How to play a D major scale on the viola
By: Alexandra Bauer

These instructions are going to help you play a D major scale on the viola. You will be plucking the strings. A scale goes up one octave. This one starts on D and ends on D up the octave. The strings on a viola going from left to right are: C, G, D, and A.

You will be using your first, second and third fingers on your left hand, as shown in picture 1.
(index finger is number one, middle finger is number 2 and ring finger is number 3)








Start on the D string, (the second one from the right). Pluck the D string as shown in picture 2.




























Place your first finger on the D string on the blue smiley face as shown in picture 3. Make sure you push the string all the way down.
























Place your second finger on the D string on the pink smiley face, while keeping your first finger down as shown in picture 4.





















Place your third finger on the D string at the white line while keeping your first and second
fingers down also, as shown in picture 5.


























Now take all our fingers off and pluck the A string, (the string on the far right) as shown in picture 6.









The next three notes are just like the first ones.
Place your first finger on the A string on the blue smiley face, as shown in picture 7.












Place your second finger on the A string on the pink smiley face as shown in picture 8. Remember to keep your first finger down too.










Place your third finger down on the A string on the white line. That’s the last note in the scale.
If you do it faster it should sound like it fits together. Picture 9 should show what it looks like to have all three fingers down at once.