I'm afraid a shoulder cello would be a violoncello da spalla, my dear fellow. In that period, they really tried a lot of things instrument-wise. Before the viola, the violin family in France had multiple sizes (dessus, taille, haut-contre, quinte. basse) and eventually the 3 middle sizes were replaced by the viola. Altough this was mostly in the Louis IX's string orchestra. So they also tried to shrink the cello so violinist could easily play the cello hence the violoncello da spalla. Things only begin to be standardised in the classical era and improved later with technology like metal flutes, trumpets with valves and finally wound strings.... refs: th-cam.com/video/2gZzo5Xp99U/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/GWRFqsxdq-4/w-d-xo.html
as a bassist, I've always had a lot of respect for the viola players. Reading C clef is a pain, and you have to be able to switch between clefs quickly... and the tone is so much warmer than a violin
As a viola player: c clef is a different concept, where it's movable and the arrow thing points to middle c. There are only two still in use, alto clef (what violists usually use), and tenor clef (sometimes cello uses it). I've also played things written in both treble and bass (on viola, I also do piano), which is actually really hard because they're both one note off from alto clef. Learning alto clef wasn't so bad, but the first time I played violin music on a viola (it's completely impossible to find viola music for obscure video games) was absolutely awful.
@@vaultedhollow for me switching from bass to C clef was always a stretch when I was reading solo music and had to switch to thumb position... but that's my brain :)
My 16 year old daughter has played Viola for about 4 years now... She thought of quitting last year until her orchestra teacher literally freaked out and pulled her aside saying she can't because she's a "natural" Viola player which is VERY difficult... Was surprised to hear that until We really dug into what she meant... This year, she was put on the senior and college level groups and invited to go to State and National competition teams... Was really cool for her because she always felt she was just performing average... Gonna buy her a really nice black Viola because I'm dang proud of her...
I don't see why I should choose between violin or viola I believe if you can play either one you can play the other! The C string's sound is awesome! As a late beginner (18) and a non-musician who took up the violin after retirement I don't feel the difference, not to say that it's easy but the viola's special tone even for the same notes as the violin are worth the effort Great video! Gracias!
@@rafaelernestorosabal8734 I agree... I know I wrote this comment 2 years ago, but as an update, My daughter found that playing the Violin and other string instruments were WAY easier after spending so much time with the Viola...
Violin player: "I would really like to be able to play a bit lower." Cello player: "I would really like to be able to play a bit higher." Viola player: "I would really like a sandwich. I'm a bit hungry."
A viola player I know asked me if I knew why they burned longer when I told him this joke. When I told him "because it's bigger..." he said "No, because it's probably still in the case."
@@adflaker it's because we hear so many of these jokes, we've become pro at burning ourselves. Because that's the only way a violist could ever bring warmth and happiness to anyone else. Why's a viola melody similar to peeing your pants? Because you can't hear it, but you get a nice warm tingly feeling.
Came across this video by accident, and it immediately struck a chord. My late father, Jose Rodriguez, was a professional musician for more than 50 years. And, yes, most of his career was as a violist, starting with several small, regional orchestras and eventually making it to the "big show," the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He spent 27 years as a member of the PSO viola section. Music directors he worked under included William Steinberg, Andre Previn and Lorin Maazel. Not to mention a long list of guest conductors and soloists ranging from Leonard Bernstein and Isaac Stern to Yo-Yo Ma and Alicia de Larrocha. As you did, my Dad started as a violinist but moved to the viola after a few years. He reasoned (correctly) that he'd have an easier time making it to a top orchestra on the viola. He never regretted the switch. As soon as you began playing here, I was immediately taken back to my youth in Pittsburgh, listening to my Dad practicing daily in in our home's music room. The viola is an instrument with a sound all its own. I admit I hadn't heard the "viola jokes" you brought up. Then, again, that would've been shop-talk during orchestra rehearsals and I wasn't privy to that :) At my Dad's funeral, many, many of his former orchestra colleagues came. Even the Pittsburgh Symphony Society president was there. After the service, a member of the PSO viola section, who had played with my Dad for years, told me how much he was missed. He descibed my Dad as a "musician's musician," which I consider as fine a compliment as one can receive.
My wife is a professional violist. I fell in love with her while she played in an orchestra when we were in college thirty-five years ago. We've been married thirty-three years,. She now teaches viola and violin. As someone who grew up during the 60s and 70s rock era in southern California, I will say she has greatly expanded my music appreciation over the decades. I really enjoyed your video. Thank you for covering this oft-forgotten instrument.
After almost 60 years, I am getting a viola. I learned a little in junior college in 1963 because I liked the tone of the viola compared to the violin. Life stopped my learning and now I want to try it again. Thank you for the insight that you have shared with us! Next week (hopefully) my journey will continue!
@Greg Monks could you recommend some simple tunes i can learn? i just got my first viola a couple weeks ago, and ive got a feel for it but dont know where to go from here
If there's enough likes, I'd say Mary needs to do that duet. I'm sure we will allow her to practice first to get back in the groove! :) At time of posting this comment: 130 likes at 20 hours.
Everyone hates it?? It's the instrument that makes orchestral pieces sound warmer, it's apparently very underrated. Not seldom is it the viola section that plays a run that totally opens up a chord or musical part. I don't play violin by the way, but I love the sund of the viola
Your right in that the viola holds down notes comfortably that are a bit low for the violin and a bit high for the cello. It sounds really good in that range and so is necessary.
The orchestra string section is incomplete without it. The richness of the sound, and the dissonances and harmonies you get from the inner voices are what truly make things click harmonically.
Hahaha "isnt often recommended by teachers." I wanted violin but when I first started the teacher recommended it over violin. Will never switch to violin. Absolutely love the viola. I am part of the percentile of rare people who start with the viola.
I am another one who started on viola. Our school orchestra (in the USA) had violas right from the start in beginners orchestra ("junior orchestra")--this isn't as common now as it used to be. I later branched out and learned viola da gamba, and I can now also play violin, though I have never actually had a lesson on that instrument. (I came close to having one at a workshop about ten years ago, but the teacher and I were both very busy and the timing didn't work out.)
I too started on viola. I actually never gave the violin a second thought, I always thought it was the hated instrument since it’s so squeaky etc... then in a few years I noticed how few violas were, with the numbers growing fewer in the years to come. I still prefer the viola though, and I love it’s warm, resonating sound to the violins sound, to which I still find traditionally quick paced and demanding in a way. The violas underrated-ness is part of what makes it so great, but unfortunately almost no one sees it that way, and that underrated-ness has only increased with schools not recommending viola and people discouraging violas with most of them not even knowing its sound.
I'm a composer and write a lot of string orchestral music. I've always thought the viola as an essential paert of any string piece, be it quartet, quintet or fill orchestral music. I always write sections that show what the viola can do. I love the rich tonesthat it produces.
Same here Andy, I always venerate the violas in some ways where I find violins too weak or basically cannot reach the low notes and celli too screaming and aggressive to deliver the phrase. Only violas can give you that punch and depth where violins will never go.
Not to mention that whatever the violin can do...... the viola can do all that and when it gets done doing everything a violin can...... It can THEN hit the C string and do the things violin CAN'T do!!!!
@@rustykoenig3566 that's a good one, hit the c string and the violin goes muted forever 🤣 indeed, there's a layer of depth and expression that's only found in violas
I’ve often thought that a string quartet ought to be 1 violin, 2 violas, and a cello. Actually, you can take most string quartet music, and have the second violin part played on a viola. This reminds me of a time when several musicians were gathered to make music for our own enjoyment. A violinist asked to try playing my viola. He played something that never went below low G, so it could easily be played on a violin; he just wanted to hear it done using the warm tone of the viola.
I heard it for the first time in 3rd grade. I picked it because I knew it sounded most like me. It's not a happy, chipper showman. It's a bit darker, more soulful and acts as an extension of my voice. I have an extreme shyness about my voice, so I can easily let my hands sing for me and hit those manly tenor and deep rich alto notes with ease and feeling.
I’ve had a similar experience. The school I had attended around 4th grade had required students to chose one of the four string instruments known as Violin, Viola, Cello, and String Bass. My older sister had wanted me to play the Cello, and my father wished for me to play the violin. Yet when the teacher presented the instruments to us and showed their voice, I immediately knew I wanted to play the viola. I had never heard of it previously, but it had called to me. It may have been because of how rich it was, or similar to how Lauren said, it being darker. But it’s part of my identity now, and I don’t regret choosing it one bit.
I played the violin for 7 years, before I literally became to tall to hold it comfortably so I switched to the viola. Now to be fair, I switched from a 600€ violin to my mother´s viola, which cost 5000 German-Mark when she bought it as a student, so there is a huge difference in quallity between the instruments, but still, the difference in sound quality is amazing. The viola is sounds stronger, warmer and mor gentle, I love improvising in C minor which just sounds great. Also props for showing Davie when you said bassist.
@@ghzcoolz7634 Yeah, I´m 1,95m (which I think is a bit more than 6ft, but I would have to look that up) Also even for my height I have relatively long arms, so holding a violin is not only uncomfortable, it also looks completely ridiculous.
