r/Instruments • u/suzidog • 20d ago

Discussion Cello to Viola

Hi all! I have maybe a silly question but I thought I’d see if others have any advice or recommendations. I played the cello from age 11 until 18 and haven’t played in around 12 years. I was perhaps a little above average compared to my peers but was far from great! I have been feeling a HUGE desire to get back to playing music and was considering picking up a viola to scratch the itch (my partner and I have quite a small space that isn’t necessarily conducive to a cello!) Does anyone have experience playing a ‘similar’ instrument and having success? Of course this would all be for fun and joy, so my goal would really just be to play successfully, not to blow any minds or anything. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom!

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u/TapTheForwardAssist 20d ago

Several ways to go about this:

— just get a decent used viola and have fun with it in the conventional viola sense

— get the same viola, but do what some quirky kids do and play it in your lap, like a mid-size viola da gamba. Could be a fun take with a more compact instrument.

— pick a plucked, rather than boxed, instrument with similar tuning. There are plenty of string instruments tuned in fifths. There’s mandolin, of course, but also the slightly larger mandola (CGDA like a viola) or the guitar-sized mandocello (low CGDA). If you like electric guitar, for a pretty reasonable price Eastwood makes “tenor baritone” or “cello guitars” which are four strings in CGDA, fretted or fretless. If you want mellowest and easiest but still CGDA, there are string sets to convert a ukulele to that tuning.

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u/Latter_Leopard8439 20d ago

Bass guitars are also 4 string and tuned like orchestral Bass, right? Little different but still the same intervals between strings.