JAVS Summer 1998

31

VIOLA PEDAGOGY

by Christine Rutledge

reasons they are doing them. And if nothing else, a warm-up routine can serve to estab lish the foundations for structure in their practice. One day several years ago, when I was a member of the Louisville Orchestra, a col league approached me and asked me to ex plain the warm-ups that I did every morning before orchestra rehearsal. She had noticed that I was fairly consistent about arriving a half-hour early to rehearsals and going through my entire routine of exercises and scales. She had been particularly vexed by her students' lack of any specific warm-up regi mens and asked if I might come and work with them one day and show them what I did. I, of course, agreed to give a class and set about to commit to paper what exactly it was that I was doing each day. This particular task led to the following "Warm-Up Routine." I now issue this to all of my students, no mat ter the age or level, and we try to cover some or all of it during the course of our studies together. I have found it to be one of the most valuable tools I have in teaching. And over the years my students have helped me to add to it and to delete from it as well. I fully expect that over the next several decades, and generations of students, this routine will con tinue to grow and change. I hope that you may find it helpful to yourselves and your students. Each exercise typically includes a list of goals, instructions, and variations when applicable. I would like to express my gratitude to my former teachers David Holland and Karen Tuttle and my colleagues Jeffrey Irvine and Lynne Ramsey for their contributions towards this Warm-Up Routine. Without their in valuable advice over the years this would not have been possible.

When I ask my students, "Do you warm up before you practice?" the usual response is "sometimes." Then, when I probe a bit fur ther I find out that their "warm-up" typically consists of tuning, playing a few noodles, or playing through a movement of a piece with out stopping-that's it. I then like to ask, "Why do you think warming-up is important to your playing?" This is when I believe the student starts to realize why I am such a stick ler for this ritual of getting the body, as well as the mind, prepared for the many challeng ing tasks ahead. Our normal comparison is to an athlete; you wouldn't expect a serious runner to wake up, drive down to the track and then run a race, and not expect to lose or to inflict seri ous bodily injury. This analogy is an easy one for most students to relate to. The problem is convincing them that the smallest muscles and tendons in the hands, arms, neck, and back are just as important as the large muscles they would need to warm up before running a fifty-yard dash. This is especially true since my students are typically in their teens and twenties and have yet to experience the "rav ages" of age and to fully comprehend the absolute necessity of good physical mainte nance. They are invincible! And it isn't until an injury or ailment afflicts them that they re alize that they are not-they are simply flesh and bone like everyone else. I suppose the same can be said about my own attitudes in youth, which is likely, from experience, the main reason I stress having a healthy and con sistent warm-up routine. Even with my youngest students I like to regularly monitor their practice routines and make sure that their daily practice schedules include a significant amount of warm-up ex ercises. I also want them to understand the