Violin vs. Viola-What’s the Difference? (Which is Harder?) 

My first instrument was viola, and I chose it because it sounded beautiful. (I had a horrible teacher though, and I ended up switching to clarinet.)

People usually agree to say that the instrument that’s the most difficult to play is the violin, but everything that’s hard on the violin is even harder on the viola thus to me viola seems harder (I’m a beginner violinist). Plus with all the viola jokes you guys have to be mentally strong to keep playing it so viola is harder for sure. I love viola’s sound it’s so low and warm and I wish you guys had a repertoire as wide as the violin one it’s so sad that people don’t recognise how beautiful your instrument is, violists keep playing, you guys are the best

I do feel like viola is objectively harder as it’s bigger and more on the fingers. But violins have way harder repertoire than viola. For me, vibrato on the viola is a tiny bit easier because I have enough space where as in my violin I always hit the pegs when doin first finger vibrato. But overall in terms of playability I do think viola is objectively harder

I played violin because my grandfather did. I played for 8 years before I found a viola at my high school in a storage room. I fell in love with the deep, rich, warmth of the viola.

Yes! Been playing viola 20+ years. Originally I was tricked into playing viola because I wanted to play cello. My teacher in elementary school convinced me that the viola has a deep and underated sound. That only the most special and talented people play viola. That wasn't the case 🤣 We just didn't have enough violas. But man am I glad that one decision decades ago gave me one of the most beautiful instruments. I agree that the viola is my voice. It can sing the hidden emotions a violin simply can't reach.

Best violin and viola comparison video that I have seen to date!

I LOVE your thought process. Choose the one you love the most, choose the one that express your voice the best. Wisdom for life.

As I violist, I respectfully disagree on the vibrato aspect, that viola vibrato has to be significantly wider than violin vibrato. For me, as long as the vibrato impacts the sound and creates color, it works. The speed and width of vibrato can vary greatly, while still creating a beautiful tone. But yea nice video!

I’ve played viola for fifteen years but this video was still so informative. So much I didn’t know about my own instrument. I mean, like all those things my teacher kept getting mad at me for finally make sense 😅 Honestly though, finding your channel was the best thing to ever happen to me. Can’t wait to see all your content and learn more about such a beautiful instrument 🎻 See, I haven’t played in a long time and I desperately want to pick it up again because I miss it and I love it, but I don’t know where to start or what to practice. I’m eager to watch your videos to learn more about technique, appreciation, and more 💜

Viola is easy to play if you started as a violin. I am saying it out of my 3rd year of MS Orchestra. So Violinists who think that Violas are underrated and forgotten, remember that they started the same way as you. Violas (AND BASSES) need respect. Thanks for making this video, even if I am commenting late.

I'm a violist, and this made me happy😊 idk why, it just did

I get this question a lot from my store visitors. I guess I should refer to this video as it's interesting and useful.

Man…. This video just made me feel…. Happy. Thank you man

I have been wanting to play the viola since 5th grade and couldn't afford it so my family put me in chorus both are beautiful and I never looked at which is harder versus easier I like the sound of the c string and finally found a shop they only focus on string instruments in my area so I won't be getting my instrument soon as an adult beginner oh well you're never too old to learn something so excited to get my own viola in my hands soon!

I started as a viola and doubled on violin. Now doing professional stuff, my main instrument is still viola with my bass as my double. I wound up having to get a 16.5 viola and heavier bow because my bass proficiency skyrocketed. I find playing viola made it much easier to be a switch hitter for my orchestra kids. In terms or repertoire, violin by default is harder. But those same techniques are much more difficult on a viola because of range, spacing, and response from the instrument.

Your explanations were so incredibly technical, with a number of terms i didn't always recognize Though the way you covered them made me more curious, and I wasn't the least bit put off. 😁 It shows you're well trained and that I could learn a lot!

As a fresh convert to viola I really appreciate this video. On the surface I thought the only transition was learning to read a new clef, but the viola truly needs to be handled differently to work. I’m enjoying playing it so far :)

At first I wanted to play the violin, I didn't even know the viola. One day a friend asked me if I was studying the violin and I didn't even have an instrument and wasn't even studying. She offered me a viola and I still study it since 2020. I usually say that I didn't choose the viola, it chose me and I love the lower sound. Like you, I also think it's my voice.

Love this video :) I'll add though that I think stature is also a factor as well. I play both violin and viola regularly and I'm pretty small in stature, which means viola is definitely a lot more awkward for me than, say, a 6"+ tall person with long arms and bigger hands. In fact, I've heard that some really large people with large hands and very long arms may find the viola a more natural fit for them than the violin and are able to stretch fairly large distances on the viola. On the other end of the spectrum, violinists with small hands, like myself, find tenths to be a fairly significant stretch. Also, I think utilizing arm weight properly is also very important for violinists as well, although I think you can get away with a bit more index finger weight/pressure dumping on violin than on viola. It's still pretty easy to sound scratchy on violin as well. Overall, I think viola is physically harder to play, but violinists do spend more time on highly acrobatic and virtuosic playing so the difficulty kinda evens out in the end.

