Viola Rentals

Select Your Viola Series

Our 1000 series entry level violas are made from aged maple sides and back with a spruce top. A good choice for a beginner’s first year as their ear and technique are developing.

Our 2000 series intermediate violas are made from properly aged, lightly flamed maple sides and back, and have a spruce top with a hand applied oil varnish. A great step-up for the progressing viola player.

Our 3000 series advanced violas are made from 5+ year old aged, heavy flamed maple sides and back. The spruce top has an antiqued oil varnish. An all-around excellent choice that you can’t go wrong with and will help you, or your child, stand out in school or community orchestras.

How Does the Rental Process Work?

1. Previously, you had to stop by one of our stores. While you can still stop by a store to rent a viola, we now have online rentals!
2. To rent online just fill out the 4-part form immediately above. The best is to stop by and pick up (and/or pick out) your viola in one of our stores, or you can choose to have us deliver the viola to your child’s school ($15, delivery in 7-14 days). We can also ship your viola to your house (quoted per instrument and address).
3. After you have filled out and submitted the form we will call you for your credit card information.
4. By the way, the most difficult part of filling out the form is the very first field: determining what size viola is right for your child. It’s not as hard as it sounds: next to each viola size we provide approximate arm measurements (extend child’s left arm out, palm up, and measure from side of neck to middle of the palm), as well as approximate age and grade ranges. If you aren’t sure what size – don’t worry – just select the size you think is best and mention it when we call for your credit card information.
   • What if your child ends up with the wrong size viola? Just bring it in to our store and we’ll swap it out for a different size.

How Many Strings does a Viola Have?

Answer: Four strings. The viola’s four strings are typically tuned in “fifths”: the lowest string is a C (an octave below middle C), and next is a G, D and then A. The viola’s tuning is exactly one fifth below the violin, and they have three strings which are in common—the G, D, and A—and those three strings are one octave above the cello.

Viola Care Tips

Caring for a viola is like caring for a violin:

• While we include an instruction sheet with each rental we also want to include some care tips here on our web site.
• The viola’s bow hair should be slightly tightened before playing, and slightly loosened after playing and for storage. The bow strings are tightened by turning the screw below the frog. Your viola instructor will help you with this, and we can also show you how to do this.
• Viola bows need a small amount of rosin applied to the hair for sound. We include rosin with your rental. And, again, the amount of rosin is something your viola teacher can help you with – and we can also get you set with the first rosin application before you leave the store if you would like.
• Each time you are done playing your viola we recommend gently wiping the strings and the top of the viola (with the included cleaning cloth) to remove any rosin dust. This helps to avoid a rosin build-up on the strings and the viola. As you’ll quickly find with your viola: not enough rosin has a bad sound, and too much rosin is also a problem!

We love seeing our violas being used in local St. Louis schools and community orchestras! If you have any questions about renting or buying an instrument from us, contact us today!