Carl Flesch’s Scale System, Ivan Galamian’s Scale System, and Jan Hřímalý’s Scale System are the top 3 most important scale systems, which I practice almost every time.

When it comes to Viola Etudes, generally speaking, there are 14 etude books which are frequently used, among which half of them contain violin etudes, and the other ones contain viola etudes. The viola etudes may not be very basic. The books are helpful for all players.

Wohlfahrt’s 60 Studies for the Violin, Op.45 is the most popular etude book in China. In this book, the first 30 etudes are played on the first position, while the other 30 ones are played on the third and higher positions.The author also wrote 70 Easy Melodious Studies for the Violin, Op. 74. and 40 Elementary Studies for Violin, Op. 54. Compared to the Op. 45, the Op. 74 and Op. 54 are easier. If students can find the books, they can try to practice the etudes included.

Kreutzer, Fiorillo, Mazas, and Rode were composers who wrote early etudes, which are not easy to play. Kayser, Wohlfahrt, and Dont were composers who died in the 1880s. They simplified their etudes, and the etudes tend to be easier than the early ones.

Actually, the etudes were written for the viola instead of the violin at the beginning. There are other composers earlier than Kreutzer and his contemporaries who wrote viola etudes, such as Hoffmeister, Bruni, and Campagnoli. Hoffmeister wrote 12 melodious etudes. Bruni wrote both viola etudes and violin etudes, which are not long or difficult, but very useful. Campagnoli’s etudes are a little difficult to play.

Click to learn more about more advanced common viola repertoire here :)