How to Buy a Viola: The Quest for the Great Student Viola
Advice from the experts on buying your first good viola for under $2,500
“I think the bottom line is, you can get more for your money in an inexpensive viola nowadays than you could a long time ago,” violist Madeline Prager says. Prager, myself, and other members of a review panel have just finished playing and listening to a dozen student violas in her junior-high-school orchestra classroom in Berkeley, California. “They’ve perfected this enigma of how to make a good sound evenly across all the strings.”
“I remember it being talked about and talked about, as if violin makers have made it part of their mission in life to create a great smaller viola,” recalls Emily Onderdonk, principal violist of the Sacramento Philharmonic, who grew up playing the viola in the 1970s.
And she is right.
Further Resources
The review of 12 student violas appears at the end of this article.
The advent of synthetic strings in the 1970s, combined with a new generation of well-trained violin makers intent on refining the small viola, has resulted in better-sounding, manageably sized violas, even at the student level.
To learn something about shopping for student violas, Strings ordered a dozen of them from as many well-known companies—instruments that are readily available in violin shops or from online violin retailers selling their own brands. Eleven of our 12 violas were the same size and ranged in price between $1,375 and $2,500, which is the price range to expect when shopping for a good step-up student viola—probably the first viola after a rental instrument.
Our Experts
Strings invited two violists—Prager and Onderdonk—to play and comment on the instruments. Prager has enjoyed a long and distinguished career on two continents as a chamber musician, soloist, principal violist, and teacher, including ten years as professor of viola at the Music Conservatory in Karlsruhe, Germany. She teaches viola at the San Francisco Conservatory and strings in the Berkeley Unified School District.
Onderdonk has been principal violist of several orchestras in the United States and Europe. As an ex-member of genre-bending, Grammy-nominated Quartet San Francisco, Onderdonk explored many styles of music. She is also a big supporter of children’s music education, developing and performing interactive concerts for thousands of children across the western states.
For a technical evaluation, Strings invited luthier Joan Balter, proprietor of a one-woman violin shop in Berkeley, California, to check the workmanship and setup of each instrument. Balter is the staff luthier at the Aspen Music Festival and School and serves on the board of the Crowden School, a Berkeley-based middle school and community music center. Strings also consulted with Marilyn Wallin, a Boston-area violin maker and violist who takes a special interest in improving the smaller-size viola.
For a sales perspective, I interviewed Carl Applebaum, a violin dealer in Tacoma, Washington. With over 25 years in business, he’s seen and sold a lot of student violas.
The Size Issue Is Important
Shopping for a viola is a lot more complicated than shopping for a violin. First, there is the issue of size. The dimensions that work best acoustically for a violin happen to result in an instrument that is comfortable for most people to play. Therefore, violins are quite standardized in size and shape, and even inexpensive ones are relatively easy to play, with an even sound from string to string.
The viola is a different story. In order for the viola to function acoustically as well as a violin, it would have to be too big to play. Therefore, the viola is always a compromise between playability and sound. Instrument makers, especially in the last 30 years, have come up with lots of workable compromises, but no clear winner. As a result, there is no standard-size viola. They come in many sizes, but even violas of the same size can feel radically different depending on the details. And because of the trade-offs, very rarely can you find a viola that “has it all.”
For consistency, all of the violas in our sample pool were close in size: one was 15 3/4 inches, the rest were 16 inches. Viola size refers to the length of the body, not including the neck, and is conventionally given in inches. All other viola measurements, such as the string length or “scale,” are given in millimeters. From 15½ inches up, Wallin says, size shouldn’t affect the sound too much until you get to 17 inches, when the whole acoustical game changes. But those are simply too big for most people to play.
The larger size of the viola affects students in other ways, too. Violists, Applebaum says, typically go shopping for their first viola at a later age than violin students because parents prefer to wait until the student is big enough for a 15½-inch instrument. They have typically completed the first few Suzuki books. Because families haven’t grown accustomed to stringed-instrument prices and haven’t been building up equity, starting with entry-level fiddles and trading up, parents of viola players experience real sticker shock when it’s time to buy that first good instrument.
