Viola da terra

Viola da terra

Viola da terra
String instrument
Classification	String instrument
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	(Composite chordophone)
Related instruments
Viola caipira, Viola beiroa, Viola braguesa, Viola campanica, Viola de arame, Viola sertaneja, Viola terceira, Viola toeira, Viola amarantina.

File:Viola da terra 2.jpg

A close-up, showing the string arrangement and sound-holes of the Viola da terra.

File:Viola da terra 3.jpg

A close-up, showing the bridge and saddle of the Viola da terra.

The Viola da terra is a stringed musical instrument from the Portuguese islands of The Azores. It may have either 12 or 15 strings, arranged in 5 courses. The strings are made of metal.

Tuning and further info

File:Viola da terra 1.jpg

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With 12 strings, the lower 2 courses have 3 strings each (2 of them high octaves and the third a low octave), and the higher 3 courses have 2 strings each, all tuned in unison. It is tuned A4 A4 A3•D4 D4 D3•G3 G3•B3 B3•D4 D4. With 15 strings each of the five courses is triple strung, and the tunings is A4 A4 A3•D4 D4 D3•G3 G3 G3•B3 B3 B3•D4 D4 D4.

The scale length is about 520mm (compare with a classical guitar scale of about 655mm). There is also a smaller version called a Requinto. Like all Portuguese violas, the number of bridge pins does not match the number of strings, and often there are 3 or so strings on each pin, as can be seen in the close-up of the bridge and saddle.

Traditionally, like the picture to the right, the Viola da terra had wooden friction pegs from behind, instead of the watch mechanism used on other Portuguese instruments such as the Guitarra Portuguesa. Nowadays the Viola da terra usually has machine heads, like the picture in the infobox.

References

• The Stringed Instrument Database
• ATLAS of Plucked Instruments