@@eliasbischoff176 Yes i know how ridicoulous and uncomfortable you are when holding the Violin Davie lokks kinda ridicoulous when he holding a violin since he about 6 foot and 3 inches tall *bASSed* on what i saw in google holding a viola for tall people would look normal and comfortable and having a height of 1, 95 m tall is a considerable as a very tall height and i can confirm that your height is approximately 6ft and 4 inches and the fact that you are 5 cm away from being 2 meters in height is impressive
@@eliasbischoff176 Wow didn't know it's already a month, actually i haven't been to this comment until today so i doesn't see any other comment here so it's impossible for me to report it perhaps the comment is already been deleted
It is natural that violin is the preferred solo instrument for concerti: playing high and fast constitute some of the more brilliant and impressive moments of any concerto, and naturally those are both far easier on a violin. It also tends to cut through over the sound of the orchestra better. But for mellow, earthy richness, viola is wonderful. Which is why I'm trying to learn it myself. :)
A boon when you have to suffer someone learning! Sometimes I wish that learning to play the violin was banned until a certain viola proficiency has been reached!
A viola player is running late for a gig and as he drives he realizes that he's about to run out of gas. He pulls up to the gas station and runs inside the store to pay. When he gets back to the car he sees that someone broke his car window. Horrified, he runs to his car concerned that someone stole his viola, he opens the door only to find another viola in the backseat.
LOL, I actually love the viola myself. My wife plays both violin and viola and 90% of the time when playing together I ask her to reach for the viola instead. The joke is funny nonetheless ...
At university I worked at a campus eatery with a guy majoring in viola. He invited us to his senior recital; we were blown away. Beautiful sounds. Wherever you are Mike, thanks for that memorable afternoon!
@@0x777 nah it might be the underdog status but jokes can't translate. I mean we bassist are able to find the key as we are the foundation of the band XD
I'm a violinist and I actually pretty like viola! Sometimes I wish I picked up viola instead of violin, but I think of both instruments as wonderful. Great video!
I started violin at age 8, but tried viola in my last year of high school. Enjoyed it, but never took it up again. Then, I got lucky and I traded a guitar for a viola, and now I play it. I play in a worship group at church and use the viola and violin on different days. I just improvise over the songs A lot of people like the viola, especially on the quieter worship pieces. Reading the music is annoying, but think of positions are opposite. First position on a viola reads like third position on viola, and third position on a viola reads like first position on a violin. If that makes any sense.
same!! i like the sound of viola better than the violin because it's less high-pitched, so now i have to save money to buy a viola because i fell in love with its sound
I never understood the argument about meagre repertoire. For one, as you say, we can just take the cello repertoire and play it an octave higher. For two, how come we ever stopped there. Why don't we just take the entire _violin_ repertoire and play it a fifth lower. Or indeed play it as is. Remember that you can read their clef already anyway. It's them that can't read yours. Mwuahaha. And it's only easier now than ever before. Now that transposing and arranging for a different instrument has been reduced to a couple mouse clicks. We're on TH-cam. Where people take the Moonlight sonata and play it on an electric guitar. Or take _Claire de lune_ and play it on a Theremin. Or five trombones. So who's to stop me from taking Bach's Badinerie and just playing the flute part on the viola. Certainly not Bach. If people want to play more melodies on the viola, well. Just take any melody that you like and play it on the viola. Done. There is no such thing as limited repertoire. My repertoire is whatever I choose to play. And so the only limit is myself.
I do a lot of string quartet arrangements for my school, and my friends can always tell if I did the arrangement myself because the viola has the melody for at least part of the arrangement.
let me start this off by saying I'm not a musician so ignore me if you want. the argument about meagre repertoire is simple, it's not popular. yes you can take cello repertoire and play an octave higher, and yes people play Claire de lune on Theremin or rubber chickens but this doesn't give it legitimacy and things that aren't popular end up as the butt of jokes. I'll use gaming as an example. in traditional MMO's like world of warcraft there are specific roles such as DPS (damage per second), Tank, Healer and so forth. You could technically use any class and spec to DPS but that doesn't make you a DPS. a holy priest dealing damage would still technically do DPS but would just be made fun of by everyone because even though it could do a similar thing it wasn't made for it. so yes you can do whatever you want and no one can tell you what to do (there was no shortage of holy priests trying to DPS), but this doesn't change the fact viola itself doesn't have it's own repertoire and is borrowing from other more popular instruments.
I'm a working musician who mostly plays violin. Within the last couple of years, I bought a viola and a cello and they have been a constant source of new inspiration. I would definitely encourage violinists and fiddlers to try all the bowed string instruments including viols!
I agree. I learned cello in school and now self teaching myself double bass and i have to say much easier to swape cello too double bass. In primery school in played violin and wanted to learn cello now I'm in a orchestra playing double bass. Bass is so much fun to play has some great parts to play
W. A. Mozart's favorite string instrument was... the viola. He correctly recognized that its sound is closer to that of a human voice than other string instruments. I agree. It is by far my favorite string instrument!!!
As a former double bass player, my ear is attracted to the sound of the lower instruments, i.e., bassoon, french horn, cello, and especially viola. When listening to music, I find myself focusing on the bass line and the melody becomes the background. I rarely listen to the lyrics. I feel violins are squeaky, annoying as flies and over-rated! Thank you for your personal story with the viola.
@@audeeophile Piccolo Is fairly weak honestly and he always get owned and ass whooped but he's still a good character considering he's there since the start of dbz
I played the cello until I got too big for it (6'4", 200 lbs) so I switched to the bass. I do the same way. No insturment can sing like a cello, but the viola comes close. I can't stand the sound of a violin.
I always thought this was a TwoSetViolin meme or something small but now I know the instrument is actually bullied IRL for ages! LOL I loved learning about the viola, really! And I loved all the viola and other instruments jokes down the comments! LMAO Soooooooo... Is this a new contender to the instruments war?? FIGHT!!! I'm having the best of times with all these "battles"!
Fun fact: Jimi Hendrix's first musical instrument was the viola, which he played in school orchestras! Maybe unusually, I started out on violin already planning to switch to viola as soon as possible. I was a latecomer to classical music, because from age 3 to age 12 I was in the Middle East where Western classical music hardly existed at the time. So I came back to the United States in 7th grade, discovered classical radio, and eventually went to a symphony concert with a friend's family. The Walton viola concerto was on the program, and it was the first concerto for any instrument that I ever heard live! That's why the viola was the first string instrument I wanted to play, and I actually thought of it as a solo instrument from the very beginning. But it turned out there was an old violin in the family that had once belonged to my great-uncle and that no one had played for 20 years, and it ended up in my hands in my last year of high school, so that's what I started on. I switched to viola a year later when I went off to college and was able to borrow a viola for a while, and never looked back. Despite learning almost entirely as an adult, I've finally come full circle 20 years later and am actually working on the Walton concerto now.
Little known fact, Jimi first practiced setting violas on fire. He moved on to stratocasters later in the year after the tremolo arm on his viola kept dropping outta' tune.
It's probably NEVER too late to start learning an instrument. I'm a couple months away from my 69th birthday, but I just started learning trombone a week ago.. However, I have the advantage of having played clarinet and string bass for many years (although not recently, so I'm getting back into them, too), so music itself is not new to me.)
I love the sound of the Viola . It's richness and depth of resonance is unmatched. It's a bit deeper in the soul than a violin. They are cousins in the same family. The tone of the Viola is unique and as versatile. Lovely sound !
I've always thought the musicians who pick eccentric instruments put off a cool vibe. If you like the violin & the cello then how could you not love the viola?
A violinist in my old class said they lived the deeper octaves of the cello but said the viola's C string was too deep. I worry for their mental health and sense of logic.
@@jen-ms8bz Lmao.. I play the cello and I can comfortably say that the C string on the cello is much different than the viola. I can also confirm that most violinists I've ever seen are in their own little world
I play violin viola and cello, and love viola, but the only problem for me is that there isn't much good music written for viola. I like the warm tones of the viola more than the violin, which has a much brighter sound.
@@carsonbarnesharp Because almost every violinist I've met are either mean or self centered on some level. With the exception of maybe 4 people. Sorry, nothing against the violin, (except for the E string... too damn high pitched for me), but from my experience, violinists seem like they feel above all the others because they always get the melody, the "hardest part." And they'd complain because it's "so hard," nobody else understands. At least you don't get stuck playing the same 3 notes over and over! That's enough to drive someone mad
@@carsonbarnesharp Maybe it was my particular orchestra at my particular school. My school had 4 orchestras based on level and I was the second one up. I didn't mingle much with the other groups, but from what I could tell, the higher groups definately had more laid back players. Maybe I only heard the pretentious ones because they talk the loudest... I didn't talk much with my violin section, either. In fact, I had that class with mostly the same people for 3 years and some of them I never spoke a word to.... weird af
As a viola player, I learnt it from the get go 50 something years ago and never learnt the violin, I've been playing in my local amateur orchestra for 30 odd years and lead the section usually 2 or 3 of us against 15 to 20 first and second violins and four or more cellos, I have always been needed in the orchestra to fill those melodic and harmony holes and have enjoyed playing.
