Viola pomposa

The viola pomposa is a member of the lutes (Hornbostel–Sachs 321.322-71). Learn how it makes its sound and explore related instruments.

How the viola pomposa makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the viola pomposa belongs to the lutes: strings run parallel to a soundboard and along a neck – the family of the guitar, violin, sitar and oud.

More broadly it is one of the chordophones (string instruments), where sound comes from vibrating strings, amplified by a resonating body.

Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.

From Wikipedia

The viola pomposa (also known as the violino pomposo) is a five-stringed Viola developed around 1725. There are no exact dimensions applicable to all instruments used under this name, although in general the pomposa is slightly wider than a standard viola (hence the Italian adjective "pomposa"). It uses five strings, the bottom four tuned conventionally of a standard viola (C3-G3-D4-A4), with the addition of a high violin E string (E5), giving it a greater range than the orchestral viola; the trade-off comes in a sound which is less resonant than a viola, though still slightly more resonant than a violin. The viola pomposa is played on the arm and has a range from C3 to A6 (or even higher) with fingered notes. Using harmonics, the range can be extended to C8 depending on the quality of the strings.