscle memory" of where to go and the adjustments will decrease, but you will always be "thinkin" about intonation.

I'm self taught for almost 2 years. I practice my intonation by going through scakes with a drone note on a metrenome or a tuner. I'm not virtuoso status but my friends say I pretty good for nevr having a private teacher