They really are quite similar, when you think about it. The rock bassist, much like the classical violist, is usually assumed to be the least talented and least impressive member because their parts are typically simpler than the lead instruments, and it's like the lead instrument but bigger so everyone compares them even though they play different roles.
The first chair viola at the NY Symphony Orchestra accidentally left his very valuable Italian viola in his unlocked car while shopping... in a panic, he rushed back to his parking spot, worried he'd find it long gone... only to find that four more had been thrown in the back seat with it.
I am 13 years old and I've been playing the viola since i was eight. I became first chair when I was eleven without taking any lessons in my life, I was only taught at school and in elementary i only played with an orchestra once a week. last school year i had made all city strings but then covid hit and i wasnt able to play with kids all over my city of half a million population. Now that im back in the class room im the only viola in the whole orchestra and all the violin 2s are quiet and tbh not very good so i have to take over almost their whole part lol. When there is a melody (very rare as you say in the video) I start to act like a violin one and just play super loud bc i finally have a part!
From observation it's more a meme than anything. Much like how band people make memes on the bassist even though the band can't work without it (much like how string parts won't function without violas)
I think that the Viola came into existence when someone ordered a Viola De Gamba from a Luthier, and when they were told there would be a delay, the customer said "Don't fret".
I started on the violin and gave it up after a year and a half of getting headaches from the high notes. 😖 I love the viola more than any other string instrument because of its warmth and range. It's the perfect range to enjoy those rich low notes as well as soar high enough with the high ones! You can express both beautifully on this gorgeous instrument!
I love the viola. I am an alto deep in my soul: when singing, when playing the recorder. Even my piano has that beautiful warm, low sound. But I play the violin (a bit) because I am too small for a viola.
When I was a student in elementary I chose to play viola because I didn't like how thin the E string was and I wanted to be a bit unique. The class contained 22 violinists, 9 violists, and 8 cellists. Me and the viola section were bullied by the violinists because of our C string but they like the cellists which I found very illogical.
Well written, crisply delivered, and thoroughly charming. You've managed to teach a non-musician more than he will ever need to know about the seemingly dreaded viola. Thank You
I am a violist, but I can play both violin and viola... It depends what you are talking about, lol. As a violist, I have to stretch my fingers a lot more for my 16 inch viola, and that can lead to notes that sound off, and a tired hand. But, a violin definitely has E string notes to work with😬 Both are hard, both are easy.
@@hopekeehn4836 I was mostly talking about the register, since the violin is higher is more annoying to me when you hear a beginner excersising 😀 As a non pro electric bass player I always wanted to learn double bass but never got to it, I don't have much free time and it's bit of an expensive instrument... also a bit cumbersome to travel with 😀 I also like the cello a lot.
@@marvinsilverman4394 I thought the basson was the grandpa. The oboe is the duck. The flute is the bird. The clarinet is the cat. The French horns are Peter OR the Wolf. C'mon!!! Oh, yeah... the accordian is SATAN.
A fight broke out between first violin and first viola. After breaking it up, the conductor angrily demanded to know what it was about. "He started it!", said first viola; "He turned one of my pegs down, and won't tell me which one!"
The viola is actually one of my favorite instrument.. maybe even my favorite. Well I guess it just means I'm a weirdo 😂 A friend of mine started playing on my song with her violin, and then one day she brought her viola which is her main instrument. I think it was the first time I was truly hearing a viola and I fell in love with that sound right away and she was so happy because she said that most musicians don't let her play the viola on their songs... don't get it lol! Well she played the viola in most of mine and that was the best! 😁
Why does everyone hate it? I don’t! I’ve been a professional violist for the last 30 years. As a child, I started on Violin and, the first time I heard a great violist, I went home and tuned all the strings on my violin down a fifth! I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough. It sounded like my soul had found its voice! Some people get this, and some people don’t. Funny, when you really, really love something, the haters fade into a dull blur in the background! I love what you’re doing on your channel!
Every insecure 13 year old half-baked violinist hates violas; we're easy targets. The confident or kind violinists, either helped us or joined us(out of pity, but still I appreciate it). Viola orchestral music is... counting the first sixteen measures, playing eight notes and then two measures between three notes. It's really hard to practice unless you've got a friend with a violin(we didn't have youtube/etc). I was lucky and the best violinist took pity on me. I remember being in awe of him because he could vibrato. My vibrato is still very weak, but I enjoy playing the instrument twenty years later when no one is around and I'm just alone in my business.
Props, Mary! I'm an ex-violist myself, so I can also "feel the burn" every time I pick up my viola for a self-torture session... I got myself a reasonable violin (a 19th century German factory violin, not good but not bad) as an eBay rescue, and that is a *lot* easier to play than a viola. Violinists like to make jokes of our instrument, but the moment they try to play it they realise how ridiculously out of place the jokes are. You can take any violin, spend 10 minutes or so to re-adjust your fingering, and then give those smarmy violinists a run for their money! :-) It's a "well-established fact" (read "musical urban myth") that Niccolo Paganini practised all his stuff on the viola until perfect, which made those difficult bits a total breeze on the violin. Even so, it is a fact that Paganini really played the viola, because Hector Berlioz originally dedicated "Harold in Italy" to him. Thanks for making this video! :-)
JS Bach is proof enough for me that the middle voice and therefore the viola is indispensable in truly brilliant music. When I studied composition this was and still is the most awe inspiring and fascinating part of classical music for me. Fashions will come and go in classical music but Bach knew where the groove was.
Old man says "This was great!" Not generally a fan of classical music (very negative experiences as a lad), but I do like listening to string quartets and chamber orchestras on occasion, and while I'm aware that violas are often the unloved stepchildren of the classical world, I've never personally discriminated against one, or its player. Nicely done, Mary!
Ms. Spender, since you are so articulate and have a generous nature, many people young and old have come to know music more. Please do keep doing the great work that you do.
During this time i remembered my years in middle school, where i played in the school orquestra, and i pick up my cello one more time, and i can still play, kind of, but i will keep going.
It's so great to hear you play the viola; string instruments are beautiful and your playing is great. On the other hand... What's the difference between a viola and a trampoline? Nothing, they're both fun to jump on.
A well played Viola is a lovely sound and from my time hanging around (not in) amateur orchestras will usually be welcomed with open arms since there never seems to be enough of them around. Guess it's like being good or competent at something everyone else has overlooked. There will always be work for you and less competition if you're the least bit industrious. If an instrument takes your fancy then feel free to share the love.
My wife (before he passed away) was a second chair violist in the Detroit Symphony and taught me to love it sound and purpose. Thank you for doing this piece and reminding me of her and her essence. Thank you.
Personally, a viola intro or solo normally makes me tear up almost immediately. There's something very beautiful and powerful about the tone and tuning. I think a good composer who writes viola parts well recognises this and makes them so lovely to my ear. Possibly the reason I like to do the Adrian Smith technique on my guitar, and string it with bass strings on the lower range. I just like my music to be deep and resonant.
Tip from my awesome teacher: Never think like "practice leads to perfection", you always must, when studying an instrument, to think like "getting used to it"; your body must get used to the posture, to the sound, to everything in the right way, and you'll get used to play "perfectly" later on life. Hope it helps!
I played viola in middle/highschool, and it definitely comes down to the quality of parts being written. Even the second violinists were better than most of he violas. I remember being absolutely ecstatic hearing that we would be playing the Lord of the Rings Two Towers score with our multischool concert orchestra program. Lo and behold I get the book, and it's all half and whole notes. Superbummed. The violinists and cellists all had much more opportunity to push their talents further.
I've never played in orchestras before. My interest in music and composing came when I was 14 (I'm 18 now). When I compose, I find writing for strings to come quite naturally, but I do it differently than most. I generally split the string section into first violins, second violins, violas A and B, cellos A and B, and basses (sometimes also A and B). Melodies and countermelodies are not constrained to first violins and cellos, but are shared among violins, violas, and cellos. If the basses are split, then the second group of basses is generally set to play in their high ranges, which adds a very different sound to the mix, and in that case, they sometimes play pedal tones. But often, they also share the countermelody.
Thank you. That was so interesting and enjoyable. I saw a concert performance yesterday as part of York Chamber Music Festival. Sextet pieces by Boccherini and Dvorak. The beauty of the sound blew me away. So uplifting and refined. I was most attracted to the sound of the two violas.
i played primarily viola, but i also played both violin and cello when necessary, and honestly, violin just feels like a toy and sounds like a dying cat... i can't stand it. i mean, cello sounds like a viola talking with its mouth filled with marshmallows, but it was better than a violin. lol
@@abdullahimran3176 i no longer own the instruments i once did, and it's not something i could teach over zoom... there is a motion to drawing the bow that is primarily done in the shoulder and wrist that... i could tell you if it was right or wrong if i was present, but not online. ...i'm not even sure i could show you how to hold a bow online. ...while lessons aren't cheap, they are the best way to go, especially if you're just beginning. once you understand the fundamentals, then it would be easier to show tips and techniques (i can't show you how to perform staccato, unless you've already mastered drawing the bow across the strings... but i could simply *tell* you how to do staccato, and you would understand, whereas i might have to literally guide your arm to teach you to draw the bow) it's not a matter of willingness... you are simply asking the wrong the person, at the wrong time.
