AUSTA WA
Shift Work with Roger Benedict
Sun March 29 11 am AWST online BOOK HERE: https://www.trybooking.com/DJWSZ
Free for AUSTA members, others $20. A generous discount code for purchasing the physical book “Shift Work for Viola” AND Roger’s other publication on technique, “Scale Up!”, will be sent to all who register, a total value of over $24!
Viola player Roger Benedict has had a distinguished career as soloist, orchestral principal and chamber musician, and has earned a reputation as an inspiring and insightful pedagogue. His career includes experience as Principal Viola of SSO, tertiary level string teaching, creating viola publications including a viola scale book. Helen Tuckey worked with him in recent years as he was the Diploma Level Consultant for the most recent AMEB viola syllabus. His latest book is “Shift Work. A new shifting method for viola”.
Roger says: “Shifting is such a fundamental part of string playing technique; it enables us to navigate the fingerboard with ease but is also an integral part of our expressive vocabulary. Many players struggle to shift reliably under pressure – when a player leaves the concert stage saying “I didn’t play in tune” it could often be expressed more accurately as “I didn’t shift well”.
My comprehensive book of shifting exercises provides a guide not only to shifting, but to all facets of left-hand technique, and is a perfect companion to my scale method Scale Up! It is a structured system with foolproof exercises that cover all the different types of shift, both single- and double-stopped, to help build real resilience and reliability. As a result, I hope that violists will develop a fearlessness and freedom in their playing that will enable them to broaden their expressive and interpretive range.
Influential viola blogger Travis Maril says: “Roger Benedict’s “Shift Work” is a fantastic pedagogical resource that belongs on the stand of any violist looking to improve their left hand, and a great companion to his scale book, “Scale Up.” Intermediate to professional players will find helpful exercises to increase their confidence, comfort and ease navigating the fingerboard, clear and concise instructions on the mechanics of each kind of shift, and intuitive exercises to develop fluency in them. Players seeking to improve their double stop shifting will find this book particularly helpful. IMHO, regular practice of the exercises in “Shift Work” will lead players to faster improvements than time spent on that old shifting warhorse, Ševčík Op. 8: this was certainly the case for me!”
Full review here: https://www.travis-maril.com/blog/shift-work-roger-benedict
Australian customers should order physical copies here – register for the AUSTA online event first, and then apply the discount code which will arrive with registration email:
https://rogerbenedict.com/shop
Download version here (if you prefer – no code for this one):
AUSTA WA 2026
Our year began with a great buzz of activity and seeing so many friends old and new at the AUSTA WA Summer Conference held at UWA on January 23, and we aim to present a range of equally successful events in 2026. Would you like to be a part of shaping what we do? We have an active community of professionals and students who are motivated to create more opportunities for strings in WA. If you would like to join us, please contact our state president Stephanie Fraser: wapresident@austa.asn.au
View the calendar of string events in WA
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AUSTA WA is a member of the Chamber of Arts and Culture, Western Australia
The Chamber is a place of research and resources for the arts and arts-related activities in WA, and has many useful resources for arts advocacy in our state. Our committee members participate in Chamber professional development and other opportunities, which in turn will benefit AUSTA and our work in the community.
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