This was the exact video I was looking for, thank you very much for the explanation.

I watched till end, im not on much but ya got me i subscribed 😆 great video thank you u nailed it 💪🏽

I thought this was great thank you, for making this great video, its just what i wanted to know, i really appreciate your information and you sharing your knowlege with me, i want to learn, but was not totally sure which instrument i should buy, and i didnt know alot about the differences between the two instruments, but after seeing this video i decided to learn the violin, i would like to play an acoustic electric violin. Thank you for your video. Laura, new subscriber in Liverpool, England

This video just gave me the strength to continue my journey with the violin!!!!! Im a beginner in the violin and always loved the sound but my school didnt offer strings and i played the flute and mastered it since i have a passion for orchestra. But the violin is so difficult from what i expected and dont even let me get started on vibrato, which I can’t do for the life me and i was ready to just call it quits and after seeing this it motivated me to try even harder because the violin just matches me and i love everything about it. So thank you. I subscribe to your channel😁❤️

So viola is a perfect mix of the violin and cello because it combines both.

I feel like the Viola is heavily underused. Like I know a bunch of bands with viola - every second medieval folk band, a lot of Irish folk bands and even a lot of metal bands with one leg in some folky or medieval sound use them. But I only know one metal band that used a viola until 2006, it's a German black/death metal (or rather dark metal) called Eisregen. And I absolutely adore the heavy, dark, melancholic sound of their earlier albums where they used it. Recommendation: "Vorboten" , "Angst wird Fleisch", "Schatten im Verstand" and "Glas" (all of them from the album Krebskollektion, the one with the black album cover with the gas mask on it). Really love that sound, should be more common for black metal and stuff like that.

I’m trying to choose viola or violin I’m choosing violin after seeing this video 🎻

So viola is basically the bass to violin's guitar - deeper sound and not as flashy, but the band isn't complete without them.

Good stuff, nice to learn from a caring teacher

They are stellar and spectacular instruments. I want to hear more samples from them and other string instruments.

im about to start learning viola as a violinist. i am so excited but scared!!

So do you think that the expression on the viola is more personal than openly expressive as it happens with the violin? It should also be noted that perhaps because of its ease it facilitates expression better or perhaps because in the beginnings of classical music the violin was what stood out the most, hence the need for composers to express and please with the best of the best in their works, perhaps that has led the violin to a major role in medium terms, a great difference is not usually highlighted much in comparison to the sound and we choose between two sides, we always think of the violin or the cello as a differentiation between bass and treble styles, although I think that In the viola, a good talent and a great highlight could change what is from a personal work to being a more shared work, always depending on the assigned style, but I think that together all the strings together can star in a great or better composition.

cheers las thanks for the candid video. leaning towards viola myself

One time i tried paganini caprice 24 3rd variation on viola but idk why i feel like it's easier to be in tune compared to when i play it on violin

Currently taking violin lessons and find the fret board a little restrictive for my hands. Looking g into Violas to see if I could make the jump.

I remember reading in a forum that playing the viola caused injury to Vengerov.

I play fiddle, but also carry a 15 1/2 inch viola. A viola "fiddles" just fine, but the key changes ;) A viola is very useful in C or D so if the band goes to those chords, I switch to viola. In C you got 2 full octaves in first position! And in D the viola has the same note pattern as the fiddle in A. You can put runs in that you can't even think about on the fiddle. Drive the mandolin player and banjo player crazy, Kick off "Wheel Hoss" in C major instead of G LMAO!

Would hand size be a consideration in choosing? I have large hands but skinny fingers. Would this help/hurt either instrument?

Violas are underrated. They have a wonderfully warm soothing sound.

I played cello in high school and middle school but i had to give away my cello as an adult due to space. But i would love to take up a smaller instrument. Ive always had issues with the violin's high notes hurting my ears. So i am interested in learning viola but they are more expensive and harder to find :(