I prefer the deep, rich sound of the cello, but the viola does have it's place in the orchestra. I mostly view them as a kind of support between the violin and cellos that only the viola could do. Because although there are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd violins, they can't have the tone that the viola has
@@JameskentPEnabe yikes, that sounds horrible. The cost of making beautiful sounds. Beginner violinist here, my neck still hurts from the bad posture I had a year ago...
Saeed Rahman bad posture on violin sounds fricking painful but on guitar the 1st 2nd and 3rd strings when you hold them down down for 30 seconds hurts like hell and I’m still suffering from this so pls help
"Why would you seek the viola as a study when there are so little solo repertoire?" We may have less solo pieces than the other strings. However, some of the pieces we do have are absolutely beautiful. Take Max Bruch's 'Romanze" for Viola for example.
@@skyhart1377 My sister plays the viola. When she's not looking, I slightly make the strings randomly a tone or semi tone flat or sharp. And I drop ball bearings in the f holes to make it buzz or rattle! Don't worry, it doesn't make any difference to the sound she makes!
you: big violin
me, an intellectual: shoulder cello
😂😂
Lmao
I'm afraid a shoulder cello would be a violoncello da spalla, my dear fellow.
In that period, they really tried a lot of things instrument-wise. Before the viola, the violin family in France had multiple sizes (dessus, taille, haut-contre, quinte. basse) and eventually the 3 middle sizes were replaced by the viola. Altough this was mostly in the Louis IX's string orchestra. So they also tried to shrink the cello so violinist could easily play the cello hence the violoncello da spalla.
Things only begin to be standardised in the classical era and improved later with technology like metal flutes, trumpets with valves and finally wound strings....
refs: th-cam.com/video/2gZzo5Xp99U/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/GWRFqsxdq-4/w-d-xo.html
@@Davmm96 ah yes a person of culture, thanks for sharing your knowledge (it's not sarcasm)
Ahh
My wife played the viola. She chose it because it reminded her of herself. Often forgotten middle child between two better likes siblings
Thats deep
Is she made of wood and people rub horse hair on her belly producing distinctive sound frequences?
@@joaquimgianini1234 WTF LMAAOOOO
@@joaquimgianini1234 this comment is gold lol
@@joaquimgianini1234 very vivid image there.
I feel like Mary is not joining TwoSet vs Davie fight, she’s just coming to them and smiling
"While you guys are fighting, I'll get some snacks."
😂
Shes like Switzerland. Or Portugal even.
Even the viola gang is better than that 😉
I find TwoSet cringe and annoying
as a bassist, I've always had a lot of respect for the viola players. Reading C clef is a pain, and you have to be able to switch between clefs quickly... and the tone is so much warmer than a violin
As a viola player: c clef is a different concept, where it's movable and the arrow thing points to middle c. There are only two still in use, alto clef (what violists usually use), and tenor clef (sometimes cello uses it).
I've also played things written in both treble and bass (on viola, I also do piano), which is actually really hard because they're both one note off from alto clef. Learning alto clef wasn't so bad, but the first time I played violin music on a viola (it's completely impossible to find viola music for obscure video games) was absolutely awful.
@@vaultedhollow for me switching from bass to C clef was always a stretch when I was reading solo music and had to switch to thumb position... but that's my brain :)
Also there's no guitarist to show you what to play
@@frankcooke1692 He meant classical double bassist. Rock musicians dont even know how to read music
@@DanyDoublebass They don't need to read music. They play the songs from memory
That's why Brett's lofi sounded perfect.
LING LING
That’s my ringtone
Yep
@@hotlattewithoutsugar loll
It haunts me D:
The non-musician two-setters in the background clicking on this video so fast because they've been curious for the longest time
That brought me here tbh
No, everyone knows the viola is sh*t
I'm a viola simp two-setter clicking it. (Violinist but I do love the viola)
Haha so true
Yuuuup
Honestly I bet most people who "hate" on violas don't actually hate them, they just do it for the memes.
Yeah, we don't actually hate it. We just rofl.
We hate them. Don't spread lies pls
bruh wtf it's literally an instrument there's no need to actually hate it
Only people who practice 40 hours a day can hate the violas fully.
Nah, no one hates it, they just joke about it
My 16 year old daughter has played Viola for about 4 years now... She thought of quitting last year until her orchestra teacher literally freaked out and pulled her aside saying she can't because she's a "natural" Viola player which is VERY difficult... Was surprised to hear that until We really dug into what she meant... This year, she was put on the senior and college level groups and invited to go to State and National competition teams... Was really cool for her because she always felt she was just performing average... Gonna buy her a really nice black Viola because I'm dang proud of her...
Thank you for being so supportive! Viola players are treated like second fiddles in a school orchestra often.
I don't see why I should choose between violin or viola I believe if you can play either one you can play the other! The C string's sound is awesome! As a late beginner (18) and a non-musician who took up the violin after retirement I don't feel the difference, not to say that it's easy but the viola's special tone even for the same notes as the violin are worth the effort Great video! Gracias!
@@rafaelernestorosabal8734 I agree... I know I wrote this comment 2 years ago, but as an update, My daughter found that playing the Violin and other string instruments were WAY easier after spending so much time with the Viola...
Violin player: "I would really like to be able to play a bit lower."
Cello player: "I would really like to be able to play a bit higher."
Viola player: "I would really like a sandwich. I'm a bit hungry."
moar likes
It’s called getting a 5 or 6 string violin/cello
CyclonicWings 29 there aren’t acoustic ones though
@@williamhiegel2756 it's called sacrilegious
Good cello players don't worry about that, they can go almost as high as the alto.
A trumpet player friend of mine tells this joke: What's the difference between a violin and a viola? A viola burns longer.
A viola player I know asked me if I knew why they burned longer when I told him this joke. When I told him "because it's bigger..." he said "No, because it's probably still in the case."
@@adflaker it's because we hear so many of these jokes, we've become pro at burning ourselves. Because that's the only way a violist could ever bring warmth and happiness to anyone else.
Why's a viola melody similar to peeing your pants? Because you can't hear it, but you get a nice warm tingly feeling.
@John Verne An alternative is "Hi, I can hit higher notes"
@John Verne lol, my college roommate, who was a trumpet player, would tell the same joke about guitar players! 🤣
@John Verne That joke was taught to me by a French Horn player in the flavor of, "What is the Trumpet player handshake?". =D
TwoSetViolin: *finally burying their battle axe*
*Mary Spender entered the chat*
Came across this video by accident, and it immediately struck a chord. My late father, Jose Rodriguez, was a professional musician for more than 50 years. And, yes, most of his career was as a violist, starting with several small, regional orchestras and eventually making it to the "big show," the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He spent 27 years as a member of the PSO viola section. Music directors he worked under included William Steinberg, Andre Previn and Lorin Maazel. Not to mention a long list of guest conductors and soloists ranging from Leonard Bernstein and Isaac Stern to Yo-Yo Ma and Alicia de Larrocha.
As you did, my Dad started as a violinist but moved to the viola after a few years. He reasoned (correctly) that he'd have an easier time making it to a top orchestra on the viola. He never regretted the switch.
As soon as you began playing here, I was immediately taken back to my youth in Pittsburgh, listening to my Dad practicing daily in in our home's music room. The viola is an instrument with a sound all its own.
I admit I hadn't heard the "viola jokes" you brought up. Then, again, that would've been shop-talk during orchestra rehearsals and I wasn't privy to that :)
At my Dad's funeral, many, many of his former orchestra colleagues came. Even the Pittsburgh Symphony Society president was there. After the service, a member of the PSO viola section, who had played with my Dad for years, told me how much he was missed. He descibed my Dad as a "musician's musician," which I consider as fine a compliment as one can receive.
Great Comment!!!
oh cool
My wife is a professional violist. I fell in love with her while she played in an orchestra when we were in college thirty-five years ago. We've been married thirty-three years,. She now teaches viola and violin. As someone who grew up during the 60s and 70s rock era in southern California, I will say she has greatly expanded my music appreciation over the decades. I really enjoyed your video. Thank you for covering this oft-forgotten instrument.
What is the best thing of the viola? You can marry the violist.
@@martinh1277 jfc come ooon this was such a sweet comment why you gotta do this😭
Awwwwwwwww
@@ada.3880 Violist myself.
@@martinh1277 That's pretty gay
"Why does everyone hate viola?"
Literally every lingling wannabe: *IT'S THE LAW*
XD
Nah VIOLA GANG!!!
Ling Ling
Me: Blame T W O S E T !
I was here looking for Ling Ling wannabes!
I really enjoyed this Mary!🙏🏻
Nice
What makes viola great
Now you gotta make an upright video
Rick is such a sweet man
Thats what i wanted to say .............I really like videos about music.
After almost 60 years, I am getting a viola. I learned a little in junior college in 1963 because I liked the tone of the viola compared to the violin. Life stopped my learning and now I want to try it again. Thank you for the insight that you have shared with us! Next week (hopefully) my journey will continue!
Go John go...
