Except for the size, what is the main difference between a violin and a viola?

trans991

THE VIOLA is, in one sense, a bigger violin, and in ensembles it plays the alto rather than the soprano part. In fact, if one takes vocal music as a parallel, the viola is more the tenor rather than the alto of an ensemble. In French, it is called alto (German Bratcsche). It makes a richer sound and is tuned a fifth lower than the violin http://www.soundjunction.org/differencesbetweentheviolaandviolin.aspa?NodeID=190 The notes are a little farther apart on the fingerboard and you have to work a little harder with the right hand to get a good tone. The other obstacle is that darn alto clef! If you're just starting out, it doesn't matter which clef you learn. But if, like most people, you're already used to reading treble clef, the alto clef can be quite a challenge (on the viola). And if you switch back and forth between instruments, it can be extra confusing. http://www.violinist.com/discussion/response.cfm?ID=14115 Aug 11 09, 6:51 PM

Arpeggionist

There are a number of differences - the relative sizes, respectively, of the instrument and the bow (the viola's bow is shorter than the violin's) is one of the main ones. Another is the thickness of the viola's bow, which gives it a slightly more "masculine" tone than the violin's. The viola's tone color does not have as many overtones as the violin's, which is why the viola isn't capable of as great a dynamic range as the violin (the viola can still hold its own though). Truth be told, the violin is really a small viola, not the other way around. (The Italian word "violino" is the diminutive of "viola".) The viol family of string instruments originally consisted of two "genera" of instruments, the viola and the violone (which is a larger viol), each with its own variety of sizes. The violin was the smallest regular "viola" used, and as its popularity grew the more attention it got from instrument builders to make its sound more versatile and predominant. (A true irony lies in the term "violoncello" - "little 'large' viol" - which in English has simply long been shortened to "cello".) In some scores from before the 19th century, one can see the violas in the orchestra divided into two sections just as the violins so commonly are. (Nowhere is the original dominance of the viola as apparent as in Mozart's quintet in Eb for horn and strings, where the viola is the doubled instrument in the string quartet and not the violin.) So before you make jokes about the viola, just be aware of its former glory (many of the greatest composers preferred playing the viola to the violin for various reasons). Aug 11 09, 7:39 PM

ordinaryguy9

Both words are spelled differently--that's how you tell them apart as listed in the dictionary! Isn't that the MAIN difference?(LOL) Aug 11 09, 11:18 PM