Viola jokes

Viola jokes are jokes that are directed towards violas and viola players, thought to have originated in the 18th century. Violas at the time were mainly used for relatively easy parts and as accompaniment, rather than as solo instruments; violists were generally low-paid and of lower social standing.[1][2]

A story from Italy in the early 1700s is thought to be the origin of many viola jokes:[3]

The violinist Francesco Geminiani arrived in London in 1714, one of the many expatriate musicians who settled in England in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries ... As a young man Geminiani was appointed head of the orchestra in Naples, where according to English music historian Charles Burney he was "so wild and unsteady a timist, that instead of regulating and conducting the band, he threw it into confusion", and was demoted to playing the viola.

Viola jokes take many different forms, some only understandable by musicians and those acquainted with musical terms, others requiring no specialist musical knowledge. Some jokes make fun of the viola itself while others make fun of violists, while some jokes are directed in the opposite direction: jokes about musicians who tell viola jokes.[4]

Examples of viola jokes, past and modern include:[5][6]

  • "How can you tell if a viola player is playing out of tune? The bow is moving."
  • "What's the difference between a viola player and a dog? A dog is able to stop scratching."
  • "What's the difference between a viola player and a pizza? A pizza can feed a family of four."
  • "What's the difference between a viola and a coffin? Coffins have dead people on the inside."

See also

References
  1. Cottrell, Stephen (2004). Professional Music-making in London: Ethnography and Experience. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 144–146. ISBN 0754608891.
  2. Marissen, Michael (1999). The Social and Religious Designs of J. S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. Princeton University Press. p. 61. ISBN 1400821657.
  3. Johnstone, David. Grand Encyclopedia of Viola Jokes (PDF). p. 59. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
  4. Carl Rahkonen (Winter 2000). "No Laughing Matter: The Viola Joke Cycle as Musicians' Folklore". Western Folklore. Western States Folklore Society. 59 (1): 49–63. doi:10.2307/1500468. JSTOR 1500468.
  5. "Funny in Four: "What's the difference between a viola player and a pizza?"". BBC. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  6. "Series 16, Episode 4". The Unbelievable Truth. Series 16. Episode 4. April 26, 2016. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved July 6, 2023.

Further reading
  • Brown, Meegan M.; Dundes, Alan (2002). "Viola Jokes: A Study of Second String Humor". Midwestern Folklore. 29 (2): 5–17. hdl:2027/osu.32435068088434. ISSN 0894-4059.
    • [Reprinted: Dundes, Alan (2007). "Viola Jokes: A Study of Second String Humor". In Bronner, Simon J. (ed.). The Meaning of Folklore: The Analytical Essays of Alan Dundes. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press. pp. 237–248. doi:10.2307/j.ctt4cgrzn.17. ISBN 978-0-87421-683-7.]
  • Groce, Nancy (1996). "Knowing the Score: The Transmission of Musician Jokes among Professional and Semi-Professional Musicians". New York Folklore. 22 (1–4): 37–47. ProQuest 1290936791.
  • Young, Richard (1990). "Viola Jokes: Who is the Joke Really On?". American String Teacher. 40 (3): 21–23. doi:10.1177/000313139004000309. S2CID 194781462.


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