Hey everyone! I just bought a new Hofner viola from a local music store and I really love the sound of it. I play the violin and I am still at my Suzuki Book 4... =( anyway, i just want to know when would be the best time to crossover to the viola? Does this mean that i would be throwing away all the time I spent on my violin? Will it be difficult for me to learn the viola? I really wanna learn both instruments... oh by the way, the string that came with it when I bought it (The A String) broke... so I got a new string "chinese made cheap one"... and it still broke... any advise? oh and the peg on my viola always turns back on the D and A strings... =( well just tell me anything you can tell me... bye

Kay, First, NEVER buy chinese made strings. Second, push the pegs into the pegbox (that`s where the scroll is obviously). If the string is too sharp, look at the little knobs at the tail. Those are the fine tuners. Turn them to the right to make the sound sharper and vice versa to make them more on the flat side. Hope this helps. Whatever you do, stay with the viola. I find it to be the most beautiful sounding of all the stringed instruments in both physical appearence and in sound quality. Practice often and happy playing!

Also, by the way, the only difference is the viola is bigger and it is tuned one-fifth lower than a violin. Really the hardest part is learning to read alto clef from treble, I still can`t do it after a year! Anyways, remeber these mneumonic devices for the instruments.
Violin lines from bottom to top: E G B D F (or every good boy does fine)
spaces: F A C E (face)

Viola lines from bottom to top: F A C E G (fat albert can`t eat grapes)
Viola space: G B D F (green bugs do fly)

Hope this helps as well, bye!

No Offense.. but ur on the 4th book of Suzuki on Violin?? and you dont know how to use the pegs on ur new viola.. Im on the 3rd suzuki book for my viola and have been playing 2 years now.. I also might try to take on the Irish Fiddle! so i might be just as stumped as U!!

-Michael