various session options
Mar. 9th, 2026 04:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzfishAt a session I can play normally, more or less, on any tunes that I know and that don't make much use of the fiddle's E string. There's not a whole awful lot of those, though. Learning more tunes is a work in progress; not much I can do about higher tunes. And having done some reading it seems that harmonizing is generally Not A Done Thing at Irish sessions. Which, fair enough, but that does remove my easiest way to join in.
The next easiest option is to learn tunes an octave down. This will muck with string crossings, and also with anything that I've already mostly learned how to play, but it's doable. Probably.
A more interesting path forward might be with a "tenor viola." At one time I'd considered getting a set of 'octave strings' (that's 'an octave lower') so that the viola would sound like a portable cello. Doing that for violin tuning is apparently called a "tenor violin" or "tenor viola" depending who you talk to, and that could be fun. The main manufacturer of octave viola strings went out of business in 2022, but there's a couple of other options. Some folks online have had some success with some combination of 1/8-size cello strings and "normal viola strings tuned a whole step higher and set an octave lower". Alternately, there's a guy in Georgia who's making bespoke weird instruments, and will also make strings to your instrument's specifications. Looks to cost around three times what my last set of normal viola strings ran me, but that was, what, six years ago now. Might be worth playing around with, post-move.
I could always learn to shift to higher positions so I can hit the high notes. This is Difficult, and much more so when trying to play at speed. I do this for 'Ashokan Farewell' and it works fine, but Ashokan is a slow piece and only has a couple of high bits. I've tried it with the even slower 'Lament For Limerick' and have not been able to stay reliably in tune.
Or I could just play the stupid violin. BAH.
The next easiest option is to learn tunes an octave down. This will muck with string crossings, and also with anything that I've already mostly learned how to play, but it's doable. Probably.
A more interesting path forward might be with a "tenor viola." At one time I'd considered getting a set of 'octave strings' (that's 'an octave lower') so that the viola would sound like a portable cello. Doing that for violin tuning is apparently called a "tenor violin" or "tenor viola" depending who you talk to, and that could be fun. The main manufacturer of octave viola strings went out of business in 2022, but there's a couple of other options. Some folks online have had some success with some combination of 1/8-size cello strings and "normal viola strings tuned a whole step higher and set an octave lower". Alternately, there's a guy in Georgia who's making bespoke weird instruments, and will also make strings to your instrument's specifications. Looks to cost around three times what my last set of normal viola strings ran me, but that was, what, six years ago now. Might be worth playing around with, post-move.
I could always learn to shift to higher positions so I can hit the high notes. This is Difficult, and much more so when trying to play at speed. I do this for 'Ashokan Farewell' and it works fine, but Ashokan is a slow piece and only has a couple of high bits. I've tried it with the even slower 'Lament For Limerick' and have not been able to stay reliably in tune.
Or I could just play the stupid violin. BAH.
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