Violas

Strings

Musical Theory and Technique

This Side of Sanity

    The viola is a string instrument.

    The viola is a stringed musical instrument of the violin family, slightly larger than a violin, tuned a fifth lower, and having a deeper, more sonorous tone; the tenor viola. Also an organ stop usually of eight-foot or four-foot pitch yielding stringlike tones.

    Range: The viola has a range of C3 to B5, a fith below the violin.

    General MIDI Level 1 Sound Set Program Channel Number: decimal 42 or hexadecimal 0x29. (See General MIDI Level 1 Sound Set.)

    The word “viola” comes from the Italian word “viola” coming from the Old Provençal word “viola” or “viula” coming from the Old Provençal word “violar” meaning to play the viola.