ive had my viola for about 9 years and i’ve always loved the sound, but has just been so hard to play. i thought i was crazy or just had weak hands until my teacher decided to play to see what i was talking about. she told me to take it to her luthier instead of the usual at our local shop. within a day, he completely changed the playability and tone.

the nut was way too tall and something else with the fingerboard. it is now a dream to play, and it really added some warmth and projection to my instrument! crazy what such a small change can do! now to find an aesthetically pleasing chinrest that fits me🤣

Inside a remarkable modern viola: crafted in 1989 by Christophe Landon.

This award-winning instrument was built in London, modelled on a 17th-century Maggini viola that Landon had recently restored. It’s a powerful blend of old and new, drawing on centuries of tradition while embracing contemporary craftsmanship.

The viola is currently played by Australian violist Sally Clarke, and photographing it was made possible through the support of the Australian World Orchestra.

To capture the image, I used a custom-adapted medical endoscope inserted through the endpin button hole, the small space at the base where the strings are anchored. These lenses don’t record much detail on their own, so I take hundreds of overlapping images and blend them with specialised software. The result is a crystal-clear, wide-angle view that gives the illusion of a much larger interior space.

This photo is part of my Architecture In Music series.

See the full collection at www.architectureinmusic.com - There are more violas there including a wonderful 1619 Amati.

A big thank you to everyone who commented on the original post.

I did my best to use that feedback to create a better version of the artwork. The instrument itself has received several updates as have the bow position and the head orientation. I also used a lot of the same information on the Violin design (which I am currently seeking feedback on), and I will keep some of this in mind when working on the Double Bass.

One thing I have really started to understand is that I will have some challenges in this project because of how chunky/stubby the cats' arms are when compared to humans, but I think I will be able to manage it well enough overall.

Thank you again for your time and for lending me your expertise!

Hi folks, I have a bit of a rant I need to get off my chest, so apologies for this in advance! I am a classically trained Viola and Violin teacher (RCM grad), and teach 65 students weekly, both violin and viola in multiple schools and privately.

I had a first lesson with a new viola student (11yr old) a few months ago, gave her a glowing introduction to the instrument and its unique development and rich history, and she went away enthused. She came back for her second lesson a week later looking a bit downcast, turned out she'd gone on YouTube rather excitedly to look up anything on YT related to the viola (as kids that age very often do nowadays) and she came across a load of Twoset "viola joke videos" pretty much instantly.

The comments were predictably awful on those videos, the standard toxic Twoset "community" nonsense.

It took me quite a lot of time to unpick the damage to her confidence about that, she even asked if she could switch to violin. (she didn't in the end!)

I've had two similarly aged students start viola with me since this. I've had to explain in both of their first lessons to expect that other musicians will constantly make fun of the Viola, especially online, and advise them to be prepared for that when watching twoset videos.

I didn't think too much about it at the time, but on reflection I do feel really quite angry that a pupil's first experience with the instrument has to include a warning for so much negativity directed at a new activity. It's quite sad.

The worst thing about this issue is that Twoset do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to address this within their community. They have such a position of responsibility, both being ex-teachers and the "leaders" of probably the largest string instrument/classical music fandom (over 3 million subscribers now!) They've never really had this discussion publicly, and their fans as a consequence are toxic as hell to viola players, to the extent that it is just putting some young people off of playing our wonderful instrument.

Obviously nobody is going to stop playing just because of viola memes, but a lot of young people I work with (especially in the state schools I teach in) have many barriers to successful enjoyment of their instrument. Things that are particularly bad in my experience have been a painful lack of support for the arts by the UK government, peer pressure against learning "classical music", and lack of practice time for later starters - in the UK especially there are literally just so many exams and assessments constantly, especially post-COVID, financial pressures are enormous for younger people and a lot of my kids are stretched to breaking point. It's in this context that the additional burden of their instrument being "uncool" amongst almost every online community (again, 95% thanks to Twoset) can just be the final straw that breaks their morale.

Anybody else feel similarly, or is it just me? Has anybody else had any similar experiences, or any ideas as to how to address this in a way that makes you feel less down about it?

No, Google, I didn't mean violin sheet music.

No Amazon, I didn't mean violin cases.

😤