Why do people hate it?
Iām fond of the viola as an instrument, Insuspect that itās just a fairly easy butt of musician ājokesā because it doesnāt have much solo prominence.
Where to beginā¦
When the offspring was 7 they brought a viola home from school. They wanted to learn a musical instrument. It did not have frets.
The 10 minutes practice each night were intolerable. Even the offspring was unimpressed. You need quick wins with a musical instrument in order to wish to persist. There are no quick wins with a viola.
At the end of the year the viola went back. We anticipated no further musical adventure. They came home with a classical guitar and could play a one string version of Smoke On The Water that first night.
The offspring is currently studying bass for a music performance degree. They play guitar or bass in one band, self taught drums in another. They can sing, write songs, perform solo and can find their way around a keyboard.
They will not pick up a viola nor have strings on any of their recordings.
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Mozart loved and apparently often played it in chamber groups. I guess he knew a thing or two about music!
Roger
Right, but that just means a dislike of fretless instruments. What I want to know is, why do people, as has been expressed hereabouts, hate the viola specifically?
Bach also played the viola.
Iāve never heard of such hate. I can fully understand parents, and maybe neighbours, hating the sound of people starting to learn the violin as it can sound so painfully unpleasant, and viola might be similar though its lower pitch I would expect to be no worse and possibly slightly less painfully unpleasant than violin. This does not apply to all fretless stringed instruments - the sound of beginners on cello is far less excruciating.
Nope, itās a dislike of the outcome. They play a fret less bass nowadays if needed without issue.
And Paganini. The viola solo in Berliozās Harold in Italy was written for him but he didnāt accept it because it didnāt play all the time! Made amends when he eventually heard it, though.
Roger
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In the best string quartets that I have seen live - even the ones with star first violins - the viola has been the bandās hinge.
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Perhaps itās some sort of āin jokeā for orchestras, then.
A bit like describing drummers as someone who hangs around with musiciansā¦ or something.
Vaughan Williams played and loved the viola.
But, as long as I can remember, it has been the butt of jokes. 
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I suppose with the violin being the king of high notes rather like a soprano, and the cello is the master of warm and mellow tones a bit like a tenor, the viola lives in that seemingly almost unknown middle space. Iād quite like to try playing one sometime. I have a violin and would like to get a cello one day now that I no longer have ready access to my sonās: if one day Iām trying cellos Iāll see if I can try a viola. Maybe it will make me either laugh at it or get one!
Itās precisely this. In fact, Iāve heard more than one ādrummer jokeā repurposed almost verbatim as āviola playerā jokes. Nothing more exciting or interesting than that, as far as I can tell after several decades.
Thereās a similar thing about instrumental players making jokes about singers. In fact, one such example goes, āWhat do you call someone who hangs around with musiciansā¦ a singerā, which proves my point perfectly!
Sorry to disappoint if you were hoping it was going to have some logic or interest behind it.
Mark
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