I, for one, have had my share of being teased by idiotic viola jokes!! Most of them don`t even make sense! One that comes to mind is "Whats the difference between a viola and a lownmower?"..."you can tune a lawnmower"...thats stupid, it doesn`t make sense. Please, why do ppl continue to make these jokes and why in gods name are they found to be so hilarious??!!:0

A violist walks into a bar. The bartender says "how may I help you?" The violist replies; "I need no help I`m a perfectly good musician thank you very much and I will not be condescended to in a such a way that implies I am some how an inferior musician of lesser talent than any other musician and in particular volinists with whom I am an equal and in no way is the viola an inferior instrument just misunderstood and not written for though it has been written for and has a very important though little known repertoire and Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Britten all played it though not everyone knows that and I can play just as well as a violinist and in tune though my left arm hurts like %#*% some times and I really think the violins and `cellos play too loud in my orchestra let alone the brass and you know I`m so sick of these viola jokes and why am I singled out you know I switched to viola because I liked it and my teacher thought I should that was long ago now but I can still play as good as any violinist I think it`s so wrong people like you try to make inconsiderate rude offensive distastefull viola jokes and maybe I should have stayed with violin because I wouldn`t get this response and I could go into bars without being bothered by bartenders that couldn`t play the Walton concerto if their life depended on it, furthermore..."

wow...that was intriguing...but once again, another disfortunate example of a violists fate. I resent these infernal jokes. How did they start anyways? Was some violiinist jealous, or what?

the names /instruments are almost interchageable and have no correlation for example i play sax here are some sax jokes

What is the difference between government bonds and alto players?
Government bonds eventually mature and earn money.

What`s the difference between a saxophone and a vacuum cleaner?
You have to plug in the vacuum cleaner before it sucks.

How can you tell that the sax section is in tune?
Pigs are flying.

You`re in a room with Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, and a sax player. You have a gun but only two bullets. What do you do?
Shoot the sax player twice . . . just to be sure.


corny yes but sometimes u laugh- due to the stupidity. but just put the instrument in the slot, and ur on ur way. all the jokes are interchangeabel...sort stupid

i actually smiled at those because of their ignorance. I never knew of those SAX jokes. I always loved sax. But its hard to put jokes aside if ppl rub them in your face. Not that im insecure.

well there wouldn`t be a stereotype unless there was some truth to it. admit it, it does have some validity.

Violastar,

Here`s an idea. If you just take the jokes for what they are, and don`t completely blow them out of proportion, then you might actually appreciate them, and find them funny. I play sax myself, and reading godzilla`s jokes just made my day! The thing about band jokes is that they aren`t usually directed towards specific instruments. You could take pretty much any viola joke and make it into a sax joke. I`ll give you an example. "Sax players spend half their time tuning, and the other half playing out of tune."

If you have pride in your instrument, and you concentrate on improving your own playing, then the jokes really shouldn`t mean anything to you. I know, for example, that a sax section can play in tune. I have heard very good sax quintets, and even saxophone choirs (http://www.saxchoir.com/) play beautiful-sounding music. I don`t take the jokes very seriously because I know this fact. I also don`t take them seriously simply because they`re JOKES! A good joke is not supposed to be taken seriously!

Yes, there is some truth to these jokes, otherwise there wouldn`t be stereotypes against the instruments. But the fact is, true professional musicians don`t fit into those stereotypes. All instruments can sound beautiful in the right hands (and mouthes).

I think a reality check is in order for you.

Thomas

My mistake, I meant to say "...reading tenorman`s jokes made my day..." But hey, godzilla, your joke was good too! It just didn`t fit into the context of the paragraph, as you can see...

Thomas

Well, apparently , i love viola, so these jokes are a minority in "volgarity"...but i am surrounded by ppl who insist on these juvenille poems. The point i am trying to get across is WHY. Why so many, i don`t understand. Its not like I`m trying to ban them forever, i just am sick of them being emphasized on violist. It`s like there is someone who is sitting at his desk making these jokes. And most of the time, ppl take advantage of the instrument. Only popular instruments are ok...like violin or guitar. But who plays those....EVERYONE. There are scarcely any ppl, moreover, kids who play viola, not because its extremely hard, but cause ppl follow everyone else...everyone plays violin, then so shall they! And so ends the trilogy of my opinionated speech.

Here`s a little statistic for you, violastar. Name any university in North America. Do some research on its music department. Find out about the numbers of violists and saxophonists in the department. I guarantee that there will be at least twice as many violists in one orchestra then the number of saxophonists in one concert band. This doesn`t say anything about the whole department, either. There could be 5 times as many violists as saxophonists.

Don`t go saying "oh, I feel so under-appreciated because I play an instrument that nobody else does" until you get your facts straight.

I know _why_ violists complain a lot ( and really, they do; check out the viola list sometime ). They feel bad about three things;

1. People think the viola and violin are the same instrument, but the viola is bigger. Saxophonists don`t get that response; no-one would say to saxophonist "Oh, you just play fat clarinet" but people do say "Oh, you just play a big violin".

2. The viola doesn`t get as much attention, even though there are a lot of violists. Mention the saxophone to someone and a lot of players come to mind. Mention the viola and someone will be hard pressed to name a single player.

3. Viola jokes tend to be the most popular kind of joke within orchestras. Though there is a very long winded one about hornists being god...

Some people don`t know the difference between an alto and tenor saxophone, either. However, you do have a point.

HHMmmmmm....Darling, if i felt under appreciated, i wouldn`t be playing viola. And if you know so much about STATISTICS and the ratio of the pop. that plays viola, then please, hesitate to tell me. So what if there are alot of violists...that doesn`t mean they`re all good. How many violinists can you name off the top of your head...now how many viola`s. And violavox, don`t judge all violists by what you anticipate them to be. I`m not complaining, i am giving judgemental opinions. Otherwise, i wouldn`t be in this forum. THOMAS, you don`t even play viola. How would you know, mighty one. Well, excuse me for being curious.

Perhaps you missed something. I use the name viola vox. I`m a violist myself.