A Violist in Nashville: The Viola’s Role in the Nashville Recording Industry

The viola, the violins larger and often overlooked sibling, is not the instrument people would typically think of when they think of Nashville. That honor would most likely go to either the fiddle or acoustic guitar. But present day Nashville is home to much more than the Country music that originally gave the city its\u27 famous moniker Music City. The recording scene now encompasses almost every genre of popular music imaginable as well as a large amount of video game, television, and movie recording. Through this project, I attempted to explore the multitude of ways in which viola can be utilized in these different areas and genres. By recording six unique songs, I was able to highlight six ways that the viola is used in the recording industry in Nashville. It is my hope that this project will pave the way for future violists to further explore their role in non- traditional genres and spaces as well as provide guidance to anyone hoping to break into this sphere of playing and recording