Aswikha Karthikeyan

Name: Aswikha Karthikeyan

Grade: 10th

Years of experience: 5 years

Future Job: dermatologist 

Wingspan: Why did you join orchestra?

Karthikeyan: “I joined orchestra because I felt the whole vibe of it was pretty calm and it seemed enjoyable. Also, my middle school directors looked really nice and it seemed like a good environment to be in.”

Wingspan: Why did you choose to play viola?

Karthikeyan: “Violin was my second choice but I felt like the range of the viola was more like down to earth and rich so I chose that instrument.”

Wingspan: How has your height impacted playing the viola?

Karthikeyan: “The tone of my instrument was really bad up until I switched to a 15 inch this year. So basically, up util 14 inches it’s considered a full size violin so it sounds scratchy when you play it and I feel like that affected my auditions and everything because I couldn’t produce a fuller sound than other people with a bigger instrument so that kid of did come into consideration nadn you kind of have to pressure yourself into getting a bigger size so you can have a better tone.”

Wingspan: What are challenges you face playing the viola due to your height?

Karthikeyan: “I’m under 5 feet so part of the challenge playing a larger instrument is vibrato because the neck of our instrument is wide so when your hand is too small it is really hard to move it and produce a good tone quality. Also i think the shoulder thing is a big issue because of the pressure you get from playing a bigger instrument, I feel like your shoulder rest starts to slie which marks it uncomfortable on your shoulder which kind of defeats the point of a shoulder rest. I feel like I have both shoulder and back pain from my big instrument.”

Wingspan: Not many people play viola because there is this stereotype around violists being musically incompetent, so how do you go about that?

Karthikeyan: “You need to be more original. When you think of string instruments you think of a violin or cello at the top of your head so when you say you playing viola people either don’t know who you are or you get made fun of it but I feel like the viola is a very valid  instrument in the orchestra because it’s like a portable cello it’s beautiful and it should be known more and you shouldn’t be ashamed of playing it.”

Wingspan: What life lessons have you learned from being in orchestra?

Karthikeyan: “Orchestra expands your creativity and it makes you more aware of your surroundings because you can’t just focus on one thing in life, you have to focus on many things and different aspects.”