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(3 votes) 
Regulars
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Those were great Barry; the violin translates really well for you into the viola!
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Aw! That bow hold!
Lol, just kidding Barry. You make the transition to the Viola look easy!
I am amazed at how old people of my age are.....
Honorary tenured advisor
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I wish I could do that.
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AWESOME!!! Barry's back... as a student of a new instrument. LOL
Rock on there my man... you DO make it look so easy... I'm certainly honestly and truely jealous.
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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I have to say I have always hated the moment in classes or whatever when one has to do critique. To me it always means looking for faults, and that isn't how I listen to music. I am always listening for what is being done right, because that is the part of music that I enjoy. As such it is hard for me to ever find much to mention for critique that I feel will actually be meaningful or helpful to another player.
So I'll just say this.. Hearing you play that viola makes it sound like such a fun and cool instrument that it definitely moves it up my "I gotta try one of those someday" list. Moves it up by several notches.
Sounds great to me, Barry, and you're getting a really cool sound out of it.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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I know that this is the critique corner but I would like to point out a few things that I like instead.
I like how high up you hold your viola. Looks nice and relaxed.
I like how you keep your fingers fairly close to the strings instead of lifting them unnecessarily high.
I love your left elbow position and straight back and overall posture.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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WOW! I think it is really really good!!
It sounded really nice 
Honorary tenured advisor
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Fiddlerman said
I know that this is the critique corner but I would like to point out a few things that I like instead.
Part of one of the definitions of "criticize" in my Webster's dictionary is "to consider the merits and demerits of ...".
So ... no contradiction.
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soldiers joy, o little town of bethlehem, swallowtail jig, devils dream and worried mans blues? Id like to know how many I got correct please. Sounds great! 
"Please play some wrong notes, so that we know that you are human" - said to Jascha Heifetz.
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Sounds great to me, Barry. I love that deep, rich tone. It really gives an interesting dimension to those traditional fiddle tunes.
My only observation is something that I think my teacher would say (because he often says it to me)...on O Little Town of Bethlehem, your bow strokes could be longer. That's based on how I'm used to hearing the song played, of course. If you were going for more of a folk interpretation rather than classical, then please disregard the comment.
I love the grace notes you added.
I'm really amazed at how quickly you transitioned to the viola. Seems like you've been playing it for years.
I'm with Daniel. This makes me want to try viola someday...not that I'd be able to pick it up as quickly as you did. Having to learn a different clef is daunting to me.
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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It says something that you were able to play all those pieces well in one take. For you, five pieces in one take. For me, one piece in five takes.
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Barry, I'm posting my critique of your video here on the forum, as you suggested.
You sound good and look at home with your new instrument. I have some suggestions. (1) In Soldier's Joy, you had a few intonation errors. (2) Overall, you should emphasize the rhythm more by emphasizing (playing a bit louder) the first and third beats of every measure ONE and two and THREE and four and (3) Overall, you have the same problem as one of my students. Your right wrist is perfectly straight, as if it were in a cast. You need to let it relax, and then it will guide your bow better. This will help you with string crossings and playing faster in general. I recommend fiddlerman's tutorial on holding and moving the bow, I think that your tight wrist is smothering the sound a bit.
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I'm not one to critique since I'm a newbie. It sounded great to me. You make it look so easy. I hope to one day be able to play like that!
"Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10
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Sounding good, Barry! Great rich sound from that viola.
Couple of little niggly points : in Soldier's Joy, the timing is a little bit out. You are slowing down a little bit at the end phrases of the first part. The opposite is happening at 02'08 - you have jumped ahead a little bit, and not given the bar its full length. That's something I'm guilty of too, at times. It's not so bad if you're playing solo, but an accompanist would notice it.
I think the bowing and accents are fine. You are accenting ONE, and playing TWO, THREE and FOUR normally. Some players would accent ONE on a downbow, and slur TWO, THREE and FOUR on an up-bow ... but it's a matter of preference.
All in all a good listen. Thanks 
Mr Jim 
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