Charles Dancla (1817-1907) is considered to be the last great representative of the French Violin School. He was a composer, solo violinist at the Paris Opera and professor at the Paris Conservatoire and wrote numerous educational works for violin, including his well-known three-volume work Little School of Melody'. He knew, in a unique way, how to implement the principle 'no music without technique, no technique without music' in his teaching material. This is the case in his easy melodic studies Op. 84 which are available here in an arrangement for viola for the first time. These studies are perfectly suited for young beginners after the second year, but also for adult players, false beginners or those switching instruments. Most of them can be effectively used as little performance pieces, providing an excellent foundation for every advanced etude or concert piece.
Each study is preceded by new or revised exercises which either deal with specific problems relating to the playing technique, like change of string, spiccato, martele, chromaticism, change of position, octaves, or double stops, or present the tonal material of the respective study in a condensed, playful form. Those who prefer Dancla's somewhat easier original preliminary exercises will find them in the appendix.

The masters of the violin have left us an inheritance of numerous books of remarkable studies and caprices. But the very abundance of this precious inheritance makes that an important part of it remains without profit, because it is impossible for the pupils to acquire or study these few thousands studies scattered in fifty big volumes. Very frequently, however, these studies are not classified in a progressive manner. Result of an inspiration which the pedagogical spirit could not always dominate or guide as it liked to, the first studies address themselves sometimes to the pupils who conjugate yet their first shifts with the most easy bow strokes, while the last are always of transcendent difficulty. Whatever be the chosen studies, once the first step is sourmounted, the pupils must do great efforts to realize imperfectly and in divided movements, difficulties which are beyond them. The result of this is: a considerable loss of time and sometimes even much discouragement. It follows at all events, that instead of practising fifty or sixty caprice studies in one year\'s time, the pupils can hardly study thirty. It is the desire to remedy these multiple inconveniences, that has incited us to realize the present work and in order to accomplish it to search in the greatest works of the masters, the elements the most apt to insure rapidly to the young violinists, the most complete mecanism of the left hand and bow. These exceedingly numerous and diverse elements chosen in the old editions, have been re-examined, fingered and sometimes the nuances (shades) set by us, with the most care and then classified by degrees from the second to the eight year of study in a progressive manner. These books of studies will not bear their fruits however, unless the work is regulated from the second to the fifth year of teaching, by a good method and appropriated exercises. The studies cannot in reality during this period, replace neither a method nor the exercises, they have to be considered rather as an amplified rehearsal of elements learned elsewhere but still badly assimilated.

French.

The masters of the violin have left us an inheritance of numerous books of remarkable studies and caprices. But the very abundance of this precious inheritance makes that an important part of it remains without profit, because it is impossible for the pupils to acquire or study these few thousands studies scattered in fifty big volumes. Very frequently, however, these studies are not classified in a progressive manner. Result of an inspiration which the pedagogical spirit could not always dominate or guide as it liked to, the first studies address themselves sometimes to the pupils who conjugate yet their first shifts with the most easy bow strokes, while the last are always of transcendent difficulty. Whatever be the chosen studies, once the first step is sourmounted, the pupils must do great efforts to realize imperfectly and in divided movements, difficulties which are beyond them. The result of this is: a considerable loss of time and sometimes even much discouragement. It follows at all events, that instead of practising fifty or sixty caprice studies in one year\'s time, the pupils can hardly study thirty. It is the desire to remedy these multiple inconveniences, that has incited us to realize the present work and in order to accomplish it to search in the greatest works of the masters, the elements the most apt to insure rapidly to the young violinists, the most complete mecanism of the left hand and bow. These exceedingly numerous and diverse elements chosen in the old editions, have been re-examined, fingered and sometimes the nuances (shades) set by us, with the most care and then classified by degrees from the second to the eight year of study in a progressive manner. These books of studies will not bear their fruits however, unless the work is regulated from the second to the fifth year of teaching, by a good method and appropriated exercises. The studies cannot in reality during this period, replace neither a method nor the exercises, they have to be considered rather as an amplified rehearsal of elements learned elsewhere but still badly assimilated.