The Spruce in September - 48 bar jig on viola - Helen Bell

[@adventuredenali]

That was so amazing to watch and listen to. Thank you!

[@jamesgano8251]

Thank you, Helen!

[@franksabatino7576]

Lovely viola voice on this tune.

[@Sarah4Celtic]

Fab ornamentation ❤

[@rogberube6422]

Nice tune, Helen. :)

[@fictiondreemz]

For the last few years, I have been unable to play my viola due to my wrist problems. Now that I have done physical therapy, I want to get back to playing the viola. Your videos are such an inspiration, and have given me even more motivation to try again.

[@folkviola]

So sorry to hear of your wrist problems -- I wish you the best of luck getting back to it. Thanks for your kind words, they're very much appreciated!

[@sharonhennessy8868]

Well done!! Helen, Do teach as I need some lessons?

[@folkviola]

Thanks! No, I don't do any teaching, sorry.

[@novascotianmusician]

Handsome tone. Crisp and pure. May I ask what size viola you're playing, looks large.

[@folkviola]

Thank you! It's a 16 inch viola.

[@Matthew-o3q]

How would you rank the difficulty of this song?

[@folkviola]

Interesting question! First I would select some other pieces of music to compare it with. Then I would write the name of each piece on a scrap of paper. I would then play through them all, and after playing each one I would shuffle the pieces of paper to place them in order of how difficult I found them. Another method might be to use a spreadsheet with different columns for different aspects of what makes a piece of music difficult (e.g. position changes, string crossing, speed, intonation), and assign them points to calculate a "difficulty" score.