The viola is a musical instrument equipped with strings , which is played with a bow. It is an instrument similar to fiddle , although larger and capable of producing sounds of more serious tones.
Emerged in the XIV century , the viola has four strings that are tuned in fifth intervals. The rope more serious is do and follow Sun , re and the . It should be noted that the viola tessellation is located between the bass sounds of the violin and the highs that can generate a cello .
Along the history different were created types of viola, with different numbers of strings and particular characteristics. In this sense, you can name the love viola (consisting of fourteen strings, although only seven are played), the viola da gamba (six strings that are tuned by fourths), the bow viola (traditional medieval music), the viola da braccio (is touched on the shoulder or chest), the viola bastard (also called lira viola) and the viola pompous (five strings).
George Philipp Telemann he was the creator of the first concert for viola, presented in 1731 . A short time later, many composers contributed their creations, such as Carl Friedrich Zelter , Franz Anton Hoffmeister , Johann Stamitz , Lionel Tertis , Johann Christian Bach and Johannes Brahms .
Among the main contemporary violists, the American stand out Joseph de Pasquale , the German Tabea Zimmermann , the French Gérard Caussé the Japanese Nobuko Imai and the Swiss (born in Belarus ) Viacheslav Dinerchtein .
As well as the violin, the cello and the double bass, the viola is an instrument capable of producing sounds of great beauty, but it requires considerable dedication to learn how to play it, in addition to great motor skills and profound perception musical. Among the difficulties of the viola is the fact of not being a tempered instrument, that is to say that it does not simply have the twelve sounds that we find in an octave according to the discoveries of J. S. Bach, who gave rise to the Temperate System.
Unlike the tempered instruments, among which we find the piano, the strings with frets (such as the guitar) and the pistons or keys (such as the trumpet and the clarinet), the viola requires the musician find the different sounds and memorize the position of each of them, since the tuning It depends directly on the point at which we press each string. This makes the first stage of learning very arduous, both for the student and for their environment, since they must withstand very deflated and shrill sounds for weeks.
Among the most important parts of the viola are the following:
* the body : It is the largest, since it represents almost the entire instrument. Traditionally, it is made of wood;
* the chin guard : an oval piece of plastic or wood on which the musician supports the chin;
* the tailpiece : It is close to the previous one and is one of the two extremes to which the strings are attached;
* The pegs : where the strings are rolled, with different degrees of tension to achieve the desired tuning;
* the bridge : It usually has a lighter color than the rest of the pieces, and serves to hold the strings near the pegs.
The word viola, on the other hand, also corresponds to the conjugation of the verb "violate" in the second person singular, in the Present tense of the Indicative mode: he or she violates. With respect to this verb, its meaning is broad, since it can be understood as: infringing a treaty, a promise, a precept or a law ; to have sexual relations with a person against his will, whether he is conscious or unconscious; desecrate a sacred site. It should be mentioned that "rape" can also be a noun, and in this case it means "a place where there are planted violets."