@@ianwilkinson4602 Thanks, Ian! So far, it's been a lot of fun.
@Greg Monks I just wish I'd started sooner. After a month I've improved, but still am trying to get relaxed playing even simple tunes.
practice you got this🖤
@Greg Monks could you recommend some simple tunes i can learn? i just got my first viola a couple weeks ago, and ive got a feel for it but dont know where to go from here
"The viola is the alto of the string family." As an alto, this is painfully relatable.
I would rather say, in this respect, the viola is the bass of the string family.
@@Nikioko bruh there’s literally an instrument called a double bass what do you mean
@@sunrise5710 Don't you know viola jokes? Well, there are also bass jokes among singers...
And a double bass isn't a violin, it's a gamba.
its literally the alto instrument of the strings family, it plays in the alto clef
Yeah.. but not all can sing alto properly. I love singing alto. ,,♥️♥️
I would love to see a "Mary And Mary" guitar and viola duet.
Everybody like this comment
If there's enough likes, I'd say Mary needs to do that duet. I'm sure we will allow her to practice first to get back in the groove! :)
At time of posting this comment:
130 likes at 20 hours.
There’s a little bit too much clash in the ranges of the instruments so she’d need to be quite careful but it’s certainly possible
Fudge yee
@@tombruges1557 This potential issue might be solved by tacit capotastic tactics.
Me: *sees the title "Why does everyone hate viola".*
Also me: TwoSet. It has to be them.
*cough
Ling Ling insurance
*cough *cough
No, because it makes a worse sound, and it has less competition. So it generally attracts under achievers
Ling ling insuranceeeee
I love TwoSet but I love viola too
@Sama Salim it is a general statement
Everyone hates it?? It's the instrument that makes orchestral pieces sound warmer, it's apparently very underrated. Not seldom is it the viola section that plays a run that totally opens up a chord or musical part. I don't play violin by the way, but I love the sund of the viola
Agree
I’m a violist and had to come here after watching two set violin just because they hate it so much. Thank you 🥺
Lol true, but no one really hates it. And anyone who does is usually considered insignificant as far as I’ve seen.
Your right in that the viola holds down notes comfortably that are a bit low for the violin and a bit high for the cello. It sounds really good in that range and so is necessary.
Yeah for some reason people hate it🙄
The orchestra string section is incomplete without it. The richness of the sound, and the dissonances and harmonies you get from the inner voices are what truly make things click harmonically.
Take a cello, put a capo on 12
Hahaha "isnt often recommended by teachers." I wanted violin but when I first started the teacher recommended it over violin. Will never switch to violin. Absolutely love the viola. I am part of the percentile of rare people who start with the viola.
I am also though being bullied by the violinists did hurt
I am another one who started on viola. Our school orchestra (in the USA) had violas right from the start in beginners orchestra ("junior orchestra")--this isn't as common now as it used to be. I later branched out and learned viola da gamba, and I can now also play violin, though I have never actually had a lesson on that instrument. (I came close to having one at a workshop about ten years ago, but the teacher and I were both very busy and the timing didn't work out.)
I too started on viola. I actually never gave the violin a second thought, I always thought it was the hated instrument since it’s so squeaky etc... then in a few years I noticed how few violas were, with the numbers growing fewer in the years to come. I still prefer the viola though, and I love it’s warm, resonating sound to the violins sound, to which I still find traditionally quick paced and demanding in a way. The violas underrated-ness is part of what makes it so great, but unfortunately almost no one sees it that way, and that underrated-ness has only increased with schools not recommending viola and people discouraging violas with most of them not even knowing its sound.
Oh boy, that was longer than I meant it to be.
same, i started with viola too haha
I'm a composer and write a lot of string orchestral music. I've always thought the viola as an essential paert of any string piece, be it quartet, quintet or fill orchestral music. I always write sections that show what the viola can do. I love the rich tonesthat it produces.
Same here Andy, I always venerate the violas in some ways where I find violins too weak or basically cannot reach the low notes and celli too screaming and aggressive to deliver the phrase. Only violas can give you that punch and depth where violins will never go.
Not to mention that whatever the violin can do...... the viola can do all that and when it gets done doing everything a violin can...... It can THEN hit the C string and do the things violin CAN'T do!!!!
@@rustykoenig3566 that's a good one, hit the c string and the violin goes muted forever 🤣 indeed, there's a layer of depth and expression that's only found in violas
Same here.
I’ve often thought that a string quartet ought to be 1 violin, 2 violas, and a cello.
Actually, you can take most string quartet music, and have the second violin part played on a viola.
This reminds me of a time when several musicians were gathered to make music for our own enjoyment.
A violinist asked to try playing my viola. He played something that never went below low G, so it could easily be played on a violin; he just wanted to hear it done using the warm tone of the viola.
I heard it for the first time in 3rd grade. I picked it because I knew it sounded most like me. It's not a happy, chipper showman. It's a bit darker, more soulful and acts as an extension of my voice. I have an extreme shyness about my voice, so I can easily let my hands sing for me and hit those manly tenor and deep rich alto notes with ease and feeling.
Yk, this may or may not have just helped me make my decision of which instrument to play
Lauren, it's great that you speak so eloquently about how your music helps you speak. Thank you.
I’ve had a similar experience. The school I had attended around 4th grade had required students to chose one of the four string instruments known as Violin, Viola, Cello, and String Bass. My older sister had wanted me to play the Cello, and my father wished for me to play the violin. Yet when the teacher presented the instruments to us and showed their voice, I immediately knew I wanted to play the viola. I had never heard of it previously, but it had called to me. It may have been because of how rich it was, or similar to how Lauren said, it being darker. But it’s part of my identity now, and I don’t regret choosing it one bit.
I played the violin for 7 years, before I literally became to tall to hold it comfortably so I switched to the viola. Now to be fair, I switched from a 600€ violin to my mother´s viola, which cost 5000 German-Mark when she bought it as a student, so there is a huge difference in quallity between the instruments, but still, the difference in sound quality is amazing. The viola is sounds stronger, warmer and mor gentle, I love improvising in C minor which just sounds great.
Also props for showing Davie when you said bassist.
I love how you say "i became to tall"
@@ghzcoolz7634 Yeah, I´m 1,95m (which I think is a bit more than 6ft, but I would have to look that up) Also even for my height I have relatively long arms, so holding a violin is not only uncomfortable, it also looks completely ridiculous.
@@eliasbischoff176 Yes i know how ridicoulous and uncomfortable you are when holding the Violin Davie lokks kinda ridicoulous when he holding a violin since he about 6 foot and 3 inches tall *bASSed* on what i saw in google holding a viola for tall people would look normal and comfortable and having a height of 1, 95 m tall is a considerable as a very tall height and i can confirm that your height is approximately 6ft and 4 inches and the fact that you are 5 cm away from being 2 meters in height is impressive
@@ghzcoolz7634 I got a rather worrying and ridiculous reply in my messages, but I can´t find it here. Did you report it? I would not blame you.
@@eliasbischoff176 Wow didn't know it's already a month, actually i haven't been to this comment until today so i doesn't see any other comment here so it's impossible for me to report it perhaps the comment is already been deleted
I like the viola. Warm, mellow, friendly.
Agree
Yes just wish they’d burn a little longer 🔥
Yes, indeed.
Until it is played 🤣😅
@@ChrisArtsTube savage.
It is natural that violin is the preferred solo instrument for concerti: playing high and fast constitute some of the more brilliant and impressive moments of any concerto, and naturally those are both far easier on a violin. It also tends to cut through over the sound of the orchestra better. But for mellow, earthy richness, viola is wonderful. Which is why I'm trying to learn it myself. :)
Bless your heart
Violin: sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks
Viola: sounds like Aretha Franklin
No contest.
Good luck! And remember no day of no practice shall pass.
Lol
true. even violists gotta practice 40 hours a day
I have always favored the more mellow and warmer viola sound over the high pitched sharp sound of the violin
A boon when you have to suffer someone learning!
Sometimes I wish that learning to play the violin was banned until a certain viola proficiency has been reached!
Q: Why are violins smaller than violas?
A: They're not, they only look that way because violinists have such large heads.
loll nice one
Is the a roast to viola or violin players?
Oliver Knowles violinists I’m assuming
@@crispynuggets1580 It should be their egos. Becuase saying they have big heads could be taken as a complement calling them "big brain
Oliver Knowles true
A viola player is running late for a gig and as he drives he realizes that he's about to run out of gas. He pulls up to the gas station and runs inside the store to pay. When he gets back to the car he sees that someone broke his car window. Horrified, he runs to his car concerned that someone stole his viola, he opens the door only to find another viola in the backseat.
Best joke so far!!
Lmao 😂😂😂 poor viola players stop bullying them 😂
LOL, I actually love the viola myself. My wife plays both violin and viola and 90% of the time when playing together I ask her to reach for the viola instead. The joke is funny nonetheless ...
😂😂😂😂
@@juanmat68 haha this is so funny, everyone knows viola players don't have gigs
Davie504 is going to love you flashed his picture when your talking about bringing home boyfriends. lol
E P I C O
She burned his ass lolll
Twoset fans like 👀👀👀
Does this mean bass is big guitar? Or guitar is small bass?
