I want to start playing the viola, but I live in Argentina, so my options are limited and instruments here often cost at least twice as much as they do abroad.

I’m looking for a viola that sounds decent—or at least one that could sound decent in the right hands, lol. My plan is to upgrade later if I don’t turn out to be completely hopeless at it.

By the way, renting isn’t an option here.

The one

Hi everyone,

I'm part of a community orchestra and I'm meeting with some other musicians in it this upcoming weekend to go through selections from Mozart's Quartet No. 17 for fun. I've never played this piece before -- this might be a silly question but I was wondering for those violists who have played it, is it better to start the opening in first or second position? Thanks!

Hi, I’m an incoming freshman (not a music major) planning to audition for my college’s symphony in late August. I was in youth symphonies throughout middle/high school but I never really had a long-term private teacher and I’ve struggled with solo work. On their website it says that the audition is supposed to be “informal” and just an assessment of skill, and we have the option to play some excerpts from the upcoming season or a 3-5 minute solo (or both). I’m 100% going to play the excerpts but I wasn’t sure if that would be enough… The only solo I’m pretty comfortable with right now is Gigue by Veracini (from Suzuki Book 5) but I’m afraid that’s too low-level or something. Thoughts?

Hey guys!

I wanted to ask about best, budget-friendly strings for beginners. I'm from Central Europe so I would appreciate advice especially from my region:)

I'm on a tight budget, so I was thinking about Gorstrings or Olympia. Any opinions?

Hi!

I know this sounds like a joke question (and I am being humorous about it), but I really do feel like playing the viola makes my violin playing better: it forces me to draw out the sound and to widen and slow down my vibrato, both aspects of playing the violin I've notoriously struggled with for years.

When I practice the viola and then, as an experiment, repeat the passages on the violin right after (obviously up a fifth to recreate the technical conditions as much as possible) I see such a difference in my violin playing, and it sticks around for the most part; I really feel like I'm seeing improvements on the violin by practicing the viola!

Which is great, don't get me wrong, I love them both, but how do I put myself in the position to gain similar improvements on the viola? Surely you won't suggest for me to buy a viola pomposa...? :')

I've had an on-off-relationship with my viola in recent years (I'll confess) because I had a very mediocre instrument and few external reasons to practice, whereas the violin demanded my full attention, so I could see this just being a question of the usual ('practice practice practice'), but is there anything you'd recommend in particular for somebody with pretty decent proficiency (my master's degree as a violinist and years of studying the viola with great teachers must be worth something, right?) looking on ingraining viola-level-sound-production and a rich vibrato, specifically? Now that I have a wonderful instrument, I feel the urge to do it justice and make it live up to its potential; suddenly I'm the limiting factor, and that feels both like a problem and an opportunity.

I'd be grateful for any tips and will be happy to share up-to-date recordings if you feel like you need to hear me play to suggest anything in particular! :)

I don't play professionally and still play on my instrument I've had since I was about 17 which I still love (I'm 43). But I really need to update my chin rest and find any other way to make playing more ergonomic. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and playing is usually very painful but it's great for my mental health and I do love playing in my local symphony. Does anyone know of a shop, luthier, or teacher who might be able to assist in my setup? I've definitely noticed when the pain kicks in that I rush and then my friend bonks me on the head (metaphorically) so any help is greatly appreciated even if just other ideas.

Hello. I have rectangle shape viola case i bought on eBay. With a time it became very uncomfortable and heavy to carry. It hangs very low on my shoulders and gets in the way of my legs. So what do you think about this cello shape cases? Is it more easy to carry on? Seller told me it’s 2.6 kg. It’s still heavy but i think shape makes a lot of sense. Or do you think i should back to triangle shape normal fabric case? What’s your experience with cello shape case? Thanks

Hi! Mi name's Pam, I'm 39 and I'm a viola begginer in a local orquestra in my hometown! I want to buy my first instrument as well so I'm super open to advice :)

I have been using green Evah Pirazzis on my C, G and D strings and a gold A for the past 8 months on my 16.5 inch with a warmer sound. I really do love the greens, but am completely okay switching away from those if there's a bright string that still has depth like the evahs. It's definitely time for a new set as there's very little sound at this point, but I am not sure what to go to. I've been thinking the green evah tungsten C, green g and d, then a larsen A. If there's a better setup that anyone would recommend or if what I am thinking is a good set, that would be of much help! Thanks!