Another complicating factor is that the customer will probably have to visit several shops in order to see enough violas to find the right one. Shops carry fewer violas than violins because of simple economics: violas are so varied that it will take longer to find the right person for each viola. And there are fewer violists than violinists. Few shops can afford to offer a comprehensive selection in every size.
Look for Comfort
“Focus on comfort,” Applebaum advises. If your instrument is uncomfortable, you simply won’t play as well.
Don’t get too hung up on size. Your teacher may tell you to get a certain-size viola, but that’s only one factor in how well a violin fits its player. String or scale length, the height of the ribs, and size of the upper bouts play an important part in how big it feels. “The neck size doesn’t have to be much wider than a violin, maybe one or, max, two millimeters,” Wallin says, “but some people make it two, three, even five millimeters wider and it’s not necessary.” That may not sound like a big difference, but our violists commented consistently on necks that felt too big.
Bow clearance is another issue. In an attempt to get more sound out of a shorter body, some violas are so wide in the center section that it’s hard to bow the outer strings without hitting the edges of the viola.
String length makes a big difference in how big an instrument feels and how easy it is to play. “Shorter is easier on the fourth finger,” Wallin says. “Wiggling your fingers with your hand close to the body is easy. But as the arm straightens and the hand is farther away, it gets harder to move your fingers.”
Hence, it’s harder to play.
String length can vary up to a centimeter on instruments that are billed as the same size. The string length on our 12 review violas ranged from 368.5 mm to 376.5 mm—a whole eight millimeters. Our violists noticed the differences, too. The ones they remarked on as most comfortable tended to have shorter string length. But, as is always the case with violas, there is a compromise: “Longer string length gives you a little more power,” Wallin says. She finds that 375 millimeters is a good maximum.
Once you find the instrument you like, take extra care in choosing the best combination of chin and shoulder rest to assist in your quest for comfort.
Look Beyond Good Sound
Applebaum often sees first-time buyers, who have played on rental-quality violas for a long period, seduced by a big cloud of warm tone from the C string. But in order to play a soaring passage, an instrument needs focus and response, too.
“I like it when you can get into the C string and it goes somewhere,” Prager says. “It doesn’t just go ‘eh.’ That’s a flaw in a lot of modern instruments; they’re built just for size and big tone, but they’re boomy and lack the core.
“I like a ‘violin sound’ on top and a ‘cello sound’ on the bottom,” she adds.
Onderdonk notices some other important qualities while listening to Prager play one of the less expensive violas in our sampling of instruments. “I hear that it projects well—I hear every note clearly,” she says. “It’s got a beautiful sound in piano and it’s very even. It’s got a resonant tone. When she plays open strings it really vibrates.”
But the same viola is also challenging to play because of string height. “That’s a minor adjustment,” Balter says, “which is the reason to buy from a luthier instead of mail order. It can be adjusted to [the customer’s] needs.”
12 STUDENT VIOLAS REVIEWED
Century Strings
V520 C.L. Wynn Maggini model, 16-inch
$1,375; centurystrings.com
Attractive double purfling and inlay on the back, typical of Maggini models. Our expert luthier, Joan Balter, approved of the setup and pronounced it “a great value.” The string height frustrated our violists, but Balter points out that that’s adjustable. It got good marks for projection, clarity, evenness, and resonant tone.
Yamaha
VA76, 16-inch
$1,550; yamaha.com
A simple, straightforward, bright sound. Balter thought that the wood had been left a bit thick, as is often done in the interest of making a sturdy student instrument. Still, our expert players decided that this was a good value. “For the price, it’s even, it’s easy to play,” Onderdonk said. “It’s responsive to what you do. I don’t feel like I have to work hard to get the vibrato.”
Jay Haide
Model 104, 16-inch
$1,695; ifshinviolins.com
Arrived beautifully set up with a high-quality Aubert Luxe bridge, Evah Pirazzi strings, and ebony fittings. “They’re not expensive. Pretty darn good for the price!” Onderdonk said. This viola made a big, warm sound on the C string, but was missing some focus at first. Still, the viola came to life under a different bow. The flamed back shows nicely through the transparent red-orange varnish.