Mary legit used to follow Davie when he was the mute bass player, I would love to know if she follows Davie the meme lord
At university I worked at a campus eatery with a guy majoring in viola. He invited us to his senior recital; we were blown away. Beautiful sounds. Wherever you are Mike, thanks for that memorable afternoon!
I have always found that instruments deep, rich, warm tone is so intoxicating. Can we have more of Mary Spendor Viola playing the classics please!!
k
As a bassist, it was the same for me. In a world where everyone wanted to be a guitarist, bass made me different and now a sacrilegious boi
Bass IS basically the viola of guitars. You'll notice that most viola jokes work well on bass too.
@@0x777 nah it might be the underdog status but jokes can't translate. I mean we bassist are able to find the key as we are the foundation of the band XD
Big pp 69420 slapper
@@tlanhluachuteh174 you noticed because of your big brain
I n T E r i s T I n g
“The difference between a violin and a viola is that a viola burns longer.” - (a quote by Victor Borge)
Lolol! I love his phonetic punctuation.
I know that as difference between a viola and a wardrobe...
That's because viola is usually still in the case. (I love the viola, despite the jokes.)
"The viola is the same size as a violin. It's just that the violin player's head is bigger. " Victor Borge or P.D.Q. Bach.
I'm a violinist and I actually pretty like viola! Sometimes I wish I picked up viola instead of violin, but I think of both instruments as wonderful. Great video!
It's not too late.
I started violin at age 8, but tried viola in my last year of high school. Enjoyed it, but never took it up again. Then, I got lucky and I traded a guitar for a viola, and now I play it.
I play in a worship group at church and use the viola and violin on different days. I just improvise over the songs A lot of people like the viola, especially on the quieter worship pieces.
Reading the music is annoying, but think of positions are opposite. First position on a viola reads like third position on viola, and third position on a viola reads like first position on a violin. If that makes any sense.
I relate to you
@@grassblock6964 bruh go away
same!! i like the sound of viola better than the violin because it's less high-pitched, so now i have to save money to buy a viola because i fell in love with its sound
"they read Alto clef and I hate them for it"
~Adam Neely~
Vinnie Syarif at least it’s not tenor clef
I agree alto clef is a pain, especially for cellists who sometimes have to go from bass to alto at the drop of a hat.
@@marichristian1072 Cellists almost always go to tenor though, not alto.
@@daviddotorg I always called them moveable C clef anyway
@@daviddotorg Tenor, but occasionally alto clef. I try to anticipate by studying and annotating the music first.
I never understood the argument about meagre repertoire.
For one, as you say, we can just take the cello repertoire and play it an octave higher.
For two, how come we ever stopped there. Why don't we just take the entire _violin_ repertoire and play it a fifth lower. Or indeed play it as is. Remember that you can read their clef already anyway. It's them that can't read yours. Mwuahaha.
And it's only easier now than ever before. Now that transposing and arranging for a different instrument has been reduced to a couple mouse clicks.
We're on TH-cam. Where people take the Moonlight sonata and play it on an electric guitar. Or take _Claire de lune_ and play it on a Theremin. Or five trombones.
So who's to stop me from taking Bach's Badinerie and just playing the flute part on the viola. Certainly not Bach.
If people want to play more melodies on the viola, well. Just take any melody that you like and play it on the viola. Done.
There is no such thing as limited repertoire. My repertoire is whatever I choose to play. And so the only limit is myself.
Finally! great comment
This deserves more likes.
I do a lot of string quartet arrangements for my school, and my friends can always tell if I did the arrangement myself because the viola has the melody for at least part of the arrangement.
@@daviddotorg:')
let me start this off by saying I'm not a musician so ignore me if you want. the argument about meagre repertoire is simple, it's not popular. yes you can take cello repertoire and play an octave higher, and yes people play Claire de lune on Theremin or rubber chickens but this doesn't give it legitimacy and things that aren't popular end up as the butt of jokes.
I'll use gaming as an example. in traditional MMO's like world of warcraft there are specific roles such as DPS (damage per second), Tank, Healer and so forth. You could technically use any class and spec to DPS but that doesn't make you a DPS. a holy priest dealing damage would still technically do DPS but would just be made fun of by everyone because even though it could do a similar thing it wasn't made for it.
so yes you can do whatever you want and no one can tell you what to do (there was no shortage of holy priests trying to DPS), but this doesn't change the fact viola itself doesn't have it's own repertoire and is borrowing from other more popular instruments.
I'm a working musician who mostly plays violin. Within the last couple of years, I bought a viola and a cello and they have been a constant source of new inspiration. I would definitely encourage violinists and fiddlers to try all the bowed string instruments including viols!
I agree. I learned cello in school and now self teaching myself double bass and i have to say much easier to swape cello too double bass. In primery school in played violin and wanted to learn cello now I'm in a orchestra playing double bass. Bass is so much fun to play has some great parts to play
I agree strongly, the viola is well suited for folk music. If you play violin or viola you should get the other.
W. A. Mozart's favorite string instrument was... the viola.
He correctly recognized that its sound is closer to that of a human voice than other string instruments.
I agree. It is by far my favorite string instrument!!!
As a former double bass player, my ear is attracted to the sound of the lower instruments, i.e., bassoon, french horn, cello, and especially viola. When listening to music, I find myself focusing on the bass line and the melody becomes the background. I rarely listen to the lyrics. I feel violins are squeaky, annoying as flies and over-rated! Thank you for your personal story with the viola.
If that's how you feel about violins, what's your opinion on the piccolo?
JubbLaTV nice
@@audeeophile Piccolo Is fairly weak honestly and he always get owned and ass whooped but he's still a good character considering he's there since the start of dbz
I played the cello until I got too big for it (6'4", 200 lbs) so I switched to the bass. I do the same way. No insturment can sing like a cello, but the viola comes close. I can't stand the sound of a violin.
@@audeeophile -- Pretty much every flutist I know finds it an annoying imposition when a score makes it necessary to play piccolo.
I always thought this was a TwoSetViolin meme or something small but now I know the instrument is actually bullied IRL for ages!
LOL I loved learning about the viola, really!
And I loved all the viola and other instruments jokes down the comments! LMAO
Soooooooo... Is this a new contender to the instruments war?? FIGHT!!! I'm having the best of times with all these "battles"!
I completely agree with your first sentence! I didn’t know viola jokes existed outside of TwoSet Violin until I saw the Wikipedia article on them
I thought it was just meme in the musical community lol.
Yeah same! I thought it was just a joke in the TwoSet community...
Fun fact: Jimi Hendrix's first musical instrument was the viola, which he played in school orchestras!
Maybe unusually, I started out on violin already planning to switch to viola as soon as possible. I was a latecomer to classical music, because from age 3 to age 12 I was in the Middle East where Western classical music hardly existed at the time. So I came back to the United States in 7th grade, discovered classical radio, and eventually went to a symphony concert with a friend's family. The Walton viola concerto was on the program, and it was the first concerto for any instrument that I ever heard live! That's why the viola was the first string instrument I wanted to play, and I actually thought of it as a solo instrument from the very beginning. But it turned out there was an old violin in the family that had once belonged to my great-uncle and that no one had played for 20 years, and it ended up in my hands in my last year of high school, so that's what I started on. I switched to viola a year later when I went off to college and was able to borrow a viola for a while, and never looked back. Despite learning almost entirely as an adult, I've finally come full circle 20 years later and am actually working on the Walton concerto now.
there are not enough likes to award this! so glad you got back to your first love.
Little known fact, Jimi first practiced setting violas on fire. He moved on to stratocasters later in the year after the tremolo arm on his viola kept dropping outta' tune.
That must be the reason he used his teeth for guitar playing. He was so accustomed to using a bow.
@@johnhaller7017 I believe that was after he attempted to play the viola behind his back, and tore his rotator cuff.
It's probably NEVER too late to start learning an instrument. I'm a couple months away from my 69th birthday, but I just started learning trombone a week ago.. However, I have the advantage of having played clarinet and string bass for many years (although not recently, so I'm getting back into them, too), so music itself is not new to me.)
I love the sound of the Viola . It's richness and depth of resonance is unmatched. It's a bit deeper in the soul than a violin. They are cousins in the same family. The tone of the Viola is unique and as versatile. Lovely sound !
Cello in thumb position has the same range as a viola and more resonance.
I've always thought the musicians who pick eccentric instruments put off a cool vibe. If you like the violin & the cello then how could you not love the viola?
A violinist in my old class said they lived the deeper octaves of the cello but said the viola's C string was too deep. I worry for their mental health and sense of logic.
@@jen-ms8bz Lmao.. I play the cello and I can comfortably say that the C string on the cello is much different than the viola.
I can also confirm that most violinists I've ever seen are in their own little world
I play violin viola and cello, and love viola, but the only problem for me is that there isn't much good music written for viola. I like the warm tones of the viola more than the violin, which has a much brighter sound.
@@carsonbarnesharp Because almost every violinist I've met are either mean or self centered on some level. With the exception of maybe 4 people.
Sorry, nothing against the violin, (except for the E string... too damn high pitched for me), but from my experience, violinists seem like they feel above all the others because they always get the melody, the "hardest part."
