Introduction

D. Rickert Musical Instruments is the preeminent maker and seller of purpose-built Octave Violas and Tenor Violas. We make professional performance level Octave/Tenor Violas. We also sell relatively affordable but nice Octave/Tenor Violas, which are based on imported factory-made wide body violas and finished in our workshop.

Note about tariffs: As of the time this is being written (4-14-25), it remains to be seen how the current tariff chaos might affect just how affordable these enhanced factory-made instruments will be in the future. Since our pro-level instruments are made here in the US generally using tone wood and other materials from the US, we do not anticipate any effect on the cost of our high-end instruments. It is possible that some parts, such as ebony fingerboards, tailpieces and planetary tuning pegs (Wittner, made in Germany) could be subject to tariffs. For now, we plan on absorbing the possible higher costs of parts from Europe.

What an Octave or Tenor Viola by D. Rickert Costs

• Professional Performance Level: Starting at $7,500
• Factory-made: Starting at about $3,500

A case is included.

Can Our Octave/Tenor Violas be Purchased from our online store (www.DonRickertMusicianShop.com)?

Because each instrument is made to order and incorporates personal preferences such as varnish color, a purchase always starts with a phone call (706-400-1481) and/or an email (don@donrickertdesign.com).

Additional Details

I have been designing purpose-built Octave Violas and Tenor Violas for about 15 years. Popularity of these first cousins of Octave Violins/Fiddles reached a fever pitch prior to the Covid pandemic, fueled in no small part by the ubiquitous availably of special-purpose octave viola strings by a single manufacturer, SuperSensitive. The Covid pandemic literally put them out of business, as their main source of revenue was inexpensive utilitarian orchestral strings (SuperSensitive Red Label) for middle school and high school orchestras. If you recall, there were NO such orchestras during the pandemic.

The SuperSensitive Red Label string division was picked up by D’Addario to round out their student strings catalog. The specialty line, Sensicore, which included octave violin and octave viola strings, as well as viola F-strings for 5-string violas, extra long viola strings and such, was NOT continued under the new D’Addario ownership.

We have the solved string availability problem with custom octave viola string sets by Atelier Boussoir in Lorraine, France. We sell spare sets and single replacement strings as well.

See also: Strings for Tenor and Octave-Tuned Violas

What Exactly is an octave viola?

An octave viola, also sometimes called a baritone viola or "chin cello," is a viola tuned an octave lower than a standard viola, effectively matching the tuning of a cello (C2, G2, D3, A3).

See also:

What Are ‘Alternative’ Violin Family Instruments?: Three New Articles On that Topic
Chin Cellos (Octave Violas) AND Tenor Violas are Back!
Alternative Violas for Non-Conformists Who Play Non-Orchestral Music
Octave Violin and Tenor Viola Options from Don Rickert Musical Instruments
Octave Violins, Tenor Violas and Related Instruments from Donald Rickert
Octave Violin or Violoncello da Spalla?
Strings for Tenor and Octave-Tuned Violas

What is a tenor viola?

A tenor viola is a viola optimized for tuning an octave lower than a violin (G2 D3 A3 E4), which puts its range between the cello and a standard viola. Tenor violas have been around since the 17th Century; however, a tenor viola from that period were much larger than the modern version. This is due largely to advances in string technology.

See also:

Tenor Viola (Wikipedia)
What Are ‘Alternative’ Violin Family Instruments?: Three New Articles On that Topic
Chin Cellos (Octave Violas) AND Tenor Violas are Back!
Alternative Violas for Non-Conformists Who Play Non-Orchestral Music
Octave Violin and Tenor Viola Options from Don Rickert Musical Instruments
Octave Violins, Tenor Violas and Related Instruments from Donald Rickert

What is the difference between an octave viola and a tenor viola?

Analogous to the difference between a violin and a fiddle; they are fundamentally the same instrument.
The same specially designed viola body can be set up as either an Octave Viola or a Tenor Viola; however, we generally recommend a larger body (16” or 16.5”) for an Octave Viola. A Tenor Viola can be a smaller size (15” or 15.5”).

An Octave Viola can literally play any cello part, un-transposed; whereas a tenor viola plays any violin or fiddle part, but an octave lower. For this reason, Tenor Violas are often favored by fiddlers in all genres. A Tenor Viola fills exactly the same musical role as an Octave Violin.

How is an Octave Viola or Tenor Viola Similar or Different from an Octave Violin?

An Octave Violin, also sometimes called a 'baritone violin' or, less frequently, a 'modern tenor violin', is a violin-sized instrument tuned an octave lower than a standard violin (G2 D3 A3 E4 rater than G3 to E5). Octave violins have, historically, been called “octavegeigen”, which is simply German for “octave violins”.

An Octave Violin can be a regular violin set up for special octave violin strings; however, a true Octave Violin is purpose-built. This means that, while it may be the same general size and shape, with the same playable string length (about 13”), a true Octave Violin, like the ones that I make, will generally have deeper ribs and sometimes either a wider body to better accommodate the lower frequencies. A purpose-built octave violin will also be voiced to accommodate the lower pitched strings. "Voicing" involves changes in the plate graduations and/or changes to the bass bar.

See also:

Baritone violin (Wikipedia)
Octave Violins, Tenor Violas and Related Instruments from Donald Rickert

Sound demos

Anton Kang: Bach.Cello Suite no.1. Prelude. Octave viola by Don Rickert.
Introducing Octave Viola.
Demo of Octave Viola Strings (Avery Bright)
T-Rex Octave Viola Demo
Old-Time Fiddling (Tenor Viola and Fiddle)