Playing Hub

Ask the Teacher - Michael Klotz

2020-02-06T14:02:00

klotz

The viola and violin pedagogue and string quartet violist highlights the importance of historical and theoretical studies for performance

What’s your teaching background?

I’m primarily a violist, but I studied viola and violin at Juilliard and have an equal number of violin and viola students, both in college and privately. The instruments are not so different. There are some adjustments that need to be made: with the viola, I tend to ask students to play lower in the bow, with a little more weight in the bow hold. I pay even more attention to articulation on the viola – it doesn’t speak as readily as the violin.

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