And they'd complain because it's "so hard," nobody else understands.
At least you don't get stuck playing the same 3 notes over and over! That's enough to drive someone mad
@@carsonbarnesharp Maybe it was my particular orchestra at my particular school. My school had 4 orchestras based on level and I was the second one up. I didn't mingle much with the other groups, but from what I could tell, the higher groups definately had more laid back players.
Maybe I only heard the pretentious ones because they talk the loudest... I didn't talk much with my violin section, either.
In fact, I had that class with mostly the same people for 3 years and some of them I never spoke a word to.... weird af
10:00 when you mentioned your goal to fund scholarships for kids to learn music I felt my eyes go watery, such a beautiful gesture
Yeah, that's when I hit the "like" button.
Q: Why do violinists hate the viola ?
A: Because it makes their heads look smaller.
Viola player: *hears this joke*
1 hour later: oh I get it
OH LAKAOOSOSUS
No one hates Viola
@@EudoraPrice No. Bach and Mozart loved it which is good enough for me. I think violinists only make viola jokes because they are secretly jealous...
As a viola player, I learnt it from the get go 50 something years ago and never learnt the violin, I've been playing in my local amateur orchestra for 30 odd years and lead the section usually 2 or 3 of us against 15 to 20 first and second violins and four or more cellos, I have always been needed in the orchestra to fill those melodic and harmony holes and have enjoyed playing.
"why does everyone hate viola?"
you know, i ask myself that question every day
😏
It’s bc we violinists are superior /j
@@bread6052 cough ego cough cough
When people start bullying bass players: 👁️💧👄💧👁️
Violists: First time?
So true 😂
Bass players will slap you real hard if you bully them. Bass Stronk!
Bass players don't get bullied they are the big dude nobody bothers
They really are quite similar, when you think about it. The rock bassist, much like the classical violist, is usually assumed to be the least talented and least impressive member because their parts are typically simpler than the lead instruments, and it's like the lead instrument but bigger so everyone compares them even though they play different roles.
Im a Violists and basson player
The first chair viola at the NY Symphony Orchestra accidentally left his very valuable Italian viola in his unlocked car while shopping... in a panic, he rushed back to his parking spot, worried he'd find it long gone... only to find that four more had been thrown in the back seat with it.
Leo Kottke tells a very similar story related to an accordion.
Really?! Omg
😂😂😂😂
“Be free.” They said…
Then yeeted four more violas into the car🧍♀️
I was gonna say, this is just a slightly modified accordion joke 😄
I am 13 years old and I've been playing the viola since i was eight. I became first chair when I was eleven without taking any lessons in my life, I was only taught at school and in elementary i only played with an orchestra once a week. last school year i had made all city strings but then covid hit and i wasnt able to play with kids all over my city of half a million population. Now that im back in the class room im the only viola in the whole orchestra and all the violin 2s are quiet and tbh not very good so i have to take over almost their whole part lol. When there is a melody (very rare as you say in the video) I start to act like a violin one and just play super loud bc i finally have a part!
our stories couldn't be any more similar
yesssss
Good for you Carly, way to go.
Mary I think it's amazing that your goals are oriented towards music programs you're truly inspiring
Very much so - it takes a village etc!
WHY COULD ANYONE HATE THE VIOLA????
violas are amazing.
i'm a violinist and I'd love to have a viola too...
From observation it's more a meme than anything. Much like how band people make memes on the bassist even though the band can't work without it (much like how string parts won't function without violas)
I think that the Viola came into existence when someone ordered a Viola De Gamba from a Luthier, and when they were told there would be a delay, the customer said "Don't fret".
LOL! Very good....!
I started on the violin and gave it up after a year and a half of getting headaches from the high notes. 😖 I love the viola more than any other string instrument because of its warmth and range. It's the perfect range to enjoy those rich low notes as well as soar high enough with the high ones! You can express both beautifully on this gorgeous instrument!
I don’t think everyone hates the viola, because I’m pretty sure no one really even knows what a viola is... hence this video.
Jkjkjk ❤️
Lol
Simp
I love the viola.
I am an alto deep in my soul: when singing, when playing the recorder. Even my piano has that beautiful warm, low sound.
But I play the violin (a bit) because I am too small for a viola.
When I was a student in elementary I chose to play viola because I didn't like how thin the E string was and I wanted to be a bit unique. The class contained 22 violinists, 9 violists, and 8 cellists. Me and the viola section were bullied by the violinists because of our C string but they like the cellists which I found very illogical.
Well written, crisply delivered, and thoroughly charming. You've managed to teach a non-musician more than he will ever need to know about the seemingly dreaded viola. Thank You
The Viola is the Hufflepuff of the orchestra. Often over-looked but very important!
I don’t want to be a Hufflepuff please no 😭😂
I am a hufflepuff my self lmao and I play the viola.😂
Read another book Jesus Christ
As a hufflepuff who plays viola, this is 100% accurate.
I'm a viola player and a hufflepuff :))
when I saw the title of this video, I thought, "What!?". I've always loved the sound of the viola, more than the violin. Thanks for the video
I grew up playing the viola. Never touched a violin in my life. It was always a hobby, never a profession. Now I want to get it out the garage.
Your voice is incredibly soothing, i couldn't have watched a 17 minute video about the viola if it wasn't for your voice
She's also quite gorgeous? ;-)
Yall are down bad
@@Ivannbeats absolutely yes lol
I've just discovered your podcasts Mary & I could never ever tire of listening to your voice. You are the doyenne of dulceticy.
Finally, Viola Gang getting out of its shell .... or just youtube recommending me this video xD
It's a wonderful instrument, also when you're learning it's much less annoying than violin LOL
Violists are less annoying than violinists as well.
I am a violist, but I can play both violin and viola... It depends what you are talking about, lol. As a violist, I have to stretch my fingers a lot more for my 16 inch viola, and that can lead to notes that sound off, and a tired hand. But, a violin definitely has E string notes to work with😬 Both are hard, both are easy.
@@hopekeehn4836 I was mostly talking about the register, since the violin is higher is more annoying to me when you hear a beginner excersising 😀
As a non pro electric bass player I always wanted to learn double bass but never got to it, I don't have much free time and it's bit of an expensive instrument... also a bit cumbersome to travel with 😀
I also like the cello a lot.
@Mario L.-S. What?
That's a good thing. When you play on a cheap, harder instrument to play, you'll find it easier to play better quality or less annoying instruments.
'I want to play the violin'
Mum: We have a violin at home
Violin at home:
Violin is like a kid. Small and screaming with high notes
Viola was like a mature adult that can control how high or low things are.
Tell that to the a-string
and the cello is the grandpa
@@marvinsilverman4394 I thought the basson was the grandpa. The oboe is the duck. The flute is the bird. The clarinet is the cat. The French horns are Peter OR the Wolf. C'mon!!! Oh, yeah... the accordian is SATAN.
A fight broke out between first violin and first viola. After breaking it up, the conductor angrily demanded to know what it was about.
"He started it!", said first viola; "He turned one of my pegs down, and won't tell me which one!"
I'm a violinist and am thinking to pick a viola, this helped me a lot in bringing clarity. Thank you so much☺️
I love the juxtaposition of the Orange Terror amp and the viola.
Brandon Ringo Marty Mary should put a contact pick up on her Viola and play through her guitar rig?
The violin, viola, cello are so like the human voice.. it is perfect that you, an alto, play the Viola. So much respect.
I feel like no one hates the viola everyone just talks about how everyone hates it.
I WANNA KNOW WHO EVERYONE IS
I hate it
@@tank45b42 why tho
I know ppl who dislike violas
If I were to be an educated classical instrumentalist I would've chosen the Viola because of it's warmth. It's always been my favorite instrument
Why not just play it
Yes, that and the Viola de Gamba, so mellow.
Why not a violin ? Is it too overrated?
I'm sorry for my naïve comment
The viola is actually one of my favorite instrument.. maybe even my favorite. Well I guess it just means I'm a weirdo 😂
A friend of mine started playing on my song with her violin, and then one day she brought her viola which is her main instrument. I think it was the first time I was truly hearing a viola and I fell in love with that sound right away and she was so happy because she said that most musicians don't let her play the viola on their songs... don't get it lol! Well she played the viola in most of mine and that was the best! 😁
Why does everyone hate it? I don’t! I’ve been a professional violist for the last 30 years. As a child, I started on Violin and, the first time I heard a great violist, I went home and tuned all the strings on my violin down a fifth! I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough. It sounded like my soul had found its voice! Some people get this, and some people don’t. Funny, when you really, really love something, the haters fade into a dull blur in the background! I love what you’re doing on your channel!
Every insecure 13 year old half-baked violinist hates violas; we're easy targets. The confident or kind violinists, either helped us or joined us(out of pity, but still I appreciate it). Viola orchestral music is... counting the first sixteen measures, playing eight notes and then two measures between three notes. It's really hard to practice unless you've got a friend with a violin(we didn't have youtube/etc). I was lucky and the best violinist took pity on me. I remember being in awe of him because he could vibrato. My vibrato is still very weak, but I enjoy playing the instrument twenty years later when no one is around and I'm just alone in my business.
