I love my viola!!!

I've had my new viola for a week now and I love it. I should have started years ago when I was still in high school or something like that. I still don't have an instructor and may not get one in about a year or so due to the military sending me to Afghanistan and who knows where else. I am using the Essential Elements 2000 book and I like that pretty good. I am also using an electronic tuner so that I know if I'm on key. So far, seems to be going well. The book has a cd/dvd with music to play along with, but I don't like them too much. I mostly use them to hear the pace and speed of the piece being played so that I don't try going too fast or too slow. I was looking at Youtube site and look forward to playing like those professional types (even the younger ones) on the website and love listening to them too. I have been practicing quite a bit. I think tonight, I was practicing about 3 hrs. Probably overdoing it but I gotta rest now, getting late, and arm getting a little sore. I look forward to learning more.

It would be nice to have an instructor. One thing I'm having to do is retune my viola one in a while. The pegs slip so I just push in on them a bit to make sure they're seated right. I'm mostly wonding about the bow/rosin. For the most part, I'm not sure if I'm putting too much on (which I think I am). Anyway. I just wanted to post about how much I like my new viola. Brand new and still going for it.

Oh, by the way, I have a 17" GEMS2 Gliga from violinslover.com. I didn't want anything too expensive to start out with and already looking forward to getting a higher quality.

That's it for now.

Well try a accented down bow and if rosin smoke comes of then your putting to much on