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A full-size viola averages 40 cm (16 in). However, each individual adult will determine which size of viola to use. Occasionally, an adult with a small frame may use a so-called 7 ⁄ 8 size violin instead of a full-size instrument.
Viola size is specified as body length rather than fractional sizes. A 'full-size' viola averages 400 mm (16 in), but may range as long as 450 or 500 mm (18 or 20 in). Such extremely long instruments may be humorously referred to as "chin cellos." Occasionally, a violin may be strung with viola strings in order to serve as a 350 mm (14 in) viola.
The playing ranges of the instruments in the violin family overlap each other, but the tone quality and physical size of each distinguishes them from one another. The ranges are as follows: violin: G 3 to E 7 (practical, notes up to A7 are possible); viola: C 3 to A 6 (conservative); violoncello: C 2 to A 5 (conservative); and double-bass: E 1 to C 5 (slightly expanded from conservative estimate).
(A full-size instrument is described as 4/4.) Cellos exist in a smaller range of sizes than violins, with 4/4, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/10 being reasonably common. As with the violin, the Stradivarius scale is regarded as standard for orchestral work; This is about 27.4 inches (700 mm).
A full-size viola's body is between 25 and 100 mm (1 and 4 in) longer than the body of a full-size violin (i.e., between 38 and 46 cm [15–18 in]), with an average length of 41 cm (16 in). Small violas typically made for children typically start at 30 cm (12 in), which is equivalent to a half-size violin.
Kevin Winter/Getty. Sean Baker accepts the Best Picture award for "Anora" onstage during the 30th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on Feb. 7, 2025 in Santa Monica, Calif.