Sorry, I do exaggerate our weak parts. However, it's only to make a point.
Here's an Austrian one:
"Sepp! what are you doing in this bar playing the piano? You're a violist!"
"I was, but my beer mug kept sliding off."
Sorry, I wanna laugh but I really didn't get it 😞
@@myheartwillstopinjoy8142 A beer mug will stay put if you set it down on a piano, but not on a viola. Pretty silly joke.
Props, Mary! I'm an ex-violist myself, so I can also "feel the burn" every time I pick up my viola for a self-torture session... I got myself a reasonable violin (a 19th century German factory violin, not good but not bad) as an eBay rescue, and that is a *lot* easier to play than a viola. Violinists like to make jokes of our instrument, but the moment they try to play it they realise how ridiculously out of place the jokes are. You can take any violin, spend 10 minutes or so to re-adjust your fingering, and then give those smarmy violinists a run for their money! :-) It's a "well-established fact" (read "musical urban myth") that Niccolo Paganini practised all his stuff on the viola until perfect, which made those difficult bits a total breeze on the violin. Even so, it is a fact that Paganini really played the viola, because Hector Berlioz originally dedicated "Harold in Italy" to him.
Thanks for making this video! :-)
JS Bach is proof enough for me that the middle voice and therefore the viola is indispensable in truly brilliant music. When I studied composition this was and still is the most awe inspiring and fascinating part of classical music for me. Fashions will come and go in classical music but Bach knew where the groove was.
6:05 Yup. 👍 It's very simple. The center line of the Alto clef is middle C. 🙂
Old man says "This was great!" Not generally a fan of classical music (very negative experiences as a lad), but I do like listening to string quartets and chamber orchestras on occasion, and while I'm aware that violas are often the unloved stepchildren of the classical world, I've never personally discriminated against one, or its player. Nicely done, Mary!
What do a viola and a lawsuit have in common?
Everyone's satisfied when the case is closed.
I had no idea that snooty people didn't like the viola.
216trixie mate, it’s. a. joke.
216trixie it’s not that people really don’t like it, they’re just the butt of the jokes.
stop lmao 💀
They're mostly bass-less?
Why is the viola better than the violin in the winter? It burns longer.
Love the video
Why are there Viola jokes? I had no idea. I love the instrument.
@@216trixie it's because of twosetviolin, I honestly don't know where it would've came from if it didn't come from them.
@@kenz2756 It goes waaaay back, for reasons explained in the video... They're perhaps two centuries late to the punch.
@@216trixie Because people who were not that good at violin used to play violas, (at least at school, because those parts were often easier)...
@@mrkv4k Aah. Thanks for the honest answer. I could tell by the jokes that they were coming from snooty people.
Ms. Spender, since you are so articulate and have a generous nature, many people young and old have come to know music more. Please do keep doing the great work that you do.
During this time i remembered my years in middle school, where i played in the school orquestra, and i pick up my cello one more time, and i can still play, kind of, but i will keep going.
It's so great to hear you play the viola; string instruments are beautiful and your playing is great. On the other hand...
What's the difference between a viola and a trampoline?
Nothing, they're both fun to jump on.
A well played Viola is a lovely sound and from my time hanging around (not in) amateur orchestras will usually be welcomed with open arms since there never seems to be enough of them around.
Guess it's like being good or competent at something everyone else has overlooked. There will always be work for you and less competition if you're the least bit industrious.
If an instrument takes your fancy then feel free to share the love.
My wife (before he passed away) was a second chair violist in the Detroit Symphony and taught me to love it sound and purpose. Thank you for doing this piece and reminding me of her and her essence. Thank you.
Russians has a joke: viola were invented when drunken luthier put the strings on violin case:)
Да, я слышал что
That image will haunt me for a while XD
@@Crisposhot funny tho
Joke doesn't work cause the viola was made before the violin.
@@hyliansaviour9420 what a twist!
Personally, a viola intro or solo normally makes me tear up almost immediately. There's something very beautiful and powerful about the tone and tuning. I think a good composer who writes viola parts well recognises this and makes them so lovely to my ear.
Possibly the reason I like to do the Adrian Smith technique on my guitar, and string it with bass strings on the lower range. I just like my music to be deep and resonant.
The reason you play the Viola instead of the Violin is the exact same reason as to why I play the French Horn instead of the Trumpet. Big Brain.
That really hits me hard and I love that you want to give back to programs for giving Children the gift of learning musical instruments.
Tip from my awesome teacher: Never think like "practice leads to perfection", you always must, when studying an instrument, to think like "getting used to it"; your body must get used to the posture, to the sound, to everything in the right way, and you'll get used to play "perfectly" later on life. Hope it helps!
I played viola in middle/highschool, and it definitely comes down to the quality of parts being written. Even the second violinists were better than most of he violas. I remember being absolutely ecstatic hearing that we would be playing the Lord of the Rings Two Towers score with our multischool concert orchestra program. Lo and behold I get the book, and it's all half and whole notes. Superbummed. The violinists and cellists all had much more opportunity to push their talents further.
That's rough buddy
A Mahler Symphony has the dullest viola parts of any composer I can think of.
Hmm, In my class it's the cellos who ar ear Esperanto good and the violins aren't as good as the others (they rush too much)
I've never played in orchestras before. My interest in music and composing came when I was 14 (I'm 18 now). When I compose, I find writing for strings to come quite naturally, but I do it differently than most. I generally split the string section into first violins, second violins, violas A and B, cellos A and B, and basses (sometimes also A and B). Melodies and countermelodies are not constrained to first violins and cellos, but are shared among violins, violas, and cellos. If the basses are split, then the second group of basses is generally set to play in their high ranges, which adds a very different sound to the mix, and in that case, they sometimes play pedal tones. But often, they also share the countermelody.
in my orchestra the ones that usually messed up the practices are the violinists
TwoSet should react to this.
Let's get some likes here c'mon.
Viola gang yessir!!
Ling Ling wannabes yessir!!!
Thank you. That was so interesting and enjoyable. I saw a concert performance yesterday as part of York Chamber Music Festival. Sextet pieces by Boccherini and Dvorak. The beauty of the sound blew me away. So uplifting and refined. I was most attracted to the sound of the two violas.
Viola: The lonely middle child of the orchestra.
Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!
I am a viola
i actually prefer the fuller, warmer sound of the viola
i played primarily viola, but i also played both violin and cello when necessary, and honestly, violin just feels like a toy and sounds like a dying cat... i can't stand it. i mean, cello sounds like a viola talking with its mouth filled with marshmallows, but it was better than a violin. lol
@@IAmValenwind hello,ssir would you be willing to teach me violin?
@@abdullahimran3176 i no longer own the instruments i once did, and it's not something i could teach over zoom... there is a motion to drawing the bow that is primarily done in the shoulder and wrist that... i could tell you if it was right or wrong if i was present, but not online. ...i'm not even sure i could show you how to hold a bow online.
...while lessons aren't cheap, they are the best way to go, especially if you're just beginning. once you understand the fundamentals, then it would be easier to show tips and techniques (i can't show you how to perform staccato, unless you've already mastered drawing the bow across the strings... but i could simply *tell* you how to do staccato, and you would understand, whereas i might have to literally guide your arm to teach you to draw the bow)
it's not a matter of willingness... you are simply asking the wrong the person, at the wrong time.
Violin to me maybe I just sucked was too scratchy especially on the E-string.
I prefer the deep, rich sound of the cello, but the viola does have it's place in the orchestra. I mostly view them as a kind of support between the violin and cellos that only the viola could do. Because although there are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd violins, they can't have the tone that the viola has
You: "Guitar Pick"
Mary, an intellectual: "Plectrums"
@Samuel Thomas I thank you for your sacrifice and your calloused fingers
Brian May: "a sixpence"
Saeed Rahman pls don’t give me ptsd of when I was a begginer guitarists and had to suffer two years of holding on to a note
It’s pretty painful!
@@JameskentPEnabe yikes, that sounds horrible. The cost of making beautiful sounds. Beginner violinist here, my neck still hurts from the bad posture I had a year ago...
Saeed Rahman bad posture on violin sounds fricking painful but on guitar the 1st 2nd and 3rd strings when you hold them down down for 30 seconds hurts like hell and I’m still suffering from this so pls help
"Why would you seek the viola as a study when there are so little solo repertoire?" We may have less solo pieces than the other strings. However, some of the pieces we do have are absolutely beautiful. Take Max Bruch's 'Romanze" for Viola for example.
We don't hate the viola! It's very much valued... to chop up as firewood to keep the orchestra warm!
@@PreservationEnthusiast HWOOOOOOOOOOW. I'm not even offended by that cause it sounds like something my brother would say to press by buttons.
@@skyhart1377 You're not meant to be offended, you're just supposed to laugh, it's a viola joke!
@@PreservationEnthusiast oh, believe me. I know.
@@skyhart1377 My sister plays the viola. When she's not looking, I slightly make the strings randomly a tone or semi tone flat or sharp. And I drop ball bearings in the f holes to make it buzz or rattle!
Don't worry, it doesn't make any difference to the sound she makes!