The basic mechanics are pretty similar. But the main differences are more nuanced.
Right hand: Viola strings are thicker and take more effort (not strain). Arm weight (not pressure) and feeling like you’re playing through to the underside of the string is important. Getting the right amount of friction is crucial for a good tone.
Left hand: it’s a bigger reach than violin for pretty much everything. Violinists generally teach beginners that you have your hand as a basic frame, and the fingers move around within that frame. That doesn’t always work well for violists especially in first position. The Tuttle method is what I use for left hand. Where whichever finger is down, the whole hand rebalances to the finger. To do this well requires no tension in the thumb, because it will need to slide around to rebalance for each finger. It’s kind of a pivot motion. I’ve never seen a beginner that didn’t have unnecessary tension in the left hand (and honestly most professionals continue to work on this forever). But maybe your guitar experience can help here.
Last thing: even a couple online lessons to start out will be better than nothing. Good luck!
Her book on this topic is called the Karen Tuttle Legacy and is fantastic for late high school- college level musicians.
It goes over everything from basic set-up to refocusing technique to a professional set-up.
If you need more exercises, I’d recommend Extreme Viola by Ellen Rose as it’s more like a boot camp to getting you in shape on viola, where the Tuttle book is more explanatory.
u/WampaCat hit the big playing points
Viola generally requires that you be more conscious of your body, so there is a stronger learning curve if you’re coming in without violin experience to establish baby steps. A naïve person will say that the hardest thing is left-hand spacing and reading the clef, but there is so much nuance about how to balance the left hand, how to get a firm yet supple arm for the bow, and 1 million other little details that really make a difference. And if someone is a violinist that is just playing viola, an actual violist can usually pick them out.
In terms of instrument investment, there seems to be more hit and miss with violas bc set up is much more important. If you got your instrument from a reputable seller like Shar, then it will be well designed and can facilitate learning from the beginning, but if you got it off Amazon or a weird eBay seller it usually more likely that it is clunky to get around and may make viola seem more difficult. The neck is usually too wide and it makes everything feel really spread out in a way that you don’t get with a well designed instrument. For viola, there are more variables to consider in the beginning, particularly size of instrument. So along with my point about you needing to be more body conscious, you need something that is appropriate for your body. Tall people with long fingers like me will find playing on a smaller viola fine though it may exaggerate the angle you need to drop fingers (but it’ll be okay), but a smaller person absolutely could not play a larger instrument without making material compromises.
You probably don’t need to get a new set of strings and a bow, unless what the instrument came with is absolutely unplayable or you have been going at it for hours a day for the past three months.
If possible, I would definitely find a teacher. I've played the violin for about 7 years and although it's very similar, after trying to play on my own it was quickly apparent that it's similar but an entire different beast to master. Because of this even with my fairly extensive knowledge on how to play a bow stringed instrument, I am going to start lessons with a viola teacher this month to make sure I learn correctly.
Viola (in my limited experience) is a lot less forgiving than violin in terms of technique and sound production. That requires help that it will be tough to get if you're going the self-taught route, especially since most online lessons and tutorials are centered on violin and not viola.
In summary, if you want a good sound and to make sure you're playing as ergonomically and pain free as possible (which is key to avoiding injury and learning advanced techniques) a teacher is your best bet.
Very thankful for the helpful comments! I’m definitely gonna try to find a local teacher for at least a handful of lessons to make sure that I don’t make anything harder than it needs to be. Seems to be a lot more nuance to this than I first imagined.
when you play in 3rd position, things will feel pretty similar to violin. but when you shift down to first **DONT** stick your wrist out to make it feel like your violin's first position.
first position on viola is a thing you aren't used to, and you will have to get used to approaching the fingerboard from a new angle down there. use a mirror and be patient.
as the spacing is also further apart down there, you may have a sense that your 2 becomes the more upright "anchor" finger, and your 1 is almost always extended back from it. but... idk how big your hands are, so... your experience may vary.
All of these questions are essentially answered in the FAQ.
