"Opening" the sound of my viola

[hobee]

My teacher has been complaining for a while now that my viola's sound is not 'open'. How do you open up an instrument's sound? My viola is about two years old and I play it at least three times a week.

[vinteuil]

Try playing closer to the bridge, using more bow (or sometimes less!), and pushing less. You'd be surprised what playing farther away from the fingerboard will do.

Also, don't just breathe when you have to. It's amazing what a well-timed abdominal breath can do

[sbeckmesser]

And next time you take your instrument for a check up, see if the luthier change the position of the soundpost. Often, minute repositionings (like a millimeter) can drastically change the sound of an instrument, for better or worse. There's no mystery to this, just physics at work.

--Sixtus