ABSTRACT
Tertis’s legacy in bringing the viola out of the shadow of the violin was continued by Scottish-born viola soloist William Primrose. Primrose wrote Technique Is Memory in which he shared his unique ideas on teaching and learning scales based on finger patterns. Primrose explained that the fingers need to relax after contacting the string, quickly lifting the weight of the finger as soon as it has contacted the fingerboard, “a motion which appears to be that of the vibrato.” Practicing scales in double stops and in all keys on the viola is as important as on the violin. Primrose emphasized the importance of practicing thirds in particular. In one of Primrose’s interviews, he observed that more and more female students were interested in playing the viola. Little did he know that by the first decades of the twenty-first century, the viola world would be dominated by women viola virtuosos who enjoy careers that balance performing, recording, composing, arranging, and teaching.
