doesnt it ever bother anyone when it says divisi and everyone but you plays the top becaus its the "melody".

well this always happens to me and my stand partner who insists that she should always play the top note when i have say on who plays what because I am 1st chair.

and it also bugs me when the teacher says for her to play the bottom note and listens to her and not me.

am i just ocd or is there another insane violist (or other instrumentalist) out there with the same problem!!

Lol... I can see how that would be frustrating. But usually, unless your teacher specifies otherwise, the person sitting in the higher position plays the top part. Like, the first chair plays the top and second chair plays the bottom. If you aren't the higher chair, that's probably why your stand partner always insists that they play the top. But hey... both parts are equally important and you can rock your part, even if it isn't the melody.

thanks for the comment!

but i am first chair lol

I know this post is really late but..
I'm first chair flute and this one kid who is persistant at beating me at everything trys toplay the top note when he is supposed to be playing the bottom.I consistantly tell him,Edgar,play the friggen bottom note!!he s like,ur not the boss of me,but I say yes but I am first chair flute...
then he just sulks id his chair:D i love it so!!! LoL

thanks for the post!

i feel exactly the same way!

How about when they play double stops instead?


I hate being associate...

In my orchestra, we just have inside play top, outside bottom. I don't even have a stand partner (yes, I'm the only violist), so I try to play both parts if physically possible (if not, I play top). It's actually not too hard with some pieces.

My stand partner(s)(clarinetists) and I are always argueing about who should play what, and if the solo ques should be played by one or all of us, blah, blah, blah. In our band, we don't really have "chairs" (haha, we sit on stools! just kidding, I mean like musical parts), so basically we three are the best. I always try to stop bickering by taking the bottom part, and I really don't care. Maybe it's that urge for the clarinet to play higher, while it really has a nice low sound. Maybe it's because people have "high=solo" hammered into their brains, but I really don't care ethier way.

When we play we just go by inside top outside bottom. But what really bothers me is even though the person has been told that they ALWAYS play either top or bottom, they always end up playing the wrong thing. Or when they pick which one they want to do because one sounds better than the other.