The c le f r egu la r l y

i nd i ca tes t he pos i t i on

C le f s .

The Clefs and Notat ion for the V io la

C C le f ; wh i ch

Treble and Bass

C

Notes that would necessi tate cont inuous use of leger l ines above the staf f are of ten wr i t ten

in the G or Treble Clef . somet imes cal led the Vio l in Clef . ,

# * ' c u ! d b e e a s i e r t o * ' r i t e a - d r e a c . t h u s : @c d e g a g e d

v c d e g a g e d

The four stringsl C, G D, A are tuned in 5ths, l ike the Violin strings,but beginning on C, a 5th below

the Violin "G"string. Therefore the Viola is said to be pitched a fifth lower than the violin.

t he i den t i ca l sounds wou ld be wr i t t en0

in the 2' and $ clefs, thus:

employed in wr i t ing music for the

o f " M i d d l e C ] ' a l s o s h o w n f o r s a k e

V io la i s t he A l t o o r

o f compar i son i n t he

Viol in

Vi o la

Ce1lo

The full orchestral compass of the Viola is as follows:

but the extreme upper notes would preferably be written for the violins except where it is necessary to

carry the viola into the high register to preserve continuity of tone color in a passaS'e' or where the

pecu l i a r t one qua l i t y o f t he v i o la A s t r i ng was Pu rPose l y sough t .

?3036 - Y r

15

The Posi t ions

TABLE OF RANGE AND FINGERING OF THE

FIRST FIVE POSITIONS

3{>

4-o-c

4<>{>

4-o.c

A € > ( r < > r . } = g =

ffi rsrpositionC U

o

2nd posit ion

3rd posit ion

4th position

5th posi t ion

The above Table is wr i t ten throughout in the Al to-c lef , whereas notes requi r ing leger l inesabovethestaf f

are generally written in the Treble clef.

4

IntervalsSeconds

Thirds

Fourths

Fifths

Sixths

Sevenths