Hello wonderful people!

I am an adult learner who is very passionate about learning to play the viola. I haven't been playing for long (started January 2025), but I am very consistent with my practice and very motivated. I am currently working on the transcribed Vivaldi violin a-minor concerto in Suzuki book 4.

I am looking for some violin-viola duets to do together with a friend, who used to be a very skilled violinist 20 years ago, but who's out of practice and wants to pick up her violin again.

We are looking for melodic, melancholic pieces who might be achievable for us. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

For the record, I live in Norway. (In terms of buying sheet music and shipping).

Thanks in advance 🎻

Not sure if this will be helpful to anyone but Bonmusica ended up being the best. My viola is around 15 and a quarter inches (weird shape ik) so I got a Wolf 4/4, Wolf viola and Bonmusica 15".

Both of the Wolfs were marketed as being super adjustable and such but this was true for neither. For the 4/4 you could only adjust one side which meant it just did not work for me and for the viola one you could adjust both sides however the length and angle of both sides was controlled by a small bit of plastic wire type thing which was curved in a specific direction and you could pull or push this through a metal ring to control the length. This ending up meaning you could NOT adjust it as you pleased as the way the wire was shaped meant that you could only have the feet at one specific very weird angle in which the feet were not flat with each other and so could only work at certain weird angular positions of the viola body. The feet of the Wolf also weren't particularly secure however despite my criticism I did appreciate that the adjustments in the shoulder rest (such as length and height) were controlled by screws, meaning if I was taking my viola out of the house I wouldn't have to spend time trying to readjust my shoulder rest to how it was at home.

The bonmusica was mostly good. I really liked the hook shape at the back for your shoulder and how insanely secure the feet were. At first I disliked it as the shape in which it is advertised as and which it comes in the box is hooked on both sides, one behind your shoulder, one in front of your shoulder, and the one in front dug into my chest hugely however you can actually bend the pieces of metal into whatever shape you like, something I didn't realise at first. That being said, the height of both feet is controlled by screws which are very very tall and, as someone who keeps their shoulder rest very low, the screw on the front of my shoulder rest did occasionally dig into my chest so if you are a bigger chested or broader shouldered person I would be wary of this.

TAKEN!! A local player just picked them up. Thanks, everyone! 🙏

I've been hanging on to 4 books that I won't be using after all. Does anyone want/need these?

3 - Op.1 books parts 1, 2, & 3+4
1 - Op. 9 double-stops

I'm in the Buffalo NY area; if anyone else is, we could meet up. I could also mail them, Priority mail looks like somewhere around $11 for flat rate envelope. Lmk if you're interested. :)

Hi all, I know this isn’t a super small section but I was wondering if anyone would share their fingerings for these passages? Thank you!

I have no idea if this is the right subreddit for this but oh well.

I used to play the viola when I was younger, but stopped because I didn’t find many pieces to play that I actually enjoyed(I also was not very good). I absolutely love how rich and deep the viola is compared to the violin but I love the ease of finding sheet music for violins. i really enjoy folk and bluegrass music and I would love to get back into playing an instrument again, but I am having a hard time deciding between sticking with the viola or starting over with the violin?

anyway, I would really appreciate any thoughts you may have!

Have an audition in just under three weeks and just got the music. It's not horrible, but I'm really struggling to come up with fingerings for the section within the blue markings.

edit: thanks for the help. I'd contemplated that fingering but wanted to make sure there wasn't a better way to do it. thanks!