I would like to say that as a violinist who plays all of the orchestral strings (except for double-bass on the regular) I would like to argue that it isn't much harder. Maybe it's because my viola reacts slightly differently from yours or maybe I'm just used to it, but the adjustments to viola from violin weren't that hard. I play on a 16 inch viola and while it is different, I don't really feel the effects that much. I feel like the physical aspects of the viola don't count as much because even though the viola is physically harder than violin as it's heaveier and everything is bigger, it's also a game of perspective. Euclid violin for 12 years and I've played violin for 10, for us violas obviously going to be more of a challenge because we're not used to stretch in my fingers as much reverence to try harder to get notes to voice clearly but if you started playing viola as a young child - as in, you're a violist where viola was actually your starting instrument and not violin - this challenge isn't necessarily as hard for you because you're used to it. Maybe in the beginning, sure, but that's what every instrument. You also forgot to look on the flip side of this discussion; what about you is to have been plain view of the entire life and then switch to violin or tried to play violin before because they're interested? To them, maybe the violin being as small as it is might not be as easy to them as it seems. Obviously some are going to adjust to this really easily because the size is smaller, obviously, what's the oldest two haven't played violin before are going to have to get used to the instrument being so small. They're not used to having to place their fingers so close together and because violin is smaller, things happen faster - not much faster but enough for you to actually notice the difference. The bow is lighter, you need to add pressure ans weight sometimes, you have to do a lot more to control the squeaking on higher registers and while it's possible to adjust, it's not as easy as it sounds; kind of like how a violinist needs to adjust for viola. Now your adjusting time varies depending on your skill as a musician in the violin family. Technically in theory it should be easier for a viola player to adjust to violin because it's smaller, but this isn't always the case. I've been playing violin for 10 years and I already know a lot of the technique so me transitioning to viola is going to be way easier than a violist going to violin who's only been playing for maybe 2 years. Since violin and viola are technically the same instrument - both of them are played the same way, both of them even have a similar register, and the only difference between them are just by 1 string difference - for all intents and purposes, it's safe to say that the difficulty of the violin and viola are practically the same; the physical challenges are just up to perspective.

Good job ty ❤

Master musician

I Still Play Both.

The Hutchins Upright Viola has a 20 inch body so it's big enough for those low notes to speak clearly but it's also big enough that you can play it like a Cello

I would put helium in my viola to make it feel lighter, but then it would sound like a violin....

Very interesting video. Thank you.

I like cleaner tones but not deep and thick sound so I recommend violin, I don't know why but when I play on the c open string on viola, I feel dizzy.

Have you ever put violin strings on a 15 " viola? I'm a tall adult man and a 4/4 violin feels difficult to play. I've had the violin for 17+ years so I'm not new to playing or anything. Just looking for a change.

I’m half way through my first year playing viola and I’m a sixth grader and I play the viola but I wish I played the dubble bass

i like both viola and violin but i dont have yet courage for trying viola because of my little fingers😢

I play both they are beautiful

Viola just sound so much nicer, thinking of learning it.

Well I always love viola Love viola gang

i just found out i like more bass though i don t have a clue to what do with it? i Really don't wanna be a support with it...

Are there any differences in posture?

Could you please add some links of that music you mentioned please.

Absolutely! ;)

To Viola Kingdom!!!!! Roooooaaaaaaa!!!

I play the viola ( I have been playing for around 1 year) and I feel like it's is pretty easy when you know the basics

So its kinda like guitar vs bass same but still different

i love the deeper, darker sound of viola. sonically it gets into that cello territory, where the sound resembles the sound of a human voice, which is probably why i find the sound so intriguing. btw is this an electric viola? definitely sounds deeper than a regular violin, but i'm not sure ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GzjG95rB96Q.html

Also can your body make certain instruments easier or harder?

This was super informative and interesting! 😀 So, in conclusion, violinists don't like the viola because they can't pull a decent sound and 10th in it 🤭

honestly the size of a viola is a pain if u don't have ET fingers. if u have normal hands the violin is easier. but honestly who cares. what matters most is which instrument u connect with the most. I don't have alien like hands but I love the viola so much I don't care if I have to stretch. but yeah its a pain

How do you know what distance to leave between fingers if you want a G, G#, A, etc? I am used to the guitar frets, and I am interested in learning the violin. Thanks ^^

What brand and models are those instruments?

So when it comes to smaller sizes, there's really no difference. a 1/4 violin could be a viola for a kid who's using a 1/8 violin? lol

Get dem juicy overtones near the bridge!

Viola is very beautiful

I play violin and viola, viola is definitely physically more difficult just because of size. It's worth the climb, though!!!

Size matters?

Very good, descriptive video. Now, play the same 15 seconds of any song on both. Lol

Those chords near the start killed me. I had to get out my own instrument to resolve them.

I started with viola in 7th grade and I don’t know how to play violin

I thought that viola takes much longer to burn than a violin!? 🙂

The biggest difference for me is the clef in which they play. The violin plays in the treble clef, and the viola plays in the alto clef. For me, as a violin player, I'll need to learn a whole new music language i.e. alto clef, and not just a new fingering chart. 🤨

Most significant difference - viola lasts longer in fireplace.😂😂😂

According to Victor Borge, the difference between a violin and a viola is... that a viola burns longer.

I actually don't know which one to learn. I like both of them... HELP 😅

Viola's just better tho

😐 I respectfully must say it made me ❤Love more my violin 🎻 just saying 😅 nobody ask for my opinion but like I said just saying 😂LOL

Double bass, bye.

I guess you also play the violin

dawg what is that shoulder rest edit: viola is also harder than the violin btw look it up

bad video

First time to hear viola spund and for me it is bigger and better

I tried the Viola once and just go, "Nah, I can't even make a sound with this instrument." The strings are so damn heavy and it's super unrewarding.

i like both viola and violin but i dont have yet courage for trying viola because of my little fingers😢