Johnson String Instrument
Georg Walter model, 16-inch
$1,800; johnsonstring.com
“Rich, even, easy to play,” said Onderdonk, though she found the neck felt a bit big for small hands. Prager especially liked the projected sound, which was richer than the under-ear tone. The red-orange varnish showed off a nicely flamed one-piece back. Balter praised this viola for its “beautiful wood work and good setup.”
Robertson & Sons
Klaus Von Aue model, 16-inch
$1,800; robertsonviolins.com
A big, warm sound with richness and variety of tone color, though it made our testers work for focus. The scale was comfortably on the short side, but the string height was high on the C string, which, Balter points out, is adjustable. The richly colored varnish looks old even without heavy antiquing and the instrument has a nice, handmade appearance.
Howard Core
August F. Kohr model, 16-inch
$2,000; howardcore.com
Speaks easily, with a clear, warm tone. The tone is not complex, but the instrument is responsive to the bow and fingers and makes dynamic control easy. The instrument came set up with Evah Pirazzi strings, ebony fittings, and an Aubert luxe bridge, though the tailpiece was too long for this instrument—something that’s easy to change.
Southwest Strings
Virtuoso model, 16-inch
$2,036; southweststrings.com
“It’s a little more rooted, a little more convincing than some,” Prager said. Balter thought the fingerboard and neck were a bit too heavy, but that didn’t bother our violists. The viola did not have a dynamic range, but it was easy to play—clear, focused, and even from string to string.
Shar Music
Carlo Lamberti Tertis model, 16-inch
$2,239; sharmusic.com
This model, designed by violist Lionel Tertis in the 1930s, has a small upper bout and a big lower bout. The goal was a big viola sound on an instrument that was easy for smaller or younger players to navigate. “It’s even and has sort of an unforced, big sound on the C string,” Prager said. But both violists found it tiring to play. “It’s strenuous on the fingers,” Prager said.
Gatchell Violins Co.
Stefan Petrov Guadagnini model, 15 3/4-inch
$2,450; gatchellviolins.com
“It’s almost really nice,” Onderdonk said. “Maybe it just needs to ripen.” Balter appreciated the perfect setup and fittings, the user-friendly neck, and its attractive, lightly antiqued appearance. She suspected that this viola might sound better with different strings. “If I had a soft instrument, I would use a string that wasn’t so warm. It has Obligattos, which are considered a warm string.”
Cleveland Violins
Y. Chen Z-2000, 16-inch
$2,500; clevelandviolins.com
Grew on our violists the more they played it. “I like this a lot! See?” said Prager, before playing a soaring passage. “It responds nicely. I like it when you can get into the C string and it goes somewhere.” “The pretty one!,”added Balter, noting lovely antiqued varnish, Aubert de Luxe bridge, and the elegant ebony tailpiece with built-in tuners.
Heinrich Gill
58V, 16-inch
$2,500; conollymusic.com
“It’s responsive, it does what you want,” Prager said. Onderdonk clarified: “She’s talking about nuance. What I like about this instrument is that you’re able to get different tone colors from it, the ability to change your tone quality and atmosphere.” This viola has a rich, shaded varnish and high-quality fittings, including a Kevlar tail cord.
Potter Violin Co.
Gunther Prager model, 16-inch
$2,500; pottersviolins.com
“I like playing this one!” Onderdonk exclaimed. Prager concurred: “You don’t have to work. The craftsmanship is really good, it feels really good. It’s a great student viola.” The antiquing won points, too. Even so, the middle two strings had a noticeably different tonal quality than the outer two strings. Prager saw this simply as typical of violas: “It’s always a case of where you trade one for the other. It’s really a balancing act.
This article, "How to Buy a Viola: The Quest for the Great Student Viola," is part of the Strings Archive, which you can access with a paid site subscription.
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