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Viola range

The viola's range is C3 to E6. For a section you have not worked with, write inside C3 to A5. It reads at concert pitch.

StringsNon-transposing, reads at concert pitch

Red notes: practical range. Black: full range only. Middle C = C4.

Sounding pitch
C3
A5E6

On the piano

C1C2C3C4C5C6C7C8
Sounding In Cubase/Logic MIDI Hz
Lowest C3 C2 48 130.81
Practical high A5 A4 81 880.0
Highest (full) E6 E5 88 1318.5

Type a note or click a key on the piano above.

Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you play, sing or open here is uploaded anywhere. Music glyphs from Bravura, SIL Open Font License. Published 23 October 2026

The viola sits a fifth below the violin, with a C string that gives it the darker colour composers reach for under a melody. Its part is written in alto clef, with treble clef for long high passages.

Viola registers

Register Range How it sounds
C string C3 to G3 and up Veiled and husky. The register that makes the viola sound like itself.
G and D strings G3 to A4 Warm and blending. Most inner-voice writing lives here.
A string A4 to A5 Bright and slightly nasal, with less brilliance than the same notes on a violin.

Writing for the viola

  • Open strings are C3, G3, D4 and A4. Write in alto clef and switch to treble only when a passage stays high for several bars.
  • The C string blends with cellos, which makes violas and cellos in octaves a common way to thicken a bass line.
  • Sections are usually smaller than violin sections, so a high viola melody needs lighter accompaniment.

The viola in sample libraries

Viola patches are often the least detailed in a string library, recorded with fewer players and fewer articulations than the violins. Check the low C string and the high A string separately before relying on either.

The full range is every note a professional can produce. The practical range is narrower on purpose, leaving out the notes only strong players produce reliably. The figures here are cross-checked between orchestration references, and where they disagree the practical range takes the more conservative one.

Other strings ranges

See every instrument on one chart, or check a whole MIDI file against these ranges, in the instrument range chart.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the range of the viola?

From C3, the open C string an octave below middle C, to about E6. Some references stop at C6. For section writing, staying between C3 and A5 is safe.

Why is viola music written in alto clef?

Because the viola's range sits across middle C, where treble clef would need ledger lines below and bass clef above. Alto clef puts middle C on the middle line, so most of the range sits on the staff.

Is this the viola range at written or sounding pitch?

It is the same either way, because the viola reads at concert pitch. Notes use scientific pitch notation, where middle C is C4. Cubase, Logic and Kontakt call that key C3.

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