How long does it take for me to learn the viola?

if you play the violin it should be pretty easy you’ll just have to learn all of the different notes on the viola and where they are. it took me about a month but that was because i learned it at school and we didn’t learn them all at once. im sure it won’t be too hard. good luck.

Knowing piano and how to read music will definitely help a lot, but it will still probably take a few years before you would be good enough on viola to really play anything too complex. Most hymns are pretty easy to play though so it’s not like you’d have to be a professional concert violist to play in your church orchestra, so you might be able to play them after a year or two. It will take some time just to get used to reading alto/viola clef and getting your fingers in the right place on the viola and using the bow. It’s not a natural feeling thing just because you play the piano. I have played guitar for 35 years and my daughters play violin, viola, and cello. I’ve tried playing their instruments and without frets or keys I really don’t know where to put my fingers! Just to give a timescale, my oldest daughter started on violin in 2nd grade and switched to viola in high school. She is now a junior in college working on her viola performance/music education degree, so she has 12 years between violin and viola. She is principal violist in her college orchestra and may possibly be good enough now to get into a professional orchestra (maybe if she is lucky and would be sitting way in back). But, she did play violin in our church orchestra and some quartets and ensembles at weddings when she was in junior high. So, 2 or 3 years should get you to a level where you could comfortably play the hymns and simpler pieces, but many more years beyond that to get to a level of playing with a competent orchestra. Oh, and that’s all with a good teacher and private lessons. Trying to learn it on your own will just push those estimates out probably double. Good idea to stay off the drugs too – that would make the estimates go way up! EDIT: Wow, just read the first answer and we basically said the same thing. Sorry, didn’t mean to copy!

Well if you know the violin it shouldn’t be to hard. But the strings are a lot different and it could take a month to memorize every string and note.