Viola Notes

The viola is the alto voice of the bowed strings: like a slightly larger violin pitched a perfect 5th lower, with a darker, more velvety tone. It shares the essentials with the violin (four strings, no frets, played with a bow) but has two features of its own: a low C string that the violin does not have and, above all, its alto clef, which hardly any other orchestral instrument reads every day. On this page you will find its notes, how it is tuned and where each note falls on the fingerboard.

The four strings: C, G, D, A

The viola has four strings, and these four open notes are the basis of everything:

Like the violin, the viola is tuned in perfect 5ths: from C to G, from G to D, from D to A. In fact its three upper strings (G, D, A) are the three lower strings of the violin; the difference is at the ends: the viola gains a low string, the C, and loses the violin's highest string, the E. That is why it sounds a 5th lower and darker.

That low C is its trademark: it is a note no violin can play, and it gives the viola its unmistakable color in the middle of the harmony. To tune, start from A4 (440 Hz) and set the other strings in 5ths; you can check yourself with the viola tuner.

Alto clef: why the viola reads differently

If one thing defines the viola on paper, it is its clef. Most music is written in treble clef (high instruments) or bass clef (low ones). The viola sits right in the middle, so it uses a third one: the C clef on the 3rd line, also called the alto clef. Middle C (C4) sits on the middle line.

The reason is practical: the viola's range falls between the two common clefs, and writing it in treble or bass would fill the part with ledger lines. The alto clef puts its central register comfortably on the staff (UK: stave). It is practically the only modern instrument that regularly uses this C clef on the 3rd line (cellos, bassoons and trombones only turn to the C clef on the 4th line, the tenor clef, for their high passages), to the point that this clef is associated with the viola. When the viola goes very high, the part switches briefly to treble clef to avoid piling up ledger lines above the staff.

Why the viola has no frets

Like the violin, the viola has no frets: the note is the exact point where the finger shortens the string, and that is decided by the ear, not by a metal bar. The note is not found, it is built. That gives it its expressive tools:

• Vibrato: the finger oscillates and the note "breathes".
• Expressive intonation: a note can be adjusted to its context, impossible on a fixed-pitch instrument.
• Glissando: sliding between two notes with no steps.

As on the violin, beginners are given reference stickers on the neck, which are removed when the ear takes over.

First position: the notes that come without moving the hand

The left hand travels along the neck in positions. In first position the hand sits next to the nut and each string gives five notes (the open string plus four fingers). The natural pattern is the one below, with a half step between the 2nd and 3rd fingers on every string and a whole step between the other neighboring fingers:

This is not a law: by moving the fingers you get whatever sharps and flats are missing, and to go higher you change position (the hand moves up toward the bridge). The octave of each open string falls exactly at the middle of the vibrating string, a point that can be located with certainty (the octave of A4 is A5). Above that, in the upper positions, the notes get so close together that the hand must be very precise.

Try it: the viola diagram

Pick a note and the diagram shows on the viola where to press the string and at what point along its length, with its sound and its place on the staff (in alto clef). It runs from each open string up to its octave (from C3 to A5), with every sharp and flat, and you can hear it bowed or pizzicato. Because it has no frets, one note lives in several places: the diagram lights up all of them, and the player chooses.

The same note in several places

Because the strings overlap, G3 can be played on the open G string or with the 4th finger on the C string; the same goes for D4 and A4. It is the same pitch, but it does not sound the same:

• Open, the string vibrates freely: brighter and more powerful, but with no vibrato.
• Stopped (pressed by a finger): warmer, more even with the neighboring notes, and it allows vibrato.

So choosing where to play a note is a musical decision, not a whim: the player picks whichever the passage asks for.

Bow, pizzicato, double stops and harmonics

The normal way to play is with the bow (arco), drawing it across the string for a sustained sound. But it is not the only way:

• Pizzicato: the string is plucked with a finger; the sound is short and percussive.
• Double stops: the bow can sound two strings at once; with three or four, "broken" chords are played.
• Harmonics: touching the string very lightly gives high, flute-like sounds, the harmonics of the series.

The viola in the orchestra and its family

The viola is the inner voice par excellence: in the orchestra and the string quartet it rarely carries the main melody, but it fills in the harmony and gives the group body and warmth, between the violins (high) and the cellos (low). Without it the strings sound hollow in the middle.

It belongs to the bowed-string family, which is very consistent because almost all of its members are tuned in 5ths: the violin (the highest), the viola (a 5th lower), the cello (an octave below the viola, also C–G–D–A) and, as the exception, the double bass, tuned in 4ths. The viola and the cello play the same four open notes (C·G·D·A), an octave apart. In the concert band the viola hardly appears; of the bowed strings, the ones with a place in the band are the cello (in symphonic bands) and above all the double bass.

Its role explains its character: while the violin cuts over the orchestra, the viola fills the middle register, with a warm, slightly veiled color that is often noticed more when it is missing than when it is there. A curious note: many violists started on the violin and switched later, because the basic technique is the same and alto clef is learned along the way.

The parts of the viola

Although this page is about the notes, it helps to know the names of the parts, because they come up constantly when talking about the instrument:

• Scroll and pegbox: the top end; the pegbox holds the pegs, which tighten the strings to tune them.
• Nut: the small grooved piece where the strings start: it marks the beginning of the vibrating length.
• Neck and fingerboard: the neck is the handle; on top of it is the fingerboard, the dark, fretless board where the notes are stopped.
• F-holes: the two "f"-shaped openings that let the sound out of the body.
• Bridge: the small piece that holds the strings above the top plate and passes their vibration to the body; it marks the end of the vibrating length.
• Tailpiece and chinrest: the tailpiece anchors the strings at the bottom; the chinrest is where the player rests the chin.

What size is a viola?

Violin and viola work differently here. The violin has standardized sizes: the adult size is 4/4 ("full size", body about 35.5 cm or 14 in) and, for children, there are ever smaller fractions (3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16) chosen by arm length. All of them are "the same violin" at a different scale.

The viola has no 4/4. Its size is the length of its body, measured in inches. Shops list them from about 12" (for children) to 16½", with 12½", 13", 14", 15", 15½", 15¾" and 16" in between: the steps are so fine (there is even a 15¾") that it is clear there is no single size.

Why does the viola have no fixed size? Physics. To sound as full as a violin a 5th lower, it would have to be almost 50% larger (a body of about 50 cm), but then it would be impossible to play under the chin. So every viola is a compromise between sound and comfort: the larger it is, the lower and rounder it sounds, but the harder it is to handle. The player chooses according to arm length and the sound wanted, and small violas for children are measured the same way, in inches.

Common mistakes when learning viola notes

• Reading it in treble clef. The viola uses the alto clef; reading it like a violin throws every note off.
• Thinking the stickers are frets. They are a temporary reference; the ear decides the note.
• Treating it as just a big violin. It shares the technique, but its C string, its size and its clef make it an instrument of its own.
• Thinking each note is in only one place. G3, D4 and A4 are in two places each, and they sound different depending on where they are played.

In short

• The viola has four strings (C3, G3, D4, A4) in perfect 5ths: like the violin but a 5th lower, with C instead of E.
• Its C string and its alto clef are its trademarks.
• It has no frets: the note is built by ear (hence the vibrato).
• The same note can be played in two places, and the player chooses.
• It does not transpose and is the inner voice of the strings.