Viola or Violin: Which Should You (or Your Child) Learn?

Viola and violin are played the same way: the same hold, the same bow strokes, and the same finger patterns on three strings the two instruments share. What separates them is size, sound and the page. The viola is larger and tuned a fifth lower, it sounds darker, and its music is written in alto clef, a clef few other instruments use. So the choice comes down to which sound the player wants, which instrument their arms fit, and, for a child in a school orchestra, which section the director needs.

Same Technique, Tuned a Fifth Apart

The violin’s strings, from low to high, are G, D, A and E. The viola’s are C, G, D and A, each one a perfect fifth below the matching violin string, the distance from C up to G. The two instruments share the G, D and A strings at exactly the same pitches. The violin adds a high E on top, and the viola adds a low C underneath.

Because both are tuned in fifths, a finger pattern gives the same intervals on every string of either instrument. In first position, the hand placement nearest the scroll, a violinist’s scale on the G string uses the same fingers in the same order on a viola. The notes simply sit farther apart on the longer viola fingerboard, so the hand opens a little wider for the same pattern.

The bow is where a violinist first feels the difference. Viola bows are heavier, about 70 to 74 grams against a violin bow’s 58 to 61, according to Wikipedia’s viola entry, and the bow maker CodaBow says the extra weight is there to drive the larger, thicker strings. A violist also leans more arm weight into the string to get a full sound.

Sizing: Viola Inches Instead of Violin Fractions

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Violins are sized in fractions of a full-size instrument, 1/16 up to 4/4. Violas are sized by the length of the body in inches, and there is no single full size. A full-size violin body is about 14 inches long, and Violin Lounge’s viola size chart notes that a 14-inch viola is comparable in size to a full-size violin. Adult violas usually run from 15 to 16.5 inches, and a few are larger.

Size follows the left arm, measured straight out to the side from the base of the neck to the middle of the palm. This is the viola chart one music school publishes (Ensemble Schools sizing chart):

Shops do not all agree. Violin Lounge puts a 16-inch viola at about 27 inches of arm and a 15-inch one at about 23, up to two inches off this chart, so read any chart as a starting point and let a teacher or string shop make the final fit. Our guide to renting or buying a first violin measures to the wrist, which reads a couple of inches shorter than this chart’s mid-palm point; its playability checks apply to a viola too.

A growing child moves up through viola sizes the way a violinist moves through fractions, and the smallest violas exist for young children, so a small child is not barred from viola by size. An adult, meanwhile, picks a viola as much by comfort as by arm length. Violin Lounge says adults usually choose between 15 and 16 inches or more, and that height alone does not mean a bigger viola is right. A larger body gives a fuller C string, and a smaller one is easier on the left hand and the shoulder over a long practice.

Alto Clef: Why the Viola Has Its Own Staff

Most of the viola’s range sits around middle C, the C nearest the middle of a piano keyboard. In treble clef, the violin’s clef, those notes fall below the staff on ledger lines, the short extra lines added above or below. In bass clef, the cello’s, they sit above it. Alto clef centers the staff on middle C instead: the clef’s two curves meet on the middle line, and that line is C.

The same five notes, open G up to D on the G string, show what that does on the page. A violinist reads them hanging below the staff. A violist reads them inside it.

The lines of the alto staff, from the bottom up, are F, A, C, E and G, and the spaces are G, B, D and F. Each line and space carries the next letter up from treble clef, so the bottom line E becomes F and the middle line B becomes C, though the alto staff sounds almost an octave lower. A violinist learning to switch can lean on that while the new clef settles in. A beginner who starts on viola learns alto clef first and has no translation to make. Viola music moves into treble clef when a passage stays high for a while, so a violist reads both. Our guide to reading sheet music as a beginner covers the treble staff and rhythm, which work the same in every clef.

For drilling note names, Tunelark’s music learning games include alto clef note reading alongside treble and bass. The games are free with a Tunelark account, and an account comes with the first paid lesson.

Tone and the Part Each Instrument Plays

The violin’s E string gives it a bright, carrying top, and in an orchestra the first violins carry the melody much of the time. The viola is darker and warmer. Its low C string reaches into the cello’s range, and Rockwood School District’s string program page describes it to families as having a “deep, mellow tone” against the violin’s “bright, beautiful tone”.

