I want to learn a new instrument, and I did want to play the violin, but since a few of you and others mentioned the viola to me, I can't decide which to learn.

Does anyone think one is slightly easier than the other? As I'm 16 I really want something that I can begin to sound half decent on whichout having to have been playing since I began to walk!! I already play the piano, so I'm very familiar with the treble clef, but not with the alto clef...

...some of you may have read my other post where I mentioned that my parents wouldn't want me to play the violin when they're around as they dont like the timbre...is the viola really THAT different?

Also, if I chose the violin, my music teacher might be able to help me a bit with it (I'm not allowed/can't afford a teacher), whereas if I learnt the viola, no one could really help me. I don't know how much of a problem this would be.

Any idea's would be great!



Oh no I messed up the poll!! damn!!

Are you sure it wasn't a Freudian slip, singerpianist...


Go on, viola, you know you want to....

I suggest you listen to some music with a viola in it (eg string quartets) and see whether you like the sound of it. Some (peculiar) people don't. You might just find that your parents are more tolerant of a viola. At least it doesn't have the E string, which can sound particularly awful in the hands of a beginner.

Most people who play the viola started with the violin anyway. You wouldn't find it hard to learn the alto clef, especially since you know the bass clef too. (Alto is right in between treble and bass). And, if you know someone who can help you with the violin, they can almost certainly help you with the viola too. It's basically just a big violin. (Or rather, a violin is just a small viola.)

I don't really know whether one is easier than the other. The stretches are obviously longer on the viola, though you can get small violas if you have small hands. And the greater distances mean that you have slightly more margin of error, intonation-wise. The viola part in an ensemble does tend to be a bit easier than the first violin part, though probably not the second violin part.

I wouldn't worry too much about being a late starter. They say it takes at least five years to learn to play the violin or viola moderately well, but you've got plenty of time. Even after five years, you'll have another 35 years of playing before you're as old as I was when I started.

Viola players tend to be more in demand than violinists, though it varies.

Violas and viola strings are slightly more expensive.

I think the most important thing is whether either of them is an instrument you really, really want to play.

I agree with everything Primrose has said. The viola makes a nicer sound at the start (and a nicer sound all together if I'm being thoroughly honest) and you will be in more demand when you can play reasonably well. If you learn the viola first, you won't have any trouble getting a tune out of a violin, either - and don't forget there are five stringed instruments available which would give you both a violin and a viola in the same instrument - the good quality ones sound very good indeed in both registers.

Personally, despite being a fiddle player, I would go for viola in your situation - it's a lovely mellow sound. I stuck with fiddle because the viola doesn't have much of a role in the music I play, and so I wouldn't have been in demand at all - the reverse is true in most other musical genres.

The best thing to do is listen to both a lot and decide which one you like the sound of best. That's the only one you'll really want to practise.

Have fun whatever you decide.

Hahaha - no it was an honest mistake, I promise!!


Thanks for everyone's suggestions...I might try and get my hands on a viola and see how it goes Unless my music teacher finds me a violin beforehand, in which case I'll try that out first!!

Three of the best works for viola were written by Mozart: the Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra, and the String Quintets in G minor and C major.

If I was going to learn to play something stringy, it would be viola

Hehe, I wondered the same


^ best advice for any instrument I think

Fantastic music

The quintets have TWO violas in them, Mozart wrote a viola part for himself.

Yeah, many of the big composers seem to have been violists. It seems to be the composers' instrument - Mozart, J S Bach, Beethoven, .....

Oh, if your music teacher can help you with violin, s/he can almost certainly help with viola as the technique is largely similar.

... Dvorak, Hindemith (premiere of the Walton Concerto), Britten, Tim Souster (one-time Keele lecturer; mostly electronic compositions).

They're both quite similar, it depends on what you prefer. I like high notes so that's why I chose the violin. Your violin teacher should be able to help you out and give you some guidance as the technique is quite similar, but ideally you do want a viola teacher. If you can play one instrument, you can easily play the other. So it's all down to what you prefer.

Have fun learning!