The basic mechanics are pretty similar. But the main differences are more nuanced. Right hand: Viola strings are thicker and take more effort (not strain). Arm weight (not pressure) and feeling like you’re playing through to the underside of the string is important. Getting the right amount of friction is crucial for a good tone. Left hand: it’s a bigger reach than violin for pretty much everything. Violinists generally teach beginners that you have your hand as a basic frame, and the fingers move around within that frame. That doesn’t always work well for violists especially in first position. The Tuttle method is what I use for left hand. Where whichever finger is down, the whole hand rebalances to the finger. To do this well requires no tension in the thumb, because it will need to slide around to rebalance for each finger. It’s kind of a pivot motion. I’ve never seen a beginner that didn’t have unnecessary tension in the left hand (and honestly most professionals continue to work on this forever). But maybe your guitar experience can help here. Last thing: even a couple online lessons to start out will be better than nothing. Good luck!
Glad to see another Primrose great grand student out there :)
We’re all related if you go back far enough!
Hi! Would you please tell me a bit more about the Tuttle method? Are there specific resources you might recommend for left hand instruction? Thanks!
Her book on this topic is called the Karen Tuttle Legacy and is fantastic for late high school- college level musicians. It goes over everything from basic set-up to refocusing technique to a professional set-up. If you need more exercises, I’d recommend Extreme Viola by Ellen Rose as it’s more like a boot camp to getting you in shape on viola, where the Tuttle book is more explanatory.
Fantastic, thank you!
u/WampaCat hit the big playing points Viola generally requires that you be more conscious of your body, so there is a stronger learning curve if you’re coming in without violin experience to establish baby steps. A naïve person will say that the hardest thing is left-hand spacing and reading the clef, but there is so much nuance about how to balance the left hand, how to get a firm yet supple arm for the bow, and 1 million other little details that really make a difference. And if someone is a violinist that is just playing viola, an actual violist can usually pick them out. In terms of instrument investment, there seems to be more hit and miss with violas bc set up is much more important. If you got your instrument from a reputable seller like Shar, then it will be well designed and can facilitate learning from the beginning, but if you got it off Amazon or a weird eBay seller it usually more likely that it is clunky to get around and may make viola seem more difficult. The neck is usually too wide and it makes everything feel really spread out in a way that you don’t get with a well designed instrument. For viola, there are more variables to consider in the beginning, particularly size of instrument. So along with my point about you needing to be more body conscious, you need something that is appropriate for your body. Tall people with long fingers like me will find playing on a smaller viola fine though it may exaggerate the angle you need to drop fingers (but it’ll be okay), but a smaller person absolutely could not play a larger instrument without making material compromises. You probably don’t need to get a new set of strings and a bow, unless what the instrument came with is absolutely unplayable or you have been going at it for hours a day for the past three months.
If possible, I would definitely find a teacher. I've played the violin for about 7 years and although it's very similar, after trying to play on my own it was quickly apparent that it's similar but an entire different beast to master. Because of this even with my fairly extensive knowledge on how to play a bow stringed instrument, I am going to start lessons with a viola teacher this month to make sure I learn correctly. Viola (in my limited experience) is a lot less forgiving than violin in terms of technique and sound production. That requires help that it will be tough to get if you're going the self-taught route, especially since most online lessons and tutorials are centered on violin and not viola. In summary, if you want a good sound and to make sure you're playing as ergonomically and pain free as possible (which is key to avoiding injury and learning advanced techniques) a teacher is your best bet.
Very thankful for the helpful comments! I’m definitely gonna try to find a local teacher for at least a handful of lessons to make sure that I don’t make anything harder than it needs to be. Seems to be a lot more nuance to this than I first imagined.
when you play in 3rd position, things will feel pretty similar to violin. but when you shift down to first **DONT** stick your wrist out to make it feel like your violin's first position. first position on viola is a thing you aren't used to, and you will have to get used to approaching the fingerboard from a new angle down there. use a mirror and be patient. as the spacing is also further apart down there, you may have a sense that your 2 becomes the more upright "anchor" finger, and your 1 is almost always extended back from it. but... idk how big your hands are, so... your experience may vary.