Unless you put a violin next to a viola to provide comparisons, it’s very difficult to tell the difference on sight. The viola is slightly larger than the violin, and has differently tuned strings, but otherwise is pretty much identical – held under the chin and played with a bow or plucked.

The sound of the viola, however, is very different. It has a much more mellow tone, deeper and more intense. As the middle instrument of the string family, often playing uncomplicated parts, it can be the brunt of jokes about it being a second class citizen, but actually was favoured by composers such as Mozart and Brahms.

• A viola’s strings are tuned to the notes C, G, D and A • Composers who played the viola include Mozart, Britten, Dvorak, Mendelssohn and Beethoven • Violists read music written in a clef called Alto Clef, which is only used by one other instrument in the orchestra, the alto trombone • JOKE! What's the difference between a Violin and a Viola? A Viola burns longer.