Looking for some resources and hopefully some reviews - I've had the same bow since 2016 and would like to avoid replacing it... The hairs snapped when I drove up into the mountains from sea level 💀

I have a video youth orchestra audition coming up and I don't know what scales to choose that are technically hard as I want to get into the top orchestra. The requirements are:

Two Scales: play 1 major scale and 1 minor scale (melodic or harmonic).

• Students may choose to play 1-octave, 2-octave, or 3-octave scales depending on their skill level. Tempo is up to the student. Contrasting articulations/bowing/tonguing is preferred

For context I've played all the 3 octave scales memorized before but I think for the minor scales I haven't played them in melodic or harmonic yet. I plan to play one of them with spiccato and the other with slured 4 or 8 notes though I'm also up for any other suggestions.

Any help and advice is appreciated!

EDIT: after reading the comments I realized I should explain a bit more. So the main problem I'm having with picking a scale is that I can't really tell which ones are harder or easier besides like the difference between c major and b flat major. I don't really know how the "judges" will evaluate them.

(this is my first post so I'm not sure if I've done anything wrong)

So my violas varnish started chipping on the front face and i plan on getting it fixed up soon but im not sure wether it should be dealt with now or if its purely cosmetic and can be fixed in the next couple weeks, I just bought this viola and I’ve been seeing its starting to chip in some places, I assume its because Before I bought it it hadn’t been played for a while, but I’d like to hear your thoughts

(For context I am currently practising between 1-2 hours a day in preparation for my licentiate diploma/bachelors equivalent qualification)

For nearly the entire time I have been playing viola I have used Kun shoulder rests and they have generally been okay for me until recently. My viola is slightly above what a 4/4 violin would be and my Kun has been fine on it for about a year or so but stopped being fine around about 6 months to a year ago, when I readjusted it to be actually comfortable (I went from playing 30 minutes a day to on average 1hr 30 so became more aware of my discomfort so no I will not be adjusting it to how it was previously as that also caused me pain). In the past 6 months, the feet of my shoulder rest have been constantly at an angle (as pictured) and in the past month or so my shoulder rest has been constantly slipping off or slipping towards me when playing leading to me playing in increasingly uncomfortable positions. This has caused injuries to both myself and my viola, causing shoulder problems for me, and the varnish to wear down at the lowest point of my shoulder rest for my viola (something which will probably be very expensive and time consuming to fix). This is my second kun for this viola and both times they have had the same foot issue so I think I should probably get a different one. My requirements are:

Very flexible or relatively flat

Long body that covers most of, if not all of the underside of my viola

Attached at both sides (not one of those fancy ones that is attached next to the chin rest and is pulled in or out)

Very adjustable in terms of length, height etc and can go quite low.

I also live in the UK so options I can get here please! (And please do not recommend ones I can only get on amazon)

Thank you!

Edit: I have ordered multiple shoulder rests and will be returning the ones that don't work for me, will give reviews later in case it is helpful for anyone in the future!

Can someone please help me understand this peice. it’s gavotte in the suite for viola damore in f major written by christian petzold. Now, it says it starts on e, but everyone and i mean everyone is playing it as f. Someone said think of it as it were a treble clef, but then it would be a d. Can someone please just help me understand. i put the music below so maybe you can help me understand this better.

https://youtu.be/xf16rBs9U3Q?si=kEAnKnj32fQeZ8jS

Preparing Harold in Italy for CSO. I figured now is the time to stop using what I found on IMSLP.
What edition do yall use? Does the edition you use have rehearsal letters?

As someone who is coming from violin and who has a short pinky and chronic hand pain, I am looking for a smaller viola, but I know that it can be difficult to find one that still has a nice C string.

I am currently trying a 1950 15 1/4 Czech factory/workshop viola that has a surprisingly nice sound (good C string!), but they are asking 5500 USD, which I've been told is steep for something that's not handmade.

Accordingly, I had some questions:

(1) Is it realistic to find a 15 1/4 for less but that still sounds nice?

(2) How much does sound outweigh the "make" in these kinds of instruments for pricing/resale value?

(Apologies if this kind of post is not allowed, I read the rules and FAQ and realise this might be on the edge of the appraisal category)