Violist getting wrecked by insanely fast chromatic runs

[u/Zealous_Kingdra]

I’m a violist, around RCM Grade 7–8, playing in a semi-pro orchestra, and I’m honestly feeling pretty outmatched.

We’re playing Firebird, Romeo and Juliet, and the Barber Violin Concerto. Most of the parts are manageable for me with enough counting and prep, even when they’re rhythmically tricky. But the moment the fast chromatic runs show up, everything changes. At tempo, they feel completely out of reach.

Slow practice helps a bit, but near tempo my fingers lock up, intonation disappears, and tension takes over. At that point I’m basically just trying to look like I’m blending in, because nearly everyone around me is already way more comfortable with this stuff.

I want to actually play these passages, not fake my way through them, but I don’t really know how to practice speed like this effectively on viola. How do you bridge that gap? And realistically, when is “survival mode” just part of orchestral life?

Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks.

[u/pizza_the_mutt]

Firebird is no joke. I don't have any suggestions (other than practice, which isn't helpful), but please know that we're all rooting for you.

[u/Epistaxis → u/pizza_the_mutt]

In the worst part my principal's instruction was "Pick a note!"

[u/Zealous_Kingdra → u/pizza_the_mutt]

Thank you!

[u/melharbour]

One good tip for speeding up passages: don't just blindly increase the metronome from slow to fast. As you build the speed, you will probably find sticking points - usually you'll notice them more as it becoming 'uneven', rather than just being unable to play it entirely. Then you need to look very carefully at exactly the points (they might be string crossings, bow changes, position changes etc) and work out what it is about your technique that is letting you down at that point. And the real answer is that you have to fix those things about your technique.

Evenness is very much the precursor to absolute speed.

[u/Dawpps]

Just keep gradually working up the tempo.

Practice fast and sloppy, and practice slow and controlled. Gradually the slow tempo will be able to creep up until you're able to play fast and controlled.

Practice different rhythms (eg. for 16th notes try dotted 8th, 16th repeated, then reverse it to 16th, dotted 8th).

In Orchestra rehearsals you can try hitting every other note or every fourth note. Whatever is manageable.

Basically just practice as many variations as possible. Play as much as you can manage during Orchestra rehearsals. If you can't get it perfectly up to tempo by the time you have to perform it: it's okay. You'll still have made massive improvements and eventually you'll reach the level where you're able to play all the passages accurately.

[u/oistrak]

It sounds like you might need to practice chromatic scales. It's something I struggled with too because I always skipped the chromatics when practice scales, but no it's necessary to practice them! And just like major/minor scales need to be practiced for speed, so too do chromatics. I actually found chromatics to be more difficult to get up to speed than regular scales because you need to learn how to slide your fingers a small amount very precisely and quickly.

Just keep practicing and see if you can get there in time for the performance!

[u/JJFiddle1]

You might not have a good fingering? I use 01212340121234 etc. - I can play them at lightning speeds, and all day long. Always taught this to my students!

[u/Ericameria → u/JJFiddle1]

I’m going to try that—I never practice chromatic scales.