There seemed to be a disproportionately large number of viola players drifting around, so I thought I'd find out...

Actually, I think there are far more violinists and sometimes the violists don't make much of an appearance for yonks, to say nothing of our intermittently silent cellists!! It's just that we seem to have been talking a bit more than usual of late.

This is a tricky one for me as I play violin, viola and cello. Only the violin and viola to any real standard, mind you - but I find it hard to pick the main one between the two of them.

I certainly play the violin most frequently because of my job and the environment I'm often in (Irish and Scottish sessions) - but I love the viola the most because of the sound.

I tend to play classical viola but traditional fiddle and would be unable to pick which is my main one, unless it was based soley on playing time, in which case fiddle would win.

Guitar absolutely. But I'm working hard on the Violin.



Cheers,

Matt.

Viola!! Definitely!! The viola is the only stringed instrument I have ever learned and began it aged 8. Love it because we're a rare breed. Would love to play the cello though

Double Bass!! Since I was 7.....til forever!

Although I teach cello and a little violin too, there has never been any doubt as to which is *my* instrument....

What I want to know is, people never say 'violin player' or 'cello player', they always say 'violinist' or 'cellist'. Why then, when there's a perfectly legitimate word 'violist', do so many still say 'viola player'??

I think it's just become convention in modern language given that violist typically refers to someone who plays the viol and not the viola.

I prefer violist, though, sounds nicer!

Guitar - I've had it almost 12 hours now and can play (badly) all the scale requirements up to grade 2.

VIOLINNNNNNNNNNNN





I havn't touched it all summer....

maybe as school are going to start up again in the next 2 weeks take it out and practice a little. So that if you have lessons you have not forgotten everything over the long summer break( not a break for me I still have lessons).

Perhaps, but that only holds water in writing. In speech the first 'i' is pronounced quite differently ('viol' is like 'violin' and 'viola' is 'veeee-ola', carried through into 'violist') and most people don't play viols these days, so context would clarify, would it not?

I totally agree. Sounds much nicer!

Sounds very impressive! :-)
Which board? Are you going to do exams, or just work through the requirements as part of general learning?

I hesitate to challenge a linguist on her home turf, but the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary only gives one meaning for "violist": "one who plays the viol". However, one of the meanings it gives for "viola" is "one who plays the viola". So I am going to describe myself as a viola from now on.

Oh well, Oxford didn't invent English and isn't a living entity (ie taking an active part in language change etc), so I reserve the right to ignore it's dictates!!! Having said that, dictionary.com lists 5 definitions (from various dictionaries), 2 of which say 'one who plays the viol' and 2 say 'one who plays the viola', esp as one is a double definition with both alternatives and distinctly different pronunciation. The 'linguist' considers herself vindicated!! (see also here: http://www.yourdictionary.com/violist )

Anyway, the Germans have a fully accepted word for one who plays the viola: 'Bratscher/Bratscherin', so I don't see why we shouldn't use one too!!

I trust you don't look like a viola??

You could call yourself Viola, after the character in Shakespeare's "Twefth Night".

Tee-hee! Bit of a worrying name for a bloke though, huh??

violin, though i do play the viola to almost the same standard

Fair enough. I confess I had never encountered the pronunciation with the stress on the first syllable, though it makes sense and does make it clear which instrument is meant.
Not really. I don't have the hips.


Quite. Cesario, perhaps.

I've been looking at the AB requirements but my teacher does LCM - which is understandable as the syllabus is prepared by the "Registry of Guitar Teachers" of which he's a member. I hope to take G3 and G5 but will work through everything on the way and some. I'm currently cherry picking from AB's "Time Pieces" Bk1 which is a brilliant book.

Well, the character spends most of the play pretending to be a man, and gets mistaken for her twin brother (Shakespeare conveniently neglects, or doesn't know, the difference between identical and fraternal twins).

Aye, mayhap genetics were not so well known back then!