Help with a squeaky A-String!!

My A string is super squeaky, almost like an untrained violinist's E string. My teacher hasn't been able to figure out the problem, she just cannot get a good sound out of it. All the other strings are fine, however. My viola's not too great, a beginner one that I've been using for six years, so that may have something to do with it, but it's interesting with the contrast of a deep rich C-string, and a squeaky violin-like A string. Any suggestions?

Hello and thank you for your inquiry.

One question: does that string has been always that squeaky or it suddenly began to?

Please, let me know.

Best,

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Fabrizio Ferrari, CEO
Virtual Sheet Music, Inc.
Classical Sheet Music Downloads®

It has always been, I've just ignored it in the past, but I have a competition coming up and I've gotten marked down for it before.

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Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

You might experiment with other A strings (different make or different brand) and see if you get different behavior. It sounds like a lot of viola players end up using a different make/model of A string than the rest. Seems similar to violin world, where people experiment with different E strings.

I've tried out various E strings on my violin, for example, and notice a big difference in both sounds and in their tendency to 'whistle'.

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Of course, I agree, try a different string, perlon strings are not so expensive.

Best,

__________________
Fabrizio Ferrari, CEO
Virtual Sheet Music, Inc.
Classical Sheet Music Downloads®

Thank you very much. I'll try that.

__________________
Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

You are very welcome!

My best wishes...

__________________
Fabrizio Ferrari, CEO
Virtual Sheet Music, Inc.
Classical Sheet Music Downloads®