| RANGE & NOTATION |
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Viola Range Top Notes Listen! |
| Changing Clefs Most viola music will be written in alto clef and make occasional forays into treble clef as the music gets higher. Composers need to know that players do not like to change clefs too often and so will only want to go into treble clef if the music is going to stay up high for a while. Changing back again presents similar problems and viola players will often mention that they do not like to read low notes hanging off the bottom of the treble clef - of course they can do it , but as a composer, you will always want to minimise anything that players may find distracting. Exact guidelines are dificult to give without going into a lot of detail, so the best thing to do is to show your music to a player and ask them to explain. Why not ask your questions in the forum? |
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The lower strings have a richer, darker sound and to exploit this it
is quite common for composers to write that a particular phrase should
be played on a particular string. By writing Sul C (on the C) or
Sul G above the music the player will continue playing on the low
C or G string when they would otherwise have moved up onto one of the
higher strings. The composer should know that one should not write Sul
C more than one and a half octaves above the open string. |
 Instrument
Forum Ask viola related questions and talk to viola players. |
The
image opposite shows the lowest and highest notes on the viola. On the
left is the lowest note, one octave below Middle C. The precise top note
achievable will depend on the skill of the player. The one shown is suitable
for a reasonably advanced player (Grade 8 ABRSM).
The
Strings