I love the viola so much but unfortunately don`t have the money to take more lessons since we have 3 people in our family who play instruments. does anyone know where I can get free viola lessons online?? if so, pleaaaaaase e-mail.

thanks

I`m with you Kat. I play the Viola, and I love it. But i can never find ANYTHING about the Viola anywere! It`s always Violin stuff... Poor Violas, they`re being left out! At least that`s kind of how I feel. But I actually did manage to find some Viola sights, all though they aren`t very well put together.

i play the viola, and love it to bits. i think the reason people dont play the viola as much is because they can`t handle the responsibilty of playing such a beautiful intresting instrument, i mean, come on, we have our own clef for crying out loud! lol! i think people should respect us more!!! come on lets start a new craze!!! love Betty Boop (15)

i just took part in the school production of Les Mierables. i played in the orchestra and i was the only viola. WOW SHOCK HORROR, i turn over the page and there it was! "VIOLA SOLO" dun dur der!!!!!!!!! OMG a viola solo, so i waked it out, and it was fab. sorry, u probly think im nuts but this kind of thing excites me! bye bye evry1 carry on rockin!!!!!!!!!

hey my name is Jason, and I`ve played the viola for 8 years now and love it. I really love playing the harmony in a piece rather than the melody, because it just completes the piece. without the harmony, its nothing. violas also get the color note in a lot of chords, so its awesome.

so few violists cuz everybody wants the melody of violins. also, people wanna be "concertmaster" and the only way for that is to be violinist, more specifically, 1st violin, more specifically, 1st chair. at the end of a concert, 1st chair always gets the handshake from the conductor. everybody else doesn`t. also, 1st chair gets to tune his instrument in front before the concert (at least that`s how it is in my high school orch). nobody else gets that coveted role. that`s prolly why... but whatever!! i love the viola, and i dont care if i dont get the attention, I play it for the right reasons- cuz i like it

Hello, my name is Narayi. It is not that i am a Japanese. i am a semi-japanese. i don`t play viola but i do play violn. bit is a very nice instrument.Nice to meet all of you.

I played violin 5th through the 1st semester of 8th grade. After changing to viola because by teacher said it would be nice to have another one. LOL!!! Being 1 of 3 violist in the Middle School Orchestra, I was always the outcast. Especially since I switched from violin to viola. The violins didn`t like me because I became a violist, and the violas didn`t like me because I was a Violin. The next school year, High School, I was accepted by the violas but since I was a Freshman I still got roughed up a good bit. Maybe my Sophomore year will be better!

i`m a very recent addition to the violist army,
i just got my viola yesterday, with no understanding of strings at all, it`s hard geting used to, or even playing, but i guess it just takes time, i`m used to the easyness of playing the bass or the guitar. but i like the instrument allready, even though i managed to break the A string within 5 minutes of possesing it...

but hey, i have no idea what i`m doing, and maybe in a week or so i`ll be playing something worthwhile, (anyways, i think the violin makes too high of a sound for my poor ears...go viola and cello!)

Hi I`m Isabel, I live in England and I`ve beeen playing the viola since February. Even here in the UK, there are hardly any viola players, I won`t be suprised that in September I`ll be the only viola player in my city youth orchestra. I started the viola, because basically even when I was playing the violin I always really wanted to play the viola because I loved its deep, mellow quality, so in February my violin teacher who also plays the viola let me swap to the viola, and I`ve overtaken myself on the violin, I`m doing grade 5 viola, but grade 4 violin at Christmas!

Hi Isabella, I`m from the UK too. You`re probably not going to be the ONLY viola player but you`re right in that there is a lot less competition. Typically you can get into a top county youth orchestra at about grade 6 viola whereas for violin grade 8 is the norm.

Liz

heh. my director plays the viola...he says that we`re underappreciated and that we truly are the best...we even get cool nick names (the viola-tors haha) and i like to make my own viola jokes and share with my violin player friends...especially at the orchestra progressive dinner...haha that was fun. i used to play the violin but i switched and was the only viola in the whole orchestra. i fell in love with it. i`ve been playing for seven years. are there any other violists from high school on here..preferably in texas?

Unfortunately I do not reside in Texas but I wouldn`t be surprised if there are a few violists in your area just waiting to be found.

And did you know that both Mozart and J.S. Bach were accomplished viola players? The both wrote music for viola and piano and the entire historical repetoire for viola is over 1400 pieces!

I have played piano for 6 years and flute for 2 (in homeschool band) and just this past year I have started picking up on harpsichord, pipe organ, and bassoon.
It was not until recently when after listening to the viola in a sample solo selection that I became avidly interested in it. Now I have just purchased a very nice 16" German viola and I am looking forward to finally getting to play it and listen to it`s sonorous C string.

I have done a lot of reading and studying on the history of the viola and I was surprised to find in one author`s study that for the viola to have the richest tone possible without making it into a cello; the body would have to be 21" long! Of course that would make the instrument well nigh impossible to play on the shoulder (even 17.5" is a long stretch) and it would be very uncomfortable to play it between the knees like a cello. So in effect I doubt that I will ever see a viola with a 21" long body.

I read once that the viola is the most human-like of the voices of the orchestra. It can seem mellow; almost sad in a way, and then it can turn around and come out with a brilliantly spectacular full Alto sound. It has all of the characteristics of the human voice.

Hi

I just switched to viola a month ago and loving it!

I am auditioning to be a violist in a top country orchestra, we`re supposed to choose a piece on our own but I`m not sure which to decided. At the moment its between Telemann`s Concerto in G, or J.S. Bach`s Cello Suite No.3 in C (Bourees I and II). Which one should I play, or should I just choose something else altogether? Your comments would be much appreciated! thanks.

Kisses,
Karen Walker

ive been hearing that violists are becoming more popular throughout the years soon violas will rule the orchestras