Violin or Viola? Differences and which to choose

It depends on the sound and role that you love to have in music. If you want to wear the melody, the sharp glow and access to the largest soloist repertoire of the ropes, choose the violin. If you are attracted to a more dark and warmer sound and enjoy being at the centre of harmony, choose the viola.

The good news is that the technique is about the same. That's why passing from violin to viola or otherwise, it's one of the most natural changes between instruments. What changes is the size, the most serious string, the key to reading and how to use the arch.

To sum up

The viola is a little bigger than the violin, and a fifth more serious (Do, Sun, Ree, La) and has no string of Me.
The viola reads in code do in third line and the violin, in code of sun.
The violin usually carries the melody and the viola fills the inner voices of harmony and has more and more alone.
The viola wants more arm weight at the bow and responds a little slower.
From violin to viola goes on in weeks, and what takes more time is to read with fluency in code of do.

Violin vs. Viola: The Differences in a Table

How the violin and viola differ
Aspecto	Violin	Viola
Size	Standard adult measure (4 / 4) and fractional sizes for children.	A something bigger, it's measured in an inch depending on the length of the box and there are several adult measures.
Cuerdas	Sol, Ree, La, Mi.	Do, Sol, Ree, La: a fifth more serious and without an acute My.
Clave	Sunset.	Do key in third line and have been put into sharp passages.
Sonido	Glow and pounding.	A little darker, warmer, something veiled.
Arco	Cleaner.	A little heavier with a bigger heel.
Cords response	Hurry up.	slower: Do's string needs weight and time to start.
Rol at the orchestra	First and second violins: melody and fast figures.	Internal voices: harmony, contracts and color, with more and more alone.
Soloist Repertoire	Huge, from every age.	A smaller but more valuable and enriched with many transcripts.
Age of Orientation Initiation	Since I was 4.	About 8, or after a time of violin.

The key to do: what scares most (and shouldn't)

The cello reads in third line do code, also called contrapto key. Its logic is simple: the line of the centre of the pentagram is the central do. It was chosen because most of the registration of the cica remains there without filling up the score with additional lines.

For a violinist, the trick is this: each note is read a degree higher than in a code of sun and sounds an octave lower. What in a code of sun would be an if in the third line, in a code of do is the central do.

He starts by reading melodies that you already know, so that his ear confirms what you read.
Do not write the name of all the notes: mark only those that confuse you and purge them after you have already met them.
Read by intervals, note by note: check if the melody goes up or down by degree or by leap.
He dedits five minutes a day at first glance with simple works.

In a few weeks of daily practice the key stops being an obstacle. If you are still learning how to read, start with how to read scores.

The role in the orchestra and camera music

The violin is the most widely heard voice: melodies, quick passages, the sharp one that shines onto the orchestra. The first violins usually carry the main theme and the second with them or they engage with them.

The viola lives in the middle. It completes chords, holds counteracts and gives body to the sound of the ropes. A string quartet feels harmony from within, something that many violists describe as the great pleasure of the instrument. The composers have increasingly given him prominence, and the soloist repertoire includes works by Telemann, Schumann, Brahms or Bartók.

A useful figure: in many youth and school orchestras there are more violins than violas, so a violist's usually welcome.

Do you choose violin if you choose viola if you have to...

Choose the violin if...

That's what you're trying to play with the melody and the bright passages.
You are interested in the soloist repertoire or folclor, where the violin has a great presence.
It's for a very small child: there are more fractional sizes and methods thought to start at age 4 or 5.

I chose the viola if...

That's more serious and warmer sound you like than that sharp and bright sound.
Enjoy playing as a group and feel harmony from within.
Your arms and hands are big and your violin looks small.
You play violin and you want a new color or place in the orchestra.

At [violin classes]](/clases/violin) and [Viola classes]](/clases/viola) The teacher evaluates your size and your taste before recommending a measure or an instrument.

How to move from violin to viola

Find the right measure with your teacher: with an extended left arm, the paddle should be at the height of the palm, without stretching.
A fair miner and pad: The viola is deeper and can demand another height.
He changes his bow to a viola: his body has more weight and helps his Do string to sound round.
Find the sound with more weight and less arch velocity and a contact point a little closer to the bridge.
Open your left hand: the distances are bigger and the vibration gets bigger.
Learn how to play with an easy repertoire before you face orchestral works.

To tuning Do's string, that does not exist in the violin, use the [viola tuning machine]](/herramientas/afinador/viola) And if you go in the opposite direction, from the viola to the violin, get ready for a lighter arch, shorter distances and the string of Me, that requires a great deal of precision.

Frequently asked questions

Is viola easier than violin?

It's no easier, it's different. It's got less passages at the sharp end, but the instrument's bigger, the distances are bigger and the arch's asking for more weight for serious strings to respond.

Can you play the viola with a violin arch?

It can get out of the way, but the sound remains thin, especially with Do's string. The viola arch is a little heavier and intended for its thicker strings.

How do I know how big a viola I need?

It's up to your arm and to the size of your hand, and not just to your height. The ideal thing to do with your teacher is to try several measures, because two people of the same height may require different paddles.

Can a child start directly with a viola?

Yes. There are small and more and more children start with them. Many start with violin simply because there are more tools and methods available and then they move to viola without difficulties.