Violas usually play the inner voices of the harmony, the notes between the melody on top and the bass underneath, with countermelodies and solos along the way. Orchestras also seat far more violinists than violists. Writing in Sound On Sound, Dave Stewart describes a full symphonic string section of 16 first violins, 14 second violins and 12 violas, so the violins outnumber the violas by more than two to one. A school orchestra’s balance is up to its director, so for a child the useful question is which section has room.

Nick P., who teaches viola on Tunelark, spent three seasons as a viola fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, an orchestra that trains young professionals. Here he plays Biber’s Passacaglia, a seventeenth-century piece written for unaccompanied violin, on solo viola.

Performance  ·  Biber Passacaglia for Solo Viola

Nick teaches viola on Tunelark. View Nick’s profile

Starting a Child on Viola or Violin

In many school string programs a child picks one of the four instruments in the year the program starts. Rockwood, in Missouri, opens its program in fourth grade with violin, viola, cello and bass on the list, and notes that a viola costs slightly more to rent than a violin. Elsewhere the start grade and the rules differ, so the instrument form and the director decide the timing.

For a child who wants strings, three things settle the choice:

• The sound they gravitate to. Play a violin recording and a viola recording, the performance above among them, and ask which one they want to make.
• The arm. A child who measures between sizes starts on the smaller instrument, as with violin. A viola sized to the arm is a little heavier than a violin for the same arm, but not out of a child’s reach.
• The section. Ask the director whether the orchestra needs violas. A child who is happy either way can take the open seat.

What a child needs to be ready is the same for both instruments: attention for a short lesson, a parent who handles the setup and practice, and an instrument that fits. Our guide to the best age to start violin lessons sets out readiness by age, and it applies to viola too. Families weighing a parent-led method can read our comparison of Suzuki and traditional violin lessons before talking to a teacher. Our guide to private lessons alongside school band and orchestra covers how a private teacher and a director divide the work once orchestra starts.

Switching Later, in Either Direction

Devin B., who teaches violin and viola on Tunelark, began violin at four and switched to viola during her undergraduate degree. The switch keeps everything the hands already know: the bow hold, the bow strokes, the finger patterns, and three of the four strings. What is new is the reading, the reach and the weight.

• Alto clef. Reading is slow at first.
• Spacing. The same fingers land farther apart, so intonation, playing in tune, needs rechecking from first position up.
• The bow arm. A heavier bow on thicker strings needs more arm weight to sound.

A testimonial on the profile of Nathan G., who teaches violin, viola and fiddle on Tunelark, describes this switch. A student in their seventies who had just moved from violin to viola came to him for the transition, and he gave them specific exercises and bowing tips aimed at relaxation and bow distribution, meaning how much of the bow each note uses.

Adults also start on viola with no violin at all. A student who began viola with Devin in their sixties describes being brought along at a pace that suited them. Our guide to online violin lessons for adults covers what a grown-up beginner’s first months look like, and the same shape holds on viola.

Going the other way, from viola to violin, means treble clef, a smaller instrument and a lighter bow. A violinist who doubles on viola now and then can use a 14-inch one, the size closest to their violin.

A Quick Decision Table

How to Find a Viola or Violin Teacher on Tunelark

Every Tunelark teacher is vetted by working musicians and educators for teaching quality before they can list. Each teacher sets their own rate and shows it on their profile, and Tunelark handles scheduling, billing and support.

• Open the teacher list at tunelark.com/find-a-teacher and filter by instrument, viola or violin, then read each bio for the other instrument too.
• Choose a lesson length of 30, 45 or 60 minutes.
• Book a trial lesson. The first lesson with a new teacher is that teacher’s rate minus $25, for whatever length you choose, so trials start at $14.
• Tell the teacher which instrument you have, its size, and whether you already read treble clef.

Frequently Asked Questions

Looking for an online violin teacher? See our full Online Violin Lessons page for everything you need to know about getting started.

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About Jennifer Heath

I'm Jennifer Heath, VP of Operations at Tunelark and a lifelong singer. I joined the company in 2020 and oversee much of what makes Tunelark work for students and teachers: hiring, training and supporting our instructors, student support, marketing and day-to-day operations. I started voice lessons at 7 and sang with touring choirs through my teens. Music belongs in every life, for the self-expression, the discipline, the comfort and the simple joy of it.